Hypnotherapy

Hypnosis can be understood as a state in which the ability to respond to ideas or suggestions is increased.

Hypnotherapy combines hypnosis and psychotherapy to help with medical or psychological problems. These are therapeutic procedures that are carried out while the person is in a hypnotic state. In most countries, it is understood as a form of psychotherapy and not as an independent therapeutic approach. This is why some professionals do not use the term hypnotherapy and instead call it therapeutic hypnosis.

A professionally trained hypnotherapist is a psychotherapist, doctor, social worker, psychologist, or other health professional who is additionally trained in hypnosis. Competent and ethical performance of activities requires knowledge of modern psychotherapy and clinical skills. If you are in doubt about the qualifications of a therapist, it is important to check their professional qualifications and license to practice.

A lay hypnotist is a person who has learned to help someone enter a trance state called hypnosis. They usually do not have accredited training in medicine or mental health. Because a lay hypnotist has no diagnostic skills, he cannot reliably or legally diagnose any medical and/or psychological problem an individual may have. Additionally, because the lay hypnotist lacks the necessary diagnostic training, he may not know when to refer a client to a doctor or mental health specialist.

A general principle in the medical profession is, "If you are not qualified to treat a problem without hypnosis, then you are not qualified to treat it with hypnosis." Unfortunately, there are few meaningful regulations specific to the practice of hypnosis. Thus, people without academic degrees or proper clinical training can take a short course in hypnosis, usually learning formulaic approaches, and then start offering services as a "hypnotist" or "hypnotherapist". It's important to work with someone who is well qualified and authorized, with a health professional (doctor, social worker, psychologist, psychotherapist) who uses hypnosis in their work, and not with someone who is just a hypnotist.

Different types of hypnosis practitioners will use different hypnosis techniques, delivery styles, and therapeutic procedures and approaches based on their background, training, clients, and practice environment.

In itself, hypnosis as a process has no intrinsic therapeutic or beneficial value, but it does have a naturally relaxed physiological state, ie. the state of parasympathetic response produced by some types of relaxation hypnosis has intrinsic therapeutic and beneficial value in itself (similar to some meditative practices).

No, hypnosis itself is not dangerous. On the contrary, it is a relaxing and invigorating experience. However, like any tool, be it a hammer or medicine, it can be used incorrectly, which can have negative consequences. How? The first lesson you learn when studying hypnosis is that "whatever you focus on, you strengthen". So can a well-intentioned but uneducated doctor make you focus on things that are unimportant or even upsetting? Yes. Therefore, it is important to choose your therapist carefully and to be aware that you can reject any suggestion that you do not find helpful. You are in control!

Although personal approaches to applied hypnosis are generally more effective than impersonal approaches of recorded sessions, the value of recorded sessions is still high. Often used as a supplement to personal therapy, these sessions provide important opportunities to stay focused on your goals and actively do things that will help you achieve them.

No. Hypnosis is not a reliable tool for enhancing or restoring memory, as the entire mental health profession learned the hard way during the years of the so-called "memory wars," when therapists treated almost all symptoms as evidence of hidden memories of childhood abuse. Memory is a subjective process that can be intentionally or unintentionally distorted by persuasive suggestion. You don't need to be under hypnosis for this, as this is simply a vulnerability of human memory in general. Misinformation presented by someone credible, who has no apparent motive to deceive, can lead people to believe that things have happened to them that never actually happened to them. This can even happen in an extreme form, when memories of "past lives" are restored, which may seem real, but are clearly the product of suggestions that people who are inclined to believe in them accept without criticism.

I have a very simple answer to this question in the form of an opposite question: How long does a really good idea last?

The answer is a resounding no! This sad but persistent myth stems from the fact that most people encounter hypnosis recreationally rather than in a clinical setting. Stage hypnotists and television and film scriptwriters portray hypnosis as a form of "mind control," and that's how it may appear to the untrained eye. If there was a type of people called “hypnotists” who could control people, the world would be completely different. No, you do not lose control of yourself in hypnosis. If that were the case, it wouldn't be of much interest to clinicians like me, because no one ever seeks help by saying, "Please help me lose control of myself." What appeals to me about hypnosis is the way hypnosis consistently empowers people.