What Health Conditions can Hypnotherapy Help?

Whether you choose to learn how to hypnotize yourself or choose to visit a qualified hypnotist, hypnotherapy is a holistic approach to pain relief and healing that is well worth the time and attention it is given. Hypnotherapy looks at the mind and body connection and is a way of healing your body with the power of your thoughts.

Hypnosis is defined as, “A process in which critical thinking facilities of the mind are bypassed and a type of selective thinking and perception is established.” Hypnotherapy then is when a person is placed under hypnosis in order to help heal them or to reduce the amount of pain they are suffering from. The word hypnosis was coined by James Braid in the year 1843 and it stands for “neuro-hypnotism” which in turn means the “sleep of the nervous system.”

Once a person is placed in an hypnotic state he or she then displays unusual types of characteristics, the most common of which is hyper-suggestibility which means that they are more open to positive suggestions which can help play a role in changing a behavior from negative to positive. Hypnosis can alter emotions, attitudes and ideas as well as work on a variety of dysfunctional conditions, whether they be mental or physical. These might include but are not limited to anxiety and all other stress related disorders, the management of pain, and the development of an individual’s personality traits.

There are a variety of techniques that can be put into play when it comes to the practice of hypnotherapy. Age regression is when the patient is taken back to a past “ego-state” and it is there in that place in the mind that he can find qualities that he may feel he has lost in his present life. These might include confidence and strength. Revivification is when a person is able to recall past experiences that can help improve the quality of their present life. Guided imagery is when a patient is treated to a new image to focus on that is both beneficial and relaxing. Repetition is just that- an idea is introduced to the patient and repeated enough times that it becomes a part of his or her mental repertoire of thoughts.

Direct suggestion is when a person is told something under hypnosis and they believe it such as, “You are happy and loved” or “You are successful.” Indirect suggestion on the other hand uses what are known as “interspersal” techniques to help an individual. Other options include mental state, hypnoanalysis, parts therapy, confusion, post-hypnotic suggestion and visualization.

Hypnotherapy is widely used by holistic practitioners to reduce the pain suffered by cancer patients but it has also proven successful for a number of other health conditions. Hypnotherapy is used for pain management in regards to a variety of illnesses and diseases and it is commonly used to treat anxiety, insomnia and psychosomatic disorders such as stress related health concerns.

Hypnotherapy replaces negative messages in the mind with positive messages and aims to heal the body on a physical, emotional and mental level. Hypnotherapy is excellent for women interested in natural childbirth and it helps to support the work of the immune system. Hypnotherapy helps to rid a person of headaches and in particular migraine headaches and it has proven successful when it comes to quitting smoking, stopping nail biting and other bad habits as well as in regards to memory recall, phobia, confidence and motivation and a variety of other instances.