Hypnotherapy is a type of alternative medicine that has become increasingly popular. Hypnotherapy can help enhance your life in a number of areas including to overcome the fear of public speaking, stop nail-biting, manage weight effectively, quit smoking, tackling different phobias, finding a life purpose, and many more. Usually, it works fast and unlike some ‘talking therapies’, hypnotherapy isn’t something that is ‘done’ to a client but rather helps in using the client’s own subconscious resources. To keep it as simple as possible I would like to describe to you what to expect from the hypnotherapy sessions.

CONSULTATION

This is an opportunity to meet your therapist and to discuss any issues. The success of the further sessions in the future depends on many factors: your honesty, willingness to be fully involved in the process, and knowing what you want to ultimately achieve. First and foremost the main most important thing here is to establish a rapport with the therapist. If
you have both ‘clicked‘ and you feel relaxed and enthusiastic about the treatment this is an encouraging start. It is of paramount importance to have a good rapport and trust between both parties. This will then lead to a hypnotherapy that is more beneficial and therefore it is more likely that the treatment being successful. It goes without saying that the opposite will be true to find someone more suitable if you feel that the other therapist will be better suited to you in order to achieve a positive outcome.

The main question here is what would a person like to achieve? The next step is for the hypnotherapist to access how realistic the client’s goal is. A good example is someone who wants to stop smoking. This may not be as successful if this
person is staying around friends and family who are active smokers and sabotage him or her consciously or subconsciously. The final factor that the therapist must determine if the client’s hypnotic suggestibility. Taking into account all these factors the therapist will be ready to choose an individual treatment plan.

THERAPY

Usually, the process involves 3 to 6 sessions but this can depend on the person plus how many the client wants. The process firstly involves the ‘stabilizing’ of the client in preparation for the therapy itself. Then there is the ‘treatment stage’, where the majority of the therapy is happening and then finally the ‘maintenance’ stage. This is for the client’s security which includes the new remapped ways for the client to respond. This is also the stage for the prevention of them no longer relapsing to previous unwanted habits.

HYPNOTIC SUGGESTIONS

There are many approaches that hypnotherapists can use to create a hypnotic state, such as Ericksonian hypnotherapy, Behavioural, Cognitive, Analytical and Regression therapy. Despite their differences, these techniques have a few things in common. Their aim is to take us to our subconscious mind where we have all these believes that prevent us from acting
the way we want to act, and gradually replace it with the positive beliefs. This is so we can actually act in a way that we consciously want to act. How it works by is getting you into a deeper state of mind that allows your conscious mind to settle down and that is when the healing can begin. Your subconscious mind becomes more receptive to new positive ideas.

The hypnosis itself is actually quite a pleasant experience. You position yourself comfortably on the sofa, close your eyes and allow the therapist to guide you into hypnosis. The important thing here is to remember that you are the one who is fully in control of the whole situation and you can stop the session at any time if you want to. You are not going to be forced in any way to do something you would not want to do in your normal state. For sure clucking like a chicken or walking like a zombie will not happen.  That is just what you see on television or elsewhere but it is not real.

HOMEWORK

The client is expected to engage in activities and tasks while having a therapy session. This usually involves listening to their recorded individual hypnotic script. If the listening is done for a certain amount of time, the new positive patterns of thinking will begin to establish. Homework is a ‘key’ part in helping the client with therapeutic changes for lasting effectiveness. Potentially it is a priceless opportunity to develop self-managing and self-supporting skills for a lifetime. Once the ‘self- hypnosis’ is mastered, they will know how to get themselves to relax, gain more confidence, increase positivity, and solve other issues. This is a unique opportunity for everybody to develop their self-managing and self-supporting skills for a lifetime.

CONCLUSION OF THE SESSION

After the hypnosis is finished the client will be gently ‘woken up’ an ‘brought back’ to reality. At this stage, the client usually feels rested and re-energized as if they had had a deep sleep. For a few minutes afterward, the client is still in a highly suggestible state so it is a great opportunity for the therapy to continue.