Friday, December 21, 2007

What Can Go Wrong During Hypnosis?

The possible dangers of hypnosis are the same as those due to any other type of psychotherapy. Properly performed hypnosis has no intrinsic danger and even badly executed hypnotherapy has only a minimum amount of risk involved. The only case where these is real danger associated with hypnosis is when it is used on a susceptible person, especially with malicious and harmful intent, involving skilful use of hypnosis in the procedure. Sometimes practicing hypnotists with little experience lose control of the situation while their client is still under hypnosis because they are caught by surprise by a belief or memory or behavior displayed by the client. This is one of the possible dangers of hypnosis because it can lead to new problems sometimes and at other times (more frequently), can make worse old ones.

Hypnotists need to be properly trained in order for them to be able to deal with these situations and lessen the possible dangers of hypnosis. Another one of the possible dangers of hypnosis is for the hypnotist to get caught up in the vivid imagery and emotions that form an integral part of the hypnotherapy sessions. In this case, possible dangers of hypnosis include the manipulation of the situation by the hypnotists for ulterior motives, creating dependence or enhancing the negative parts of the hypnotist’s persona, traumatic reliving of previously blocked out memories, the precipitation of a buried psychosis, a panic attack as a response to the imagery, or forming imagery that is traumatic, misunderstandings that consequently lead to harmful misunderstandings, difficulty in arousing the client and the issues caused due to incomplete alerting. The possible dangers of hypnosis should be avoided with the help of proper training and planning in the part of the hypnotist. Even though one can’t stay “stuck” in a trance, one of the possible dangers of hypnosis is that the hypnotist loses control of the client and is unable to end the session on time. This doesn’t mean that the client will forever or for a long time be stuck in the hypnotic state, but merely implies incompetence on the part of the hypnotist.

Another of the possible dangers of hypnosis is practicing psychotherapy using hypnosis without adequate knowledge of the subject. This can lead to some serious problems for many patients, especially those already isolated, vulnerable and at risk. Temporary headaches and discomfort reactions upon attempted induction are some other possible dangers of hypnosis, but these are not major. Inherently there are no real possible dangers of hypnosis. As long as hypnosis is not taken casual but is taken in terms of being an intimate form of contact to be treated with caution and lots of respect, there will be no real possible dangers of hypnosis. For clients, it is advisable to go to someone with credentials, and reliability, someone who has adequate knowledge of the responsibility concerning the procedure at least as much as the procedure itself. Protect yourself from possible dangers of hypnosis; because it is not hypnosis itself that poses dangers, it is the people who tamper with it who do so.

Use Hypnosis To Cure Depression

If you are depressed and are looking for ways to cure yourself of this problem, using hypnotic treatment for depression will get you out of this low state of mind by altering your self image and lifestyle for the better. Hypnotic treatment for depression will empower you in general and arm you with the resources you need to come out of your depressed state of mind. The cause of depression is not primarily biological, even though it is popularly believed to be. This is a myth. All depression is not rooted in biology – only some is. Most of our anxieties, phobias and traumas that lead to depression are based in personal and deeply ingrained beliefs.

Hypnotic treatment for depression has the ability to retrain the unconscious mind into learning new behaviors and beliefs that will lead to dispelling depression. Hypnotic treatment for depression will help to modify the deeply held belief and make change possible. A change of state is crucial to coming out of depression, and the persistent low mood and depressed state of mind can be altered using hypnotic treatment for depression. Hypnosis is deeply involved in the causality and treatment of depression. The creation and maintenance of a belief system is done via hypnotic phenomena, thus the treatment of depression lies in changing these deeply held beliefs using hypnotic treatment for depression. It is a myth that hypnosis is dangerous of depressed people; in fact the polar opposite is true as hypnotic treatment for depression helps to cure depression by reaching deep into its roots and eliminating or altering the same. The only and very important exception is for those who are so severely depressed that they are suicidal and/or in a stage of de compensation. Hypnotic treatment for depression helps to alter and improve deeply ingrained beliefs about the client’s past, future, present, and even their parents (because the childhood experiences form central part of the depression experienced in adulthood). Perceptions of current events, issues of faith, conflict, insecurities, anxiety, and feelings of worthlessness can all be addressed using hypnotic treatment for depression. Many depressed people go through the additional problems of insomnia, weight problems, stress, smoking, lack of confidence, diabetes, ignorance about how to go about curing their depression, resentment and anger – all of which hypnotic treatment for depression can solve, through diligent and consistent focus and practice.

