Hypnotherapy – or hypnosis – is a sort of non-standard or “complementary and alternative medicine” treatment. It uses guided rest, intense concentration, and focused attention to realize a heightened state of consciousness, sometimes known as a trance. In this state, the person's attention is so focused that every part that is occurring around them is temporarily blocked out or ignored. In this naturally occurring state, an individual can focus their attention—with the assistance of a trained therapist—on specific thoughts or tasks.
Hypnosis is usually viewed as an aid to psychotherapy (counseling or therapy) since the hypnotic state allows people to explore painful thoughts, feelings, and memories that they could have kept hidden from their awareness. In addition, hypnosis causes people to perceive some things in another way, equivalent to blocking the feeling of pain.
Hypnosis may be utilized in two ways, as suggestion therapy or for patient evaluation.
- Suggestion therapy: The hypnotic state allows the person to reply higher to suggestions. That's why hypnotherapy may also help some people change certain behaviors, equivalent to quitting smoking or biting their nails. It may help alter perceptions and sensations and is especially useful in treating pain.
- Analysis: This approach uses the relaxed state to explore a possible psychological root reason behind a disorder or symptom, equivalent to a traumatic past event that an individual has hidden of their unconscious memory. Once the trauma is uncovered, it will probably be addressed through psychotherapy.
The hypnotic state allows an individual to be more open to discussion and suggestions. It can improve the success of other treatments for a lot of conditions, including:
Hypnosis may also be used to manage pain and overcome habits equivalent to smoking or overeating. It may be helpful for people whose symptoms are severe or who need crisis management.
Hypnosis will not be suitable for individuals with psychotic symptoms equivalent to hallucinations and delusions, or for individuals who use drugs or alcohol. It ought to be used for pain control only after a health care provider has examined the person for physical disorders that will require medical or surgery. Hypnosis may additionally be a less effective type of therapy for psychiatric disorders than other more traditional treatment methods, equivalent to: B. Medication.
Some therapists use hypnosis to recuperate potentially repressed memories that they consider are related to the person's mental disorder. However, the standard and reliability of the knowledge retrieved by the patient under hypnosis just isn’t all the time reliable. In addition, hypnosis can carry the chance of making false memories – normally consequently of unintentional suggestions or the therapist asking leading questions. For these reasons, hypnosis isn’t any longer considered a typical or common component of most types of psychotherapy. The use of hypnosis for certain psychological disorders by which patients may be highly liable to suggestions, equivalent to dissociative disorders, also stays particularly controversial.
Hypnosis just isn’t a dangerous procedure. It just isn’t mind control or brainwashing. A therapist cannot make an individual do something embarrassing or do something the person doesn’t wish to do. The best risks, as explained above, are that false memories could also be created and that the treatment could also be less effective than other, more established and traditional psychiatric treatments.
Hypnosis may additionally be less effective than other, more established and traditional psychiatric treatments. For example, it just isn’t a recognized alternative to established treatments for serious psychiatric disorders equivalent to schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or major depression.
Hypnosis is performed by a licensed or certified psychologist who’s specifically trained in this method.