What is Hypnosis?

Hypnotism is defined as an extension of concentration, in a state of deep relaxation, by-passing the critical factor of the conscious mind. It is the extraordinary power that ideas possess when they claim our complete attention. Such vitalized ideas are the suggestive ideas which are known as the power of suggestion.


Hypnosis is a 100% voluntary state or consent state. It is not possible to force a person into hypnosis, and while hypnotised, it is just as impossible to force someone to do something against his/her will. Deep relaxation is required for hypnosis. Tension, fear, nervousness and distractions keep the conscious mind active, and prevents a person from entering a hypnotic state. The slightest resistance will snap you out of hypnosis. Once hypnotised, you do not suddenly lose the ability to hear, remember or respond vocally. Instead, you have become even more acutely aware with your 5 senses going up 200 to 300 % more aware than before!


Today, hypnotism, in a state of advancement and achievement, is openly acclaimed and is practiced by both medical doctors and university professors. Hypnotism is now thoroughly recognized as a science throughout the world. Millions of people worldwide are convinced of the efficacy of hypnosis. They love it!


Hypnosis has been in use for thousands of years. There is a great deal of evidence to support the belief that Hypnosis was being used by the Ancient Greeks and Romans - for therapeutic benefit - as far back as about the fourth Century BC. Hypnosis - coming from the Greek word 'Hypnos' (meaning sleep) was so-called because while in the state of Hypnosis, a person is very, very relaxed. While a person is in this more relaxed state, they find it easier to accept beneficial suggestions (e.g. you are now a non-smoker) and their memory is enhanced.

There is absolutely no question of being controlled or manipulated, or even induced into a deep trance state. A person in hypnosis (often referred to as conscious hypnosis) is not 'asleep'; they are often more aware of what is taking place than usual and their senses function more efficiently than normal. It is unfortunate that most people's perception of Hypnosis is tainted by their reaction to watching television and stage hypnotists at work. The 'showmanship' and the dramatic reactions from the 'volunteers' often leaves a lasting impression in the back of the mind that Hypnosis is somehow 'magical' or involves 'mind control' - however, this understanding of Hypnosis couldn't be further from the truth....

The state of hypnosis, a totally natural phenomenon, is most pleasant and particularly relaxing, and a person can converse quite easily whilst within the state. It is inconceivable that any harm could befall them. Indeed, the centuries-old technique of hypnosis is being used increasingly as an adjunct to orthodox medicine, where it is proving a valuable alternative to drugs for anesthesia, accelerating healing, relieving stress and controlling pain. A good definition of hypnosis is: A state of relaxation and concentration at one with a heightened awareness induced by suggestion.

Hypnosis is commonly misunderstood by those who have not previously been aware of experiencing it. Hypnosis is a natural mind state that we all constantly experience, and mostly without realising it. A better description of hypnosis would be conscious relaxation. Self hypnosis can occur when we become engrossed in our reading, watching television, listening to music or driving our car for instances.

The hypnotherapist will use his/her voice to induce you into the state of hypnosis. Although you are unlikely to feel 'hypnotised' as such, you will probably experience a feeling of mental and physical relaxation and your memory may be enhanced. You will find that he/she is a caring professional person, with a reassuring manner to put you at ease and the expertise to help you with your problem.

The role of the hypnotherapist is to help the client to switch into this natural mind state rather than having it occurring by happenstance. Clients are often surprised or even disappointed at how natural they feel in hypnosis. Such reactions arise because hypnosis is a natural mind state. Some may expect to be 'zapped' or 'zonked' out, that somehow they will be unaware of what happens, or have no memory of the event following it.

During its presence they may expect to be told to pull themselves together, or for some 'magical' action to take place, whereas, in reality, only an experience of merely sitting with eyes closed, being fully conscious and feeling relaxed are experienced. Rather than the therapist in some commanding or dictatorial manner instructing his client on how to change, the therapist, only helps guide the client to his own resolution, based upon what that client seeks to achieve. In doing so the therapist will use his experience, understanding, encouragement, empathy and support to bring about change.