It is advisable not to jump into all this at once, but take baby steps. First, address the insomnia using hypnotic treatment for depression. Feeling better will lead to a happier frame of mind; move on to more problems, going into deeper and deeper perceptions and experiences until you reach the core of the problem and then solve it using hypnotic treatment for depression. Most importantly, hypnotic treatment for depression will change your perception regard depression, your own self image, your life and the reasons that make you feel depressed. Hypnotic treatment for depression will help you along, and keep giving you ideas on how to get better, while giving you hope for a better future the whole time.

TM - Time Line Therapy

Developed in 1985 by Tad James, Time Line Therapy is a derivative of Neuro Linguistic Programming as well as Ericksonian Hypnosis. As a model, Time Line Therapy can represent temporal experiences, and also change how we feel about certain things in order for us to create a significant future. It has the potential to change our understanding of how negative emotions and limiting choices adversely affect us – indeed, the basic components of our history can be changed to alter the human temporal experience and usher in positive change. How your subconscious stores and interprets memories is what forms your timeline. It allows you to distinguish between a memory from the past and a dream for the future.

It’s a process you’re barely aware of, but your awareness of your time line may vary from time to time. The techniques of Time Line Therapy help to resolve problems with important situations or events in the past which have had an effect on the person concerned. Time Line Therapy allows the person to let go of the negativity surrounding these unpleasant past experiences, while allowing him or her to retain the lesson learned from those incidents or experiences. Time Line Therapy, in this way, forms an effective coping mechanism for traumatized people. A lot of us wish we could turn back time and change some choices or decisions we have made in the past.

Using Time Line Therapy can make this possible, in a way, because with it you can re appraise that past decision, and come to terms with it, and break the limitations binding you to the consequences of those choices or decisions. Time Line Therapy gives you access to the past and enables you to change how the past affects you. Finally, Time Line Therapy also makes possible for you a future as you always wanted it to be. The techniques used for creating the desired future are as potent and as effective as those used to change how the past affects you. The past, limiting decisions and the future – there are the three major components of Time Line Therapy and you can learn them in order to achieve your desired aims.

Although Time Line Therapy has been developed fairly recently, the idea of a time line is very old. Aristotle used this idea in his work, and the Greeks are said to have knowledge about the phenomenon of temporality. The fact that we have a structured language gives us temporal knowledge as well.

It is generally agreed that we are products of our past histories. Our past experiences determine who we are – our identity and what we do or how we act – our behavior.
Time Line Therapy allows you to gain total control over your emotional behavior. Time Line Therapy comprises of a collection of effective techniques that will let you release all the negativity from your unpleasant past experiences and the anger or bitterness you still feel about them, which damages you even more. Try Time Line Therapy to gain control over your own life and let go of the past while building a beautiful future for yourself.

The Power Of Waking Hypnosis

Melvin Powers first used the term waking hypnosis in 1955. This phenomenon involves the altering of one’s behavior without a trance being induced in any way. The phenomenon of waking hypnosis is closely related to the placebo effect. In a state of waking hypnosis the subject is lead to become totally convinced that whatever is told to them at that point is the truth. Even if this is completely ridiculous or illogical, the individual in the state of waking hypnosis will believe in it and consider it absolutely correct, such as the fact that the air in the room will cause him or her to swallow. To induce waking hypnosis successfully, the subject needs to totally trust the source first or be suggested by a calm and authoritative voice in a state of hypnosis. In this case they can even be convinced that a completely harmless substance is a drug which has potent effects. This is where the placebo effect comes in – waking hypnosis is induced in order to cure many patients simply by making them believe that a placebo drug will cure them. Needless to point out or overtly emphasize, waking hypnosis has immense power. Another example of waking hypnosis is the “forgetting syndrome” in which selective memory is used. This happens when someone is interrupted before saying something he or she was about to, and then forgetting what it was. The three main elements of waking hypnosis include rapport, representational system alignment and directed thought patterns. Waking hypnosis may be used in group as well as individual experiments. Suggestibility is greatly enhanced in a state of waking hypnosis, and multiple variable induce the mind into the waking hypnosis state, in order for the mind to escape the extreme input. Everyday activities can induce waking hypnosis – a mother humming a lullaby is actually oftentimes inducing it onto her child, just like some soft tunes on the radio can induce you to fall asleep. People get affected by stimuli from various sources, inducing them into waking hypnosis states. When the human mind has been conditioned through suggestion to accept something as the truth even though it may not be so, it will recognize reality is per what it is conditioned to believe through waking hypnosis.

