Many people confuse hypnotherapy with hypnosis and think it is all a fraud – a side-show attraction rather than real science.
However, since 1995, the National Institutes of Health have recognized it as effective for chronic pain, and a growing body of research supports its use as an effective complementary and alternative method rather than just snake oil.
Hypnotherapy uses hypnosis, but there is a lot more to it that putting someone to sleep and making them cluck like a chicken – a common media image of what happens when a person is hypnotized.
Hypnotherapy uses hypnosis as part of a treatment plan developed in full consultation with the client, who goes to the hypnotherapist with a specific goal in mind that they wish to achieve.
Hypnotherapy uses hypnosis to induce a heightened state of focused attention and concentration in order to use the power of a person’s mind for health and healing.
Far from being gullible fools, those who are able to be hypnotized have been shown to be highly intelligent, with strong mental abilities. Hypnosis does not leave them mindless and at the mercy of someone trying to control them, but rather, allows them to use their minds more powerfully to drive towards the change they wish for in their lives.
Hypnotherapy for medical purposes uses verbal repetition and mental imagery to induce a “trance-like state” of increased focus in the patient. It is like a rapid method of relaxation so the conscious mind won’t stand in the way of what the subconscious needs to learn in order to achieve results.
Hypnotherapy has been proven to help with certain medical conditions, including:
- Sleep disorders
- Mood disorders
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Hot flashes in perimenopausal and menopausal women
Sleep Disorders
Most adults need around eight hours of refreshing, high-quality sleep each night. However, various sleep disorders can prevent this from happening. Test subjects who went for hypnotherapy and used tapes provided by their hypnotherapists were able to remain longest in the most refreshing stage of sleep compared with those who had not listened to the tape. This is a drug-free way to treat sleep disorders, with no side effects.
Mood Disorders
Hypnotherapy harnesses the power of the mind to get control over unruly emotions and fears so they do not overwhelm a person. Those with anxiety disorders and phobias have been able to minimize their fear and its effects upon their lives so they can start living more normally again.
Hypnotherapy has also be used successfully for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and shows promise for treating depressive illnesses.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
IBS can be painful and debilitating, and can severely compromise a person’s quality of life. One study from 2003 showed that 71% of test subjects reported they felt better after three months of sessions of hypnotherapy for one hour per week. Those who reported improvement were followed up with, and 81% reported continuing improved health six years after their hypnotherapy, and 85% reported improvement after seven years. These long-lasting results are not just great for the patient, but their purse as well.
Hot Flashes
A study in 2013 of postmenopausal women who reported more than six hot flashes per day showed that those who received five weeks of one-hour hypnotherapy sessions reduced their episodes by 74% within 12 weeks. Women who had therapy but not hypnotherapy reported only a 17% decrease in their symptoms.
These are just a few of the conditions hypnotherapy can treat, but clearly demonstrate its effectiveness for the health of body, mind and spirit.
