Just a thought away!

Edited from Deep Trance Now.

Welcome to the World of the Mind
where everything you desire is just a thought away!

The ultimate purpose of hypnosis and hypnotherapy is to help you dissolve any inner obstacles, so that your innate greatness can freely express through you, enabling you to live a life that is greater and more wonderful than anything you have yet even imagined possible.

Hypnosis is the art and science of creating subjective experience of reality which in turn influences objective experience of reality. It is summed up in expressions "As within, so without", "As above, so below".

The entire universe is mind-like in nature, created out of living, conscious, intelligent energy, including thoughts in your mind, cells in your body, plants, animals, weather, money, planets and galaxies. We live in this Infinite Ocean of Living Intelligent Energy.

Quantum physicists speak of it as quantum reality, spiritual traditions as spiritual reality (God, Tao, etc), and what you need to keep in mind is that it permeates what we call "physical reality", too.

Everything is interconnected - and that is why you already are influencing everything - from your own mental, emotional and physical wellbeing to someone else's - regardless of whether that someone else is physically present or not. Remember? The universe in which we live is mind-like in nature.

The moment you think a thought, you are exerting an influence (energy follows thought). The extent of your influence will depend upon the energy invested in the thought you think, and any other relevant thought.

There is infinite number of ways in which you can play with and alter subjective reality - yours, or someone else's. The secret of successful self-hypnosis is in learning how to play the game of pretending really well. You choose what you want to experience and pretend that it is real for you now.

You will be interested to know that you have been playing this game your entire life - perhaps unconsciously and unknowingly. To be sure, people around you helped - in different ways they influenced how you should think and act and feel - and then you continued to make your choices and created experiences that validated the perception of the world you accepted.

In time you set up a feed-back loop - you think a thought, then look for something in the external world to validate it and confirm it. This in turn, reinforces the original thought, and as the same pattern repeats, you reinforce your chosen beliefs about reality.

Your beliefs then influence your experience of reality automatically. If you don't like what you are experiencing you can begin by changing your thoughts by choosing what you want to experience and taking care and control of your mind.

Our society does not teach us how to be a fearless human being who is fully aware of and capable of using our full mental faculties, who knows that our own thoughts create our reality, so nothing external can control and manipulate us.

If you don't care to take control of your mind, others may do it for you. It begins with your parents who most often do have your best interests at heart, though they can only teach you what they have learned. It then continues with educational institutions whose main interest is in turning you into a socially-productive individual that may leave you feeling slightly anxious, afraid, inadequate, insecure, or helpless. Advertizing, news and TV programs are all hypnotizing people, influencing your thoughts and emotions, by programming your subconscious mind, whether you are aware of it or not.

When you keep on flashing an idea - whether through words, pictures, music, movies or any other form - day in and day out - it becomes so familiar to the people that they accept it as their own.

You can do the same for yourself - by flashing to yourself ideas of the things you desire to experience in your life. Out of the infinite ways in which you can do this here are just a few - choosing the thoughts you think, working with affirmations, using hypnosis recordings, hanging out with people who have accomplished what you desire to accomplish, choosing what you read and what you watch, choosing the songs you listen to, or making treasure maps.

Essentially surrounding yourself with anything that helps you to keep your mind focused on your desired outcome - as if it were already a part of your life now.

Let go of the past and embrace your power to create the life you'd enjoy living now.

When your behavior changes, you will know that hypnosis is working.

Hypnosis allows you to train your brain and body to return to a healthy, relaxed state automatically.

Use hypnosis to look beyond what is or what has been and spend more time visualizing and feeling what you would like to experience in your life.

Spend time every day visualizing yourself and your entire life in ways that make you feel very good.

What hypnosis is used for in 30 seconds or less

"People are always asking me, what can hypnosis be used for? ...

Hypnosis is used to get rid of what you don’t like, to get more of what you do like, and to find out more about what makes you tick.
That’s it in a nutshell.

If I’m losing weight, I’m getting rid of something I don’t like. The same is true if I stop smoking or get rid of feelings of grief or anger. This is the category that is most associated with hypnosis.

On the other side of the coin, when I get a boost of self-confidence or self-esteem, I’m getting more of something I do want.

The same thing is true when I use hypnosis to become better at sports. All of these are examples of hypnotic uses that fall into the “I want more” category. 

If you want to think of it this way, the “I want more” category is the self-improvement category.

The last phrase ... , “and to find out more about you”, represents the newest use of hypnosis.

Hypnotists are now working with clients to help them gain a better understanding of who they really
are and what their purpose in life is. In my opinion, it’s the most fascinating area of hypnosis today."

What hypnosis is used for in 30 seconds or less

Your mind is like a computer!

Think of your mind like a computer.

The unconscious mind operates automatic body systems in the same way as a computer’s operating system.

The subconscious operates like a hard drive by storing information.

The conscious mind functions like RAM choosing what information is to be acted on moment by moment.

In order to update any files, the subconscious must be engaged. We cannot change memories, but we can update how we feel about them.

Hypnotherapy helps change perceptions of memories, which in turn helps change perceptions of the self and hence, behavior.

Our emotional and intellectual attitudes toward past, present and future events can be transformed into something that supports us in getting the results we want, achieving our goals and creating the life we desire.

Our Desires are Conscious Thoughts While Our Behaviors are Unconcsious

"Everyone knows there have been things we either wanted to do and couldn't or didn't want to do but did anyway. That's because our desires are conscious thoughts while our behaviors are created and motivated at a subconscious level. The simple process of hypnosis is the natural, safe and expedient way for behavior modification. " Tom Nicoli
http://www.tomnicoli.com/how.shtml

What can hypnosis be used for?

From About Hypnosis:

The problems which affect human beings are "unconscious" ones, almost by definition.

After all, nobody consciously chooses to behave in ways that cause them problems!

 One of the great presuppositions of modern hypnotherapy is that all behavior is trying to achieve a purpose, even if the effects of that behavior are counter-productive.

In other words, the unconscious mind has convinced itself that the problem behavior is "good" for us in some way, and persists despite all the evidence to the contrary.

It is notoriously difficult, if not impossible, to control unconscious behavior through conscious effort alone.

The human mind has often been compared to an iceberg, with the conscious mind being the 10% that you can see above the surface. That leaves 90% below the surface - and that's the bit which sank the Titanic. To put it another way, the unconscious mind outnumbers the conscious mind by 9 to 1. In your conscious, lucid moments you may well recognize that your habits, responses or feelings are causing you difficulty, but that lone rational voice will be drowned out by nine unconscious voices saying the exact opposite.

