How does hypnotherapy work?
So if you decide upon a course of hypnotherapy with a reputable practitioner, what exactly can you expect? After taking a history of the problem in question, and discussing how hypnotherapy may be of use to you, the therapist will most likely ask you to sit in a comfortable chair or lie on a couch. Your attention will be shifted away from external events or mental stresses, and you will be asked to focus on your breathing and be taken into an increasingly relaxed state. In this state it is found that a person’s heart rate and metabolism all tend to slow down, and their brain waves change to those typical of a person in a relaxed state. This state is usually only a light trance, and you will most likely remain completely aware of what is going on. Once you are feeling fine and relaxed, then therapeutic mental suggestions are introduced to overcome the problem in question, the aim of which is to help you gain control over the mental and physical processes that are keeping you smoking. Therapeutic suggestions will be made such as, “you will no longer feel the desire to have a cigarette”, and so on.
It’s believed that in this state the mind becomes particularly receptive to suggestion, and is somehow able to exert control over normally involuntary processes. You will then gradually be brought out of your relaxed state and back into normal consciousness.
You may well be given some self-hypnosis exercises to use at home, which typically involve relaxation, getting yourself all relaxed, then making suggestions to yourself – such as repeating positive statements, that relate to your intended goal, and finally getting yourself back into a fully alert state.
Hypnosis is now being used by some doctors and dentists, particularly as a form of analgesia.
For smoking cessation one treatment may effect a change, but a short course of six to ten treatments at weekly intervals is often recommended.
So now you know what it’s all about, how about it?
Filed under: Treatment Options
