Over View of Hypnosis

Over view of hypnosis

Hypnosis is state of mind where an individual is subjected to controlled thoughts and behavior. Hypnosis involves two persons - the persons being treated to experiment is called subject while the one conducting the experiment is called hypnotist. Hypnotist takes the subject into the mental state, often termed hypnotized, and tries to get response from her. Hypnosis is possibly one of the most debated disciplines in the world. There are so many theories associated with this stream of studies. The basic debate hovers around the state aspect - one school of thoughts suggests that hypnosis is a state of mind while the other school asserts it to be a non-state.

Practitioners of state theory suggest that the mind can be transformed into an altered setting. In other words, mind of the subject can be taken to another plane, and controlled by the practitioner. Those from non-state theory claim that hypnosis as a phenomenon can be observed as a culmination of focus or attention, and doesn't necessarily lead to transformation of mind to another state. However, it is sufficient for us to know that hypnosis is a process of induction and observing effects of the same.
There are many myths and misconceptions associated with hypnosis. Some people opine that hypnosis cannot be affected on persons with strong will power. Champions of hypnosis feel otherwise - they claim that people with strong will power actually make up good subjects. This can be attributed to their higher level of intelligence.

Lot of research has been done on hypnosis. This research on a scientific basis stems from Psychological research. Hypnosis is often treated as a part of peripherals of psychology. Scientists have been trying to find the most ideal way of hypnotizing a person. Some have been successfully doing it with words, some others with the help of triggers like clock or a pendulum.
Hypnosis is finding its way in many applications to treat patients. Hypnotherapy is one such discipline. Some practitioners use this technique to solve psychological disorders of the patients. Clinical hypnosis is another application area of hypnosis.

According to practitioners of clinical hypnosis, physical as well as mental illnesses can be treated and cured with the help of clinical hypnosis. Mass hypnosis is used for prayers or magic shows. Hypnosis applied to forensic science is called forensic hypnosis. It is not only employed in the procedures, but also accepted in the legal perspective.

Negativity

Sometimes it may seem that you just live to go from one worry to the next. Does this sound familiar?

If it is, then you are about to discover a way of getting your life back and creating the future of your dreams!

So what is negativity and how is Hypnosis going to help you?

Imagine that you are wearing a pair of blue tinted sunglasses, everything that you see has a blue tint. Now imagine wearing a pear of rubber gloves and everything that you touch will feel 'rubbery'. Now imagine burning incense and noticing everything smells nice.

Notice how the glasses, the gloves and the incense change all of your perceptions! For instance, without these, things seem 'how they should be' - completely natural, however with them everything seems unnatural.

Now that was a metaphor to explain a point, but what has it to do with Negativity?

Well like wearing gloves, when you have negativity, it allows everything to feel negative.

So where is your negativity and how do you get rid of it?

A part of the mind called the 'Sub-Conscious' is where negativity sets up camp... In a way it seems like a disease, affecting every thought and emotion, sometimes causing the sufferer to lose night after night of sleep worrying about thing that have maybe never bothered them before.

Hypnosis, EFT and NLP can all be used to effectively eliminate negativity, however we use all three as to make sure that it goes away and stays away!

If you are tired and always regretting not doing the things that you have always wanted to do because of negativity, please contact us to arrange your appointment, to see how Hypnotherapy and Self Hypnosis can help you further.

You will be amazed just how quickly you will see the benefits!

Hystory of Hypnosis

Evidence of hypnotic-like phenomena appears in many ancient cultures. The writer of Genesis seems familiar with the anaesthetic power of hypnosis when he reports that God put Adam "into a deep sleep" to take his rib to form Eve. Other ancient records suggest hypnosis was used by the oracle at Delphi and in rites in ancient Egypt (Hughes and Rothovius, 1996). The modern history of hypnosis begins in the late 1700s, when a French physician, Anton Mesmer, revived an interest in hypnosis.