The solution, therefore, is to get the unconscious and conscious minds saying the same thing.

Hypnosis is all about direct communication with the unconscious mind, and is the most powerful tool we have for bringing about change at the unconscious level. It can be used in any situation where you need to let go of old patterns of behavior, and learn new ones.

All of the problems that people commonly seek hypnotic help for can be seen in this light.

Changing unwanted habits such as smoking or nail biting obviously involves changing a pattern of behavior, but so does something like gaining more confidence or dealing with stress - the unconscious needs to learn "confidence" patterns and unlearn "stress" patterns for specific situations.

So how does hypnosis actually teach the unconscious mind these new patterns of behavior?

 Broadly speaking the hypnotist or hypnotherapist is aiming to do at least one of two things. First of all, they aim to help the client perceive things in a different and more helpful way - a reframe in therapy jargon.

Phobias are a good example. When somebody has a phobia, their unconscious mind has labeled an object or situation as literally life-threatening. Hypnosis can be used to reframe that object or situation in a more realistic way, as something that is inherently safe, or at least non-threatening.

Even physical conditions such as chronic pain can be reframed. An experiment conducted by the University of Bangor achieved remarkable results with rheumatoid arthritis sufferers. Using self-hypnosis, the participants visualized their pain as a person, bringing them news that something was wrong. They were able to thank that person for the information, before sending them politely but firmly on their way. This technique brought about significant reduction in pain. In effect, their pain had been reframed, from "permanent condition" to "message delivered - so no longer needed".

Reframing takes place every time the unconscious receives and accepts new information through hypnosis. Learning better ways to deal with stress, breaking a dependence on cigarettes or alcohol, developing the ability to speak to the opposite sex without blushing, even learning to relax more deeply - these are all reframes, in that they literally create a different world for the client, one in which the old ways of going about things no longer apply.

The second hypnotic strategy is mental rehearsal of preferred behavior or a preferred future.

In therapy-speak, this is known as future pacing.

Through the use of guided imagery, the hypnotist is able to re-create the preferred behavior in rich and vivid detail, so that the client experiences it in their imagination as if it were actually happening. Somebody who is severely stressed at work, for example, may be future-paced through a typical day feeling calm and in control.
 
The rationale behind future-pacing is that the unconscious mind does not discriminate between "real" and "imagined" events - it produces exactly the same physical and emotional responses to each. If you vividly imagine your favorite meal, for instance, you'll probably start to salivate. In just the same way, building up a detailed mental picture of yourself acting or feeling better in a certain situation gives the unconscious mind a better template to refer to the next time it encounters that situation.

This process also harnesses expectation, a powerful force shaping human behavior. We're constantly trying to fulfill our expectations, good or bad. If you expect something to be stressful, it usually will be. If you expect the same thing to be easily manageable, it will usually be that, too. This is another form of reframe, of course. Setting up positive expectations about a situation or event creates a preferred-behavior shaped "hole", which the unconscious mind seeks to fill with a preferred-behavior shaped "peg", made up of the appropriate emotions, responses and behaviors.

It could be argued that all problems are unconscious problems, even those that arise from external events that seem to be beyond our control.

It is our reaction to these events, rather than the events themselves that is crucial.

Through hypnosis, we can learn better ways for our unconscious minds to react to the uncertainties and challenges that are a normal part of living.

Hypnosis works by communicating with the unconscious mind.

Conscious and unconscious are really just shorthand terms to describe the general characteristics of the human mind.

The "conscious mind" is the bit where we tend to "live" - the bit you might think of as "you". If there's a little voice reading these words out loud in your head, that's the conscious mind talking. The unconscious mind is everything else!

The unconscious controls all of the autonomic processes that you don't have to think about - the heart rate, the blood pressure, tissue growth, cell regeneration, the immune system and so on. It's where our thoughts, memories and accumulated experience reside. It controls our emotions, our habits and our responses to the world.

In many ways, it creates that world for us. The unconscious mind handles about two million bits of sensory information every single second. The conscious mind deals with about seven. That means that the reality you're actually aware of from moment to moment has been brought to your conscious attention by the unconscious, in a sort of Readers' Digest version, choosing seven bits which it thinks are important from the two million it's just processed.

The conscious mind is more logical, critical and analytical - it's constantly making value judgments. If somebody was to say to you "you really should give up smoking, you know, it's terribly bad for you", you're highly unlikely to become a non-smoker on the spot. You're more likely to come up with a dozen, rational sounding reasons as to why you should carry on smoking, or you might tell them to shove off and mind their own business. Even if you do consciously accept that you should give up smoking, it's not the conscious part of the mind that's keeping the habit in place.

The unconscious part of the mind, on the other hand, is much more accepting. It's also quite literal and tends to take things personally, relating any information it receives to you as an individual.

Hypnosis works by bypassing the critical conscious mind (usually through relaxation or linguistic techniques), and speaking directly to the unconscious in a language which it understands - pattern, association and metaphor.

As mentioned earlier, the unconscious mind is basically in charge.

The vast majority of things that we do are unconscious, which we can be grateful for - if you had to consciously think about every single thing you did, you wouldn't do anything. However, it can lead us astray.

Most problems are things that we've learned how to do at an unconscious level - we've just learned how to them in an unhelpful way.

Problems are often an attempt at a solution.

This is true even for such apparently self-destructive habits as smoking. Many smokers start in their teens, when smoking is seen as a quick way to fit in, acquire adult status or generally appear cool. Through sheer repetition, the unconscious mind becomes convinced that smoking is serving a vital purpose - that it's "good " for you in some way.

Hypnosis works by updating the unconscious mind with new and more helpful information, like reprogramming a computer.

It can be used to change associations, so that cigarettes, for instance, are no longer seen as "little friends", and are more realistically regarded as "toxic killers". It can also be used to mentally rehearse better ways of going about things, such as being able to deal with stressful situations without having to light up.

Since the unconscious mind controls our autonomic bodily processes, physical change can also be achieved through hypnosis.

Pain control is a very good example. The mind alters our awareness of pain all the time - professional chefs, for instance, get burnt on a regular basis, but rarely notice it unless it's particularly severe. You'll have experienced this yourself if you've ever discovered a cut or a bruise and wondered how it got there. Physical events are still occurring, but the unconscious has relegated them to the 1,999,993 bits of sensory information you're not aware of every single second. Hypnosis can therefore be used to amplify that same response and apply it to a specific situation, such as the control of headaches.