What is Hypnotherapy ?

HYPNOTHERAPY is the application of hypnotic techniques in such a way as to bring about therapeutic changes. An external influence - the Therapist - assists in activating the inner resources of a person - the Client - in order to achieve realistic goals.

The problems that HYPNOTHERAPY is best placed to help, fall into the following broad classes:-

Thoughts and ideas

People can suffer from thoughts of low self-esteem, or obsessive thoughts about someone or something. They may not be able, for example, to get out of their minds the idea that they are suffering from an illness, despite medical reassurance, or that a partner is unfaithful. HYPNOTHERAPY can help the client to change such ideas.

Phobias

People often experience an irrational fear of a variety of insects, animals, objects or situations and HYPNOTHERAPY is particularly renowned for its effectiveness in assisting sufferers to overcome these distressing and inhibiting conditions.

Feelings

People can suffer from a wide variety of distressing feelings such as panic attacks, anxiety, jealousy, guilt, anger or inadequacy. Whatever the problem feeling, HYPNOTHERAPY can deal with it more specifically than can a drug - and without harmful side effects.

Habits

People can find themselves in the grip of many habits that they seem unable to control, from something like nail-biting or smoking to more deep-seated compulsions. HYPNOTHERAPY, using hypnotic techniques, can help to remove habits with precision and again, a total freedom from side effects.


What Can You Expect to Happen?

Perhaps the most important thing is that you can expect to feel comfortable and at ease with your Therapist. This is of particular importance in Hypnotherapy, in which the value of the treatment is greatly enhanced when you have confidence in the practitioner. For this reason we recommend that you book a single session at first and only afterwards decide if you want to proceed with more.

The next stage is that you will be asked about the problem and notes may be taken. The Therapist will need to find out certain necessary information both about the problem and about yourself.

The third stage is hypnosis itself. There is a certain personal variation among therapists and they will often use different approaches for different individuals, but most Hypnotherapy involves the following:-

You are led, by means of the Hypnotherapist's gently guiding voice, into a state where your body and mind are relaxed and nearly asleep. To an onlooker it might seem as if you were totally asleep but in fact, though you will normally feel very relaxed, you will remain awake enough to be aware. Also awake will be those parts of your mind which the Therapist is working with to induce beneficial changes. This may mean that you will be picturing, as in a daydream, the things which are being spoken of and that you may experience the associated pleasant feelings.

REMEMBER that if at any time you feel uncomfortable and want to terminate the session, then you will be perfectly capable of doing so!

The fourth stage, after the Hypnosis proper, is when you may discuss any experiences that you have had during the session. This is often an important part of the process.
Finally, payment for the session is made and any further appointments are agreed.

Ms. Goh finds that over the years of practice, research and experimentation with other spiritual healing modalities, such as Reiki, Crystal Healing, Pranic Healing, Qi Qong, Meditation, Energy Healing, to name but a few; every one of them incorporates a subtle a form of hypnosis one way or other. She has then come out with her own powerful special blend of spiritual healing combining the best of these with Chakra-cleansing and assimilation of the Light to enhance the proven auto-suggestive science in her successful hypnotherapy sessions. An understanding of the human energy centers or Chakras can be useful to anyone whether or not you are going for a session. This knowledge is fundamental in any true healing especially if it is going to be turbo-charged with the art of auto-suggestion! Click here for a chart of the human chakra system:-

N.B.:- Fees can vary widely from one therapist or area, to another and it is therefore important to establish, in advance, precise fee levels and methods of payment

What Benefit Will You Gain?

There is, of course, a considerable variation in the difficulty of the various problems and there is no general rule which makes it possible to say how much improvement can be achieved and in how much time.