1734-1815 Franz Anton Mesmer was born in Vienna. Mesmer is considered the father of hypnosis. He is remembered for the term mesmerism which described a process of inducing trance through a series of passes he made with his hands and/or magnets over people. He worked with a person's animal magnetism (psychic and electromagnetic energies). The medical community eventually discredited him despite his considerable success treating a variety of ailments. His successes offended the medical establishment of the time, who arranged for an official French government investigating committee. This committee included Benjamin Franklin, then the American ambassador to France, and Joseph Guillotine, a French physician who introduced a never-fail device for physically separating the mind from the rest of the body.

1795-1860 James Braid, an English physician, originally opposed to mesmerism (as it had become known) who subsequently became interested. He said that cures were not due to animal magnetism however, they were due to suggestion. He developed the eye fixation technique (also known as Braidism) of inducing relaxation and called it hypnosis (after Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep) as he thought the phenomena was a form of sleep. Later, realising his error, he tried to change the name to monoeidism (meaning influence of a single idea)however, the original name stuck. 1825-1893 Jean Marie Charcot a French neurologist,disagreed with the Nancy School of Hypnotism and contended that hypnosis was simply a manifestation of hysteria. There was bitter rivalry between Charcot and the Nancy group (Liebault and Bernheim). He revived Mesmer's theory of Animal Magnetism and identified the three stages of trance; lethargy, catalepsy and somnambulism.

1845-1947 Pierre Janet was a French neurologist and psychologist who was initially opposed to the use of hypnosis until he discovered its relaxing effects and promotion of healing. Janet was one of the few people who continued to show an interest in hypnosis during the psychoanalytical rage.

1849-1936 Ivan Petrovich Pavlov - Russian psychologist who actually was more focused on the study of the digestive process. He is known primarily for his development of the concept of the conditioned reflex (or Stimulus Response Theory). In his classic experiment, he trained hungry dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell, which was previously associated with the sight of food. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology in 1904 for his work on digestive secretions. Though he had nothing to do with hypnosis, his Stimulus Response Theory is a cornerstone in linking and anchoring behaviours, particularly in NLP.

1857-1926 Emile Coue, a physician who formulated the Laws of Suggestion. He is also known for encouraging his patients to say to themselves 20-30 times a night before going to sleep; "Everyday in every way, I am getting better and better." He also discovered that delivering positive suggestions when prescribing medication proved to be a more effective cure than prescribing medications alone. He eventually abandoned the concept of hypnosis in favour of just using suggestion, feeling hypnosis and the hypnotic state impaired the efficiency of the suggestion.

Coue's Laws of Suggestion

The Law of Concentrated Attention

" Whenever attention is concentrated on an idea over and over again, it spontaneously tends to realise itself"


The Law of Reverse Action

"The harder one tries to do something, the less chance one has of success"


The Law of Dominant Effect

"A stronger emotion tends to replace a weaker one"

1856-1939 Sigmund Freud travelled to Nancy and studied with Liebault and Bernheim, and then did additional study with Charcot. Freud did not incorporate hypnosis in his therapeutic work however because he felt he could not hypnotise patients to a sufficient depth, felt that the cures were temporary, and that hynosis stripped patients of their defences. Freud was considered a poor hypnotist given his paternal manner. However, his clients often went into trance and he often, unknowingly, performed non-verbal inductions when he would place his hand on his patient's head to signify the Doctor dominant, patient submissive roles. Because of his early dismissal of hypnosis in favour of psychoanalysis, hypnosis was almost totally ignored.

1875-1961 Carl Jung, a student and colleague of Freud's, rejected Freud's psychoanalytical approach and developed his own interests. He developed the concept of the collective unconscious and archetypes. Though he did not actively use hypnosis, he encouraged his patients to use active imagination to change old memories. He often used the concept of the inner guide, in the healing work. He believed that the inner mind could be accessed through tools like the I Ching and astrology. He was rejected by the conservative medical community as a mystic. However, many of his ideas and theories are actively embraced by healers to this day.

