HYPNOTHERAPY
Hypnosis is when a person is in a state of deep relaxation and concentration, in which their mind is able to relax, disconnect and focus.
The mind is separated into three levels the conscious, subconscious and unconscious mind. We use the conscious mind to communicate with our inner self and the outside world through thought, speech, pictures and movement.
All information held in conscious mind is accessible and ready for action at all times. Examples of this could be when we feel hungry. We eat, and then the hunger thought is forgotten until the next time. Observing a scene to be attractive, like watching the sun set. We may acknowledge the pleasant scent from flowers or freshly cut grass. Temperatures are very much measured on a conscious level removing or adding clothing to make us feel better. People as well as animals acknowledge these thoughts but then release it.
The subconscious mind is where we store recent memories. This can be accessed but not as commonly as the conscious mind. We store images like when we were children and we visited the local park. We may store beliefs that are our own conclusions of what we have decided to believe in. We also store experiences, perhaps an unforgettable holiday. To describe how our subconscious mind works, we could relate it to something we have learnt. This could be something like driving, while we are learning to drive our conscious mind is very alert to how we are feeling and what actions we need to take in order to manoeuvre a vehicle. Once we have passed our test and become a more experienced driver, driving becomes second nature as it is stored in our
subconscious mind. This leaves our conscious mind to think about what will be doing later on in the day. We can drive and talk to the passenger, think about what the weather is like etc. The subconscious mind also has a close relationship with the unconscious mind.
Hypnosis is when a person is in a state of deep relaxation and concentration, in which their mind is able to relax, disconnect and focus. The mind is separated into three levels the conscious, subconscious and unconscious mind. We use the conscious mind to communicate with our inner self and the outside world through thought, speech, pictures and movement. All information held in conscious mind is accessible and ready for action at all times. Examples of this could be when we feel hungry. We eat, and then the hunger thought is forgotten until the next time. Observing a scene to be attractive, like watching the sun set. We may acknowledge the pleasant scent from flowers or freshly cut grass. Temperatures are very much measured on a conscious level removing or adding clothing to make us feel better. People as well as animals acknowledge these thoughts but then release it. The subconscious mind is where we store recent memories. This can be accessed but not as commonly as the conscious mind. We store images like when we were children and we visited the local park. We may store beliefs that are our own conclusions of what we have decided to believe in. We also store experiences, perhaps an unforgettable holiday.
To describe how our subconscious mind works, we could relate it to something we have learnt. This could be something like driving, while we are learning to drive our conscious mind is very alert to how we are feeling and what actions we need to take in order to manoeuvre a vehicle. Once we have passed our test and become a more experienced driver, driving becomes second nature as it is stored in our subconscious mind. This leaves our conscious mind to think about what will be doing later on in the day. We can drive and talk to the passenger, think about what the weather is like etc. The subconscious mind also has a close relationship with the unconscious mind.
The unconscious mind is where the past memories, past experiences are held. Memories can be suppressed deliberately, due to trauma or just forgotten over time. If past memories and experiences have not been accessed over long period of time they can begin to fade into our unconsciousness. In our unconscious mind we store what we have learnt through our life journey and shapes the person we are today. Our beliefs, habits, behaviour can be interpreted through our unconsciousness. The unconsciousness mind may store experiences from our early childhood.
Freud believed many thoughts and experiences are kept here to protect our mind from reliving unpleasant memories and events in order to maintain our wellbeing to stop us from revisiting these unpleasant times over and over again. This could be a time from our childhood, teenager or even as adults if recalled can still be painful or traumatising. The unconscious mind communicates through feelings, emotion, phobias, imagination sensations and dreams.
The purpose of hypnosis is to allow our mind to focus on a particular thought, memory or experience which we have chosen to address. Hypnosis is delivered by a trained therapist. The therapist’s task is to induce deep relaxation but not sleep. Various techniques can be used to in order for this to transpire. Sudden shock, dancing, drumming, repetitive movement, boredom, confusion, focused attention, chanting and relaxation.
When we introduce the mind to hypnosis the subconscious part of the mind becomes more accessible, allowing it to be more open to suggestion, imagination and creativity. During the relaxed state the mind is still in a conscious state as a person is still aware of their surroundings but is free from any thoughts which may cause them to worry or analyse. We can call this an altered state of awareness. We have probably all experienced an altered state of awareness at some point and we can call it day dreaming, lost in our thoughts, imagination, planning or visualising. All these thoughts take us away from our conscious mind and off into a different state of mind, but we are still wide awake. When we are in an altered state of awareness the conscious mind can be almost switched off, and bypassed allowing the therapist to insert, replace new suggestions, thoughts and ideas. A little like reprogramming a computer.
Hypnosis can be used as a treatment called Hypnotherapy. This treatment can be very useful and effective to achieve many outcomes such as guided relaxation to help a person just simply switch off and relax to helping people to change their behaviours. The suggestions can assist you to tackle Phobias, fears, and anxiety, Sleep disorders, depression, Stress, Post-trauma, anxiety, grief and loss. Hypnosis can also be used to help with pain control and to overcome habits, such as smoking or overeating and even some more severe cases.
Hypnosis may not be suitable for people who have psychotic conditions or if the person does not want to be treated. Hypnosis will work more effectively if the client is willing to participate and actually wants to make a difference or change.
Hypnotherapy is not dangerous as the therapist cannot make a person do something against their will or even embarrassing. A memory can’t be deleted or removed it can be altered to represent a different meaning to the individual but will always exist. The only danger is some repressed memories can be discovered and brought to the surface of which the person was not aware of and cause some distress and put some emphasis to a memory which you had thought was not an issue, there is also a chance of creating some false memories too.
I have come across many friends, family, colleagues and clients who all have had some kind of bad or unfortunate experience or are unhappy with the way they are personally and would like to make changes. I believe hypnotherapy can help so many people in a positive way to improve them and boost them mentally and physically. I have had personal experience with an event which I would replay over and over in my mind, this experience was not effecting me just mentally but physically too. It was a very painful time but with one session of hypnotherapy I was able to take steps to move on and it not feel so bad. I also used hypnotherapy to boost myself motivation to focus on a particular outcome.
The mind is what controls us and if we can learn to control the mind. We can take charge of thoughts and we can achieve almost anything. So many illness and diseases exist today because we do not have the mental motivation to take action to ensure we take the right steps to a healthy life. Hypnosis can make boost your confidence in order to make changes. As children we are all brought up differently by our parents, parents are taught to ensure your safety and protect you from harm, however over protection and misguidance can have a huge impact on our lives in a negative way. With hypnosis we can assist individuals by giving them suggestions on what thoughts to have for them live a happier and more fulfilling life.
If you require any further information or would like to try hypnotherapy please contact Bal for a free telephone consultation.