Hypnosis works, then, by shaping our perception of reality by dealing directly with the unconscious mind, the seat of most of our problems, and most of our solutions too.

Create Personal Change

The PCAT Formula is the formula most often used in hypnosis to create personal change. The hypnotherapist identifies the problem (P), bypasses the critical factor (C), applies an active solution (A) and creates transformation (T).  

This is simply the process of attaching the problem to the solution for the outcome to be achieved.

Future memories are a great tool to integrate into the PCAT Formula. Future memories are when you  place a memory within the person who is being hypnotized as if it has already taken place. This will help the mind to become formatted to create the events that will lead to that memory and making it a real memory to be carried out and remembered truly.

Well, HYPNOSIS is for you if :

As you’re sitting here reading about the benefits of Hypnosis, I can imagine you are wondering if it can actually work for you.

Well, HYPNOSIS is for you if:

· Are looking for a way to finally achieve what you know you are capable of;

· Are ready to recognize and dissolve the blocks holding you back in your life;

· Want to be inspired to a new level of clarity, confidence, and passion;

· Desire to discover a new direction in life, but don’t know where to begin;

· Are motivated to strengthen your personal character and life;

· Just want to be the best person you can possibly be!

Hypnosis and Anxiety

by Gérard V. Sunnen, M.D.


"Anxiety and anxiety-related conditions are the most common psychological afflictions of man and account for a major percentage of initial complaints to psychiatrists as well as to general practitioners. Although it is estimated that some 5% of the population may suffer from acute or chronic anxiety, with women outnumbering men two to one (Cohen and White, 1950), the numbers are probably significantly higher.



As a symptom, anxiety is a final common pathway for many conditions, physical as well as psychological. As syndromes, anxiety disorders are under intensive study to define more precisely their etiologies and clinical outcomes. Recent studies, showing disturbances of lactate metabolism in certain anxious individuals, point to the possibility that some anxiety states, like some depressive states, have strong biological and genetic determinants.



Hypnosis finds its most common clinical utilization in the treatment of anxiety and its related states, not only because of anxiety's prevalence, but because hypnosis has such a clear role as a potent anti-anxiety agent. In this chapter, we will examine hypnotic behavioral approaches to anxiety, while hypnopsychotherapeutic approaches will be discussed in Chapter 14.



EVALUATION OF ANXIETY



The first task of the hypnotherapist is to evaluate the anxiety condition. At the end of the initial interview, several questions must be asked. Is the anxiety organically determined? Is there a medical, physiological, or otherwise somatic basis for its existence? The list of medical conditions which, as a by-product, contain anxiety is long: hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, anemia, hypoglycemia, withdrawal from sedative hypnotics (including alcohol), and caffeinism, cocaine, and psychostimulant abuse, among others. Anxiety is also sometimes confused with medical conditions which, in their presentation, share its expressions. Coronary artery disease, with chest pain, respiratory distress, and cardiac symptoms can mimic anxiety states; so can hyperthyroidism, pheochromocytomas and Meniere's disease. The treatment, while not obviating adjunctive psychotherapeutic or hypnotherapeutic intervention, will of course be mainly aimed at treating the primary medical condition.



Is the anxiety an aggravating component of a chronic medical syndrome? Most psychosomatic conditions are intimately connected to anxiety and stress. Flare-ups of such diseases as peptic ulcer, ulcerative colitis, or hypertension produce anxiety. Conversely, difficulties with psychosocial adjustment bring exacerbations in these conditions. Anxiety control is important to ease the interactive play of psyche and soma.



Is the anxiety a part of another psychiatric syndrome? Anxiety weaves into most psychiatric syndromes. Major depression is rarely seen without it, and so is mania. Schizophrenia, especially in the decompensation phase, as the individual experiences ego fragmentation, can be marked by fright--as can organic brain syndromes with their cognitive disruptions. Treatment of anxiety in these conditions is centered on correcting the global psychiatric syndrome.



When medical conditions and major psychiatric syndromes are eliminated as reasons for anxiety, we are left with more functional causes. It is useful, in our therapeutic approach, to see patients' experiences of anxiety as falling into three general categories: (1) individuals reporting chronic, free-floating feelings of fear (generalized anxiety disorder); (2) individuals manifesting discreet episodes of panic, but who, in between attacks, are relatively anxiety free (panic disorders); and (3) mixed syndromes.



There are other syndromes which contain anxiety as a core experiential manifestation.



Phobias are differentiated by the fact that they happen in the context of identifiable situations. They are marked by anxiety and avoidance. Thus agoraphobia is manifested in environments where the individual feels trapped and unable to return to safety, ie, common places include elevators, subways, planes, tunnels and bridges. Social phobias appear in interpersonal situations; and simple phobias are persistent, irrational fears of specific objects or animals. Phobias may be mildly bothersome or severely incapacitating. There are individuals who stay imprisoned in their homes because they fear the anxiety they may experience if they venture outside.



Posttraumatic stress disorders, acute or chronic, have generalized anxiety as a major component of a constellation of somatic and psychological disturbances following an accident, a loss, or any other disaster.



Obsessive compulsive disorders are characterized by tension stemming from the conscious emergence of thoughts, desires, and wishes to perform certain actions, and attempts to deny, ignore, undo, or suppress them. When severe, the anxiety becomes generalized, chronic, and incapacitating.



Adjustment disorders represent maladaptive responses to identifiable psychological stressors. Predominant symptoms in adjustment disorders with anxious mood, are nervousness, worry, and jitteriness.



HYPNOTIC TREATMENT OF SYNDROMES MANIFESTING GENERALIZED ANXIETY



Generalized anxiety disorder (DSM-III, 300.02) is characterized by pervasive, persistent anxiety, manifested by motor tension--strained facies, fidgeting, restlessness, fatigueability; autonomic hyperactivity-sweating, palpitations, light-headedness, paresthesias, upset stomach, lump in the throat, high resting pulse and respiratory rate; apprehensive expectation--worry, rumination, anticipation of misfortune to self or others; hyperattentiveness resulting in distractibility, difficulty in concentrating, insomnia, irritability, and impatience. To meet diagnostic criteria, the anxious mood has to have lasted at least a month.