1932-1974 Milton Erickson, a psychologist and psychiatrist pioneered the art of indirect suggestion in hypnosis. He is considered to be the father of modern hypnosis. His methods bypassed the conscious mind through the use of both verbal and nonverbal pacing techniques including metaphor, confusion, and many others. He was a colourful character and has immensely influenced the practice of contemporary hypnotherapy, and its official acceptance by the AMA. His work, combined with the work of Satir and Perls, was the basis for Bandler and Grinder's Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).

Hypnotherapist Confidence

Hypnotherapist confidence

Not many of us give ourselves the credit of being great speakers; neither do we find ourselves comfortable and confident when encountering new people and situations. How often have you found yourself rehearsing the lines which you are supposed to speak at tomorrow's meeting? Even though some of us might feel more confident than the rest, it would not be untrue to say that they too have their fair share of cold feet. Sudden bouts of nervousness and palpitations do not indicate that you are having a serious health condition; in most cases it just indicates a lack of self confidence. It would be safe to say that nearly 90% of all humanity suffers from low confidence; if only we could find a magic lamp to cure us of it. Well, I am here to tell you that such a magic lamp exists and it is called hypnotherapy for confidence; and it generally comes in the form of CD's , audio tapes, books and therapists like me!

So now that we have mentioned that hypnotherapy for confidence is actually a plausible option available to you first let's discuss how low confidence affects us in everyday life. See, a person's confidence is like torchlight in the dark…it radiates outwards from us and other people can see it. So even though low self confidence is an internal problem, the affects of it can be seen externally as well. How many of us remember sniggering at someone in school who faltered while reciting something? It is a natural reaction for most of us, but it can be damaging to the person at the receiving end. However, if you suffer from low self-confidence you need to realize that it has a lot to do with your self image; the way you perceive yourself is reflected in the way others perceive you.

Low self confidence can blindside you at any situation in life – exam nerves, fear of public speaking, of being interviewed, of meeting new people, stage fright, fear of being laughed at and so on. Some of us have more visible physical reactions to low confidence…sweating, stammering, shaking, blushing; these are all by products of low confidence. Hypnotherapy first helps you address the core problem of low confidence – your self image in your own eyes. Through positive suggestions about yourself, hypnosis helps you get rid of unwanted beliefs about yourself. It helps remove the clutter in your mind, and clears the path towards discovering a new you. Through the help of hypnotherapy for confidence, you can take care of most problems related to anxiety and low confidence.

When you suffer from a bout of nerves and are low on confidence, you need to channelize that negative energy somewhere else. Do you know that most great orators at one point in time have suffered from a serious case of nerves? Some of the biggest rockstars and actors still get cold feet two minutes before they appear on stage, so don't berate yourself too much if you feel nervous; its but natural. However what you need to tackle is the fear of the situation; and hypnotherapy for confidence can help you do that. By working on your inner confidence and making you aware of all the positives in you, hypnotherapy clears your mind, and this clarity is manifested externally through a sense of self confidence and assertiveness.

Remember, nerves can be dealt with, only if you want to deal with yourself first.

Hypnosis For Sleeping

Do you remember how you felt a day before you took your final exams? Sleepless, sweaty, anxious and troubled seem to be perfectly good words to describe your state then. And then there are those times when you think you have studied all you could, made your revisions meticulously…and yet, one look at the exam paper, and all is blank. This is an accurate representation of many students on the eve of a major test. So much depends on you performing well in your exams, but you just can't seem to control the anxiety. How great it would be if someone had a magic wand that could take these cares away. I am here to tell you that there is a magic wand like this, and it lies within your subconscious; all you need to do is summon this wand to your assistance with the help of hypnotherapy for exam nerves.

I have in my career encountered a number of students who needed help with their anxiety. These students came from various academic streams and levels; some were A Level students, while others GCSE, from those studying medicine to those studying philosophy. I have worked with them, and they have successfully implemented the techniques of hypnotherapy for exam nerves to keep them in good steed. So how does hypnotherapy for exam nerves really help? Exams are all about proving ourselves against others, its all about a flawless performance when it counts. If you are overwrought and anxious, you will never be able to achieve this perfection. The first step of hypnotherapy is to take care of these anxieties. Through soothing echoes and calming visualizations, you are given the opportunity to get over this anxiety. You will be able to relax your mind, even as the positive affirmations work their way towards your subconscious mind.