A trance is not induced but the message is still deeply embedded in the subconscious mind of the subject. The use of waking hypnosis in a session can make or break the session, depending upon how effectively or otherwise the waking hypnosis state has been induced by the practitioner onto the subject. These suggestions are given in a relaxed state that is not a trance; nevertheless they have a potent effect on the subconscious mind of the patient or subject being hypnotized. Waking hypnosis has been used in medicine with tremendous results, in contact with the placebo effect when really serious diseases have been cured merely by the patient’s ability to believe that it can be cured or by taking a pill which has no actual effect but believing that it is a miracle drug that will cure them merely by inducing waking hypnosis.

The Major Theories Of Hypnosis

A state of hypnosis is often accompanied by a deep and soothing relaxation and comprises of a state of heightened awareness. It cannot be forced upon anyone, and someone who is under hypnosis can come out of it easily. It is a relaxed and often highly rejuvenating and enjoyable experience. It is a very effective solution for many problems that people tend to face. In fact, people get into hypnotic states several times a day, while day dreaming, or turning a page only to forget what you just read, or even driving and going somewhere and forgetting the whole trip.

There are three major theories of hypnosis used for research – the Social Cognitive perspective, Neo disassociation theory and the Interactive-Phenomenological theories. Apart from this, paraprofessionals have used hypnosis for ages, thus their perspective on the issue counts as well.

The Social Cognitive theory, out of all the theories of hypnosis, looks at hypnosis in terms of a response or reaction in a social context. Social Cognitive theorists believe that hypnosis isn’t just a single process or an altered state of consciousness but that the situational and social context of the hypnotic session along with the subject’s pre-conceived notions, attitude and expectations will all contribute to the process. Role enactment and conformity form a major part of the analysis of hypnosis done by Social Cognitive theorists, such as Coe and Sarbin, Spanos and Wagstaff.

Theories of hypnosis also include the Neo disassociation theory, developed by Hilgard who derived it from the work of Pierre Janet, a French psychiatrist. This theory propagates that when memory, perceptions and motor controls are altered (that is, in the hypnotic state) it is due to the fact that the executive functions of the hierarchical arrangements of the cognitive substructures are altered via suggestion. Hilgard supports the state theory in the state versus non-state debate in hypnosis research. That is, this theory supports the belief that hypnotic is an altered state of consciousness from the “normal” one – and one that is induced by an induction process of hypnosis. This theory believes that under hypnosis, usually available conscious experience can be repressed and usually repressed processes are made more accessible by the hypnotist. Experimentally, the “hidden observer effect” demonstrated by Hilgard supports this theory.

The third major research theory of all the theories of hypnosis is the Interactive-Phenomenological perspective. This school of thought emphasizes the importance of the interaction of numerous variables while the process of hypnosis is going on, and the fact that this interaction depends upon the perception of the subjects and what the subjects make of their experiences. This perspective stresses on the differences between hypnotic and waking behavior, and the fact that the personalities of the subjects have a part in forming the whole experience of hypnosis. The Socio Cognitive and Interactive-Phenomenological theories of hypnosis have some parallels but are essentially different.

For paraprofessionals, the main elements in the practice of hypnosis are the words – trance and suggestion. Paraphrased by Heap, these words form the basis of the paraprofessional approach to hypnosis.