Approaches to chronic generalized anxiety, which may incorporate hypnotic intervention, may be roughly grouped into analytic or behavioral types. Hypnoanalytic methods will be explored in a later chapter. Behavioral techniques do not necessarily exclude the importance of psychodynamic factors but rather, as in the case of anxiety, treat them as incidental to the illness itself, ie, anxiety is not a reflection of an underlying disorder, it is the illness; as a learned maladaptive response it needs to be unlearned. In this model, anxiety, once removed, is not replaced by other symptoms. In clinical practice, however, it is observed that some symptoms occur in a learned maladaptive model, others in a conflict-generated model, and the rest as admixtures of the two. Hypnosis may be woven into most behavioral techniques. In this way, the therapeutic potential of both disciplines may act additively, if not synergistically.



The following methods can be applied to the treatment of the generalized anxiety syndrome.



Hypnotically Induced Relaxation



While neutral hypnosis already assumes generalized relaxation, special hypnotic procedures can allow for its amplification.



The therapist will want to know the anxiety's signature in his particular patient. Where is the anxiety in the body? With what words can it best be described? Does it restrict breathing, speaking clearly, thought, motor performance, or coordination? These notions are important because, during the course of relaxation training, the therapist may choose wording and imagery accordingly. The subject who feels, for example, a burning sensation in the abdomen as an anxiety equivalent, may be asked to imagine sensations of coolness to counteract it; to someone whose anxiety comes out as tightness in the neck muscles, sensations of warmth in these areas may be suggested.



It may be explained to the patient before the induction that relaxation is both a physical and a mental state. It is pointed out that the body, in relaxation, feels slowed down and reluctant to move, the visceral spaces are experienced as comfortably rested, and breathing and heart rate attain natural baseline rhythms. Psychologically, the mind progressively feels detached from concerns, worries, and current stressful emotions.



Asking the subject, "What would you feel like if you were totally and deeply relaxed?" is a useful avenue to explore. In addition to misconceptions in need of modification, the responses may point to useful avenues for tailoring the hypnotic process to powerful preconceived notions.



Knowing that the purpose of hypnotherapy for our patient is relaxation training, the induction is geared to maximizing it. Suggestions are given for feelings which regularly accompany relaxation, ie, restful heaviness of the body. Similarities are drawn to states of mind the subject is already familiar with, which in themselves contain relaxed feelings, ie, daydreaming, reveries, or sleep. At the end of the induction, when the subject has already achieved significant tension reduction, appropriate deepening procedures are used.



The therapist should have at his disposal several procedures for the amplification of relaxation. Some may turn out to be much more effective than others; however, since there is no reliable way to predict beforehand which deepening technique will be most efficient, a trial-and-error approach often has to be attempted. The following techniques are commonly used to dissolve anxiety in the context of the hypnotic trance.



Direct suggestion. Direct suggestions for generalized relaxation in the subject who achieves a light to medium trance is often sufficient to attain desired results. Suggestions for total body relaxation, for letting go of tensions, physical and mental, are most effective when rhythmically timed with respiration.



In the same way that anxiety is experienced differently by each individual, so is relaxation. It is important, at the end of the first session, to ask how relaxation manifested itself. If, for example, feelings of floating or drifting were elicited, these same feelings can be directly searched for, brought forth, and expanded in the following sessions for faster induction and further deepening.



Counting method.Some individuals respond best to a counting technique. Many variations of this technique exist. It is explained, for example, that as slow counting progresses from 1 to 20, relaxation will become more and more profound, 20 representing the deepest level of relaxation the subject can attain during the session.



Counting with imagery. Counting may be combined with imagery. For example: "As I count from 1 to 20, you can see yourself walking down 20 steps into the garden of your subconscious mind. In your garden, you will find wonderful feelings of total relaxation flowing throughout your body."



Progressive relaxation. Some subjects are most responsive to a stepwise and methodical method. Individual muscle groups are focused on, starting from the lower extremities or from the head and neck, until all muscle groups are relaxed.



Autogenic training. The production of relaxation in many individuals is facilitated by suggestions or feelings of heaviness and sensations of warmth in the body (see autogenic training, below).



Pure imagery. Imagery techniques for relaxation are the most idiosyncratic of all methods. While, for example, the image of a beach may be attractively soothing for one person, it may leave another indifferent. Preliminary discussions will give the hypnotherapist some idea of what constitutes positive imagery for his patient. During hypnosis, the art of giving imagery suggestions resides in good part on the utilization of multiple sensory modalities--in a beach image, for example, a more engrossing effect can be created by talking about the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations one is likely to experience in such a setting.



Use of touch Touch, properly used and timed, is a powerful focusing modality for the patient. In the same way that touch may be used to induce analgesia in parts of the body, it may also be applied to suggest deep feelings of relaxation. For example: "As I touch your shoulder, your entire arm becomes deeply relaxed, all the way down to your fingertips. I'll touch your other shoulder and now your forehead; as I do, feelings of deep relaxation begin to drift throughout your body."



Autogenic Training



Autogenic training is a method of psychophysiological selfeducation containing elements of both hypnosis and meditation. The first of many editions of Autogenic Training appeared in 1932. Its author, J.H. Schultz, a German psychiatrist and neurologist, was influenced by research on sleep and hypnosis performed by Oskar Voght at the Berlin Institute some 30 years before. Voght observed that some subjects could produce in themselves states of mind similar or identical to hypnosis by performing certain exercises; and that these self-induced states had therapeutic value--subjects reported improvements in well-being, disappearance of headaches, lowering of anxiety level, and reduction of fatigue and tension. Voght called these exercise "prophylactic rest--autohypnosis."



Schultz streamlined the exercises. He found that most deeply hypnotized subjects invariably experienced sensations of heaviness and warmth in various parts of their bodies and postulated that the creation of these sensations, in a reverse psychophysiological process, could bring about the experience of the trance state.



A series of exercises was designed, in a format of increasing difficulty, and their practice gathered many followers throughout the world. The first of these are physiologically oriented, focusing on the neuromuscular and visceral systems. Subjects are asked, in exercises of introspective creative imagination, to produce sensations of heaviness and pleasant warmth in the limbs--it is easiest initially to produce them in these areas--then in the chest and the abdominal regions. Once mastered, usually after six to 12 months of training, subjects graduate to meditative exercises, which focus on the development of certain higher mental functions.



Preliminary instructions are for the use of a quiet dimly illuminated room, free of disturbances. The subject, in loose clothing, may adopt a fully reclined, semireclined, or a simple sitting posture.



