What is Hypnotherapy?

Hypnotherapy is actually the use of hypnosis in a clinical setting. The word “hypnos” comes from the ancient Greek Hypnos who was the god of sleep. But hypnosis isn’t a form of sleep. It’s actually a mental state where you can easily absorb new ideas into your subconscious mind.

I have read definitions of hypnosis that defines hypnosis as “a condition of artificially induced sleep.” But this isn’t true because when a person is asleep they are oblivious to everything that’s going around them. For example, if you spoke to someone quietly while they were asleep the chances are they would not hear you nor would they remember anything you said. Hypnosis just isn’t like that. While in hypnosis you are aware and can hear everything that’s going around you. Hypnosis actually invokes the state of mind where you are highly focused but open to new ideas.

Levels of Hypnosis

There are varying degrees of hypnosis. Becoming engrossed in a good book or movie is a type of natural hypnosis. You tend to tune out everything and become mesmerized by the story.

Hypnosis works so well in tuning out external stimuli that it’s now an accepted method of anesthesia in some types of surgeries, blocking out the pain.

Science and Hypnosis

 The use of hypnotherapy has been studied in the Western world for over 200 years. Sigmund Freud actually used hypnosis in the early part of his career. He advanced the theory that hypnosis gives accesses to a less sophisticated part of the mind, what we now call the subconscious mind.

Innovations in science have been instrumental in helping us determine what happens in our brains during hypnosis.

Your brain puts out different electrical signals for different mental states, whether it’s agitated, alert, in varying stages of relaxation, or asleep. Research in the U.S. in the 1970s sought to measure the electrical changes that occur in the brain during the hypnotic state. It was found that hypnosis did alter the brain wave patterns and also the chemistry of the nervous system. This research allowed the researchers to determine which areas of the brain control which functions and determine which parts of the brain became more active while in a hypnotic state.

Research carried out in the former Soviet Union also established a link between the state of hypnosis and changes in a person’s physical and psychological state. They also used electronic equipment to measure the brain’s electrical waves and through this research concluded that hypnosis was a different “state” then sleep.

Recent scientific investigation has shown definite physiological changes take place while a person is in a hypnotic state. While in hypnosis the parasympathetic nervous system is switched on which slows breathing, heartbeat and causes the muscles of the body to become very relaxed. It’s in this relaxed state that hypnotherapy becomes useful.

These tests corroborate with scientific methods that during hypnosis we can virtually bypass the limiting beliefs of our conscious mind to relay our desired ideas and behaviors directly to our subconscious.

Once our subconscious accepts these new ideas, it can then direct our thoughts and actions to conform to the new data, attitudes, or beliefs.

Measuring Brain Waves

What is this electrical activity we’re talking about? It is the electrical impulses, measured in cycles that your brain puts out as it does the tasks you ask of it. For example, as you use your conscious mind the electrical waves your brain puts out are somewhere in the range of 15-40 cycles per second.  This range is known as your normal waking state. You experience this when you are reading, writing, speaking, calculating, using a computer or phone, analyzing, editing or planning. This is the state you are in most or all of your waking day.

When you are in what are known as trance states you are using your sub-conscious mind. This is when your brain wave pattern is in the range of 4-14 cycles per second. Trance states occur naturally as you begin to fall asleep or wake up. They occur when you are intensely focused or when you are distracted or daydreaming. Trace states also occur when you are lost in music, a good book, meditating or practicing martial arts or yoga.

A hypnotic state also occurs in the 4-14 cycles per second range. It merely uses this natural pleasant state of sub-conscious activity to cause positive changes in your habitual thinking that help you make quick and lasting behavioral shifts.

How Does Hypnotherapy Work?

Over your life you have learned certain beliefs and behaviors. These behaviors are also known as habits. While habits like brushing your teeth are good for you and the people you talk with regularly, habits like picking your nose may not be as well received. The key point here is these habits, like much of your behavior, is learned, and if one behavior can be learned another can be learned to replace it. That’s where hypnosis comes in. Hypnosis helps you learn new empowering behaviors. That’s the secret. Hypnosis helps you learn new and empowering behavior. It helps you program your mind for success.

In a hypnotherapy session the hypnotist helps you relax your mind and body. The reason for this is in this state the limiting beliefs of your conscious mind are subdued. At the same time the imagination and creativity of your subconscious mind are enhanced. You tune out all distractions and focus sharply on the thoughts and ideas you are working on. This process allows your subconscious mind to be highly accepting of new, positive ideas. This can help you experience change in your thinking that can causes quick and lasting shifts in your behavior.

