Hypnotherapy or hypnosis treatment has been known to mankind since ancient times. With the help of hypnosis, women's hysteria was treated. Modern hypnotherapy is a method of short-term psychotherapy helping to cope with depression, obesity, alcohol dependence and neuroses.
Theory of Hypnotherapy
The essence of the hypnotherapy method consists in the verbal prompting of a person with medical devices, destroying destructive programs. The hypnotherapist introduces the patient into an altered state of consciousness, between sleep and wakefulness, with a partial blocking of consciousness associated with the processes of inhibition of the cerebral cortex - the patient ceases to detect external signals other than the voice of the hypnotherapist and plunges deeper into himself.
Ericksonian hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy Milton Erickson suggests the use of hypnosis in a symbolic form in the form of metaphors and stories, one of these techniques is called the "triple spiral." The hypnotherapist begins to tell the parable, and not finishing it, proceeds to the story of the second, in meaning different from the previous one, and also cuts it off in an interesting place. The third story contains the settings that help solve the patient's problem, then the therapist returns to the second story, finishes it and to the first - completing the spiral.
Regressive Hypnotherapy
The regressive techniques of hypnotherapy are aimed at studying the past. In a small child of up to 3 years, alpha rhythm - brain oscillations with a frequency of 7-14 Hz prevails, during this period children are very susceptible to parental settings, family scenarios, and if this destructive messages the child develops a negative scenario with the premises: "Do not live!" , "Do not stick your head out!", "Do not grow up!". Severe psychotrauma of this age period postpone the imprint for life. Regressive hypnosis helps to find the source of the injury and "rewrite", transform the script.
Non-directive hypnotherapy
Modern hypnotherapy, unlike classical hypnosis, has a non-directive character, is devoid of authoritarianism, it acts more gently. With nondirective hypnosis, the hypnologist adjusts to the client, who is in a light trance, the natural state of a person and realizes what is happening to him. Non-directive hypnotherapy is Erikson's hypnosis.
Cognitive-behavioral hypnotherapy
Cognitive hypnotherapy is a combination of behavioral therapy and hypnosis. Correction of behavioral disorders with the help of cognitive therapy has long proved its effectiveness, and in combination with hypnosis the results have been improved doubly, specialists came to the conclusion that both directions are synergistic - cognitive-behavioral therapy and hypnosis mutually reinforce each other. Nowadays, these methods successfully treat obesity caused by emotion or paroxysmal overeating.
Clinical Hypnotherapy
The Institute of Hypnotherapy or Clinical Hypnosis, is constantly engaged in research of the influence of hypnosis in the correction of diseases or mental disorders. Clinical hypnotherapy is in demand in psychiatry, neurology for the therapy of hysteria, neuroses, obsessive thoughts, anxiety disorders. Hypnotherapists in clinical conditions use the following types of hypnosis:
- verbal suggestion;
- directive hypnosis;
- method of levitation;
- Ericksonian hypnosis;
- Elman's hypnosis;
- hypnotization by sight.
Group Hypnotherapy
The method of hypnotherapy refers to short-term psychotherapy and is successfully applied to groups, it is time-saving, covers a large number of participants. Group hypnotherapy is used to correct behavioral disorders in adolescents, with alcohol and chemical dependencies, neurotic disorders. Group hypnosis helps:
- to develop a group "spirit" where you can get mutual support from the group;
- strengthen the resource capabilities of the body;
- to develop optimism, confidence, sociability ;
- integrate and transform negative experience by "liberating", "forgiving" oneself (for example, in working with dependencies: food, game, chemical).
How is the hypnotherapy session?
The session of hypnotherapy as a whole lasts from 15 to 50 minutes. To a person who decided that hypnosis is suitable for eliminating his psychological problems, it is interesting to know the structure of the work that the psychotherapist or hypnologist will conduct. The very first meeting does not involve a hypnosis session, this is a conversation during which the specialist decides whether hypnotherapy can help the patient and creates trust-distrust between the hypnologist and the patient. At the first meeting, a request-problem is generated that needs to be worked out.
Stages of the session:
- Relaxation. The patient is conveniently located in the chair or on the couch, the hypnotherapist asks him to close his eyes, and to the sounds of meditative light music with the help of special phrases helps to enter a state of relaxation, gradually all the muscle groups relax in the person and he enters an easy or deep trance (depends on the purpose and tasks that need to be addressed).
- During the trance, the hypnologist says the code words, settings, suggestion of certain thoughts, designed to solve the problem, for example, get rid of fear. Phobias, the patient at this time can see whole subjects or vivid pictures.
- Getting out of trance, often the therapist asks the patient to "follow him," it can be a countdown from 10 to 1, when the number 1 is spoken, the patient opens his eyes, "rested, full of vigor and strength." With a light trance it is like a state of forgetting, but a person remembers everything, a deep trans - immersion in the unconscious maximum and a person falls out of reality and what happened to him can not remember.
Harm to hypnotherapy
Is hypnotherapy harmful? Like any kind of exposure to humans, the introduction of trance or hypnosis has a number of contraindications, when instead of benefits you can get negative consequences, mostly this happens if hypnotherapy is handled by a person far from medicine, a charlatan. Negative effects in hypnotherapy:
- exacerbation of mental disorders, if hypnosis is used in the acute phase with epilepsy, schizophrenia , twilight state of consciousness and other disorders of the central nervous system;
- withdrawal syndrome (return of symptoms, sometimes with exacerbation, anxiety);
- hypnotic lethargy (loss of rapport between a hypnologist and a patient);
- the use of trance guidance for harm and manipulation of consciousness, a person under the influence of introduced destructive installations commits unlawful acts and deeds threatening his life or close people;
- the emergence of not previously inherent fears, phobias.
Hypnotherapy and hypnotherapy training
Hypnotherapy - training for this kind of psychotherapeutic help is very much in demand today, but it should not be forgotten that hypnotherapy is a great responsibility of a specialist to his patient, so if it is important to become a sought after and qualified specialist, it is better to attend special, certified courses that can be completed at universities where they are taught specialties: psychology, psychiatry, psychotherapy. Often the profession of a hypnotherapist is complementary to an already existing psychotherapeutic.
Books on Hypnotherapy
The training of hypnotherapy remotely takes more time and responsibility falls entirely on the practitioner, there is no experienced specialist nearby who will answer the emerging questions, and they will, so the books on hypnotherapy are more suitable for people who have already passed the qualified training. Literature on the art of hypnosis:
- "Monsters and magic wands: hypnosis does not exist?" S. Heller, T. Steele . A small book from clinical hypnotherapists will be useful for people studying both NLP practices and classical hypnotherapy.
- "Trans-practice" D. Overdurf, D. Silverthorn . The authors immerse the reader in the secrets of suggestion, the creation of metaphors, talk about the formation and further development of Ericksonian hypnosis.
- "Hypnotherapy" by D. Elman . For beginners and experienced hypnotherapists. Many practical recommendations for dealing with complex clinical cases: stuttering, indomitable vomiting, severe pain, migraines.
- "Transforming therapy: a new approach in hypnotherapy" G. Boyne . The author is a master of rapid inductions, a successful hypnotherapist, combined in his work Gestalt therapy and hypnosis, which made his introduction into trance more effective, and the results are impressive.
- "Hypnosis. Suggestion. Telepathy » Bechterew . Classics from the famous Soviet psychiatrist, who dedicated his life to studying the brain. In the book of the scientist there are many facts about hypnosis and suggestion, based on practical activity, observation.