Through hypnotherapy for exam nerves, we can control the wavering of our minds, and become more focused even when faced with stressful situation. And anyone who has suffered from exam nerves will tell you that answering an exam paper can be as stressful a situation as there can be. Success in exams is as much a matter of academics, as it is about focus and your present state of mind. If you are calm, you can focus and concentrate better on the task at hand, and you will be able to recall answers with clarity. Hypnotherapy is also a great confidence booster, as it tunes your subconscious mind into believing that nothing is impossible; as a result you are sure of yourself and have a better self-image, as the self-doubt is done away with.

Hypnotherapy for exam nerves is also a long term solution. Once you have gone through a series of these sessions, you will able to recall these techniques to your aid as and when you need them. What a sense of liberation it can, this sense of control over anxiety. Hypnotherapy also helps in keeping your energy levels up, and your motivation levels high. So once you have these weapons in your armor, you are tougher; and once you are tougher, no exam paper will seem threatening enough!

Brain Washing

In 1902 a remarkable book was written by James Allen (1864-1912). The work was called "as a man thinketh" and it he shows the reader that the life you are living now is a direct result of the thoughts you had in the past. He expertly illustrates how the thoughts you are thinking now are determining the life that you are going to live tomorrow. I am sure many of you will be aware that the title of Allen's little book is a direct quote from the biblical passage Proverbs 11:17 which states "as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he". The literal 21st century interpretation would be "whatever thoughts you believe to be true and hold dear to yourself are creating your world, life and personality!" you can learn more about this from Napolean Hill (Think and Grow Rich)

What we continually dwell, the very thoughts we think all day long, eventually seep into the recesses of our deeper mind to form a subconscious pattern and this pattern then forms our beliefs, regulates our actions and creates our expectations. These are the thoughts that take root in your "heart" which is really the subconscious mind or the seat of your consciousness! These patterns then, in turn, begin to shape our other conscious thoughts and thus it begins the cycle. This can work in a positive or negative way. The cycle of negative or positive thought patterns, which we call behaviours, tend to condition our responses in life and also affect the physical & spiritual world in which we live.

"So how does all of this work?" You may ask.

Have you ever been woken by an alarming clock/radio playing a piece of music in the morning and had that same piece of music reverberate in your head for the remainder day? I bet you have. That's because we are at our most susceptible to outside influences when we are in a very relaxed state. This is usually first thing in the morning and last thing at night (or when you are half asleep watching the television!). Have you ever heard a pop song that you hated then after it had been played on the radio for a few weeks you found yourself singing along to it and actually beginning to like it? If I had a penny for every time I've heard someone say "I hated that when it first came out but it really grows on you"! Outside stimuli that is repeatedly and repetitively presented to any of your five senses will eventually seep into your subconscious mind - usually unnoticed.

In the above examples repetition was enough to ingrain the song into your mind. Where you listening to the lyrics? On many occasions the messages in the lyrics can influence your mood and behaviour and affect your outlook for the rest of the day. Music and radio have a great impact on our lives however, television has an even more powerful impact!

Many cults use music, sound and visual stimuli as devices or conduits for their messages. They literally  'brain wash' their scriptures, creeds and messages using hypnotic techniques. For instance meditation or relaxation techniques are taught and very soothing sounds or music is played over a soothing voice speaking in a relaxed manner. Sometimes up-tempo motivational music is played that is very often incorporated into a fast-paced sermon or speech. Both these states are hypnotic in nature. They are used to create a certain brain wave pattern that allows for the easy absorption of information. In the aforementioned cases they are designed to promote an ideal state for the mind to absorb and accept the teachings of the cult that are presenting them.
If you think this is a new phenomenon then think again! All throughout the earth's war-torn history armies have used similar techniques by employing the use of drummers and pipers on the battlefield in order to motivate their soldiers. Cults have been found to use many similar techniques to 'brain-wash' their followers!