The simpler problems can sometimes be overcome completely in one session - Hypnosis can be extremely effective. Your therapist, as a member of the Society, is committed to helping you as swiftly and effectively as possible.

Your Therapist may well be able to give you a fair assessment of how much improvement you can expect and how many sessions may be needed by the end of the first session but if the problem is more complex then you will jointly review progress from time to time.


THE BENEFITS

A wonderful quality of hypnosis is that you can be taught to use it alone, at will, and without complicated procedures.
This fact makes many benefits readily available throughout your lifetime. Hypnosis can be used to further any human endeavor. With hypnosis you can:

Develop and express awareness and intuition.
Feel worthwhile, self-confident, zestful.
Gain a happier home life; become a better husband, wife, parent, or friend.
Acquire the ability to relax completely in any situation.
Make better decisions.
Improve concentration.
Overcome procrastination.
Increase the quality of your emotional expression.
Reduce conflict and stress.
Promote health and well-being.
Regain your natural ability to sleep easily.
Sell yourself, your ideas, and your services with confidence & enthusiasm.
Increase your income.
Attract and maintain worthwhile friendships.
Discover your negative mental patterns and how they affect you.
Free yourself from hostility, resentment, fear of rejection.
Select your goals in life; chart your course for their realization.
Program your mind with positive mental concepts and success attitudes.
Develop the ability to construct mental images easily.


Note that only a general indication of the possibilities can be illustrated, and no guarantees are ever given but success rates are surprisingly high. It is essential that those attending should not only consult their medical practitioner but keep that medical practitioner informed at all times.

The Art of Hypnosis in Healing

Hypnosis is a powerful way to strengthen the mind body connection, promoting health. This workshop demystifies the hypnosis process, explores the appropriate holistic use of self hypnosis and hypnosis for developing positive reinforcement, goal planning, and increasing self esteem. Examine how hypnosis promotes grief resolution, helps in healing minor phobias and states of anxiety, aids in weight loss, smoking cessation and in pain management. (10 hrs/ 4 sessions).

THE THERAPY

There are TWO entirely different treatments using hypnosis:

SUGGESTION THERAPY - ideally suited for treating the more simple problems such as smoking, nail biting, pre-test nerves, slimming, relaxation, confidence boosting etc. Suggestion therapy is usually effective immediately, and hence only one or sometimes two sessions would be required - with perhaps a booster at a later date.

ANALYTICAL THERAPY (Hypnoanalysis) - used to discover the CAUSE of psychological problems. (Both therapies can be combined during treatment, of course.)

Hypnoanalysis can be summarised briefly as the doctrine of 'cause and effect'; every effect (the symptom) must have a cause. Hypnoanalysis will find and release the cause of the problem - and hence the symptoms disappear. Emotional problems respond particularly well to hypnoanalysis. The object of analysis is to bring you to a 'moment of surprising and liberating enlightenment', and one can be fairly confident of a release within ten sessions of therapy. With analytical therapy, we are talking about a complete and lasting release, by finding and removing the originating causes - as opposed to mere control of symptoms by; dieting, anti-depressants, herbal remedies, smoking, drinking etc.

There is no reason why anyone should put up with something 'inside themselves but outside their control', provided they can devote time, money, effort and self-discipline to be free or their problem. The use of hypnosis dramatically 'speeds up' analytical therapy, and will achieve similar results in just a few weeks to those expected from a more conventional three or four year course of therapy.

The mond Hypnosis and Healing

Since the mind runs both itself and the entire bodily system the range of potential benefits are too numerous to calculate. Indeed although no universal panacea, holistic hypnotherapy is probably the biggest single medical breakthrough ever - and is often of great assistance in cases where conventional medicine can offer little prospect; such as in arthritis, period pains and P.M.T.

With medical advice holistic hypnotherapy can become an attractive alternative to drug remedies, Migraine, depression, irritable bowels syndrome and anxiety are common examples.