If you would like more information on hypnosis or on your subconscious mind you can receive a complimentary 29 page report titled “Discover the Secrets of Your Subconscious Mind” at absolutely no charge. Just click here to download your copy of “Discover the Secrets of Your Subconscious Mind” today.

Wil Dieck is the founder of Total Mind Therapy. He is a NLP practitioner and professional hypnotist. His office is located in San Diego,California. He is a leading authority on using hypnosis and NLP to help people make quick and lasting life transformations. If you interested in learning more about Total Mind Therapy or would like a risk free evaluation to determine how Total Mind Therapy could benefit you, call (619) 293-3255.

This is how most people experience hypnosis, they see a show or watch a movie that makes it appear as if the hypnotist is taking control and making a person do things they don’t want to do. If you’re like most people, what you’ve heard about hypnosis is actually based on myths, fantasy, and fiction. Thanks to our popular culture, hypnotism has achieved an eerie, mystical, otherworldly and sometimes evil reputation.

While there may be a shred of truth to the scenario above, because hypnosis does use verbal suggestions to help people believe and therefore act as a differently, it certainly can’t do what the movies depict or we would have people lined up for miles to learn the secrets of hypnosis and “take over the world”. There is certainly more about hypnotism than those campy films.

The usefulness of hypnotism, or what we commonly call hypnosis, continues to be studied, analyzed, and interpreted. From medicine, psychology, new age, self-help, religion, history, media and popular culture, hypnotism has been given many different interpretations along with uses. From the ability of a smoker to quit smoking with hypnotherapy to helping people lose weight, reduce stress or just hit a golf ball straighter, hypnosis has been adapted by people across the spectrum to transform their lives.

But what about all those hypnosis myths, are they real? Well let’s take a look at 4 of the most popular ones.

1. Hypnosis is magic – False

If you are looking for a hypnotist to help you change like Harry Potter, touching you on the head with a magic wand then you’re going to be very disappointed. Simply put hypnosis is not magic. There is no type of hypnotism that involves the use of any type of magic or spells. It works naturally with the way your body and your brain already operate.

2. Hypnosis puts you to sleep – False

This myth comes about because hypnosis comes from the Greek term “hypnos” or to sleep. But you do not go into a sleep state when you are hypnotized. The truth about hypnotism is when you are hypnotized you’re fully awake and conscious. Yes, your brain is in a very relaxed state, but, rather than being asleep, you’re actually extremely focused.

3. You can be hypnotize against your will – False

The truth about hypnotism is you have to want to be hypnotized or you will not be. Another fact about hypnotism is the only way you can be hypnotized is if you believe you can be. You must actively participate in a hypnosis session to make it happen. You do this by entering into a fully relaxed state.

4. The hypnotist can control you when they hypnotize you – False

Many people fear hypnosis because they think the hypnotist is going to control them. Although this is a very common misconception about hypnosis nothing could be further from the truth. The truth about hypnotism is that, although the effect of your limiting beliefs in your conscious mind is minimized, you’re still very much in control.

No one can make you do anything that you’re morally or ethically opposed to. For example, if a hypnotist tells you to rob a bank, you won’t do this if you believe that stealing is wrong. In fact, such a suggestion will bring you out of your hypnotic state.

What about the clucking chicken antics? In a hypnotic trance, some people will do such silly things because the learned inhibitions of their conscious mind relax enough to allow the creative forces of their subconscious to dominate.

Normally, the only things that keep you from acting like that are your learned social conventions, such as, “You look stupid when you do stuff like that.” This is a limiting belief that resides in your conscious mind.

Think about it this way. When you were a small child, you weren’t embarrassed to be creative and pretend you were all sorts of things. In fact, it was often encouraged. But as you got older, you learned that it’s not such a good idea for adults to behave that way simply because of what others might think.

So when you’re hypnotized, suggestions for doing things that simply make you look silly might work with you. On the other hand, if you’re diametrically opposed to it, such a suggestion might just bring you out of your trance instead.

There is nothing about hypnotism to be afraid of

These answers are the truth about hypnosis. Hypnosis isn’t magic. It doesn’t put you to sleep and you can not be hypnotized against your will. Finally, a hypnotist cannot make you do even one thing you really don’t want to do. So if you have wanted to try hypnosis, but were a little afraid because of one of these myths, go ahead and give it a try. The truth about hypnosis is that it has helped millions of people transform their lives. It can do the same for you.

If you are interested in learning more about hypnosis and the power of your subconscious mind then download the complimentary report, “Discover the Secrets of Your Subconscious Mind” at absolutely no charge. Just click here to download your copy of “Discover the Secrets of Your Subconscious Mind” today.