NLP - Neuro Linguistic Programming

Based on the subjective study of the phenomena of language, communication and change, Neuro linguistic programming or NLP is a perspective in psychotherapy as well as a model for interpersonal communications. Richard Bandler and John Grinder (who is a linguist) co-founded NLP in the 1970s as a personal developemt process. Various psychological fields contribute to NLP among numerous other disciplines – occupational therapy, cognitive science and linguistics.

Thus, NLP has diverse and sound theoretical foundations. NLP is taught through workshops, seminars, books and audio-visual programs. It defies a single definition and is spread over a lot of schools of thought. Training and standards also vary accordingly. Badler and Grinder developed sets of techiniques and/or practices modelled on effective psychotherapy methods of the era. The application hardly remained limited to just psychotherapy, but spread to interpersonal communications that were applied generally and loosely.

In simpler terms, NLP looks at the structure of human thought and experience. Since this is a subjective phenomenon, it cannot possess a streamlined, clear cut, statistical structure but leads to various models of thought, expression and experience. These models then help to quickly changing thoughts, beliefs and behaviors that can limit an individual.

Various people who did things exceedingly well have been studied, and models have been structured based on these studies. Just some of these models include the meta model, Milton model, sensory acuity, sub modalities and representational systems. Presuppositions form an integral part of NLP. They are the beliefs that anyone practicing NLP can create changes within themselves as well as in the environment they are surrounded in. People who practice NLP often have different presuppositions but some common ones have been outlined in this article for your benefit –

communication matters more than mere speech
you already have everything you need in order to change
having a choice is a better situation than having none
each type of behavior has a context and situation in which it is positive and has some value
failure doesn’t exist; feedback does
if one person can do it, anybody else can (when taught properly)
people can and do work perfectly
if you aren’t getting the response you want, try another approach
all your communication amounts to is the response you get from it
by changing a person’s “map”, that person’s reality can be changed (perception is changed by representation)
In NLP, the five senses are central to the purposes of representational systems. For example,

visual (the eyes) – it looks good, positive visual image
auditory (the ears) – I have heard good things about it
olfactory (the nose) – it smells favorable, pleasant, effective
gustatory (the tongue) – it tastes like it will be successful
kinesthetic (the skin) – it makes me feel good
All these representations have certain attributes or qualities that you can perceive by using all your five senses – these are the sub modalities used in NLP. They fine tune your representation and can thus be used to create great changes.

How To Tap The Healing Power Of Hypnosis

There is more to the mind-body connection than is popularly believed, and it is because of precisely this reason that the healing power of hypnosis is coming more and more into mainstream treatment than ever before. Hypnosis can make you quit smoking, treat your phobias, lose those excess pounds, manage pain and stress, and make you so much healthier overall. The secret behind all this is the healing power of hypnosis, and how it can connect your conscious to your subconscious by the power of suggestion. Patients who learn to self-hypnotize can ward of epileptic seizures or asthma attacks, ease many kinds of discomfort and pain including migraines and cancer-associated pain, and stop hemophilia-induced bleeding.

Essentially, the healing power of hypnosis works due to the powerful motivational factors in relation to positive suggestion. This empowers the patient to make positive changes in his or her life, which were previously impossible to start or keep up with, as motivation was lacking or faded away eventually. The healing power of hypnosis leads the patient to tap into the veritable gold mine that lies in the subconscious, and thus helps to connect with the deepest and most powerful part of the individual patient. Regular self-hypnosis sessions or session with your therapist can help to train your subconscious into doing what you want – thus tapping the vast power that lies there. The healing power of hypnosis follows a definite pattern when it comes to concrete goals such as losing weight or quitting smoking – first the root of the problem is identified. Analytical hypnosis is a tool that can help to locate the basic, underlying issue that makes the patient act out in self-harming ways and form unhealthy habits which the patient is then unable to quit. Based on this analysis, a solution and later steps can be worked out for the patient. The next part of the treatment is suggestion therapy; where in the power of suggestion is practiced by making positive reinforcements a tool to help you find the motivation you need.