Among the many other conditions that can often benefit from holistic hypnotherapy are stress, sexual, obsessional, habit, grieving and behavioural problems, flying, driving, pre-test, dentistry and exam fears, temper, blushing, public speaking
and sport matters.

Holistic hypnotherapy can assist with weight, sleeping, drinking and eating disorders and to promote a more satisfying pregnancy and birth experience. Asthmatic and hay fever conditions can also respond. Holistic Hypnotherapy can often be used to promote rapid response to 'mind over matter' self healing of bodily discomfort.

he Art of Hypnotism, Self Hypnosis and Hypnotizing others...

Many years ago I went to a Hypnotist to learn the Art. He taught me how to hypnotize myself and others. It is actually an easy process involving very little study and practice. You must remember.... not everyone can be hypnotized. Some people are so wrapped up in their thoughts of every day worries that they can not simply concentrate. In order to be hypnotized... you must be able to relax and clear your mind just the same as you would during meditation..
I would suggest trying it on yourself before trying it on others. Here are the steps to hypnotizing yourself....

1. Sit on a couch in the upright position and close your eyes and your arms at your side or in your lap. Do not move around. Just sit there and relax for a minute.

2. Clear your mind of all thoughts. How do you do this?.... simply imagine a big Dumpster or a very large metal box on your mental screen. Then see it open and put all your thoughts and worries in it one by one.... bills... your lovelife.... problems.... your children.... your job... everything you can think of. Then close the lid and lock it! Then push it off your mental screen.

3. Now sit there quietly with no thoughts for a minute. When you are ready to start... do not forget to tell yourself as you go through each part of the body that you are becoming more and more relaxed as you go. YOU MUST TELL YOURSELF THIS!

4. Now... start with your head.... imagine every part of your head relaxing... start with your eyes.... then go to your ears.... the mouth... all your facial muscles. spend time with each part to make sure it is fully relaxed.

5. Now go to your neck and do the same.

6. Now go to your whole chest and stomach region and start with your heart... slow it down and make it at peace. Relax all you chest muscles and then your stomach area.

7. Now relax your arms feeling them going limp. Relax every muscle in your arms one by one including your fingers.

8. Next go to the groin area and relax all the muscle there.

9. Now it is time to do your legs.... start with the thighs and work your way down to the feet relaxing each and every toe.

By this time you should be like a big lump of silly putty... totally relaxed and and at peace. Now here comes the fun part. This is where you will get to hypnotize yourself and see if it really works.....

1. Site there with you arms in you lap and or at your side and tell yourself that your right arm is getting very light. It is getting very, very light. Keep telling yourself this and feel how it is getting lighter. Tell yourself that it is getting so light that is is staring to raise up off your lap. Feel it it getting light as you keep telling yourself this and feel it raising up off you lap. It is getting lighter by the second and it is raising up higher and higher until it is up in the air.

2. Once you have achieved this and your arm is up in the air you may tell yourself it is getting heavy again and lower it to your lap. You will now tell yourself that you will awaken fully refreshed with energy and a clear mind.

3. Open your eyes and evaluate what you have done. Write down your experience in your magical journal. If you did not have success... try again later that day and keep trying until you are satisfied. If it never works for you.... you may be one of those who cannot be hypnotized.

Now.... this method can be used on someone else. Try it on your best friend... except you are the one who will be telling them to relax each part of their body. Then do the arm raising stunt with them and see if it works. Remember.... as you go through each part of the body with them... tell them they are getting more and more relaxed and sleepy. If this works then you can try more difficult things like making them do funny things...

Remember... DO NOT MAKE PEOPLE DO THINGS THAT WILL HURT THEM OR OTHERS!

You can also use this method to remember things and program yourself to lose weight or study better or what ever you so choose!

If you have been successful.... Congratulations! You now know how to Hypnotize!

What is it useful for?

