After a hypnotherapy session should I remember what went on during that time?
Jon Rhodes
The hypnotic experience is very much a personal thing. Some people are more inclined to remember what is said during a session than others. Personally I find that sometimes I remember what was said during a session, and others times I have no idea. (I am of course speaking from a perspective of when I am receiving hypnotherapy rather than delivering it!) I seem to observe the same in my patients, sometimes they remember what has been said, other times they do not. There does not appear to be any correlation between this and to the amount of success the patient enjoys from the session, so there is no right and wrong for this.
Is there any way to test if I’m hypnotizable before trying it?
The best way to test this is to try a session! We currently offer 2 free sessions in our HypnoBusters Yahoo Group, so this is a good place to start. Pretty much everyone is capable of going into a hypnotic trance if they are willing to. It is a very normal and natural state, which most of us slip into several times throughout the day. Regular readers of this site will probably know what I am going to say next. We slip into trances when we are deeply engrossed in music, a good book, or a film. We have slipped into a trance when we have driven a journey in the car, only to realise that we cannot remember hardly any of it! So if you have ever had any of these experiences, then you are definitely hypnotisable.
I would like to add that there is nothing mystical and magical about a hypnotic trance. I remember the first time I was hypnotized. I actually thought to myself “Is this it?! Is this what all the fuss is about!?” I think I was expected some extraordinarily magical thing to happen to me!
So in conclusion I would say that it is almost a given that you are ‘hypnotizable’, but try our free sessions if you wish to test this before you buy the hypnosis downloads. Most people find that the more times they experience hypnosis, the more enjoyable the experience, and the deeper they managed to relax. So you should find that over time you become better and better at achieving a deeper level of trance.
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Should I use hypnotherapy as an alternative to prescribed medication?
Not usually no. Hypnotherapy works well alongside traditional medicine, but it would be wise for you to discuss this with your doctor. If you wish to try and use it as an alternative to prescribed medication, then I would definitely urge you to discuss this with your doctor. I have had some good success in my private practice where a patient has been able to significantly reduce their need for painkillers because of the hypnotherapy sessions I had given them. To be sure though, you should always consult your doctor.
I’ve noticed that you have started to add hypnosis downloads to HypnoBusters that deal with more physical issues such as Breast Enhancement and Erectile Dysfunction. I can understand how hypnotherapy works with mental and emotion issues but could you please explain how hypnosis works towards aiding physical problems?
Put simply, the brain controls all of the body’s functions. It controls our rate of breathing, heart beat, blood pressure, growth and repair of damage. The brain does this without any need for conscious intervention. Of course we can use our conscious minds to control breathing. If I direct your conscious awareness to you breathing, you may now find it a little more difficult now that it is not being done automatically by unconscious parts of your brain. You may start thinking about how deep you need to breath in, how long you should hold in the breath, and how much you need to breath out before breathing back in again. This can be annoying! The unconscious part is very powerful, and can direct many of the body’s functions at the same time, without the need for conscious thought.
The brain can also control the allocation of resources, which is how the body knows to utilise proteins to repair damaged skin for example. An erection is an example of the brain allocating more blood to the penis when aroused. This is done unconsciously by the brain, but is nevertheless controlled by the brain.
Hypnotherapy is a means of communicating to the unconscious mind where you want it to place its energy – where you want it to allocate its resources. Arnold Swartzenegger famously used visualisation to make his muscles bigger. He regularly visualised them growing bigger and bigger, until they ‘filled the room’ as a way of telling his unconscious mind what he wants it to do. ‘Arnie’ went on to become arguably the most successful bodybuilder of all time. We use similar techniques as this to achieve physical changes.
Mental and emotional issues can also affect us physically. For example erectile problems are usually mental rather than physical. They can be caused by a lack of confidence for example. By treating this mental side, we can then indirectly treat the physical problem.
How long do the effects of hypnosis typically last?
The answer to this is that it varies quite a bit. Sometimes a person can listen to a session once, and benefit from immediate and permanent change. Usually a person needs to listen to a session a few times to deeply embed the suggestions into the unconscious mind, for permanent change. Occasionally a person may need to listen to a session in order to ‘top up’ the suggestions. This shouldn’t be needed more than once every few weeks once the suggestions have been deeply embedded after several listens. This is one of the main advantages of using hypnosis downloads. You can listen to the session whenever you wish, without having to pay another fee!
Please CLICK HERE To Check Out My BIG Collection Of Therapeutic Hypnosis MP3s