Your mind will be gently molded and the healing power of hypnosis will kick in, in order for you to discover that you really don’t need to cling to self-harming activities any longer. Simply by relaxing and being aware of the power of your own subconscious mind, you can alter your lifestyle in major ways – you can shed those pounds, eliminate those migraines and throw away all your cigarettes. Harnessing the power of your mind on a consistent and focused basis will unleash the healing power of hypnosis and coupling this with healthy habits will help you overcome your problems, and this requires commitment from your side. This is important initially, but once you start consistent sessions of hypnosis you will find your concentration and focus returning, making the healing power of hypnosis something you can now tap at will. Such is the healing power of hypnosis that it will show you how to find all your strength within yourself. By learning about the root of past behaviors and changing them, you are in essence, retraining your mind. A new self image, awareness on how to reach a completely relaxed and laid-back stage and a completely positive approach are add-ons of consistent hypnotherapy that will make your life enriched and fulfilled and the healing power of hypnosis will help you rejuvenate.

How To Lose Weight Using Hypnosis

Most people who use diets and exercise to help lose weight can’t stick to their routines for too long. They lack the motivation, and let’s face it – losing weight and keeping the extra pounds off consistently is hardly an easy task. The trick is to break the pattern of habits surrounding extra weight. To break this pattern, hypnosis treatment for weight loss can be used to effectively get rid of the habits which inevitably lead to someone remaining over weight. Hypnosis treatment for weight loss is a very powerful tool for weight loss, among myriad other problems such as depression, smoking, low self-esteem, post traumatic stress and health problems. Using hypnosis treatment for weight loss, you can lose weight naturally and easily. In this way, your weight loss will be permanent, and very healthy. Of course, exercise and a healthy diet must form a part of this routine but hypnosis treatment for weight loss will give you the powerful motivation you need to keep going. Your weight loss will be gradual, but healthy. It will take time, but will happen inevitably and naturally. Surely you are willing to wait a little when the alternative is a lifetime of being overweight? Using hypnosis treatment for weight loss will give you confidence, will power and the potential to go through with your weight loss plans. You will literally think yourself thin. Hypnosis treatment for weight loss will give you a while new image of yourself, and you will radiate confidence. You will also be more relaxed about the whole weight loss issue, thus reducing stress levels which will stop the vicious cycle of stress induced comfort eating and poor diet. Hypnosis treatment for weight loss will also lead you to think positive about weight loss and the management of a healthy weight. Not only your weight but your entire perspective about it will be straightened out using hypnosis treatment for weight loss. Hypnosis treatment for weight loss will also make you feel better about yourself, thus helping you create a sort of self fulfilling prophecy. A healthy, happy cycle of good feelings about yourself and weight loss will follow naturally. All the unconscious barriers and obstacles you would normally face will be removed with the help of hypnosis treatment for weight loss. You will refrain from eating too much – indeed; you know it is not what you want. You will feel the desire to exercise and eat healthy food. With the help of hypnosis treatment for weight loss, you will retrain your whole sub consciousness into learning new, healthier habits. The mind and body connection is stronger than most people imagine that it is, and your own hypnosis treatment for weight loss will give you a practical demonstration of this fact. Use hypnosis treatment for weight loss to create a whole new you, and see how much weight you lose. Apart from that, let hypnosis treatment for weight loss give you a whole personality make over too, letting you repair self esteem or depression issues which might have been the root cause of your weight problems.

How Self Hypnosis Can Help You

Millions of people all over the world are using self hypnosis right now to help themselves improve their own lives – politicians and housewives, musicians and scientists, young professionals and retired people – so many people have discovered the positive effects that self hypnosis can have. Moreover, once you learn, you can do it anywhere, and at any time, with no cost at all. There are some popular myths surrounding the issue which need to be dispelled, and they are listed below:

In the process of self hypnosis, you cannot get “stuck” in that state. You can come out of it whenever you so desire.
While using self hypnosis you do not “go to sleep” or pass out – you are fully conscious, in fact more so than any other time.
Self hypnosis does not cause you to lose your mind – you know what is happening at all times.
It is not related to the occult or magic in any way, in fact it is in the process of entering mainstream medicine in a major way.
Self hypnosis is an absolutely natural state which you go into yourself, several times daily.
Self hypnosis is a technique of treatment.
It is a hundred percent safe.
Self hypnotizing is a skill, which like all others needs to be mastered and definitely improves with consistent and focused practice. Learning how to use it can benefit anybody who does so. There are many free lessons and websites who help you learn the skill, although it is advisable to approach a professional initially. Self hypnosis can help you overcome the fear of public speaking, enhance your performance when it comes to athletics, get rid of unhealthy self esteem and depression, build your confidence and ward off panic attacks, and help combat phobias and post traumatic stress.

