Hypnosis is the induction of a “trance-like state” resembling sleep, in which you are highly susceptible to suggestion or direction from the hypnotist. During hypnosis, you enter a state in which you are more focused and able to concentrate. The hypnotist helps you to relax and become calm, which makes you more open to suggestion. Hypnosis is comparable to daydreaming. When you daydream, you tend to block out other thoughts or stimuli that are present, and simply focus on your daydream. During hypnosis, you are similarly inclined to focus fully on what is happening in the immediate moment, without being distracted by other thoughts or sounds.
Hypnosis can be used to treat various ailments, conditions, and complaints. For example, the suggestibility induced by hypnosis can work to relieve anxiety or depression. Hypnosis is also used to treat certain medical conditions, such as gastrointestinal disorders, skin conditions, or chronic pain, although hypnotic treatment is obviously not practical in all cases. Researchers have also employed hypnosis in order to gain information about its impact on learning, memory, sensation, and perception.
In order to get a better sense of how hypnosis works, let’s look at an example. Imagine that you smoke, and want to rid yourself of this habit. So you book an appointment with me. When we meet, either by zoom or in person I ask you to choose a place to sit, or even lie down. We’ll have a follow up chat from when we initially talked on the phone about what you would like to work on. I will guide you through several visualizations intended to make you feel calm and relaxed. Once you are relaxed, we will then go through process of working to stop smoking using your powerful subconscious with the help of hypnosis. In your extremely calm state, the work we do has a more powerful impact on your mind than it otherwise might. Your intensely calm and relaxed state of mind renders you highly suggestible. You will be brought in and out of hypnosis to deepen the state, and when I am happy we have completed our work, I will gently bring you out of hypnosis and you will feel fantastic!
ARE YOU IN A TRANCE?
There are several major myths about hypnosis. First, some people believe that the hypnotist has ‘power’ over the person being hypnotised; this is not true. Even in a calm hypnotic state, you retain full control over what you do and imagine during the session; you are in no way being forced to go along with anything I suggest. Second, some people believe that a person under hypnosis loses consciousness; this is another myth. Throughout the hypnosis session, you retain control over your thoughts, and you can also hear what is going on around you. Very simply, if you can’t hear what I am saying then I can’t give your subconscious the information it needs to be able to make the changes that you need. Finally, many people believe what they have learned about hypnosis from movies and TV shows, which often portray hypnotised subjects as completely unaware of their surroundings, virtually unconscious, or performing bizarre acts involving animal noises and funny songs. In fact, hypnosis sessions are quite simply intended to help you relax and feel calm, which in turn enables you to confront and combat your ailments or bad habits.
HYPNOSIS TECHNIQUES
I will use a variety of techniques during my sessions. In the Stop Smoking example above, I would use visualisation. Visualisation is a technique in which I will ask you to remember a time. A time when you had your first cigarette and how it felt…Where you were… who was around you if anyone etc.
Mental imagery is the most widely used technique in hypnosis, and it is a particularly powerful method. Combine that with awesome power of Kinetic Shift Hypnosis and we have many techniques that we can choose from that are correct for you. I don’t use a script – I work with the person in front of me, and I work “Content Free” which means you do not have to reveal anything to me if you do not wish too.