Hypnosis

We have all heard the term hypnosis and you certainly have some idea what that is, but probably not too sure how it works. The early roots of hypnosis were described and the phrase “mesmerize” coined after the work of Franz Anton Mesmer in the late seventeen-hundreds. His work was based in part on his desire as an alternative to the medical practices of the day which included bleeding, opiates and other painful treatments.

He believed that in a trance state, he could induce cures based on gravity and magnets. He did have some early successes, but thus began the infancy of hypnotherapy. Today, beliefs and techniques have come a long way as we now understand that we have two parts of the brain, the conscious and sub-conscious.

Modern hypnotherapy looks to act in subtle ways on the subconscious part of the brain effectuating change in subtle but powerful ways. The changes are generally unseen at first, but the techniques acts upon the subconscious in ways that shifts the receiver’s mindset into taking hold of a good suggestion and letting go of an unwanted habit, pattern and/or behavior.

We can restate that and say that hypnotherapy is a technique using hypnosis that reaches into the subconscious mind for solutions to problems with which the conscious mind has been unable to deal with. The altered state occurring under hypnosis is similar to a deep trance or even a state of deep meditation, where the recuperative abilities of the psyche are allowed to flow more freely and with it, healing, problem identification/correction and positive change.

It is easy to see that hypnotherapy has been used to treat addictions, relieve stress and in many other unwanted or bad habits that have formed in any of us generally over a period of time.