What is Hypnosis?
The term hypnosis is used to discuss or describe the state of mind when people are incredibly relaxed and calm.
In the hypnotic state, individuals also tend to experience enhanced concentration and increased focus along with increased suggestibility.
However, contrary to popular belief, people retain their sense of will. I.e. you cannot make others do what they don't want to do.
"First, you Make your beliefs and then the beliefs make you."
Marissa Peer
What is Hypnotherapy?
Hypnotherapy is the use of hypnosis to treat psychological and medical conditions. Hypnosis has been effective in delivering results even when conventional methods have failed. When performed by a trained and competent hypnotist, hypnosis can produce long-lasting and permanent results. Hypnosis is safe, natural and has no harmful side-effects.
Hypnotherapy utilises the bicameral nature of the human mind. That is, the human mind has two modalities being the conscious and subconscious mind. In hypnotherapy, it is considered that the subconscious mind is a bank for all of our life experiences. Whereas, the conscious mind is responsible for the critical appraisal of information and decision making.
Hypnosis helps you to relax due to which you are able to 'bypass' the 'critical' conscious and directly reprogramme your beliefs and patterns that are detrimental to you.
Clinical Applications of Hypnosis
It is not the hypnotist's goal to provide with you with answers and solutions. But, instead to guide and help you solve your problems.
Hypnosis is shown to be beneficial in situations when your issues are caused by habit formation, unresolved events and/or stress accumulation. It is possible to reprogramme these complexes that remain active in your subconscious mind using hypnotherapy
The following is a list of a few conditions in which hypnotherapy has been shown to be helpful
Smoking Cessation
Alcoholism
Anxiety
bedwetting
Depression
Stress-management
to improve study/work, confidence
Achieving potential goals
Phobias
Psychogenic infertility
Dermatological issues
History of Hypnosis
Franz Anton Mesmer is often considered to be the father of hypnosis. He believed that illness was caused due to magnetic influences, and he would induce trance-like states in people to cure illnesses. A theory that he called animal magnetism. He believed that animals, including humans, had magnetic fields within them which were in liquid form. Stagnation of the magnetic fields caused illness. The magnetic fields need to be coaxed to flow again. This theory was, however, discredited and no further exploitative studies were made to explain 'mesmerism'.
Further progress was made in hypnosis in the 19th century when Dr James Braid began to examine 'mesmerism'. James Braid soon discovered that simple suggestions are just as effective as mesmerism to induce trance-like states. Thus, began the era of modern hypnosis. James Braid though that this trance-like state was similar to sleep, therefore, the coined the term 'hypnosis' from Greek 'Hypnos' meaning sleep.
However, due to scientific advancements in pharmaceuticals, the research in the field of hypnosis was stopped. And by the 20th-century use of hypnosis in medicine had stopped.
Now with technological and neuroscientific advancement, we know that hypnosis is an effective therapeutic tool and that it causes measurable changes in the brain and the body.