Hypnosis
Hypnotherapy uses hypnotic techniques to bring beneficial changes. Utilizing states of deep relaxation, the therapist assists in uncovering and ezporing memories, emotions, and past events which may affect a persons conscious mind and activating the client's inner resorces in order to achieve the deired goals. It is used to treat numerous medical and psychological problems. Hypnotic techniques are useful to stop smoking, overcome alcohol and substance abuse, treat stress, sleep disorders, and mental health problems such as anxiety, fear, phobias, and depression.
What is hypnosis?
It is a trance state characterized by extreme suggestability, relaxation, and heightened imagination. It's not really like sleep, because the subject is alert the whole time. It is most often compared with day dreaming, or the feeling of "losing yourself" in a good book or a movie. You are fully conscious, but you tune out most of the stimuli around you. You focus intently on the subject at hand, to the near exclusion of any other thought.
In the everyday trance of a daydream or a movie, an imaginary world seems somewhat real to you, in the sense that it fully engages your emotions. Imaginary events can cause real fear, sadness, or happiness, and you may even jolt in your seat if you are surprised by something. Some researchers catagorize all such trances as self-hypnosis.
The predominant school of thought on hypnosis is that is is a way to access the subconscious mind directly. Normally, you are only aware of the thought processes in your conscious mind. You consciously think over the problems that are right in front of you, concsiously choose words as you speak, consciously try to remember where you left your keys.
But in doing these things your conscious mind is working hand-in-hand with your subconscious mind, the unconscious part of your mind that does your "behind the scenes" thinking. Your subconscious mind accesses the vast reservoir of information that lets you solve problems, construct sentances or locate keys. It puts together plans and ideas and runs them by your conscious mind.. When a new idea comes to you out of the blue, it's because you already thought through the process unconsciously.
Your subconscious also takes care of all the stuff you do automatically. Pyschiatrists theorize that the deep relaxation and focusing exercises of hypnosis work to calm and subdue the conscious mind so it takes a less active role in your thinking process. In this state you are still aware of what's going on, but your conscious mind takes the back seat to your subconscious mind. Effectlively, this allows the hypnotist to work directly with your subconscious. This can allow you to be much freer and more creative. Your conscious mind does not need to filter everything. |
