Hypnotherapy
what is it?
Many people have a misjudged idea about what hypnotherapy is. In the composed word there is reference to the concept of hypnosis. Hypnosis is an altered state of mind, sometimes called trance, or sleeping state, in which we often find ourselves in without any influence from an hypnotist. When we are watching a movie, for example, and this one exalts powerful emotions in us, we can find ourselves crying, laughing, loving or hating, just like as it was happening with ourselves. We put ourselves in somebody else's shoes in such a vivid way that our brain interprets it like a real experience. We are basically acting "as if" the scenes and the characters of the movie are real. Good actors make us live as in an alternative world boosting our imagination. Also, driving back home from work, on a routine and familiar itinerary, make our thoughts drift away, so deeply that sometimes we don't even remember the travel at all. When we lose ourselves in our thoughts we are, in a certain way, in another dimension, not conscious and alert but somehow in a parallel word where our imagination takes control. Sometimes, in hypnotherapy, we need to de-hypnotise, also called cognitive diffusion, meaning we need to take clients away from their recurrent negative thoughts and bring them back to the reality of the situation, often less dramatic than the one they have imagined in their mind. We have the capacity of hypnotising and de-hypnotising ourselves, all that it requests is practice.
Hypnotherapy uses hypnosis in a therapeutic way: with a specific purpose, agreed strategies and tailored scripts adjusted to the client's problem. The therapist is not there to "fix" the client, on the contrary, the client and therapist need each other, the first providing with relevant information about the issue, the second providing mechanisms potentially helpful for the client to use. At the end of a hypnotherapy, clients are given tools to use for the rest of their lives in order to manage their difficulties on their own. A good client is the one who complies with the goals of the therapy, a good therapist is the one who makes him/herself unnecessary, by giving skills and capacity to the clients in managing their future distress.
Hypnotherapy
how it works
what it is for
what it is for
Hypnotherapy uses the power of imagination to make us feel and act "as if". Sometimes clients are asked to pretend to be in certain situations in order to boost a performance or face an unwanted setting, or even enact a conflictual interpersonal relationship. Whenever clients have to encounter a stressful situation, they are also reminded of their personal capacities to overcome the difficulty. As they see themselves managing the situation, the brain records the feelings and thoughts as they have really happened. The true sense of self-efficacy is therefore guaranteed and kept as a truthful and vivid experience. This self-efficacy feeling that will help them to overcome other difficulties in life.
what it is for
what it is for
what it is for
We all struggle with difficulties in our daily lives, however, bad moments are there to make us learn about who we are and what really matters to us. Problems also allow us to learn about the coping skills and strategies we possess to solve them, our capacity of resilience and ability to move on. However, our issues can become somehow debilitating, repetitive, frustrating once everything we tried seems not to work . Cognitive-behavioural hypnotherapy is an approach that can point out why the previous attempts to solve the problem failed and, at the same time, show new and more efficient perspectives in finding the solution(s).
number of sessions
number of sessions
number of sessions
"You are entitled to the quickest, most comprehensive and longest possible relief from your suffering in the least intrusive way. I will not ask you anything illegal, nothing immoral, nothing impossible. In return, you will do everything to make me useless as quickly as possible. " once said Dr. Nicholas Cummings, former president of the American Psychiatrist Association. Hypnotherapy is part of the brief therapies. Indeed, for a vast psychological issues, a high number of sessions doesn't necessarily contribute to the success of the therapy. In hypnotherapy, the usual number of sessions is between 4 to 8 but it's highly related the subjects and the issues brought into therapy. Many factors contribute to the quickest success of the therapy: client's motivation, individual-tailored strategies and the efficient working-alliance between client and therapist.
who it is for
number of sessions
number of sessions
Almost everybody. Everyone who is willing to make a positive change in their life and are stuck in finding the method and the support. However, hypnotherapy is not advisable for people who have been diagnosed with a psychiatric condition such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder. Personally, I prefer to work with children over the age of 7 and in the presence of their carer. In general, I work with people who need guidance, structure and support but also who are motivated to make a positive change in their lives and, at the same time, are willing to improve their capacity and autonomy in dealing with future issues they might encounter.