You may wonder how a drummer or piper could motivate an entire army or how someone could allow themselves to be brain-washed by a fanatic but it has been shown by much research that anyone can be mesmerized into a cult! Why? Because they use hypnotic brain-washing techniques and these techniques work! Have you ever found yourself buying something you didn't really need, just to try it out, because you seen an advertisement about it on the television?

Perhaps you are asking yourself, "well, if someone else can brain-wash me into buying a product or service I don't really need or even brain-wash me into believing a cult leader is the new messiah, then is it possible to move myself into such a hypnotic state and brain-wash myself into believing anything I want?". If you aren't asking that question then maybe you should. You are being bombarded with hypnotic and subliminal suggestions every minute of the day so why not choose the suggestions you want instead of letting ones chosen by others in? You can brain-wash yourself into believing anything you want - that you are totally confident or that you really will own that house, drive that car, date a model or reach that goal.

Through the use of hypnosis or self hypnosis we ourselves can create a state of trance or deep relaxation and condition ourselves into believing anything we want. Hypnosis works by first creating a very relaxed state of body and then a relaxed yet alert state of mind when the brain displays alpha waves. It is while in the alpha state that we can directly access and communicate to the subconscious mind. At this point you have bypassed any internal obstacles. The subconscious mind, the "heart", will accept any suggestion you give it without reserve or judgement.

However, the key difference between hypnosis and the techniques used by most cults is that they engage their followers on their terms. With self hypnosis you are in control. Don't you think it's time you programmed your own mind for a change?

Be Your Own Master Hypnosis

Hypnotherapy, as a word has been associated with a lot of mumbo-jumbo over the years. Whenever we think of hypnosis, we think of evil characters manipulating the actions of innocent individuals for their own selfish motives. But in the recent years there has been a lot of researches on the subject of hypnosis and the findings have been startling. Did you know that on an average almost all of us are in a trance/hypnotic state everyday without being aware of it? Did you know that hypnotherapy is not something restricted to mankind, but that even animals practice some form of it? Did you know that the ancient Egyptians used hypnosis as early as 3rd Century BC?

In the last few years hypnotherapy has emerged as a major tool for personality development and psychological healing. Everyone, yes everyone can benefit with the use of hypnosis in altering some personality traits or areas of concern in our lives. Hypnotherapy is in some sense like art, the more you practice, the better you get at it. That is why the old adage "practice makes perfect" fits hypnosis so well. I have always believed and instilled in my clients that hypnosis is a natural state, it is something as normal as breathing. We all get into trance like states everyday…remember those summer afternoons when your boss was talking nonstop in a meeting, and you found yourself drifting into a world of your own? That's exactly what the state of hypnosis is like.

Hypnosis is a relaxed state of mind, where we connect with our subconscious mind; it is similar to meditation but the difference lies in the fact that with hypnosis you do not disconnect with the present world, but are aware of it completely. A person who is being hypnotized is in control of the process all through, and no, you cannot be hypnotized against your will. Neither will you ever get stuck within a hypnotic state; all that might happen to you is that you might doze off in a particularly effective hypnotherapy session.

Just imagine what the future could be like if you realized that you had the power to change it. Does the idea seem like something out of a fantasy? There is every reason for you to feel that it is impossible to miraculously change things about yourself, and create a new you. You are not to be blamed; it is the way we have been conditioned in society. It makes us think that the power to change ourselves and our lives lies not with us but with some mysterious entity. But I am here to tell you that the power lies within you, all you need to do is search for it inside. Hypnotherapy is a tool which can help you reach that power, and help you unleash the true potential of your subconscious mind.

Hypnotherapy can be used to help you work on your confidence, to increase your intuitive powers, for a positive self image, to cure you of smoking or drinking and to gain insight amongst other things. You can help realign and re-educate your subconscious mind through the use of hypnosis.