HEALING WITH HYPNOTHERAPY

Hypnotherapy is a combination of hypnosis and therapeutic intervention. The therapist leads the patient to positive change while the patient is deeply relaxed in a state of heightened suggestibility called trance.

Hypnosis, when using proven therapeutic procedures, can be a highly effective form of treatment for many mental, psychosomatic, and physical disorders. For example, through the use of regressive techniques, an adult patient may mentally voyage back to a point in youth that was particularly troublesome, allowing the healing of old emotional wounds. Another patient can be led to understand that emotional pain has been converted to physical pain, and that the pain can be eliminated once the source has been addressed. Or, a person suffering from chronic pain can be taught to control the pain without use of medications. There are a number of techniques for correcting dysfunctional behaviours such as self-destructive habits, anxiety disorders, and even managing side effects of various medical treatments and procedures.

Hypnotherapy has been used to stop self-destructive and addictive habits like smoking. It has also been used to curb the urge to eat for overeaters, to stem the disruptive actions of tics, cure insomnia, stop bed-wetting, and minimize anxiety. Excessive stress can be generated from any number of sources and can be the springboard for anxiety. Some of the more prominent sources of anxiety and stress for which people seek hypnotherapy are: public speaking, test taking, and job stress. Hypnotherapy also works well for other anxiety disorders such as phobias and has proven to be an effective treatment for mild to moderate depression. Hypnotherapy was also more effective at enhancing quality of life of cancer patients and relieving anxiety and depressive symptoms, when compared to patients receiving traditional care.

Confusion can occur when one seeks a hypnotherapist, as a result of the various titles, certifications, and licenses in the field. Care must be exercised when selecting someone to see. Care must be taken also by the therapist to ensure adequate training and sufficient experience for rendering this specialized service. The therapist must be well grounded in a psychotherapeutic approach before undertaking the use of hypnotherapy.