Hypnosis And Therapy
How do psychologists and psychiatrists use hypnotism in conjunction with traditional therapy?
If a person is suffering from a diagnosed mental disorder, then hypnotherapy, in and of itself, is not indicated as a treatment without the appropriate referral and consultation of a licensed mental health professional. In other words, a person like me, who's a lay- hypnotherapist, I've got a lot of psychological training that I've received in learning how to do hypnotherapy, but I am not a licensed psychotherapist. So if someone comes in to me with, say, clinical depression or bipolar, or worse and I recognize it – and I've been trained to recognize it although I'm not trained to diagnose it or treat it – if I recognize something that I feel is beyond the scope of what I've been trained to do, then I am required to seek the written approval and referral of a licensed psychotherapist. Now hypnosis can be a very powerful adjunct, and I work with a great number of psychologists, marriage and family therapists, licensed clinical social workers, and psychiatrists, in conjunction with their treatment, hypnotherapy has been very powerful, and I have seen people just do amazing things. Once again, it's not magic. It's not for everyone and it's not always even indicated. There are certain conditions like psychotic conditions and schizophrenia, for example, where hypnosis would not be the indicated treatment. And so it's a very slippery slope as to whether there's going to be efficacy or not. I would say, guardedly, that most conditions, if treated appropriately by the right licensed psychotherapist or mental health professional and a well-qualified hypnotherapist respond quite well.
How does hypnosis enhance traditional therapy?
Traditional cognitive psychotherapy is that it is done at a cognitive level. The therapist and the patient are talking in a cautious, alert state. Hypnosis deals with the mind at a somewhat deeper level, perhaps a much deeper level. We work with the subconscious part of the mind. It's important to remember that in most states, and the state of California is one of them, a lay hypnotherapist, who is not a trained or licensed mental health professional, is not allowed to, nor should, treat a psychogenic, psychological disorder, disease without the written approval and referral in consultation, of someone who is trained to treat and diagnose these issues and that is very very important. However, in conjunction with traditional therapy, hypnotherapy can speed the process of recovery and I have seen results that people would say are magical.
What is "Ericksonian" hypnosis?
Milton Erickson is a fabulous and very interesting figure in modern hypnotherapy. He was trained as a classic physician. He was a psychiatrist, and was one of the first, I think, to really use hypnosis as a therapeutic tool in the practice of psychiatry. In those days psychiatrists did more therapy than they do today. (I say that with quotes because some, I'm sure, still do). Psychiatry is more known as a medication discipline now. Milton Erickson did a lot of one on one therapy with clients, and used hypnosis in very unique and subtle ways. He had a technique that he called "indirect permissive suggestion", whereby he would weave hypnotic suggestions into a very lilting speech pattern, and the person would be accepting these hypnotic suggestions without even knowing that they were getting them: "You know? You know how much you know. You know what you need to, and you know exactly what to do, don't you? What I say." That's a very, very tiny example of an Ericksonian technique. So, he revolutionised, in my opinion, the use of hypnosis as a therapeutic tool in the 20th century. His techniques are marvellous for people who are afraid of hypnosis, or resistant, and/or just don't want to entertain the notion of going into "trance", because he induced it, and his techniques induce it in such a subtle and exquisite way that the person can have a session and never even know they had a session.
What types of mental conditions or disorders respond best to hypnotherapy?
Every mind is unique. Everyone responds to therapeutic methodologies in their own way. Some people respond very, very profoundly. I can say this – if there were mental disorders that don't respond well to hypnosis, the ones that come to mind most are psychosis, in particular disorders like schizophrenia or perhaps multiple personality. However, there probably is no psychological disorder that I have found in the literature through all the years of studying that won't respond in some way. People tend to respond very, very well, for instance, to treatment for fears, phobias, anxiety, sometimes panic disorder, social phobias. But to just say this and this and this and this responds well would not be fair because everybody is different. The person that responds well to one thing might not respond well to something else.
How can hypnosis help me cope with my phobias?
