I use the power of hypnosis as a standalone session and to complement my other therapies.
Hypnotherapy has been in use for thousands of years. It is recognised as a very powerful method for personal transformation. All around the world, people use the power of hypnosis to help them deal with a vast range of problems. It is natural and everyone does experience hypnosis regularly. It is a state of heightened relaxation and an altered state of awareness.
Relaxation
When you are relaxed in this way it is possible to make contact with your unconscious mind, in order to effect change in your life. The unconscious is an untapped resource of creativity. It is the seat of all your emotions and therefore directs nearly all your behaviour. Your unconscious is also responsible for maintaining the body in good health and for all the autonomic processes, such as, breathing, blood circulation and body temperature etc.
By using hypnosis we can access the doorway to this inner world. The realms of your powerful and creative imagination and emotions. By using hypnosis the unconscious mind can be contacted. Your ‘inner power’ can then be harnessed to promote the desired changes and physical well-being.
What is hypnosis?
The term “hypnosis” comes from the Greek word hypnos, meaning “sleep.” Hypnotherapists use exercises that bring about deep relaxation and an altered state of consciousness. This is also known as a trance. A person in a deeply focused state is unusually responsive to an idea or image. But this does not mean that a hypnotherapist can control the person’s mind or free will. On the contrary, hypnosis can actually teach people how to master their own states of awareness. By doing so they can affect their own bodily functions and psychological responses.
It may be surprising to many to learn that we experience trance states often during the course of our lives. Even passing into ordinary sleep involves a kind of trance state.
The experience of hypnosis is: neither asleep nor awake.
A little like daydreaming, with a pleasant feeling of deep relaxation behind it all. Hypnosis is a different state of consciousness. You can naturally enter this state. For therapeutic purposes trance is induced by the therapist so that suggestions and directions may be given directly to your unconscious mind. These can be direct or ambiguous in the form of storytelling and metaphor. The unconscious mind is both a storehouse of unrecognised potential and knowledge as well as being the source of many of our problems.
How does hypnosis work?
During hypnosis, your body relaxes and your thoughts become more focused. Like other relaxation techniques, hypnosis lowers blood pressure and heart rate. It changes certain types of brain wave activity. In this relaxed state, you will feel at ease physically yet fully awake mentally and may be highly responsive to suggestion.
Can anyone be hypnotised?
Many people claim that they can not be hypnotised. But they do admit to having drifted off whilst thinking about a loved one, forgetting large chunks of a car journey (commonly known as highway hypnosis), or ‘going somewhere else’ while reading a book. These are all examples of natural trance states. One of the great things about hypnosis is that it is harmless. Hypnosis produces no damaging side effects, whilst providing positive therapeutic benefits.
What happens in a session?
At the beginning of a hypnotherapy consultation we will generally have an informal chat. I will then ask some questions to ascertain the nature of the issue and the necessary route to overcoming or dealing with it. The second part of the consultation is hypnosis itself, and I may also use some NLP techniques too. It might also include some tasks to do at home in between sessions.
Being hypnotised
You are guided, by the means of my voice, into a state where your body and mind are relaxed. Although you will feel very relaxed, you will remain awake enough to be aware. Also awake will be those parts of your mind which I will be working with to induce beneficial changes. This may mean that you will be picturing, in your minds eye, the things which are being described to you. You may also experience the associated pleasant feelings.
The magic is all in the mind of the person receiving hypnotherapy. My role is to merely help you to use that incredible hidden power to achieve things in your life. Such as stopping smoking, losing weight, cutting down on stress, gaining in confidence and happiness. Even gaining excellence at your chosen sport, the list is endless.
What does hypnotherapy involve?
Realistically no one can be hypnotised against their will and even when hypnotised, you can still reject any suggestion. Hypnotherapy is a state of purposeful cooperation, a two way process between the therapist and the client, a professional partnership. You can only be hypnotised if you agree and cooperate. I can’t stress this enough. Also whilst hypnotised, nobody can make you do anything which you do not want to do. Even those people on television eating raw onions and quacking like a duck are doing so because they want to! They have chosen to participate. I must emphasise here that what hypnotherapists do is, by definition, therapeutic. Stage hypnosis is very different. It is a form of entertainment.
