Hypnosis, which has been around as long as psychotherapy, has a certain degree of historical mystique. Thanks to its inaccurate portrayal in popular culture, it’s also shrouded in misconception: Many people believe it’s a form of entertainment or a control tactic used to induce a trance-like state and get you to act against your free will.
In reality, hypnosis is a directed form of therapy that combines deep relaxation and focused attention with the power of suggestion to foster purposeful, positive change in your life.
At Center Point Medicine, our team uses hypnotherapy in conjunction with counseling to help people of all ages improve their mental and physical well-being. Here, Dr. Ran D. Anbar looks at the seven surprising benefits of hypnosis.
Hypnosis is a therapeutic practice that uses controlled breathing patterns, progressive muscle relaxation, and guided imagery to help you enter a deep state of calm and focused attention quickly and purposefully. In this state, you’re able to ignore ordinary distractions — and you’re also more open to suggestions.
Once your conscious mind is quieted and you’re “zoned in,” your therapist embeds positive suggestions in your mind. These suggestions, which you discuss and agree to before your session, help set the stage for a desired change in experience, behavior, or perception.
While you’re fully aware and in control during hypnosis, your subconscious mind is also “awake,” building a stronger foundation for transforming positive suggestions into action.
Hypnosis has a wide range of potential applications: We can use it in conjunction with counseling and other components of care to help you alleviate stress, overcome mental roadblocks, better cope with a functional disorder, or manage a chronic illness.
Depending on your goals, suggested changes may involve perception, sensation, emotion, memory, thought, behavior, or some combination of these. People have used hypnosis to gain the upper hand over:
After identifying the negative thought patterns that perpetuate depression, hypnosis uses guided imagery and suggestions to help you modify these patterns and encourage a more positive outlook.
Hypnosis can help ease anxiety, reduce stress, or even help you overcome a specific phobia by encouraging your body to activate its natural relaxation response — slowing your breathing, lowering your blood pressure, and triggering an overall sense of well-being — through the use of a phrase or nonverbal cue.
Hypnosis puts you into a deep state of relaxation, which you can replicate on your own. If you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, self-hypnosis offers a way to become deeply relaxed quickly, helping you manage insomnia.
Through the power of suggestion, hypnosis aims to put you in control of your experience, thought patterns, emotions, and behaviors. It often leads to increased confidence, a more positive outlook, and improved self-confidence.
Whether you’re dealing with chronic joint pain, fibromyalgia pain flares, bothersome IBS symptoms, shortness of breath during an asthma attack, menopausal hot flashes, or persistent headaches, hypnosis can teach you how to remain calm, centered, and positive in the moment — and help trigger soothing sensations, too.
As a supportive therapy for bedwetting, hypnosis teaches kids how to wake themselves from a deep sleep when they need to urinate, helping them stay dry through the night. It can also help kids better cope with the emotional distress associated with bedwetting.
Through the power of suggestion, hypnosis can help you break unhealthy or unhelpful habits — and replace them with practical replacement actions. People have used hypnosis to support smoking cessation efforts, foster the behavior changes required for weight loss, and break the grip of procrastination.
Curious about hypnosis? Find out how hypnotherapy can enhance your well-being. Call or click online to schedule an appointment at your nearest Center Point Medicine office in La Jolla, California, or Syracuse, New York, today.