Wil Dieck is the founder and the leading authority on the use of Total Mind Therapy in helping people rewire their minds for success. If you are interested in learning more about hypnotism, NLP or Total Mind Therapy give Wil a call at (619) 293-3255 today.

“Randomized controlled trials have provided good evidence that both hypnosis and relaxation techniques can reduce anxiety, and prevent panic disorders and insomnia.”

Are your bad habits becoming increasingly irksome? Wouldn’t you love to erase the mental blocks that are keeping you from achieving the success you desire?

You can. How? You can use hypnosis to rewire your subconscious thinking.

Hypnosis works because it allows you to tap into the part of the mind that controls 90% of your beliefs, attitudes, thoughts, and actions – your subconscious mind!

What is Hypnosis Used For?

Hypnosis has been around probably since the beginning of time in some manner or another. While most people experience hypnosis at a show as entertainment, people who have experienced hypnosis techniques in a clinical setting will tell you that the experience can be very beneficial. It gives them a more positive mental outlook about how they can manage the events and issues in their lives. It is this new attitude about their events and issues that create new ways of behaving.

Behaviors and Your Subconscious Mind

The behaviors you go through on a regular basis are called habits. Habits are neither good nor bad, they just are. From the number of times a day you brush your teeth to whether you smoke or drink excessively or overeat, the patterns, or habits, you have created, control your life.

You see, your habits are located in what psychologists call the subconscious mind. It’s called the subconscious mind because it runs underneath your conscious thinking.

What Is The Subconscious Mind?

“Our subconscious minds have no sense of humor, play no jokes and cannot tell the difference between reality and an imagined thought or image. What we continually think about eventually will manifest in our lives.” – Robert Collier

The “subconscious” is the part of your mind that operates below your normal level of waking consciousness. If you could look at your mind it would appear to be similar to an iceberg. The conscious mind is like the part of the iceberg, about 12 percent, that you can see above the surface. But the bulk of the mind, about 88 percent, is the subconscious mind and is below the surface where you can’t see it.

For example, take breathing. It’s something you don’t even think about, well at least not until I mentioned it. When you breathe, you don’t consciously direct every muscle that expands or contracts your lungs to pull in and push out the air. You just breathe.

How about walking? Do you consciously think about how walk? Of course not! When you walk, just let your feet guide you to your destination. You don’t consciously tell your muscles to pick up each foot and put it back down for every step. It would be too much work for your conscious mind. It’s your subconscious mind that handles all of that for you.

Habits and Your Subconscious Mind

Your subconscious mind is like an autopilot. It’s been set either biologically, or from years and years of training. Like you saw in the examples above, it runs nearly everything in your life, things you not even consciously aware of.

Your subconscious mind contains vast stores of information. These are stores of information that you’ve been acquiring your entire life. They are much more than your conscious mind could ever handle.

Your subconscious mind takes action based on that information. It even causes conscious thoughts and physical sensations based on that same data. Some of the actions it takes, like working hard or exercising, are empowering while others, life being shy or smoking cigarettes, are not.

Changing Your Habitual Thinking

As an adult you might think you can simply change your habitual thinking. But it’s not that easy. The reason is one of the most fundamental ways you give your experience meaning is through your beliefs. Your beliefs have been stored in your subconscious mind and act to reinforce your motivation to work hard and accomplish the goals you set for yourself or to sabotage you if it has been trained to think you are unable.

These beliefs are stored deep in your subconscious and affect how you habitually think and can also automatically block any attempt you make to change. The only time you actually become aware of this negative subliminal programming is when it limits your progress in creating a balanced, successful and productive life.

How Hypnosis Works

In order to communicate effectively with your subconscious mind you need to get it into a relaxed state. Hypnosis techniques have been used for this purpose for thousands of years. It allows you to bypass your conscious mind and talk directly with your subconscious.

What Would You Like to Change?

So what is it you’d like to change? From the nasty habit of cigarette smoking to nervous habit of fingernail biting, hypnosis has been found as one of fastest ways to achieve that change. If there are things about you that you’d like to change, why not give hypnosis a try?

Are you interested in knowing more about the secrets of how you can re-program your subconscious mind using process like affirmations, meditation, hypnosis and even NLP? If you are, you can receive a 29 page report “Discover the Secrets of Your Subconscious Mind” at absolutely no charge. Just click here to download your copy of “Discover the Secrets of Your Subconscious Mind” today.

Wil Dieck is the founder of Total Mind Therapy^©, a system you can use to rewire your subconscious mind and create the future you desire. He is a is a leading authority on using NLP and hypnosis, as well as other natural processes, in making quick and lasting life transformations. You can reach Wil at (619) 293-3255.