The word “hypnosis” evokes mixed reactions. Skeptical people deny the existence of such a phenomenon. Doubters begin to remember situations when, under the influence of an induced hypnotic trance, inexplicable massacres occur and personal secrets become public knowledge. Those who readily believe in miracles are convinced of the mystery and mysticism of hypnosis.
The interweaving of facts, speculation, and rumors gives rise to various images of hypnotists. The most common ones are that these are scammers who lure money, doctors who cure complex diseases in a couple of sessions, people with a wonderful gift who easily control the crowd.
What is hypnosis? A panacea for diseases, a way to manipulate people, or one of the tricks of charlatans? None of the proposed options are true.
Hypnosis as a means of putting a person into a hypnotic trance has been known for a very long time. It can be used to subjugate, control people, and achieve one’s goals through someone else’s subconscious.
The hypnotic method is used for pain relief and treatment of diseases. With its help, they get rid of insomnia, sexual disorders, bronchial asthma, disorders of the nervous and digestive systems. Hypnotic trance has a positive effect on the entire body.
There are various descriptions of the hypnotic state and ways to achieve trance. Despite the differences in approaches to influencing the subconscious, all sources agree on one thing: by choosing the appropriate phase of sleep, you can force a person to accept the words and instructions of the hypnotist as reality and act in accordance with them.
A separate area of psychological assistance, hypnotherapy, is based on this hypnotic mechanism. It helps the subconscious mind get the right attitudes. Trance is used to relax the mind and helps find a way out of difficult situations caused by stress.
Stress as a reaction of the body
To understand how hypnosis affects the harmonization of the emotional state, let’s understand what stress is and how it works.
Any life event accompanied by psychological discomfort and suffering is considered stress. The concept has become stronger that such a negative reaction must be gotten rid of, otherwise the body will be harmed. Many people advise taking everything calmly and abstractly, and not allowing yourself to react to what is happening.
But stress is a normal physiological reaction of a healthy person to external stimuli. It occurs every time factors appear that threaten to disrupt the state of internal constancy of the body. Accompanied by a surge of adrenaline to quickly resolve an external challenge.
Tasks of stress in neutralizing negative situations:
- launch the process of self-regulation of the body through rapid adaptation to new conditions;
- restore the lost balance of the body;
- mobilize internal resources;
- eliminate the action of the stimulus.
The tool for solving these problems is our reactions. If they pass quickly, without consequences, then stress is considered positive. When emotions, especially negative ones, do not go away for a long time and interfere with a person, then he becomes negative.
The factors that trigger stress are varied and numerous. The brain does not care whether a positive or negative problem has caused an internal imbalance. It reacts to all stimuli in the same way - it triggers a self-adaptation mechanism.
When to deal with stress
The body's response to stress is not always harmful to human health. Small negative stimuli are even useful. They invigorate and stimulate the brain to search for solutions. Life without stress is dull, varied, leads to early aging, loss of goals and interests.
A state of stress becomes the cause of complex problems if there are factors:
- prolonged, negative experience of emotions;
- low threshold of individual emotional sensitivity;
- negative interpretation and subsequent assessment of the event;
- intense reaction to stress;
- attaching great importance to the stimulus;
- simultaneous action of several stress factors.
If everything that happens is perceived in a “minor” manner, the stressful situation does not go away for a long time, there is no strength to neutralize the negativity, or signs of depression appear, then it’s time to act. You should get rid of stress and its consequences in such situations.
It is impossible to reduce the level of negativity and restore peace of mind only with therapeutic treatment. Antidepressants and other medications do not act on the original source of the problem. They only temporarily block the symptoms of an emotional disorder in the body.
The results of treatment of stressful conditions improve if psychotherapeutic measures are added to traditional treatment. The psychotherapist explains to the patient his condition, talks about ways to overcome difficult situations, teaches how to manage thoughts and emotions. But these manipulations do not affect the causes, but eliminate visible emotional manifestations.
To understand negative reactions and the subconscious, a hypnologist is needed to help people by putting them into a hypnotic trance. He can deal with the patient’s problems and discover in the subconscious the situation that served as the beginning of the disease.
What is hypnosis and how does it work
Evaluating the results of the hypnotist’s actions, it is difficult to believe that hypnosis is an everyday occurrence. In everyday life, we often encounter hypnotic manifestations without realizing it.
