Hypnotherapy

The simpliest definition of hypnotherapy is "the giving of therapeutic suggestions to a person while they are in a state of hypnosis".


But why would you ever want to do this?


It's a fact that everything that we have learned has been learned by suggestions, those suggestions lodging in the subconscious mind becoming our knowledge. That knowledge in the subconscious mind, is what causes us to behave the way that we do.


The conscious mind is the thinking part of the mind, while the subconscious mind could be said to be a big VCR of the brain, recording all the things that we experience through our senses. Absolutely everything we touch, taste, smell, hear and see, every experience is recorded and stored in the subconscious mind and this begins to occur the moment that we are born. Initially the suggestions we experience through the senses is taste and touch and that occurs when we are put to the breast or the bottle. It goes in the mouth and tastes good and feels good. That experience is hardwired into the subconscious - it's the reason why babies put everything that is put in their hands straight to their mouths.


This learning carries on and every time they experience something through the senses like touching, smelling, tasting, seeing and hearing, it's filed away in the subconscious mind. Each time the experience is repeated it's reinforced in the subconscious exactly what muscles, nerves, bones etc it needs to move in order to accomplish what they wish to do.


From this point the subconscious will always answer to the call of the conscious mind. Where problems arise is when the programming of the subconscious mind is such that it overrides the intention of the conscious mind. A person may decide that they will stop smoking this decision being made by the conscious mind which is the thinking mind. However, if the person's subconscious mind is programmed for smoking by consistent use, a conflict arises between the two minds and it is the subconscious mind that always wins for it overrides the conscious minds decision to stop smoking. This person could end up seeking the assistance of a hypnotherapist because they think they have a weak will.


However it’s not a matter of weak willpower but rather the programming of the subconscious mind. Now if the subconscious minds views on smoking are re-programmed, you are in the position where the conscious mind and the subconscious mind are in agreement. When the two minds are in agreement, they are working in unison, and then ladies and gentlemen ‘We Have A Winner’.


The easiest way for client and therapist to re-programme the subconscious mind is to talk to it directly by bypassing the conscious mind. The most sure fire way of doing this is by the use of hypnosis with the suggestions being useful only if acceptable to the client (i.e. as previously written although we are talking about re programming it’s only going to be effective if agreeable to the client). In fact the bypassing of the conscious mind, and talking directly to the subconscious mind, is the one and only reason why we use hypnosis. Thus it can be seen that hypnotherapy is the name given to the giving of suggestions directly to the subconscious mind.


It is very important that in order to help people with hypnotherapy, the hypnotherapist must be able along with the client, to decide on the real problem rather than trying to deal with a symptom of the problem and often the presenting problem is a symptom and not the real problem. Having ascertained the real problem, it then behoves the hypnotherapist to make sure the suggestions given are appropriate and compiled in proper therapeutic language.


Thus it is very important for the public good that hypnotherapists are well trained in all aspects of human behavior and all aspects of physical and mental activities both normal and abnormal. There are times when hypnotherapy is not appropriate and if hypnotherapist's are not adequately trained, they would be unable to decide when hypnotherapy is appropriate and when it is not.


Therefore, the public should use care when choosing who to consult with and whether that hypnotherapist has been trained in a hypnotherapy training programme which is of sufficient length and depth, for there is no way that a qualification is bona fide if it was completed in a matter of a few months or in some cases a few weeks.