Words are a part of daily life but with self hypnosis they take on a deeper and more potent implication. These words help you heal. What one word means to you can have a totally different or even opposite meaning to some one else. Thus, in self hypnosis choose only the words that evoke wonderful memories and positive feelings, and avoid those which carry negative connotations. You know yourself best, and so in self hypnosis do your word selection yourself. Choose words that will get the most out of you – cause you to respond in the most powerful manner possible. In addition to good sounding words such as “peace, harmony, happy, relaxed, and cheerful”, use words such as “increasingly” and “more and more” in order to enhance fluidity and prompt growth. Self hypnosis includes excluding static words, even if they carry positive meaning - choose “happier” instead of “happy”, and tap into the potential this simple change of word can give you. Shun negatives at all costs, like “don’t, can’t, won’t, shouldn’t”, instead try and make a list of positive transformation of these words. It is important to be relaxed and follow the self hypnosis step by step to achieve total heightened awareness. Tap the power of self hypnosis to help yourself heal.

All You want To Know About Walking Hypnosis

Walking hypnosis, which is as well recognised by many additional names such as environmental hypnosis and zoning out, is a confused state attained unknowingly by doing a job that is dull and unvarying, such as walking, listening to a lecture, reading, gardening, and so forth. In the process of walking hypnosis one’s focal point changes from the impending job and one drops away into the walking hypnosis state. Walking hypnosis is a state of over--suggestibility. We fall into into walking hypnosis frequently, even many times every day.

Walking or environmental hypnosis happens when too many message units coming from the environment trigger this state, leading to a kind of zoning out in order to escape the extreme input. Although it is naturally inadvertent, going into a walking hypnosis state can be learnt. Students do it in classrooms so that all the information they get is permanently stored in their subconscious and can be accessed whenever it is needed. These techniques can be taught to anyone by a competent hypnotist. Many athletes use walking hypnosis to enter the “zone” where they can focus on the hypnotic state rather than the exhaustion or pain they are feeling while exerting their bodies in strenuous physical activities.

Listening to music, watching a soap opera, watching movies, driving, day dreaming – any where and at any time you can enter a state of walking hypnosis. When you learned how to drive a car, the whole procedure got registered in your subconscious mind so if you enter walking hypnosis while you are driving the subconscious mind is doing the thinking for you, thus letting you drive unhindered even though you are hypnotized. The cathartic feeling experienced during tragic movie sequences also amounts to walking hypnosis, as you start to concentrate very hard on the movie and so engrossed in it that you actually begin to “live” the movie. Whatever emotions are expressed in the movie, your state of walking hypnosis leads you to feel them too.

You are sad if the movie is tragic and if it is exciting or thrilling it causes you to feel a maelstrom of emotions. Nothing but the hyper-suggestive effect of walking hypnosis can make you feel like that. In fact, at this stage the messages portrayed in the movie can become powerfully embedded in your subconscious mind and lead you to identify with it – even strong messages of fear and hatred register very deeply in the walking hypnosis state. Thus, be very careful what movies your children watch and which ones you watch yourself. If you think that you have never been hypnotized, think again.

Those times when you have day dreamed and gone into a trance are actually times when you have gone into a walking hypnosis state. So if you though that hypnosis was scary, dangerous or impossible to get out of, you can now remember those times and realize that it is a completely natural phenomenon, especially environmental or walking hypnosis. It is completely safe to be hypnotized and you can come out of the trance when ever you wish to. In fact you can harness the random power granted to you by walking hypnosis and use it to enrich your own life.