After an initial consultation you will be invited to relax in an armchair and then guided into a deep physical and mental relaxation. This hypnotic state is a normal and natural state of being, and regardless of how deeply you go in hypnosis and however passive you appear to be you will remain in full control of the situation and will be able to talk and can terminate the session at any time.
At the end of the session, you will be gently returned to the normal working state and will generally find the experience deeply relaxing.
You will then have the opportunity to talk through your experience with your therapist.
What does it feel like to be hypnotized?
Some individuals will experience a light floating sensation whilst others may report a feeling of heaviness in their limbs. . . think of it this way. If we gathered a group of individuals on the beach and asked them to go into the sea, we would see a wide variety of methods. Some would run into the sea and swim out to the horizon, others would dive underwater, whilst others would gently paddle along the sea shore. The same is true with a group of people entering hypnosis. Some will jump right in and enjoy a deeper quality of relaxation than they have ever had before and others will just gently try out the shallow waters.
Who can be hypnotised?
Most people can be hypnotised; the speed, ease and depth of the hypnosis depends upon the individual’s willingness, the strength of the person’s need and their trust and confidence in the client.
How Hypnosis works
The brain is an organ that can be seen and held. The mind is that ‘thing’ that is unseen and physically immeasurable, yet appears to be the part of us that ‘runs everything’. The mind has two distinctive parts, which are referred to as the conscious mind and the subconscious mind.· Conscious MindThe conscious mind constitutes five percent of the brain. In the normal waking state, the conscious mind is in control, it checks every input received by our senses, evaluates the information and makes decisions while we are awake and thinking rationally. The conscious mind can drift into daydreaming, or become unaware of our reactions during monotonous routines or repetitive activity, and it abandons its responsibilities when we sleep.
The conscious mind has no memory and it is very slow when compared to the subconscious mind, and can only consider or think of one thought matter at a time.· Subconscious MindThe subconscious mind constitutes ninety-five per cent of the brain. It is fully attentive whilst the conscious mind is awake and active, going on ‘standby’ during sleep, when its method of functioning is through dreams. It contains the memories and emotions from every experience we have ever encountered. It is able to retrieve stored information required by the conscious mind and it is also able to bring to the conscious mind’s attention any other linked factors stemming from past experiences that it perceives as relevant.
When the subconscious mind feels that a strong enough reason exists to counter a decision of the conscious mind, then it will cause a reaction that it perceives as more appropriate. It is this action that causes phobias, panic attacks, unwanted habits, fears, the loss of confidence, etc.
Hypnohealing
A particular form of hypnotherapy that can be helpful where:
Hypnohealing is a natural healing method which encourages the body’s own healing process. The self-healing stems from the subconscious mind that knows what the body needs to be healed, it simply needs guiding to the right area of the body.
Hypnotherapy enables us to have direct communication and to persuade the subconscious mind to concentrate extra healing effort on the area concerned, especially if the condition is considered to be of emotional/psychological in origin.
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