First stage--eyes are gently closed. A gentle bodily introspection eliminates obvious internal muscular tension. The sensations of heaviness of the dominant arm, as it lies on its support, is brought to awareness. Some people find it helpful to repeat silently "my arm feels heavier and heavier." When heaviness is experienced throughout the arm, the same feeling is extended into the other arm through, as Schultz described, a process of generalization; the legs come next, the back, and the regions of the head and neck. When the whole body is experienced as being heavy, the second stage is attempted.



Second stage--warmth. For most people, feelings of heaviness are more easily conjured than those of warmth. The same process used to create feelings of heaviness is applied to feelings of warmth, first starting on one extremity, then progressing to the whole body, except for the forehead and temples which are imbued with sensations of coolness. Autosuggestions may help, ie, "my arm feels warmer, pleasantly warm," and imagery may be used, "my body feels like it is resting on the warm sands of the beach."



Third stage--regularization of cardiac rhythm and respiration. The object of this stage is not to seek control of cardiac rhythm, as is the aim of some yoga exercises, but to effect a slowdown and regularity of heart function which is congruent with total relaxation. Deep hypnotic and meditative states are accompanied by lowered metabolic work, decreased oxygen consumption, a slow (50 to 60 beats per minute) heart rate, and slower, more abdominal respiration. In the practice of the third stage, awareness is centered on the internal sensations of cardiac pulsations--a hand may be placed over the precordium--and self-instructions are given to help these desired results.



Fourth stage--centering on the upper abdominal region. Borrowing from ancient meditative exercises, the subject, having mastered the previous steps, is guided to center a relaxed attentiveness on the upper abdominal regions.



Reported effects of autogenic training. Effects of autogenic training are subjective as well as objective. Veteran practitioners talk about a generalized sense of well-being, feelings of energy and stamina, and relative freedom from symptoms commonly associated with stress. Objectively, during autogenically induced states as in meditative states, there is evidence of autonomic and metabolic slowdown.



Jacobson's Method Of Relaxation



While Schultz elaborated his method in Berlin, Germany, Jacobson in the United States worked towards similar goals but through different routes. His method is based on observations that the mere thought of a muscular action brings on electromyographic changes. This, he pointed out, bespeaks of a direct relationship between muscular tonus and psychological tension. For the purpose of achieving relaxation at cortical levels, Jacobson developed a methodical technique involving the progressive relaxation of all muscular groups in the body. Jacobson's method, for proper execution, requires a minimum of six months of training.



Methodology. Starting from the tip of one extremity--the right hand, for example--the individual is guided to move his awareness to the wrist, the forearm, in deliberate succession, to cover eventually the totality of the musculature. To help in focusing awareness and to enhance the experience of relaxation, each muscle group is sometimes tensed, then relaxed.



Hypnosis may be used with Jacobson's or modified Jacobson's techniques to stimulate progress. Conversely, and much more frequently practiced, are modified Jacobson techniques used in the context of the hypnotic trance to achieve progressively deeper states of relaxation.




RELATIONSHIP OF HYPNOSIS TO MEDITATION, SELF-HYPNOSIS, AND NEUTRAL HYPNOSIS



In describing the subjective experience of the hypnotic trance, mention was made of alterations in the sense of time flow and of sensations of relative removal from the bonds of the external reality situation. Usually, there is less or no perceived need to move physically, attention is withdrawn from concerns with bodily motion and balance, and there is less or no need to interact socially. Yet, in hypnosis the individual still feels a presence and has awareness of the rapport with another person--that being the hypnotist. In hypnosis, the elements of this relationship are intertwined with the experience of the trance. In hypnosis, part of the patient's psyche is linked to the hypnotist's psyche, in a process of dynamic communication. The hypnotist may communicate with one part of the subject's self, then with another, but there is always a bridge. In the subjective experience of the subject, he or she is not "free." Although the hypnotist may be very permissive, very choice-giving, the confines of the relationship remain.



Self hypnosis brings more autonomy. The link of rapport is broken and a more conscious part of the psyche gives suggestions to another more unconscious part. Usually, self-instructions are fairly specific and invite or reinforce personal change.



Sometimes the individual enters a hypnotic state and does not give himself or herself specific suggestions or directions. This is called neutral hypnosis, a state marked by relaxation, free-floating imagery, and dream fragments or sequences. In neutral hypnosis, the sense of control floats, undirected. The subject may observe and remember or not observe and not remember. It is an unstructured trance state.



If we add one ingredient to this trance state, we have meditation. That ingredient is directed watchfulness.



The meditative trance is similar in quality to the self-hypnotic trance. In meditation, however, the individual starts out with no overt trance-inducing signal, but rather, the resolve to begin, and focuses the observing ego on a part of the body (eg, the solar plexus), a sound (mantra), a symbolic image (mandala), a spiritual feeling, or a universal idea.



Indications for meditative training. Although, like most therapies, meditative training has been claimed to relieve many somatic and psychological disorders, its clearest and best documented indication is in the treatment of generalized anxiety."


SUGGESTED READING AND REFERENCES



Benson H: The Relaxation Response. New York, Avon Books, 1975. Brosse T: A psychophysiological study of yoga. Main Currents in Modern Thought July 1946:77-84.

Cohen ME, White PD: Life situations, emotions, and neurocirculatory asthenia. Assoc Res Nerv Dis Proc 1950;29:832.

Deikman A: Experimental meditation, in Tart C(ed): Altered States of Consciousness. New York, Doubleday, 1972, pp 203-223,

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, ed 3. American Psychiatric Association, 1980.

Goldfried M, Davidson GE: Clinical Behavior Therapy. New York, Holt, Rhinehart & Winston, 1976.

Jacobson E: Progressive Relaxation. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1938.

Luder M: Behavior and anxiety: Physiologic mechanisms. J Clin Psychiatry 1983;44(11, Sec 2): 5-10.

Langen D: Autogenic training and psychosomatic medicine, in Burrows G, Dennerstein L (eds): Handbook of Hypnosis and Psychosomatic Medicine. Amsterdam, Elsevier/North Holland Biomedical Press, 1980.

Morse DR, Morton S, Furst ML, et al: A physiological and subjective evaluation of meditation, hypnosis, and relaxation. Psychosomat Med 1977;39:304-324.

Orne MT, Paskewitz DA: Aversive situational effects on alpha feedback training. Science 1974;186:458.

Schultz JH, Luthe W: Autogenic Training. A Psychophysiologic Approach in Psychotherapy. New York, Grune and Stratton, 1959.

Seyle H: The Stress of Life, ed 2. New York, McGraw-Hill, 1976.

