Hypnosis: Hype or Help?
People tend to have preconceptions about hypnosis: the swinging pendulum, the controlling therapist with the German accent, the hypnotized person running around on a stage clucking like a chicken. While hypnosis has certainly been used (or misused) by those seeking applause, hypnosis and hypnotherapy are legitimate tools that are also used to help people put themselves into more positive mental states. Hypnosis is, in essence, deep relaxation coupled with visualization.
Hypnosis is
During the course of life, we may often want to change things about ourselves — our habits, our reactions to stressful circumstances, our tendency to worry, our inability to sleep — but just telling ourselves, “stop that!” or “just go to sleep!” doesn't often work. We've got so much to do. We are caught up in patterns. Our minds are uncontrolled and racing. We are tense. All these things keep us from doing what we know we should do, such as quitting smoking or worrying too much.
Hypnosis is a state similar to sleep. The body becomes so profoundly relaxed that it ceases to be a distraction. The mind becomes highly focused and, thus, more able to do what we want it to do. This focus makes the imagery we use to direct our behavior and feelings more real, so real that our bodies respond to it. This is nothing new. When watching a movie or even hearing a story, our bodies often respond as if we were part of the action — we may experience a faster heart rate at an exciting part, a surge of emotion at a poignant part, feelings of anger at an injustice.
Hypnosis uses the body's ability to react to the mind by directing the mind in specific ways while the body is relaxed. That's all there is to it.
Hypnotherapy is the use of hypnosis by a trained therapist to help the patient heal from the trauma of a past event, reframe negative health habits, or regain control over certain behaviors. Hypnotherapy is frequently used to help people stop smoking or overeating. It is a common therapy for people experiencing chronic fatigue. It is also effective for improving self-esteem, confidence, and social anxiety.
When you are hypnotized, you can't be made to do something that would harm yourself or others (unless you would do so anyway). You also can't be made to do things against your will. The hypnotic state is merely a highly relaxed state in which the mind is more open to suggestions from visualizations and verbal cues.
You can even hypnotize yourself, although not everyone is as open to being hypnotized. You do have to be willing to try it and to follow the hypnotic suggestions. The following exercises, adapted from
EXERCISE 1
Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, your arms hanging loosely at your sides. Close your eyes and relax.
Imagine you are holding a small suitcase in your right hand. Feel the moderate heaviness of the suitcase and the way the suitcase pulls your body to one side.
Imagine someone takes the suitcase and hands you a medium-sized suitcase. This suitcase is heavier and bulkier than the small suitcase. Feel the handle in your hand. Feel the heaviness of the suitcase weighing down your right side.
Imagine someone takes the suitcase and hands you a large suitcase. This suitcase is incredibly heavy, so heavy you can hardly hold on to it, so heavy it pulls your entire body to the right as the weight of the suitcase sinks toward the floor.
Keep feeling the weight of this heavy suitcase for two to three minutes.
Open your eyes. Are you standing perfectly straight, or has your posture swayed, even a little bit, to the right?
EXERCISE 2
Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, your arms hanging loosely at your sides. Close your eyes and relax.
Imagine you are standing outside on a small hill in the middle of an expansive prairie. The breeze is blowing and the sun is shining. It is a beautiful, clear day.
Suddenly, the breeze begins to pick up, and the wind starts to blow. You are facing into the wind, and as it blows harder and harder, gusting around you, you feel it pushing you back, blowing your hair back, even blowing your arms back a little.
The wind is now so strong you can barely stand up. If you don't lean into the wind, you'll be knocked backward! You've never felt wind this strong, and each forceful gust nearly pushes you off your feet!
Feel the strength of the wind for two to three minutes.
Open your eyes. Are you standing perfectly straight, or leaning into the wind, even just a little?
EXERCISE 3
Stand with feet about shoulder-width apart, both arms straight out in front of you, parallel to the ground. Close your eyes.
Imagine someone has tied a heavy weight to your right arm. Your arm has to strain to hold up the weight that hangs from it. Feel the weight. Imagine how it looks hanging from your arm.
Imagine someone ties another heavy weight on your right arm. The two weights pull your arm down and down. They are so heavy that your muscles have to tense and strain to hold them up.
Imagine someone ties a third heavy weight on your arm. The three weights are so heavy that you can barely keep your arm raised. Feel how the weights pull down your arm.
Now, imagine that someone ties a huge helium balloon to your left arm. Feel the balloon pulling your left arm higher and higher, tugging it skyward.
Feel the weights on your right arm and the balloon on your left arm for two to three minutes.
Open your eyes. Are your arms still even, or is your right arm lowered and your left arm raised, even just a little?
If your body didn't respond at all to any of these exercises after several tries, hypnosis may not help you. If you still want to try it, however, of course, try it! The mind is powerful, and wanting it to work is half the battle. Many researchers believe almost anyone can learn self-hypnosis.
Studies show that self-hypnosis is among the most effective methods for reducing migraine headaches in children and teenagers.
Hypnotizing yourself is done pretty much the same way you would hypnotize somebody else. While trained hypnotherapists and hypnotists may be able to hypnotize you right away, with some practice, you can learn to hypnotize yourself. You'll need to decide very specifically what you want to work on, say, quitting smoking or not falling apart every time your mother-in-law comes to visit.
Then, self-hypnosis involves a detailed process of breathing, muscle relaxation, and visualization, beginning with the descent down a staircase to the backward-count of ten to one. After some detailed visualization to engage and focus the mind, the hypnosis session ends with a posthypnotic suggestion to trigger you to act the way you want to act. Phrase the suggestion positively: “I feel strong, confident, and in control of the situation when my mother-in-law is in my house,” not, “I don't want to burst into tears every time my mother-in-law makes a comment about my housekeeping ability.”
After the posthypnotic suggestion, you can bring yourself slowly out of the hypnotic state by counting to ten, telling yourself that at the number ten, you will be alert, refreshed, and wide awake.
Several good books on self-hypnosis will explain in great detail how to do it. Or, if you aren't comfortable doing it on your own, visit a qualified hypnotherapist. Either way, hypnosis can be an effective, deep relaxation technique that can help you to get a handle on the stress you thought was out of your control.
Your physician may be able to refer you to a psychotherapist or colleague who practices hypnotherapy or knows someone who does. You might also check the phone book, or get recommendations from a practitioner you are familiar with.
Never practice self-hypnosis in a situation where you need to be alert, such as while driving. The deeply relaxed state could keep your body from responding quickly enough to stay safe.
