- Hypnotherapy FAQ -

There are many questions commonly asked, I suspect of all Hypnotherapist, below are some FAQ

How Does Hypnosis Work? ~ Hypnosis is related to how the subconscious mind works & the changes made to your brain wave patterns during a hypnotic state. When your brain wave patterns move from Beta to Alpha or deeper your subconscious mind can be accessed & reprogrammed with relative ease for positive change. Your subconscious stores all of your memories & controls your bodily functions, all without conscious consent, i.e. breathing, fight or flight responses, pain etc. & so too all of your habits & beliefs.

The conscious mind, is no more than a filter for the subconscious & only holds between 5 - 7 piece of information at a time. Your conscious mind has no capacity for memory. Everything that you wish to do consciously requires your conscious mind to ask your subconscious mind for permission. Permission will be given based on the programming held within your subconscious. The subconscious mind cannot analyse, so whatever enters the subconscious stays the same as when it was programmed in & does not mature. Unless a stronger programme is put into place or it is removed it will remain the same. Hence the internal conflict when we desire change & feel it impossible. Underlying every behaviour is a positive intention. The subconscious mind serves to protect at all costs, so every damaging, careless action & behaviour that we wish to disown & be free from has a positive intention from a subconscious view. You can find out what that positive purpose is & create a more valued behaviour to replace it in hypnosis.

Will The Hypnotherapist Have Control Of Me? ~ You are in control at all times. You will enter a relaxed physical & mental state, you can awaken at anytime, your subconscious mind protects you at all times from anything that is perceived as a physical threat.

Does It Mean That I Am Gullible or Weak Minded? ~ Quite the opposite, to be able to be hypnotised you have to have a certain level of intellect. Young children & those who are severally mentally ill do not have the ability to recognise hypnotic commands, rendering them unable to be hypnotically treated.

Remember that a mind is like a parachute - no good unless it is open. People with closed minds do not tend to travel outside of what they subconsciously find acceptable & therefore cannot be helped via hypnosis as they would not consider it viable. If anyone passes negative comment as to you being daft, stupid or open to suggestion for considering anything untraditional - say thank you. Your mind is open & you are accepting change.

How Deep Into Hypnotic Relaxation Will I Go? ~ Hypnosis will relax & focus your mind & deeply relax your body. If you continue with hypnosis you will find differing states of hypnosis can be achieved. Your depth of hypnosis will depend on many factors, & should not be a worry for the client. Tests are usually performed by the hypnotherapist during a session to make sure that all is well for the change work being done. On some occasions you will feel very relaxed & drift off which is fine & on most occasion you will feel very relaxed but very mentally awake.

Can A Hypnotherapist Make Me do Anything That I Don't Want to do? ~ No. This is impossible, your subconscious mind protects you at all times & will not allow you to do anything that is against your moral code. When you see stage Hypnotists asking those hypnotised on stage to do silly things, they are not doing anything that they would not normally do in a situation that gives them permission to be daft. A Hypnotherapist helps to heal & change people, not make them perform embarrassing tricks.

What Happens If I Don't Wake Up? ~ Hypnosis is a natural state. You go into it several times a day, when you day dream or forget time. If the Hypnotherapist was to disappear into thin air, however unlikely, you would either awake from a noise at the time or will awake naturally within 15 - 30 minutes if not sooner.

I Have Been Hypnotised Before & It Didn't Work? ~ Everyone can be hypnotised. But that stated not everyone can be have a hypnotic state induced by anyone. Maybe there wasn't a secure rapport with your past Hypnotherapist & yourself if a hypnotic state was not reached. If a hypnotic state was reached but feel the hypnotherapy failed, your subconscious may have been protecting you from change. Every subconscious action has a positive intent. If your inner mind believes maintaining a habit, phobia, physical ailment etc will serve you well then it will do so. i.e. over eating, so that you do not have to face your emotions, a fear of failure showing as an illness, phobia or habit etc. All wrong from a conscious view point, but strong facts to a wrongly programmed subconscious. When this is a barrier to success then that programming has to be changed. Lastly, some times we do things because we feel that we should, or to please others, when this is your intent you will not have a positive outcome as your heart isn't in it & you are not fully ready for personal change then no amount of any kind of therapy will help.

What is NLP? ~ Neuro Linguistic Programming. NLP helps to turn positive thoughts into positive realities, giving us the ability to run our own minds, rather than our minds running us & often used by therapists as a 'stand alone' therapy. NLP is an instruction manual for the mind. NLP offers a direct route to solving issues by dipping into a NLP Toolbox of techniques & methods that reshape the mind.

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