Schuchit M: Anxiety related to medical disease. J Clin Psychiatry 1983;44(11, Sec 2):31-36.

Voght 0: Zur Kenntnis des Wesens und der pscyhologischen Bedeutung des Hypnotismus. Zeitschift fur Hypnotismus 1894-95:3,227;1896:4,32,122,229.

Wallace R: Physiological effects of transcendental meditation. Science 1970;167:1751-1754.

Walsh R: Meditation practice and research. J Hum Psychol 1983;23(l):18-50.

http://www.triroc.com/sunnen/topics/hypn&anxiety.htm

Why not use Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy to make your life better now?

Being hypnotized is a lot easier than most people think. Imagine there was a way for you to make positive changes in your life easily and quickly.

Would you want it?

Nothing to lose but your old habits and behaviors that are holding you back from having the life you truly love.

How do you do that?

Hypnosis is the most successful way to make your life better.

At last, a fast and easy way to resolve a problem, reach a goal, make changes, reduce stress, break old habits, be lighter, be happier.

Be proud of your choices. Feel good about yourself.
Believe it or not, it can be this simple. Keep this in mind. You will be surprised at how simply hypnosis can transform your entire life in a way better than you ever imagined.
Do you need to rethink what you have been doing?

Hypnosis is a safe, easy and fun way to create lasting change.

Permissive, not Authoritative, Hypnosis

"The Ericksonian approach, or Permissive Approach, acknowledges every person as a unique individual that has unique behaviors and ways of entering a trance state and receiving suggestions. The subject knows how to relax and how to enter a trance state. The hypnotist merely acts as a guide into a hypnotic state.
Before Dr. Milton Erickson developed the Permissive Approach, the prevailing method of hypnosis was known as Authoritative Hypnosis.

In Authoritative hypnosis, the hypnotist has a power relationship over the subject and uses relaxation techniques on the subject in order for them to enter a trance state. For example, one might be reminded of the popular image of stage hypnotists when they say, “You are getting sleepy” or “Your eyes are getting heavy” (Alman, 1983, p. 26).

The idea is that the hypnotist must act in a way to get the person’s conscious mind out of the way in order to open up the unconscious, usually attempting to put consciousness “to sleep” (Alman, 1983, p. 26).

In Authoritative Hypnosis, the unconscious mind if viewed as a reservoir or a fertile piece of ground in which one can “implant” suggestions. According to this approach, the unconscious is like a basement where experiences are stored and lay stagnant unless they are aroused by some external stimuli.

Also, according to this approach to unconsciousness, the hypnotist must then tell the unconscious mind what it should do.
This approach is also faulty, because the unconscious mind is not a neutral space which will do whatever the hypnotist tells it to do.

This theory of hypnosis is often ineffective, because if the person cannot enter a trance when the hypnotist tells them to, then they are viewed as simply “unhypnotizable”.

Milton Erickson believed that every person has the ability to enter a trance state, and every person does so on a daily basis (see Haley, 1986).

The unconscious, according to Erickson, is a living and active participant in the psyche, and “knows” what is best for the person.

Erickson saw the unconscious as intelligent and autonomous. He said the trance state is, “An opportunity for the subject to set aside his or her identification with any limiting conscious processes and shift into a context (i.e. trance) where he or she can access and utilize resources for therapeutic gain” (Zeig, 1980, p. 89).

Notice the shift in language; the hypnotist is not forcing the subject to enter into a trance state, but instead allowing them to do it themselves.

Using this approach, hypnotherapy treats each subject as an entirely unique person.

Erickson would say that “the hypnotist should utilize the subject’s present reality, affirming that what they are feeling is perfectly fine and that it can lead them into a desired outcome (e.g., experience trance)” ( Zeig, 1980, p. 89)

For Erickson, to accept the person’s reality meant that the hypnotist must have the attitude that what the subject is doing at any given time is valid. The person has perfectly good reasons for seeing the world in whatever way that they do. In comparison to the authoritative approach, this means that the person can never be unhypnotizable.

To accomplish this, Hypnotherapists engage in what is known as “pacing” and “leading.”

“Pacing” means that the hypnotist relays the person’s communications back to them, not attempting to coerce them in any way, in order to build trust and rapport between the subject and hypnotist.

The term “leading” means that the hypnotist communicates ideas or behaviors that are slightly different from the ones the subject is currently experiencing. However, these communications are slightly closer to the desired trance state.

For example, a hypnotist may say to a person, “You are sitting there, looking at me, breathing deeply, and as you shift in your chair you may also begin to shift into a state of comfortable relaxation” (Zeig, 1980, p. 90). The above quotation is a good example of pacing and leading, in that the subject’s non verbal communication is acknowledged, accepted, and then a new lead is proposed by the hypnotist.

This process of pacing and leading is continuous in hypnotherapy, like a spiraling stair case.

Any sort of resistance to a given lead is not really resistance at all, and certainly does not mean that the subject cannot be hypnotized. All it means is that the given lead does not work for that person. So the hypnotist can throw it out and try something new, thus actually doing something constructive because the hypnotist now knows what does not work for that person (Zeig, 1980, p. 89-90).

Erickson also emphasized the use of indirect language to allow the subject’s unconscious to reveal itself in whatever way it feels is best.

For example, if I say the word “sky” there are an infinite number of images that can be associated with that word. Someone could see a bright blue, clear sky. Someone else could see a blue sky with clouds, or a completely cloudy sky.

Ericksonian hypnotherapy utilizes this indirect language so that the subject can communicate their own association to the language presented, rather than conforming to a prefabricated idea that the hypnotist imposes on them.

Ericksonian therapy is concerned only with guiding the individual as he/she exists in the present, and so there would be no need to “dig up” past negative or traumatic experiences.

In fact, many times Ericksonian hypnotherapy is successful at treating the symptoms of a subject (sometimes eliminating them), which will allow the person the ability to look back at their experiences on their own in a calm manner (Zeig, 1980). "

adapted from Ericksonian Hypnotherapy and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by Kevin Sprenkle

Will Hypnosis Work For Me?

Please call (206) 719-6660. I would be glad to answer any questions you have.

Some people are curious about hypnosis, but unsure if hypnosis will work for them.

I do not spend any time “testing” whether you are able to be hypnotized or not. Because in my experience, everyone can be hypnotized and people go into a trance multiple times a day.

