Welcome to Relaxhypnotherapy!
Hypnosis is highly misunderstood due to its misrepresentation used in entertainment, such as stage shows. However, when one actually experiences hypnosis as a treatment or studies it, is one able to appreciate that they had no idea what hypnosis really is and that it is a truly remarkable form of therapy.
I once shared the common impression that hypnosis made people make fools of themselves, like "clucking like chickens". However, having been hypnotised myself and qualifying as a hypnotherapist, I now appreciate hypnosis to be more than these common misinterpretations.
Hypnosis is an altered mental state whereby the patient is susceptible to suggestions to make a change in their life for the better. For instance, if one wants to quit a bad habit, such as smoking, drinking or taking drugs, or overcome an eating disorder, or even remember a forgotten memory then hypnosis is an effective treatment, although like any medical treatment or prescription, may not work for everyone. Thankfully, hypnosis helped me overcome back pain. But not everyone is susceptible to hypnosis as many retain false apprehensions about what hypnosis is.
It is scientifically accepted that one remains conscious in a hypnotic trance, as proven by electroencephalography (EEG). Using EEG to measure the frequencies of brain activities, it is now known that although the eyes of hypnotised people may be closed, they are not asleep because their EEG recordings show typical waking state patterns.
If you can modify behaviour or even recall a memory when in a conscious hypnotic trance, then why can we not consciously modify our behaviour or recall memories when we are not in a hypnotic trance? The best person to help answer this question is Sigmund Freud.
Sigmund Freud has arguably given the most detailed and precise descriptions of the "subconscious mind". From his work it is now understood that the conscious mind is where one's mental activity is in the domain of full awareness. That is, it is in the conscious mind where the brain is able to actively logically process information. The subconscious mind does not appear to follow logic but motivates us in most of our daily actions. Through the works of Freud and his followers it is now a widely held belief that the subconscious mind takes the responsibility for controlling our non-voluntary bodily actions and stores our learned knowledge and experiences, thereby allowing our conscious mind to efficiently gather information in our current activities. This can be understood better by the example of driving a car.
The conscious mind allows you to learn the skills needed to drive. The subconscious mind stores the learned information. Understanding this, it becomes interesting that what many people do not realise is that in the automatic act of driving, it can be easy to enter a hypnotic trance.
When an experienced driver is driving, as the knowledge required for driving is in the subconscious mind, the subconscious mind can take control allowing the conscious mind to drift off. It is not uncommon for someone to find themselves somewhere and not remember driving there. This is because whenever you do something that is automatic your subconscious mind takes control diverting your conscious mind so that you are likely to drift from a state of alertness into a different level of consciousness.
One can modify their behaviour, or recall a past memory, by the suggestions made by the therapist. It is these suggestions that permit changes for the better to be made. These changes can come about from within a hypnotic trance and not from daily choices because in our everyday lives, our conscious mind is active. Therefore, as one needs to be in a lower level of consciousness to modify one's behaviour, or recall a repressed memory, we need our subconscious mind to predominate. As Freud learnt,
when under hypnosis, people are able to reach underneath their waking consciousness and dig out relevant information and even painful repressed memories.
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