Phobias are one of the more prevalent issues that we deal with with hypnotherapy. It's important to understand what a phobia is. Fear is a defense response; it is a response to a threat. A phobia is a fear response that is blown way out of proportion to the actual threat. In fact, there may not be any threat at all, and yet this person feels this profound sense of fear or dread or panic. So, a phobia is an irrational fear response, in other words, the mind is triggering fear at an inappropriate time. Now we learn our fears and our phobias through a process called association and identification. We associate an environmental event and we identify with it and if a person associates and identifies an event with a fear response, the two become connected and it produces a phobia. Hypnosis works by desensitizing the person to the response, and what we would do in treating the phobia, is disconnect the input with the output, and desensitize the person to the fact that, you know, spiders really aren't very harmful at all. And amazingly, in a very short order most of the time, that person will not be able to feel the phobic reaction. It is, in a way, a process of reconditioning a response to a trigger. And so, through a process called systematic desensitization, which is one of the more powerful ways we treat phobias, very very soon, a person who's got a fear of spiders or driving on the freeway or flying in an airplane can look at any one of those triggers and feel nothing but calm.
How can hypnosis help me better handle stress?
Stress is a natural part of living. We have this response that we call stress. In small doses, it can actually be a helpful response – because if we're threatened or we have a particular challenge, while we're in stress, the body secretes hormones and chemicals that make us stronger and more alert and focused - helping us get through the issue. And, of course, primitive man used this response to survive. In this day and age, we don't have that need, most of us, most of the time, and yet, we are under constant stress through other avenues or other inputs. Now, chronic stress is not healthy. In fact, it's very unhealthy. It will cause physical and mental disease. Hypnosis is, in and of itself, a state of consciousness in which both the body and mind relax. The process of relaxing and letting go, and the process of focusing and quieting the mind allows the brain to stop sending the signals to secrete the stress hormones – of cortisol and adrenaline – those are the two most prevalent chemicals that are the product of stress. And, so we can process those chemicals out of our body, our tissues, and the brain secretes seratonin and dopamine – which are the feel-good chemicals that we secrete naturally. And, the process of relaxation has to alleviate stress. We cannot feel stressed and relaxed at the same time. Hypnosis, when it's done, when it's induced, creates relaxation. And, so by experiencing a trance, in and of itself, the person has to release stress. With repetition and reinforcement, it can become chronic – so, we have chronic calm instead of chronic stress – and it's a much better way to live.
How can hypnosis help me deal with panic or anxiety attacks?
Panic or anxiety is again a fear response that may or may not be appropriate and this is a very, very delicate subject because at a certain level, anxiety becomes a mental disorder. At a different level, anxiety is just perhaps a reaction to something that is going on in life. So one of the first things that we have to determine before hypnosis is, what is the nature of this anxiety? If it is just sort of a minor discomfort and you are putting up with it, but it is really affecting your life then someone like me or a hypnotherapist can probably treat that with hypnosis. It is very similar to the way we treat a phobia or a fear. We desensitize the emotional response to the physical or environmental trigger.
How can hypnosis help me overcome my low self-esteem or lack of self-confidence?
Lack of self-confidence or low self esteem, like most of our emotions and our beliefs, is learned. Babies, basically, are born with tons of self esteem, lots and lots and lots of it; and through the course of growing up, through the influence of their parents, peers, teachers, and later on society, which keeps telling us "If you don't do this, you're not good enough. If you don't buy this, if you don't live here, or make this much money, or have this big a house, or drive this car you are not worthy," they can lose it. By the time we are adults we've become very very good at allowing other people to dictate, or we perceive that what other people think really determines our value, and it's fallacy. We are all born to have happy, abundant, and joyful lives. That is our birthright. So, because these self-destructive or unworthy attitudes are learned, we like to say that hypnosis is a tool for helping the mind unlearn the unwanted or undesirable emotions, attitudes, behaviors and re-learning new ones. That's really what it is. Now, we don't know exactly how it works, but we can dissociate that feeling, that learned response and re-introduce a new one. So suddenly that person begins to believe "Hey, you know what? I am worthy, and who is that person to tell me otherwise...." So, they begin to take control over their lives, and they can, and often do, develop that healthy self-esteem and self-confidence we're born to have. It may take hypnosis to get that back.