Hypnosis Defined
Hypnosis induces a deep meditative state in the mind. It is often performed by a hypnotherapist to a patient, though a patient can also do self-hypnosis. There are many different practices of hypnosis, but they share the ability to induce relaxation and retrain the brain through suggestion--in other words, to penetrate the subconscious mind. Contrary to popular myth, hypnosis does not mean a person forfeits control of himself over to the therapist by slipping into a trance. In fact, a person is in control of himself at all times and cannot be made to do something he does not want to do.
Reaching a State of Hypnosis
During a typical hypnosis session, a patient lies down on a couch. He is in a darkened room accompanied only by the hypnotherapist. The hypnotherapist will announce he is counting down from 10 to one, and by the time he reaches one the patient will have entered a deeper state of relaxation. After reaching one, the hypnotherapist gives the now-relaxed patient visualization techniques to further induce relaxation. For instance, he may tell the patient to do progressive relaxation, by clenching various muscles and then relaxing them. He may also tell the patient to breathe more deeply and clear his mind of all thoughts. It is at this point, when the patient is deeply relaxed, that the therapist segues into the suggestion part of hypnotherapy, because the patient's subconscious mind is now open to reprogramming.
What Hypnosis Accomplishes
Once the patient is deeply relaxed, the hypnotherapist begins to offer suggestions on the patient's issue. For example, many people who are trying to quit smoking use hypnotherapy to facilitate that process. In this case, the hypnotherapist may tell the patient to visualize the damaging effects of smoking, such as blackened lungs. The hypnotherapist may go into great graphical detail to make this visualization more poignant. For about one hour, the hypnotherapist continues to do visualization exercises and also offers the patient behavioral suggestions, all centering on abstaining from cigarettes. After an hour, the hypnotherapist counts back down from 10 to one and tells the patient that by the time he reaches one, the patient will be awake. At that point, the session is over.
Tags: tell patient, control himself, deeply relaxed, down from, hour hypnotherapist, induce relaxation
