Hypnotherapy - Who Will It Work For, And Why Will It Work For Them?

Hypnosis was accepted by the American Medical Association in 1958 as an effective approach for treating tension and stress related symptoms. Does it really work? And what should a person consider critical when looking for a hypnotherapist, or ordering hypnotherapy tapes & CDs?

There are many different hypnotic methods that are used to reach the unconscious to bring about change. Each method has its pros and cons. We are all different, so it only makes sense that the best results will be obtained by utilizing techniques that each person will have the most success with.

Most companies that sell hypnosis tapes offer products that consist of standard traditional hypnosis techniques. A few sellers offer much more modern and effective Ericksonian hypnosis techniques. And fewer still offer NLP techniques.

The most effective technology is video hypnosis. Video hypnosis relies on the latest Neuro-Linguistic Programming mind patterns to create instant changes in an individual. Video hypnosis methods are not subliminal in nature.

With "Traditional Hypnosis," we simply make direct commands to the unconscious mind. In case you are wondering, as far as I'm concerned, the term unconscious and subconscious are interchangeable - as they refer to the same part of the mind. This type of self-suggestion works well for someone who generally accepts what he/she is told without questionning everything.

Most pre-recorded hypnosis CD's sold today are based on "Traditional Hypnosis" methods. The reason is it doesn't really take much training to write a script and just tell a person to do something. Unfortunately Traditional Hypnotic Suggestion is not very useful for people who are critical or analytical in their thought processes.

By contrast, Ericksonian Hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming techniques work more efficiently for most people in today's generation! This is because today people are taught to question everything they hear, rather than just mimic what everyone else is doing. So these methods do work effectively for people who are critical in their thought processes.

Ericksonian Hypnosis and NLP are much more effective at reaching and influencing the unconscious. However, it can take many years of of experience to learn how to apply these techniques with a high degree of success. This is a chore that is accepted only by truly dedicated therapists.

With "Ericksonian Hypnosis," we use little stories, called metaphors, to present post-hypnotic suggestions to the unconscious. This is a compelling approach, because it usually eliminates the blockage of and resistance to suggestions that is very often caused by the conscious mind. There are two types of metaphors, "Isomorphic," and those of the imbedded command or "interspersal" nature.

Isomorphic metaphors offer guidance to the unconscious by telling a story that has a moral. The unconscious draws a one to one relationship between the parts of the story and the parts of a problem behavior.

For example, if a child is telling lies, the parent might tell the child the story about the "Boy who cried wolf." The unconscious would draw a comparison between the boy in the story and the child, and realize that telling lies could lead to disaster, so the child would probably stop lying.

With the Embedded Command technique, the hypnotherapist tells an interesting story that engages the conscious mind. The tale includes covert direct suggestions that are almost always accepted by the unconscious. For example: While the subject is in trance, she might hear the hypno-therapist say something like: I'm going to tell you a story about ...[a beach that has feelings. Isn't that] ...strange to... [you]? It's a warm summer's day, and... the beach [feels great].

The hypnotist pauses, shifts his voice tonality, and emphasizes the bracketed text. The unconscious recognizes a "Selectional restriction violation." Beaches can't have feelings. So it's like the unconscious says to itself: "Wait a minute, a beach can't feel anything, so that must mean that I'm supposed to feel great."

Since the suggestions are submerged in a topic that is distracting the conscious mind, its not likely that the conscious will realize that it has just received a direct suggestion, so it won't block it or resist it.

Process Instructions direct the unconscious to find a memory of an appropriate learning experience from the past where something useful to the present situation was learned, and then apply that experience to eliminate negative behaviors in the present.

With "Neuro-Linguistic Programming" (NLP), rather than using suggestions, we use the same thought patterns that are creating a problem, like insomnia, to get rid of the symptom. NLP in the hands of a trained and experienced NLP'er can be very effective.

NLP Anchoring: Have you ever heard an old song and had it trigger feelings from the past? When you originally heard the song, you were feeling those feelings, and they subconsciously became attached to the sound of the song. So the melody became an Anchor for the feelings. Now when you hear the song, it triggers the same feelings again.

Anchoring can be a very useful method. Suppose that you have a memory of being commended for having done something well in the past. If you revivify that memory, you'll be able to recreate the feelings of self-esteem that you had at that time. If you touch two fingers together while you re-experience those feelings of self-esteem, that touch will become an anchor for the feelings of self-esteem.

Now suppose that you want to create motivation to stick to a diet and lose weight. If you make a mental image of yourself with a thin, sexy body, and simultaneously trigger the anchor - (press the two fingers together again), your unconscious will connect together the feelings of self-esteem to your mental image of you with the thin body and your level of motivation to lose weight will increase exponentially.

NLP Flash: This is a very effective and powerful NLP technique that can be used to flip things around in the unconscious, so that thoughts and experiences that used to trigger feelings of stress actually trigger relaxation instead.

The NLP Flash technique is also extremely effective for extinguishing conditioned responses. For example: If a smoker has a cigarette while watching TV, his/her unconscious will connect the two behaviors together so that he/she automatically gets a strong urge for a cigarette anytime he/she watches TV. The Flash will cause the smoker's mind to disassociate the image of a cigarette from the TV so that he/she does NOT get a craving to smoke just because he/she is watching TV.

With "Subliminal" recordings, the recording has dual tracks. One track contains a cover sound that is heard by the conscious mind. The cover sound could be anything from music to nature sounds. The alternate track contains direct suggestions that are heard by the unconscious mind. These suggestions are repeated hundreds of times during a session.

Subliminal programs can be played in the background while you are working, or talking or partisipating in any other activity. You don't have to stop what you are doing and relax like you do with hypnosis or NLP. Subliminals can be an addition to hypnotic programs. But Subliminals will never replace Hypnosis or NLP because they are not as effective! They are not even in the same universe!! Some studies have claimed that it can take up to 80 hours of listening to a subliminal recording before it will have any effect on many people.

The last hypnotic technique that we're going to talk about is Video Hypnosis. Video hypnosis is the most practical form of hypnosis!

The methods used in video hypnosis are based on the NLP technology, which works based on the utilization of a person's existing thought processes instead of post-hypnotic commands.

Over 70% of the people on the planet learn more easily based on what they perceive through their eyes rather than what they hear.

Think about it. If you feel an compulsion to eat or smoke when watching TV, it's because your subconscious recorded the video image of either food in your hand, or a cigarette in your hand, and then combined that image with an image of the television. You never spoke to yourself and told yourself in words to associate them together, did you?

And that's why the Video Hypnosis method is so powerful. It's not hypnotic in the traditional sense, relying on the spoken word; rather, it relies on transmitting images to the unconscious. And if you've ever shed a tear when watching a sad television show, then you know how effective video hypnosis can be at reaching the unconscious. With this technique, results usually start with the very first viewing!

The Video Hypnosis / NLP technique trains the unconscious through a high-tech simulation process called computerized digital optics. This frees a person of their compulsions and allows someone who smokes to kick the habit effortlessly, and a dieter to lose their cravings. Results start after the very first viewing!

Article Source: http://neoarticle.com

Alan B. Densky, CH opened his professional practice of hypnosis & NLP in 1978. He is the inventor of the Neuro-VISION Video Appetite Suppression Hypnosis and Video Stop Smoking Hypnosis. The technology is the receipient of a US Patent. See Neuro-VISION Hypnosis web site for information.