Some basics about hypnosis might help you understand the process better.
Hypnosis is simply an altered state of consciousness; a state of awareness of outside activity. Hypnosis works much like a magnifying glass in the sunlight. Focusing our attention allows us to use our mind in a much more powerful way. In simple terms, hypnosis is best described as being so absorbed in something that awareness of things going on around you fades into the background of awareness. For example: daydreaming, concentrating intently on a project, watching a movie, reading a book you can’t put down. And when the activity ends, it is common to have to reorient to the external world. This is also the case with hypnosis. This hyper-focused state occurs spontaneously and frequently as part of normal brain activity.
Hypnosis allows us to use more of our mind. Hypnosis is a vehicle of utilizing the power of the mind with intentiality. It is commonly believed that we are consciously aware of between 5 and 9 bits of information in any one moment and much of our life-long learning recedes into the unconscious realm. Hypnosis can help retrieve archived information from a part of the mind that is not fully conscious and apply that information to help solve a problem in the present.
It is important to know that everyone experiences hypnosis in their own way. Some people are disappointed because they expect to feel in a trance-like state. This usually happens when there is an inadequate understanding of how hypnosis works. However, even when a person thinks hypnosis hasn’t worked, targeted symptoms still improve within a few days. More commonly, people describe a hypnotic trance state as experiencing more than one level of awareness simultaneously. Most people in hypnosis are conscious of what is occurring in the moment, while simultaneously becoming aware of other information that seems to simply pop into awareness.
People often ask, what is the best way to use hypnosis for Change?
The answer to this question is simple, yet profound. Our imagination changes our internal experience. If you don’t believe it, just begin to imagine something dreadful. Even before you are consciously aware of it, your body goes into fight or flight or freeze mode. This occurs because parts of the brain are unable to discern between what is really happening and what we fear might happen. Negative imagining contributes to anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and physical illness, and always makes an already difficult situation worse. Recognizing and changing spontaneous, negative imagining is important to improving our quality of life.
So why don’t we engage more in imagining positive things, especially when we know it can change our mental, emotional and physical being? Actually, the answer to this has to do with survival instincts left over from earlier stages of our development; and somehow we are more suspicious of believing we have a role in creating positives in our life when we are of believing we have a role in the negative things that occur.
Try a quick experiment yourself to test this out……
Here is a quick experiment to try with yourself that will help you to experience the role your mind and imagining plays in how you think and feel. Close your eyes and say “no” to yourself a few times. Notice how “no” registers physically in your body. Then try the same thing with saying “yes” to yourself. What happens? What differences do you experience?
Can everyone be hypnotized?
Most people have differing talents for hypnosis and this has to do with our sensory system and imagining. For example our sensory system enables us to imagine by seeing things, hearing particular sounds, experiencing physical sensations that go with what we’re imaging and we can even imagine smells and how a particular thing tastes. However, many of us find we’re only able to imagine well in one or two of these sensory modalities. So remember that everyone experiences hypnosis in their own way.
Clinical hypnosis is specialized to focus on emotional and psychological conditions for which people enter psychotherapy. It is used for a variety of other issues. For example, when combined with other therapeutic modalities, it can enhance the outcome of therapy. Specifically, Clinical Hypnosis is an effective treatment for a variety of psychological and emotional conditions, including but not limited to:
- Anxiety, panic, specific phobias
- Depression
- Resolving internal conflict
- Enhancing concentration, academic and athletic performance
- Habit disorders like smoking, over-eating
- Stress management and relaxation
- Interruption and re-patterning of intense emotional states
- Eating and body image issues
- Improving performance and goal achievement
- Improving Self-Esteem
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