What is Hypnosis - By Cheryl Beshada, CMHt
Hypnosis is bypassing the critical faculty of the conscious mind in order to establish selective thinking within the subconscious mind. It is the ultimate means of heightening motivation by programming your subconscious mind to work in cooperation with your conscious desires.
You are already familiar with hypnosis, although you may not have realized it. People go through various states of consciousness, or brain wave levels, a minimum of 2 - 5 times a day; when you are crossing over into sleep and when you are awakening. Brain researchers have divided the brain activity into four levels of electrical activity called hertz (Hz) or cycles per second (cps).
Beta 15 - 30 cps; Full consciousness
Alpha 7 - 15 cps; Dream state - Mental restoration and light levels of hypnosis
Theta 3 - 7 cps; Medium to deep relaxation and levels of hypnosis
Delta 0.5 - 3 cps; Full sleep to deepest sleep - Physical or cellular restoration
When we are in a state of hypnosis the brain activity level is in Alpha for light levels of hypnosis and in Theta for medium to deeper levels of hypnosis. Every morning we pass through hypnosis before awakening. This is called the hypnopompic level of hypnosis. Every night before going to sleep we pass thorough it again in reverse. This is called the hypnogogic level of hypnosis. Most clinical hypnosis and guided meditation has a brain wave level of 7 - 15 cps. Deep hypnosis for medical use may have a brain wave level of 0.5 - 7 cps.
For most people, hypnosis is a mid-alpha range activity and although you are definately in hypnosis, you are deeply relaxed, yet fully conscious of everything going on around you. Because of the heightened suggestibility levels in the alpha and theta levels, positive programming is extremely effective in helping to create positive change.
Can anyone be hypnotized?
Your mother probably put you to sleep many times with the words "Once upon a time, long ago, in a land far away"; That is the purest hypnotic language there is. Hypnosis is a normal, natural state of mind. Hypnosis, or trance, occurs anytime you transport your conscious mind to another time and/or another place, as in daydreaming.
There are only four types of people who are difficult or impossible to hypnotize:
1. Very young children 2. Those who are mentally impaired
3. Alchoholics under the influence 4. Those who just don't want to be hypnotized.
What are the uses of hypnosis today?
Clinical hypnosis is an effective process to bypass the conscious mind and communicate with the subconscious mind. It is believed that ancient Egyptians used hypnosis as a form of anesthesia before performing surgical procedures. Hypnosis was formally recognized by the American Medical Association in 1958 and recommended to its members.
Hypnosis is widely used for smoking cessation, pain control, weight control, relaxation, study habits, sports performance, anesthesia, and trauma resolution. Hypnotherapy has been proven an effective tool in helping people remove negative blocks that have been holding them back from achieving their goals. Like a computer, the subconscious is programmed by the thoughts of our conscious mind or even by our feelings on a subject. Hypnosis is the key that opens the door to our subconscious mind, promoting a state of heightened awareness and suggestibility.
Hypnosis is a perfectly safe technique that anyone who can concentrate for a few moments can learn. Today we see applications of hypnosis in virtually every field. It is being taught at an ever-growing number of universities, hospitals, and training centers and seminars providing continuing education and new skills. For more information regarding the services we provide with hypnosis, please click on Clinical Care Network and scroll down to our services and products section.
The Role Of Hypnotherapists In Your Community
Clinical Hypnotherapist: The Clinical Hypnotherapist s a facilitator of hypnosis, especially trained to help people reach their goals through subconscious awareness. The members of the Clinical Care Network Professional Group are certified hypnotherapists who have met the criteria and high standards of our organization and abide by our "Standarad of Practice" and "Code of Ethics".
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Educator: The educator uses guided imagery to help students read faster and comprehend more easily,
Dentist: Hypnosis in dentistry can be used to reduce fear in phobic patients. The dentist can also produce anesthesia naturally through hypnosis for those who are drug sensitive.
Athelete: The athelete uses hypnosis to increase training motivation, enhance performance and remove any limiting blocks.
Health Care Professionals: People in these professions can use hypnotic techniques with patients to assist them in managing pain, boosting their immune system, normalizing blood pressure, accelerate healing post surgery and adapt comfortaby to chemotherapy and radiation, etc. and accelerate the healing process.
Clergy: Religious leaders can use hypnosis for relaxation and deep inner peace and as an indispensable tool in the numerouss and complex opportunities presented in pastoral counseling and grief management. Prayer when performed in a relaxed state of heightened focused is a very beautiful and meaningful experience.
Corporate Executive: Executive are learning self hypnosis to reduce stress and increase motivation.
Self Hypnosis is commonly termed the executives "Mid-Day Power Nap".
Court and Legal Investigations: Hypnosis can be used to assist in the retrieval of important information from traumatized victims or witnesses.
Therapists: Many psychologists, social workers, and counselors are using hypnosis as an adjunct to therapy. Hypnosis can be a powerful tool utilized in the new brief therapies.