The only difference with hypnosis/hypnotherapy is that you go into a trance state for the purpose of helping you achieve your goals. Some of the work I do with my clients is in an active trance state, engaged in guided imagery, where the client is accessing Alpha and Theta brain wave states AND is fully awake and aware.

You already know how to reach hypnotic states because you have been doing it your entire life whether you knew it or not. For example, you reach a state of hypnosis when you daydream, remember an event that happened in the past, drive a car, read a book, watch a good movie, listen to music, lie down to rest, etc.

Hypnosis has many levels that range from light to deep. Depth is just a metaphor used when speaking about hypnosis, as in the suggestion to go "deeper and deeper" into hypnosis. Hypnotic states are part of a continuum of regular consciousness, so you may reach many different hypnotic states during your session.

Sally Reed's Hypnosis Seattle

Does Hypnotherapy work?

Sally Reed, Consulting Hypnotist at Hypnosis Seattle

Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy sessions can help.

Are you looking for a way to solve your problems, focus your mind, and achieve your goals, such as weight loss, eating and exercise issues, stop / quit smoking, reduce anxiety, reverse the effects of stress, improve self esteem, release the fear of public speaking, sleep better, deepen relaxation, enhance relationships, release recurring thoughts and negative self-talk, overcome limitations, improve memory, learning, and test taking, get rid of bad habits, improve  healing, healthy living, make good choices, feel free and clear, be happy?

My goal is to help you solve your problems, achieve your goals, and get the good feelings you want to feel, with more success and less stress.

I am genuinely concerned with helping you get what you want.

My approach.

Of course, I love it when just one session is all it takes to solve your problem completely, and I have had that happen with everything from insomnia to test anxiety. 

I always approach each situation as if it can be resolved in one session, but sometimes there are more complex factors involved and it takes more sessions to address what comes up for each individual.

When the challenge is really entrenched, which can happen for a variety of reasons that may be known or unknown, the subconscious seems to be acting like an opposing team stubbornly determined to win.

Hypnosis allows you to enter a wonderful state of relaxation and heightened suggestibility, allowing you to begin focusing your mind on your desires and goals in a way that can powerfully imprint success on your subconscious mind.

Hypnosis helps you achieve and maintain your ideal healthy weight.

Hypnosis brings your subconscious into alignment with your goals and desires, and reprograms your unconscious. Put yourself into a state of strong, clear intentions to achieve your goal to incorporate new habits and achieve and maintain being your ideal healthy weight.
Learn to do what works for you. Hypnosis changes your mind so that, of course, you begin to pay more attention, to eat better, healthy food, get healthier and be healthier, and feel full of gratitude.

This weight loss approach is quite different than anything else. It's not about will power or self control or even calories. Hypnosis gives you the suggestions that there are no hunger or food cravings, no feelings of depravation, no depression, no fatigue. When old eating habits are set loose, you have increased energy.

Hypnosis allows you to maintain motivation, change eating habits, and change how you emotionally react to eating. Review, diffuse, and dissolve critical or judgmental thoughts, anxieties, or anything you feel uncertain about. As you normalize your relationship with food, you will eat a normal amount of food and will enjoy a feeling of being totally full and satisfied.

Correcting and rebalancing and resetting your metabolism, feel healthier and maintain your ideal, slim, strong, and healthy weight for your lifetime. Nourish your soul, satisfy your stomach, control your appetite and achieve optimal health.

Hypnosis will empower you to provide for yourself a way of living and eating that nourishes and heals your body at the deepest level. Hypnosis makes connections and allows your brain, your nervous system, hormones, immune system, your gut, your fat cells, and your appetite control system to communicate and work together now.

Imagine yourself at your goal weight. Slim, fit, strong, healthy and so happy. You shed unwanted pounds and maintain that weight loss by replacing negative old eating patterns and old stress patterns with new healthy, slimming eating habits now.

Imagine yourself sometime in the near future having gotten rid of all of the excess weight you no longer want or need and having lifelong healthy eating and living habits.

Hypnosis promotes positive changes in adults and children.

"Children are more easily hypnotized than adults, and hypnotherapy as a method responds to the general developmental needs of children by addressing their ability for fantasy and imagination. Hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis are tools with which to assess and develop protective factors, and enhance positive adjustment."

"Hypnosis and NLP use words in a very conscious way to affect the subconscious experience and promote positive changes. There is more harm in NOT understanding how POWERFUL words are, than in avoiding hypnosis and NLP out of fear or simple innocent ignorance."

"What is hypnosis? Hypnosis can be defined as a way to focus attention and communicate ideas in an experiential way that benefits a client. Now, who wouldn’t want to learn how to do that?

Hypnosis is not a therapy and it is not a cure for anything.

Rather, hypnosis is a tool that is designed to facilitate positive changes that a person wishes to make.

There are different schools of thought regarding how direct or indirect one should be in using hypnotic techniques and communications. Some people advocate for specific philosophies, therapeutic models or approaches, but I personally don’t subscribe to anything other than what works for an individual.

The pioneering work of the late psychiatrist Milton H. Erickson is most consistent with how I have intuitively worked with children in therapy. He saw the strengths and resources people had and utilized these in his treatment. It didn’t matter what diagnosis people had, their age, their gender, their intelligence or any other such factors. He respected their individual strengths and found ways to gently introduce new ways to use those strengths in what has come to be called conversational hypnosis. More and more literature is coming out in the domains of mindfulness, relaxation, calming exercises, visualization, and others as well, but the common denominator they all share is an experience that effects positive change in the person through an experiential mechanism not easily defined.

Hypnosis is more often than not a skill that is developed over time. Yes, there are people who experience hypnosis once and make a dramatic change, but it’s not usually the case in working with children.

A person can learn to do this for themselves (self-hypnosis) or have the experience guided by someone else.

The key is in knowing what works for YOU, or your child. If a CD doesn’t work or a therapist doesn’t effect change, don’t blame it on the hypnosis. It means THAT CD didn’t work FOR YOU or that therapist didn’t connect with YOU.

That doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you. It means you haven’t found the right connection.

Hypnosis isn’t just about talking TO a person; it is about talking WITH a person. That can be done in story form, during a game, playing with toys, using a computer, sitting quietly in a chair or many other ways. There are all kinds of ways to engage a person in perspectives giving rise to meaningful change."

Edited from PsychCentral, Diane Yapko, MA

Successful Hypnosis

The hypnotic state is an optimum state for making changes in your life. During hypnosis you can set aside limiting beliefs that may have been preventing you from moving toward a more healthy, and happier you.

There are five components necessary for hypnosis to be successful.

