Does hypnotherapy work?

Often the response I get when I tell people I’m a hypnotherapist is …”Oooh. Does hypnotherapy work?”  It’s better to ask, “How does it work?” because yes it does work. It works to different degrees, depending on the person being hypnotised and their state of openness and willingness. Levels of deepness of “trance” will be different for each person and may also feel different each time for the same person.

The brain is complex, but hypnotherapy is quite a simple concept really.You tell me what you want to happen and how you’d like it to happen, we agree on a strategy and while you are in a relaxed altered state of mind, which is a bit like daydreaming, I’ll implant your strategy into the dormant part of your brain. That’s the 80% or so of your brain that absorbs information to be used later on, while the other 20% is busy doing your day to day business.

Suggestion is very powerful. Once it’s received by the brain, it’s there to be activated, but it can’t be a total success unless it’s in agreement with you. So for example if a smoker feels they should give up, or has been advised by their doctor to quit, but hasn’t fully committed to the idea, then although hypnotherapy will have an initial effect, it’s unlikely to last.

There’ll be reasons for not fully committing to suggestions, like the real fear of losing an emotional crutch, but reasons can be talked through prior to the hypnosis therapy and if the reasoning can be changed, then so can the mind and the subsequent actions.  So many of us hold on to damaging behaviours through fear of the unknown. Somehow believing it’s better to live with the problem than whatever the solution might be. That’s sort of sad. Living life with a burden when taking a leap of faith and experiencing a new way of being is amazing!

Maybe it’s the cost that puts people off committing to a few sessions. What if it doesn’t work? Could it be a waste of money? Well that can be applied to anything we spend money on to self-improve. Paying Gym subscriptions won’t make us fitter, but attending the Gym and putting the effort in consistently will. Hypnotherapy can be seriously life-changing and that really is value for money, but it’s not magic.  You and your brain have to be “in the room”.  Some people spend lots of money fixing the outer image of themselves, whether it be clothing, grooming, diet products, surgery. All that can be beneficial or ….. a waste of money if the inside is still left wanting.

Or maybe it’s the perceived stigma of the need to ask for help that gets in the way of considering therapy. We’ve possibly all been there. Thinking we can do it on our own or that the problem will go way. We don’t want to appear to be weak. We really should by now acknowledge that seeking help isn’t a weakness. That’s the message being put out by mental health professionals and we should embrace that.

Of course some problems can be solved without anyone else’s intervention. It’s the problems that won’t shift, that hang around, that are bothersome or worse. Problems that cause anxiety, fear, avoidance of certain situations. It really does help to share issues and make proper, measured plans to attend to such difficulties. We grow and learn by using effective methods to achieve a specific outcome.  The feeling is one of freedom when we know we have positively and healthily adjusted our way of being. Replace the word therapy with learning.…learning strategies for improvement, happiness, serenity. There is no stigma to learning. No stigma to change. No stigma to the quest to be happy and content and to manage life well.

Discussing important issues with a professional is different to offloading on or seeking solutions from a friend or family member. An important part of my job as a hypnotherapist is to gauge how committed people are to change and whether hypnotherapy is the way to go.  We can do this during a free  free consultation. I ask questions like “what’s in it for you?” Give me your reasons for changing your habits, patterns, feelings. Not your partner’s, not your family, not your friends or employer. Then during our sessions in comfortable therapy rooms in the Brighton & Hove area, it will be about you getting your subconscious mind on board to help facilitate that change with my guidance and help.

I don’t tell you what to do. You solve your own dilemmas with my guidance and support.

Does it work? The only way to find out if it works for you is to try it.

Personally I love being hypnotised. It’s not scary and rather than losing control, the therapy gives control and subliminal motivation and importantly, permission to do what’s needed to move forward.

Do have a browse of my website to find out more and do text, phone or email me if you’d like to arrange a free consultation.