Hypnosis Therapy in the Age of Anxiety
We live in stressful times. When your four year old daughter knows how to text message faster than you and has a firm grip on Spanish, which is not the language you speak at home, you may feel under pressure to keep up. This is an age of anxiety where stress is the most common cause of diseases like heart disease and even cancer. Because of the increasing stress in today's society, many adults are seeking alternative methods to find inner peace. Holistic methods once viewed with distrust are now growing in interest. Yoga is one. Meditation is another. Hypnosis therapy is a third -and it is the subject of this article.
Hypnosis therapy or hypnotherapy, simply defined is: healing by trance or sleep. Being under hypnosis means the mind is in an altered state where it is highly open to outside suggestions. Hypnosis can be self or other-induced. Hypnosis is characterized by a relaxed physical and mental state where the conscious and subconscious minds can come into contact.
Hypnosis therapy is the only psychological form of therapy that attempts direct connection with the subconscious mind. Other forms of therapy such as cognitive-behavioral and other "talk" therapies occur between a therapist or psychologist and an awake, alert client. Hypnosis theories are used in many other therapeutic techniques such as visualization, acupuncture, and bio-feedback. Speed reading and enhanced memorization also utilize tools of hypnosis.
Your How-To-Guide to Hypnosis Therapy
Most people can be hypnotized according to experts. Those with a more guarded, distrustful mind are more difficult to hypnotize. Others who are highly open and trusting are easily able to undergo hypnotherapy. The rest of the population falls somewhere in between. The most important criteria in whether a person can be hypnotized is whether or not he/she is comfortable with the therapist.
The purpose of hypnosis therapy is to open up the subconscious while giving control to the therapist. The therapist then has the responsibility of guiding the patient and helping him/her access inner potential to help change behavioral or thought patterns. This can be for a simple result such as weight loss or smoking cessation or a more complex result such as conquering a phobia or overcoming a past traumatic experience.
Hypnotherapists may have a degree specifically in Hypnosis Therapy or may be practicing psychologists with additional training in this field. It is important to have verification of your Hypnosis Therapist's credentials before opening yourself to this process. Hypnosis therapy is thought to show rather quick results in only a few sessions rather than traditional "talk" therapy which can take months to years to evidence change. The benefits to this non-traditional form of therapy make it worth trying for patients looking to conquer negative behaviors and anxiety.