For example, the acting captures your attention so much that you don’t notice the passage of time, and after the performance you can’t immediately return to reality. Or, lost in thought, you don’t react to what’s happening around you. In such cases, we experience a slight hypnotic trance, a temporary concentrated immersion in ourselves, our problems, and emotions.
Hypnosis, carried out by a hypnotist, involves changing the motivation of the patient's behavior through external suggestion. In a trance state, a negative attitude towards a problem can be corrected, new attitudes are easily perceived by the subconscious, and the patient’s emotions change.
Hypnotherapy, or working with a patient in a hypnotic trance, also affects the physical state. This is due to the fact that many diseases are produced by the subconscious to achieve specific goals. For example, a person is so reluctant to go to a business meeting that his temperature rises and signs of a cold appear. Having avoided an unpleasant matter, he relaxes, the symptoms of the disease disappear. The appearance of skin rashes, which are a reason not to communicate with unpleasant people, is also the result of emotions.
To cure such physical diseases, the hypnotist uses the influence of the subconscious on the patient’s vital functions. It establishes a relationship between an emotion and its physical manifestation, and then corrects this connection.
People are susceptible to hypnosis to varying degrees of susceptibility. Some immediately fall into unconsciousness, while others need some time to trust the actions of the hypnotist.
Before hypnotherapy, it is important to put aside a critical attitude towards the process. You should relax, trust your subconscious and allow your mind to react to changes.
Indications
Hypnosis for insomnia can be used for almost any source of its occurrence. It is called:
- fatigue:
- one-time and constant stressful situations;
- non-compliance with the daily routine;
- psychological disorders.
Treatment of insomnia with hypnosis can be combined with other methods. It can also be used independently if traditional methods do not give the desired effect.
Sleep disturbances are observed in people suffering from alcohol, tobacco, drug and coffee addictions.
However, starting the procedure in question is not always the right decision, because in some cases, you first need to eliminate the disease that caused the sleep disorder. This applies to somatic diseases.
There are a number of other contraindications:
- malignant formations;
- acute diseases;
- disturbances in the functioning of the cardiovascular system;
- being in a coma;
- resistance of the mind to hypnotic influence;
- epileptic seizures;
- heart diseases;
- bearing a child.
Hypnosis for sleep and calming the nervous system is harmless for children and adults.
The procedure is not accompanied by pain, does not affect the functioning of the central nervous system, and does not cause discomfort.
Hypnosis as an anti-stress remedy
Information coming from the outside world is processed by a mysterious part of the mind - its subconscious. It decides what to do next with the information received: store it or let it into consciousness. At the same time, very negative events, thoughts, and actions can be hidden so deeply that a simple effort of will cannot pull them out and realize them.
Hypnosis opens access to negative data storage. Using special techniques, the hypnotist puts a person into a hypnotic trance - a state between sleep and reality. Staying here allows you to:
- eliminate obstacles to obtaining information built by the consciousness;
- obtain reliable information about the past;
- find a painful memory, problem;
- change a negative attitude towards a difficult situation to a neutral or positive one.
Replacing destructive emotions with positive ones is the essence of hypnotherapy. The body does not see the problem that was being addressed, so it does not waste emotional energy searching for solutions. Accordingly, the likelihood of disorganization of personal behavior is suppressed, and the array of problems is reduced.
Hypnosis is an effective and safe way to relax a patient. Its benefits in combating stress are obvious:
- working with the root cause - emotion, and not with its manifestations;
- no other treatments are required as the symptoms disappear;
- the resolved problem is not returned;
- absence of contraindications, side effects, negative consequences;
- painless, natural use;
- speed of action;
- no age restrictions;
- the body's resistance to stress is formed.
During a hypnotic session, the foundations for competent and painless resolution of difficult situations are laid in the patient’s subconscious. Faced with another negative factor, the subconscious will act according to the implemented scheme - to treat the problem without long-lasting and unnecessary emotions for the body.
Hypnotist: how to choose the right one?
Hypnosis presupposes trust in the specialist performing it and dialogue between the participants. During the actions of the hypnologist, a partial blocking of consciousness occurs. Complex cases allow for complete disconnection from reality. The patient hears and perceives only the hypnotist.
For the sessions to be productive, it is important to find a specialist whom you can trust without fear. Sympathy for the interlocutor helps to perceive the suggested information deeply and firmly.