Hypnosis is used medically for many things. Studies say that it works well for :

1. Treating nausea and stress-related bodily symptoms.
2. Managing some aspects of addictive behavior.
3. Treating pain from small incisions, burns, or breakage, and pain from cancers or ulcers.
4. Immediate or short-term relief from the pain of migraine headaches.
5. Reducing the level of drug use for cases of chronic pain (like, say, pains of the back or of misaligned hand or jaw joints).
6. Treating those who regress or go back to behaviors from their childhood.
7. Short-term concentration on one specific thing.
8. Accessing repressed or hidden memories.

Hypnosis' impact is mild, on-and-off, or on only a small proportion of people, for:

• Managing behaviors caused by depression and some other mental disorders.
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
• Managing moderate-to-strong fears and anxiety, working on both symptoms and spontaneous behaviors.
• Certain kinds of rote study and memorization.
• Relaxation.
• Anesthesia. A century ago, hypnosis was widely used in Asia when doing large operations, including amputations, but its usefulness for that kind of pain was not consistent or lasting. Better ways (ether, acupuncture, and then modern anesthetic drugs) soon took its place.

Some people claim that hypnosis works for these, but most evidence says not :

• asthma,
• heart disease,
• reducing the cancer itself (rather than just its pain),
• medium- or long-term relief from the pain of migraine, backache, arthritis, etc.,
• long-term weight loss,
• chronic sleeplessness,
• physical strength,
• sexual performance,
• getting others to want sex,
• healing of skin lesions or shingles not caused by stress,
• socialization,
• overall confidence-building,
• prompting obedience or submission when not under hypnosis,
• creating coherent thought amidst confusion,
• overall healing,
• root psychological problems,
• achieving understanding of a subject.

Please remember that on these kinds of subjects, reports in the popular press, word-of-mouth, paranormal blogs, and promotional materials are almost always untruthful in some way. Hype abounds. Even press reports on solid medical tests are often written by those who have little understanding of testing or the subject tested, and thus they give a surface interpretation of the tests.

Hypnosis' most controversial use is on repressed memory. It works, and works well, by bypassing the methods we use on ourselves to stifle and stamp out a painful or traumatic incident or accident (like a rape, or a car accident where a loved one died). Once the incident comes out, both patient and therapist can work on it. But those inner controls are there for good reasons, and often hypnosis simply bypasses these reasons when it bypasses the controls. In the hands of careless or unscrupulous therapists or untrained self-appointed hypnotists (and there are many of each), false memories are created, or existing fantasies are mistaken for reality. These can be as weird as UFO abductions or as serious as false accusations of sodomy and sexual attack (as happened with the accuser of Cardinal Bernardin). In such cases the false memories add yet another trauma to the pile the patient already has. The most dangerous situation is when a hypnotist says something which triggers the hypnotic subject's active phobia (an extreme, irrational fear of a particular thing).

There are forms of altered consciousness that are called 'self-hypnosis', and it has its uses too, though it is not as useful as its proponents sell it to be. In a way, nearly all hypnosis is really self-done, just that it is usually done with someone's guidance. "Self-hypnosis" is the version that uses your own guidance. The hypnotic state takes away many kinds of self-generated distractions, and improves concentration. It's also helpful as a self-treatment for recurring pains. It can be downright dangerous for use by those prone to self-deception, delusion, mutilation, fantasies, or denial -- a part of the population that's larger than you think, and might include you. Hypnotism can be a part of self-brainwash, of talking ourselves into something we ought to know better than to do. Some religious neo-devotionalists actually find the idea of 'brainwashing toward God' attractive, but that's not the way the God of the Word wants us to think, and not the way the Spirit chooses to work.

The clinical use of hypnosis is as a means of suggestion. Some people love to give orders, but most of us communicate what we want done by suggesting and asking. Jesus sometimes gave orders, but more often suggested. So did your mother. The devil doesn't have much command power; he usually works through twisted suggestions and nagging whispers. Advertisers also make suggestions. By using repetition and cleverness, they can sometimes get their way. This suggests a subtle but evil potential in anything that enhances suggestion. But the truth is that hypnotism by itself is not of much use as a mind control tool. It would have to be one among a wide range of measures to control what is happening to the person, done together to gain some level of control or leverage.

