Hypnotherapy counselling expectations
Hypnotherapy is something that many people don’t quite understand. We’ve all heard of hypnotherapy, but our views on it and our expectation are often skewed by media portrayals that make it seem either magic or incredibly powerful. We see stage magicians use ‘hypnotism’ to get people to act like ducks, and it is a common feature in detective stories where bad guys use hypnotism to get their victims to act out of sorts and commit heinous crimes.
Of course this has very little to do with real hypnotherapy which is in fact a far more scientific and much less flamboyant tool that can be used in the context of therapy to produce a series of benefit for individuals that are albeit slightly less dramatic.
So the question is, how exactly does hypnotherapy work? And what should you expect?
The basic idea behind hypnotherapy is simple – and that’s to make ‘suggestions’ directly to the unconscious mind. Hypnotherapy was first used as part of psychodynamic therapy born out of the theories of Freud. Freud speculated that many of the things that cause us to behave in odd ways – that cause our anxieties and phobias, or that cause us to forget significant events, are acting on an unconscious level. This might be because our unconscious mind is protecting our psyches from potentially damaging memories or emotions, or it might be that we simply aren’t aware of how we feel.
Thus Freud would employ various methods to try and address the unconscious mind more directly. This would mean using techniques such as ‘free association’ wherein he would ask patients to say the first thing that came to mind, and ‘dream analysis’ wherein he would analyse the content of dreams for hidden clues as to the workings of the unconscious mind. It would be possible this way to often uncover forgotten memories or to change the unconscious thought processes and thereby improve the patient’s psychological wellbeing.
Another method he would use is hypnotherapy. Here the patient would be made to completely relax, and the analyst would use a ‘script’ which would help them to lower their guard. This would include leading and open ended statements that could get the individual to be more trusting in what the hypnotherapist said. Eventually by inducing a trance like state, it is possible to speak directly with the unconscious mind so as to implant suggestions that wouldn’t be rejected and that the individual would genuinely believe.
At the same time hypnotherapy can be used in this way in order to get a patient to reveal things that they might have forgotten or repressed, and this way they can get to the bottom of events and beliefs that might be causing serious psychological damage.
So what will happen when you get hypnotherapy? Well first of all you will be given a general consultation where you will ascertain the problem and the goals of the hypnotherapy, and where the therapist can learn more about you. From here you will be made to relax, and you will be given a calm and comfortable environment in which to do so. This might include gentle music or sound effects. From here the hypnotherapist will then read a script designed to help relax you further and to gradually open your mind up to suggestion.
There are a lot of different conditions that can be treated by the use of hypnotherapy. This is a service that is offered by many counsellors, such as this counselling service in melbourne
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