Hypnosis has nothing to do with magical powers; it should be recognized for what it really is and is not. There is a long-standing perception that hypnotists possess some uncommon or even magical ability, and that they can force people “under their spell” to do anything they want them to do.
Just as no one can make you trust them, no one can make you be hypnotized. If you do not want to be hypnotized, the mere fact that someone is trying to get you to do something you don’t want to do, is a sufficient reason for you not to trust the person. Without trust, there is no mental relaxation; without mental relaxation, there is no hypnotic state. If the client does not trust the hypnotist or hypnotherapist or is unwilling to relax their mental defences, they will not achieve that level of “hyper-suggestibility” that the hypnotic state should achieve.
The state of hypnosis is said to occur when a hypnotist induces a trance-like state of consciousness in a subject. In this state, which is often referred to as “hyper-suggestibility,” the subject is open to the suggestions of the hypnotist.
Hypnosis is a state of mind that occurs naturally. It doesn’t involve any farfetched altered state of mind or anything out of the ordinary. Each of us, as human beings, utilizes various depths of hypnosis on a daily basis. We do this quite easily and usually without thinking about the process. Virtually all hypnosis is done with words but there are specific language patterns designed to bypass the conscious mind (bypass the ‘critical factor’ in hypno-speak) and talk directly to the subconscious mind, therefore making that emotional connection and emotional persuasion.
Around 1845, a Scottish surgeon named James Esdaile, recognised the benefits of hypnosis for pain relief and performed many operations using hypnosis as the only anaesthetic. Esdaile’s ‘mesmeric’ anaesthesia was extremely safe. Even today, hypnosis can be used instead of anaesthesia for the performance of some minor operations.
Hypnotherapy can bring benefits to a variety of conditions and these can include: weight control, healthy eating, smoking, phobias, compulsions, emotional problems, inhibitions, worries, stress, hypertension (high blood pressure), nail biting, bed wetting, improving work / study / sporting performance, boosting self-confidence and achieving potential, sleeping problems, stomach problems, PMT, skin problems, pain controlling, arthritic pains, aches, some sexual problems and dentistry.
PHOBIAS!
WHAT IS A PHOBIA? – A phobia is an intense fear of something that, in reality, poses little or no actual danger.
Fredd Culbertson, from Santa Rosa in California, has designed a website named ‘The Phobia List’ (http://www.phobialist.com), where is possible to find a very long list of named phobias.
Common phobias and fears include closed-in places (Claustrophobia, – inside a lift, for example), heights (Acrophobia – walking over a high bridge), mice (Musophobia), darkness (Myctophobia) and crowds/open spaces (Agoraphobia).
However, we can develop phobias of virtually anything; situational phobias (fears triggered by a specific situation). Examples include fear of flying, fear of driving, fear of tunnels, and fear of bridges. Blood-Injection-Injury phobias: the fear of blood, fear of injury, or a fear of needles or other medical procedures; social phobia and fear of public speaking; animal phobias, examples include fear of snakes, fear of spiders, fear of rodents, fear of birds and fear of dogs. Natural environment phobias, examples include fear of heights, fear of storms, fear of water, fear of wind and fear of the dark.
Most phobias develop in childhood, but they can also develop in adults. Understanding your phobia is the first step to overcoming it. It’s important to know that phobias are common. Having a phobia doesn’t mean you’re abnormal or crazy! It also helps to know that phobias are highly treatable. You can overcome your anxiety and fear, no matter how out of control it feels.
Everyone reacts differently to a similar phobia. Some personal, physical signs and symptoms of a phobia may include: sweating, feeling dizzy or lightheaded, trembling or shaking, butterflies in the stomach, difficulty in breathing, racing or pounding heart and hot or cold flashes.
If you have a phobia, you probably realize that your fear is unreasonable, yet you still can’t control your feelings. Just thinking about the feared object or situation may make you anxious. When you’re actually exposed to the thing you fear, the terror is automatic and overwhelming.
Conquering the fear, often, does not result in sitting inside a lift with loads of mice and in total darkness. What happens is that we feel neutral and more relaxed about our phobia. We may, in the first instance, jump when we see a mouse but soon we recognize that it is not a threat any longer to us and the anxiety we were having before is actually and finally gone.
There are different ways to cure a phobia, often it depends on the extent of the person feelings about his or her phobia. Phobias are anxious memories around us of what we are afraid of – often created it by a startle response that our brain has translated into a sudden panic. Relaxation is very important and so is to take the emotional charge out of the phobic memory; this is known as de-conditioning. Some people, maybe even with the help of a friend, might be able to overcome their phobia rationally, on their own. If this is not the case, there are methods that will actually benefit the phobic client. Systematic desensitization is based on gradually reducing the bond between the stimulus (e.g. a spider) and the response (e.g. fear) by slowly introducing the stimulus and getting the phobic to relax.
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