How long has it been around?

The ancients of many lands used hypnosis, especially in India, Persia and Mesopotamia. They usually used it on themselves, and usually without mysterious window-dressing. But hypnotism was introduced to popular culture by Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815). Mesmer was a sort-of-scientist, in a field which was the alchemy of his day, that of magnetism and electricity. He believed that the hypnotic state was an effect of magnetism, and set up some fairly hokey demonstrations that for a while seemed to have trendy France... well... mesmerized. Mesmer's demonstrations were quickly picked up by occultists and entertainment magicians, because people found it so interesting. Though Mesmer's theories were soon disproved, his fame caused scientists to study the phenomenon of hypnosis he was pointing to. In 1842, English eye scientist James Braid gave it the name 'hypnosis', from a Greek word for 'sleep'. Jean Charcot brought it to modern investigative scientific study, and Yale professor Clark Hull's work in the 1930s did much to develop a scientific understanding of it. Today, the study of hypnosis is closely tied into brain science. Since hypnosis changes the way the brain processes information, it shows us a lot about the patterns of certain activities in the brain, when matched to brain scans.

What is Hypnosis?

Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness. It happens when a state of mind is achieved in which suggestions alter someone's awareness, memory, or thinking in a way that the hypnotized person responds to the alteration as if it were reality. It's supposed to be done with a specific, clear short-term aim -- to get to the bottom of something that the patient is not able to bring to mind or to consciously stop doing.

Hypnosis is not a form of sleep, but of concentration that bypasses the usual critical or evaluative activities of the mind to get to underlying matters. The patient becomes much more open to suggestion and guidance -- not so much a loss of control as an openness, agreeing to what someone else is suggesting.

Most studies suggest that about 25% of people can be easily hypnotized, while about 20% just won't allow it. You can't tell if someone is easily hypnotizable by how easily suckered they are, or how quickly they go along with whatever someone tells them to do. The hypnotizable person is more often the one who gets totally caught up in a movie or TV show -- they can block off what's happening around them, suspend their disbelief, and enter into the story as if it were real and happening in their presence. Those who practice Hindu meditation techniques also find it easier to enter hypnosis -- they're used to being in a concentrative state. Also, children are usually easy to hypnotize, since their imaginative minds find it easier to fully enter into what the hypnotist is leading them to. Children also have not yet developed a large web of experience matching what they see or feel to what they think, so it's easier for them to simply follow the pattern the hypnotist suggests to them. The focus it takes to stay in a hypnotic state can be harnessed for recovery from mental illness or addiction.

Critical thinking is present during hypnotism, but it's 'bracketed out', not acted upon. We do such bracketing without hypnotism, for instance, while having fun, in sports, in worship, on retreats. But those forms of bracketing are done with safety nets : the Scriptures, feedback from others, use of means of discernment, and hard thinking beforehand. Hypnotism sets the nets aside for a while.

An effect much like bracketing is 'trance logic', where real and hallucination coexist as equals. If asked to say which object is real, the hypnotized person can usually tell the difference. But the difference doesn't matter to them; under a trance, they'll deal with the real and the unreal in the same way. (There are some who fear that modern life is starting to resemble trance logic. To many others, the difference doesn't matter.)

Those who were in very deep states of hypnosis sometimes report that they can't remember anything that happened, even when given simple reminders. But this is rare, and only in the deepest states of hypnosis. Other than in those few deep cases, the patient remembers what happened, even if told not to remember. (Occasionally, the remembering can be distorted by severe emotion, strong fantasy images, or drug abuse.) The patient's remembering often becomes an important part of treating their mental disorders. It helps them to know what they otherwise would not consciously know, so they can come to terms with it.