When choosing “your” hypnotist, you should adhere to the following recommendations:
- listen to your intuition - it can determine whether you should trust this specialist;
- read the reviews of other patients - ideal if you personally know those whom he helped;
- clarify education, work experience;
- study licenses allowing you to engage in relevant medical activities;
- pay attention to the techniques used;
- discuss the upcoming procedure - the hypnotist should not shy away from answering questions that concern you, no matter how amateurish or strange they may seem to him.
Choose your hypnotist wisely. If something seems suspicious, do not agree to hypnotic trance sessions.
Types of hypnosis
The hypnotic state resembles sleep, but has a different nature. In its process, consciousness undergoes a change, reactions to the external environment decrease, and the possibility of suggestion by another person opens up. The state of trance in a similar position is confirmed by the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.
There are several techniques of hypnosis depending on its objectives, characteristics and specific disorders of the patient.
Classical
Used back in Ancient Egypt. Its essence is that the hypnotist, using certain phrases, puts a person into a state of trance and places the necessary information in his consciousness. In this position, the hypnotized person fully or incompletely performs the actions requested by the hypnologist. If a command contradicts a person's moral principles, then he may reject it.
With the suggestion of classical hypnosis, it becomes possible to rediscover long-forgotten things (what happened many years ago). The subconscious in this state comes into contact and undergoes change.
Not every person can be subjected to classical hypnosis. For sleep and calming the nervous system, this method works using the following phrases: “your eyelids become heavy, you close your eyes and fall asleep.”
Non-directive
Milton Erickson, a doctor from America, became the author of another type of hypnotic influence. He experienced its effect himself when he was getting rid of the consequences of an illness he had suffered - polio.
Ericksonian influence is exerted in such a way that the target of hypnosis is transferred to the attitude in a state of wakefulness, in contrast to classical hypnosis, when a person approaches deep sleep. Information comes in the form of a story. It has a hidden meaning, specific words encourage the necessary actions. Milton addresses the unconscious part of the mind, which is able to get rid of negative aspects and obtain useful ones for use in a normal state.
Treatment of insomnia with hypnosis according to Erickson is carried out as follows:
- an orientation toward improving sleep is transmitted to the subconscious;
- the regime of work and rest, night and day time is normalized;
- new processes of going to sleep and waking up from it arise; Anxieties go away, the person calms down.
In this type of hypnosis, success largely depends on the target and how focused he is on the task. The hypnotist uses the right hemisphere of a person’s brain to activate intuitive processes, which themselves will lead to calming the nervous system and normalizing sleep.
Any person can be subject to this hypnotic effect. It is easy to understand the state in which the hypnotized person is. It is worth remembering those moments when you are distracted from what is happening and do not notice anything around you; for a few seconds, time seems to stop and everything ceases to exist.
Hypnosis by Elena Valjak and Andrey Rakitsky
Their technique consists of exposure to sounds. During the treatment, a relaxing, calm melody with a soothing female voice sounds. The specialist uses visual means so that the patient is completely absorbed in the sound recording. The rhythm of the audio recording plays an important role, because the desired effect is obtained when it coincides with the work of the human brain.
Listening to measured, monotonous music, especially with the sound of water and wind, causes complete relaxation and immersion in sleep.
Session script
To practice hypnotherapy, it is important to have professional knowledge about the human body and mastery of special techniques. The special gift is seen as a useful addition to the package.
To correct unwanted negative emotions, the hypnotist consistently models the hypnotic state:
- Tests the patient's level of hypnotizability. Depending on the final goal, determines the action plan and criteria for its achievement. The reinforcement of words by manual actions is taken into account. For example, when a patient says that he feels warmth in a certain point of the body, the hypnotist will certainly put his hand there and answer that the feeling of warmth is intensifying.
- Tests ideomotor connection. Speaking about the problem, the patient experiences an involuntary reaction of the body. This could be wiggling fingers, microgrimaces, trembling. With such a unity of words and emotions, an experienced hypnotist connects to the subconscious and moves on to hypnosis.
- Induces a trance. Techniques are used whose effects are aimed at relaxation, meditation, and shock hypnosis. The choice depends on the patient's degree of relaxation.
- Gives the subconscious the necessary settings. Brings the patient out of a hypnotic trance. A person develops feelings of confidence, optimism, creative enthusiasm, and a readiness to live and create.
The number of hypnosis sessions depends on the patient’s suggestibility and the complexity of the problem.
