Excerpt from Dec 2005 Archives at Healing Lifestyles & Spas...
In a Trance: The Therapeutic Benefits of Hypnosis
Hypnosis, perhaps one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented therapeutic tools, has garnered an unjustly questionable reputation. Thanks to Hollywood portrayals, stage-show antics, and a few unethical practitioners, many people either fear or scoff at hypnosis, while others raise an eyebrow in skepticism.
Yet hypnosis is a completely natural state. Babies and small children spend a lot of time in trance—it is the world of imagination, the place where time gets lost. Adults enter this state every time they become engrossed in a book or movie, get caught up in daydreams, or become enchanted by music. Athletes experience a kind of hypnosis when they find themselves in “the flow” or “the zone.” Artists, writers, actors and other performers tap into a kind of trance while performing or creating. The ability to access this state is actually what helps them be successful and prolific. We may not typically recognize these events as hypnosis, but that’s essentially what they are. Not unlike meditation, hypnosis bypasses the conscious mind by using deeply focused concentration, allowing distraction to fall away, and permitting the mind to become still.
Though ‘hypnosis’ is a fairly recent term (derived from Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep), trance and hypnotic-like states have been utilized since the dawn of history. Ancient peoples of Egypt, Greece, Africa, and Siberia employed trance during cultural rituals, though its most tangible roots weren’t established until the 18th century, when healer Franz Mesmer became interested in how measurable physical forces (like magnetism and gravity) could influence human health. “Mesmerism,” as it was then known, induced a sleep-like state in its subjects, a state Mesmer believed he was responsible for creating.
As the study of hypnosis progressed, however, it became clear that it was the human mind, not physical forces of nature or the talents of the therapist that was most responsible for hypnotic trance. Like many fields of mind-body science, several schools of thought attached themselves to hypnosis in the decades that followed—from psychologists who were attempting to understand its influence on behavior to more esoteric investigators of a spiritual nature. Modern theory and practice owes a great debt to the late Milton Erickson, who is in many ways the father of clinical hypnosis, or hypnotherapy. Erickson stressed that “all hypnosis is self-hypnosis,” or that the ability and the power to be hypnotized emanates from the willing participation of the client or patient. Of his many contributions, this tenant may be the most significant in that—thanks to his legions of followers and their clients—one of the great myths about hypnosis is slowly being debunked.
So what is hypnosis, anyway? According to Marc Oster, a clinical psychologist, “Hypnosis is the outcome of a collaborative interpersonal relationship in which one individual, the therapist, facilitates in the other person, a patient or client, an experience that enables them to be open to changes in their thought, feelings or behaviors. This process usually involves three elements in the subject: the ability to focus [her] attention or to concentrate, the ability to separate [herself] from surrounding distractions, and an increase in [her] receptiveness to suggestion.”
It is this focused concentration and openness to suggestion that makes hypnosis particularly successful in the healing realm. Qualified therapists often use three things during hypnosis—mental imagery, ideas/suggestions, and unconscious exploration. Imagery under hypnosis is very powerful—simply visualizing one’s goals can have a measurable impact on the physical and psychological body. Suggestions are another successful tool, particularly when the therapist is in tune with the patient’s motivations and desires. It is important to note, however, that suggestions which are not compatible with the client’s goals generally fail. In hypnotism, you do not surrender your free will. Last, the state of hypnosis allows clients to skirt the conscious mind and deeply explore their innermost motivations; it also allows them to understand the significance of past events or experiences that may be influencing present behavior.
In terms of healing, the potential of hypnosis is tremendous. Psychologists, psychotherapists, medical doctors, dentists, nurses, social workers, and counselors have adopted this art as a tool to help their clients and patients relieve pain, let go of fears and phobias, quit smoking, boost self-esteem, break limiting patterns and behaviors, and overcome childhood traumas, just to name a few. Clinical psychologist Noelle Poncelet has used hypnosis with a variety of clients in her private practice—from couples interested in hypnosis for childbirth and individuals seeking help in preparation for surgery or relief from chronic pain, to those with a history of trauma or substance abuse. She notes, “Hypnosis bypasses surface consciousness, circumvents our beliefs about the world and the social roles we feel bound to, allowing [us] to directly access [our] true nature, [our] inner wisdom. From here, new approaches and possibilities emerge. It is quite profound.”
However, hypnosis is not a magic cure. The individual must be both hypnotizable (most people are), and truly willing to change. Like any therapy, the success of the treatment largely depends on the individual. While one client may need only a couple of sessions to, for example, quit smoking or stop impulsive eating, another may require several appointments or need an additional approach to supplement the hypnosis. Client motivation plays a tremendous role in the outcome. As Oster notes, “If the goal is to be hypnotized and afterward have no interest in food, abundant interest in exercise, and watch the pounds fall away with little concern on your part, then hypnosis may not be very useful. But if you want to use hypnosis to increase your sense of self-control, explore issues relating to your eating problem, and help you integrate all you’re learning about yourself and your problems with food, then yes, hypnosis is good for that.”
A therapist-led hypnosis session is similar to guided meditation. The client is fully awake and alert, but deeply relaxed and focused—breathing becomes slow and even, eyes glaze over and often close. In her book The Pregnant Man and Other Cases from the Hypnotherapist’s Couch (Random House, 1998), Deidre Barrett describes being hypnotized as “a dream with considerably more direction.” Physically, research shows that brain waves slow from Beta into Alpha. Additionally, according to medical doctor Hilary Jones, “Hypnosis is thought to work by altering our state of consciousness in such a way that the analytical left-hand side of the brain is turned off, while the non-analytical right-hand side is made more alert.” In this state, the therapist can directly access the subconscious, offering suggestions in accordance with the client’s goals, seeding them deeply in the mind so that change can occur. Without the censor of the conscious mind, clients are more open to suggestion, more likely to see and accept alternative perspectives to a nagging problem and more likely to allow repressed memories or fears to surface, inviting the possibility for healing.
Since hypnosis is truly an art of the mind-body interaction, it is not surprising that it is beginning to show up at the spa as well. Though not widely available in this realm, the environment may be well-suited to hypnotherapy. As spa director Cindi Loewe of The Spa at the Diplomat in Hollywood, Florida, notes, “The spa setting provides a relaxed atmosphere that offers a variety of treatments, so each person walking through the door is not singled out or made to feel like they stand out.” Regardless of where you seek hypnosis, it is important to find a qualified practitioner, suited to your goals and compatible with your personality. The American Society for Clinical Hypnosis and the Society for Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis are excellent resources for finding a credentialed professional near you.
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