•Motivation - You must want to make the changes that create a positive results
AND you must want to be HYPNOTIZED.

•Relaxation - Hypnosis is a state of deep relaxation.

•Concentration - You will use your ability to concentrate.

•Imagination - You will use your imagination.

•Suggestion - You will accept and respond to positive suggestions that enhance your ability to reach your goals and get the results you want in your life.

Can You Be Hypnotized? Learn About Hypnosis and Your Conscious and Subconscious Mind

Can I be hypnotized?

Take the Quiz from Cindy Locher, BCH at SelfHypnosis.com!


I hear this question a lot, and it really stems from a misunderstanding of what hypnosis is.

We can ALL be hypnotized, it’s a natural brainwave state that we’re all in a few times a day, unintentionally.

Once you understand the characteristics of hypnosis, you’d recognize when you’re in hypnosis.

Take this short quiz and see if YOU are hypnotizable.
(I guarantee you are! CL).

1. Are you able to follow simple instructions?

2. Have you ever daydreamed?

3. Can you imagine the sound of a train whistle blowing?

4. Have you ever been traveling in a car, lost in conversation and the travel time appeared to pass rather quickly, or forget whole sections of the trip?

5. Can you sometimes arise from sleep to get a drink of water, or go to the bathroom, and go right back to sleep?

6. Are you willing to accept new ideas for change?

7. Have you ever ‘rested your eyes’ in front of a television set because you were too comfortable to get up and go to bed?

8. Are you able to meditate or pray?

9. Have you ever been so caught up in reading a good book that you couldn’t put it down?

10. While listening to a favorite song, can you remember where you were, what you were doing and who you were with when you first heard it?

11. Have you ever cried or been frightened while watching a movie?

12. Did you ever lose track of time while engrossed in something enjoyable?

14. Do you shudder at the thought of someone scratching his or her fingernails down the front of a chalkboard?

15. Does your mouth water at the thought of sucking on, or biting into a plump, juicy, sour lemon?

16. Have you ever impulsively purchased a bag of popcorn, cinnamon roll or caramel apple because of the aroma filtering through the air?

17. Do you have a good imagination?


If you answered YES to even a few of the questions posted above…

Congratulations!

You are definitely HYPNOTIZABLE!

You see, hypnosis is really focused imagination paired with emotion.

If you desire a change in your life, feel strongly about making that change (or leaving an undesirable state of being behind), and can imagine your life with that change accomplished, then you can be hypnotized to realize that change in your life!

Your brain functions on a small amount of electricity.

"Your brain functions on a small amount of electricity, much like a computer.

This electrical current vibrates and pulses, at various speeds.

When you are wide awake your brain vibrates 20 times per second—and this is what scientists call the Beta frequency.

You are probably at this Beta level of mind right now as you read this.

When you go to sleep, your brain frequency slows down, all the way to about half a cycle per second in the deepest levels of natural sleep. This is known as the Delta level.

In between Beta, the waking state, and Delta the deep sleep state, there are two other levels of mental activity.

When you are in a light level of sleep or in meditation you are in the Alpha range, which is 7 to 14 cycles per second. This is the center range and this is what we mean with the term “going to your center”.

Going to the Alpha level or centering is the same as meditating. When someone meditates, scientifically, they are simply reducing their brain wave frequency to Alpha. The Alpha level is the level we use to activate the full potential of our minds.

Theta is a level of deeper relaxation or sleep, when your brain waves are at 4 to 7 cycles per second.

...The brain is more energetic when it is less active. At lower frequencies the brain receives and stores more information...

...People who can remain in the Alpha level while analyzing information have access to more information than those who remain in Beta to do their thinking. Surges of intuition, creative ideas and inspirational thoughts come to people while at this Alpha level.

Going to Alpha is also good for programming your mind. At the Alpha level you can learn to manage all kinds of problems, such as insomnia, tension and migraine headaches, bad habits, and much more.

You can also program your mind to help you achieve your goals and make your dreams come true."

Silva Life System
Jose Silva dedicated his life to awakening the human mind’s hidden potential. After over a decade of research, he released his findings in 1966 and spent the rest of his life perfecting and teaching The Silva Method.

The side effects of hypnosis are positive.

Hypnosis and hypnotherapy is widely regarded as one of the safest ways to make lasting positive changes to your health and wellbeing. You already know how to reach hypnotic states because you have been doing it your entire life, whether you knew it or not.

For example, you reach a state of hypnosis when you daydream, remember an event that happened in the past, drive a car, read a book, watch a good movie, listen to music, lie down to rest, etc. The whole point of hypnosis is for you to achieve greater personal control, a greater sense of well-being, and a more relaxed and peaceful mind and body.

Research has shown few serious side effects to hypnosis. In fact, most of the side effects of hypnosis are positive.

Sleeping better is the number one side effect of working with hypnosis.

Many clients have multiple issues that come up even if they come in with only one problem they want to solve. Hypnosis is able to resolve complex issues on every level, even if you are not consciously aware of them. Some clients discover the cause of one problem and clear it and find that other issues are resolved as well. I call it "extra wellness" when several problems get resolved while you are working on another one.

A possible cause of reports of negative side effects usually comes from misuse of “direct suggestion”, which I rarely use. My approach is very adaptogenic. For instance, instead of saying, for example, “you will now stop feeling angry”, I use wording that is more open so your unconscious can adapt it in the most beneficial way without negative effects, such as “you will maintain your goal of being completely free of all old responses, emotions, habits, beliefs and behaviors ….creating a healthy body and mind…”

Some patients have experienced mild feelings of fatigue or disorientation following their hypnosis session. Please be sure to report such feelings to me because they can easily be resolved.

Also, research has shown that events recalled during hypnosis are neither more nor less likely to be accurate than those recalled in a usual waking state of consciousness, although recollections are sometimes experienced more vividly.

And please note that if hypnosis is used for decreasing pain perception, medical consultation and referral from your doctor may be required.

At no time will the use of hypnosis involve any attempt to provide medical or mental health therapy. Always follow the advice of your doctor or other professional medical practitioner. Hypnosis is not meant as a substitute for standard medical, psychological or psychiatric treatment and consulting hypnotists are required to advise you to seek your doctor's approval for any medically or psychologically diagnosed conditions or disorders. Hypnosis techniques are adjunct to symptoms and are a complementary alternative for self-healing, self-help, and behavior modification. Results are ultimately achieved through the client's own personal efforts at applying these techniques over time.