hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy involves the use of hypnosis, or trance, to aid the therapeutic process of personal change.

Hypnosis, which is not a variant of 'sleep', is in fact an altered state of conscious awareness. This trance like state can be considered a common everyday phenomenon, as with day dreaming, i.e. when you are lost in thought and not fully alert and aware of your surroundings.

It is important to note, that whilst in a hypnotic state you cannot be made to do anything against your will, and you cannot act in a manner that is at odds with your core value system or beliefs.

Once in an hypnotic trance state there is a feeling of relaxation, peace and calm during which the therapist will suggests ways for you to accomplish the desired goals; such as giving up smoking or losing weight. It also allows the therapist to encourage the client to view any problem more positively, to realise what they can achieve and make positive changes.

Hypnosis is a positive tool that allows you to alter your viewpoint in a positive way and which alters your reactions and behaviour to those perceptions, whether they be of current, past or future events.

Remember! Change your viewpoint of a memory or even the fear surrounding a future event and you will change your behaviour in relation to that memory or event.

Change your viewpoint - change your life.

What can seem amazing is that you have all the answers to your problems and life challenges within you. The problem is, you sometimes don't have the faith or trust to capitalise on this abundant resource and one of the reasons for this is that we may be oblivious to this resource.

Have you ever seen a picture of an iceberg?
Did you know that the biggest part of it is actually hidden beneath the waves?
It is this analogy that I like to use in trying to explain how the mind works.

The tip of the iceberg, I refer to this as the 'conscious' mind, and you can see from this that it is a limited view as it is only the tip. Below the surface we see the greater portion of the mind 'iceberg' that we refer to as the 'unconscious'.

If you believe that all you are is your conscious mind then the analogy is that you accept you are only the tip of an iceberg, and in doing that you lose the true essence of you as an individual and all you can achieve. For it is in the unconscious that your dreams are born, your hopes and aspirations begin here and then trickle up. By the time you are aware of them they will be modified by your image of Self. Wouldn't it be great to go directly to the source and see what you are capable of doing? I believe so.

You know that gut feeling you can get about someone or something? Well that is your unconscious mind prompting you; do you ignore it or listen to it? Aha, I thought so!

The beauty of hypnosis is that it helps open the communication gateway between your conscious and unconscious mind, tapping into the healthy and helpful resources available to you and modifying those thoughts that may be holding you back.

Hypnotherapy can help bring about positive change to your life, such as

• stopping smoking
• improving confidence
• managing stress
• controlling weight
• overcoming phobias
• managing anger
• enhancing sports performance
• developing relationships
• assisting healing

You are probably wondering if you can be hypnotised?

Almost everyone can be hypnotised, if they want to be. The quality of the experience may be different with different hypnotherapists, and that is only logical. When you meet someone for the first time, you immediately like them and feel comfortable in their presence or, you just don't click with them. So it is important that you have good rapport with your therapist.

If you have tried hypnotherapy in the past and it didn't work that does not mean that it will not work in the future, maybe you weren't ready or your desire for change wasn't strong enough. Perhaps the rapport wasn't so good with your therapist, there may be lots of reasons and yet it can and does work; so you may just want to try it again.