The AMA accepted hypnosis in 1958 as an effective approach for treating worry, and stress related symptoms. But does it really work, and what should a person look for when seeking a therapist, or procuring hypnosis tapes & CDs?
There are many noteworthy hypnotic methodologies that are used to reach the unconscious mind to invoke change. Each method has its strengths and its weaknesses. Everyone is different, so it only makes sense that the best results will be reached by utilizing the methods that each person will have the most success with.
Most hypnosis tape vendors offer products that consist of standard traditional hypnosis methods. A few vendors offer much more fresh and effective Ericksonian Hypnosis methods. And fewer still offer NLP or Neuro-Linguistic Programming techniques.
The newest and by far the most powerful technique is video hypnosis. Video hypnosis makes use of the latest NLP mind patterns to cause instant change in someone. Video hypnosis methods are not subliminal in nature.
With "Traditional Hypnosis," we simply make direct commands to the unconscious mind. In case you are wondering, as far as I'm concerned, the term unconscious, and subconscious are indistinguishable -- they refer to the same part of the mind. This type of hypnotherapy works well for a hypnotic subject who generally accepts what they are told without doing a lot of questioning.
Most hypnosis cd's sold today are based on "Traditional Hypnosis" techniques. This is because it doesn't take much training to author a script and just command an individual to do something. Unfortunately Traditional Posthypnotic suggestion is not very useful for people who are critical or analytical in their thinking processes.
By contrast, Ericksonian Hypnosis and NLP techniques work far more efficiently for most people in today's generation! This is because today people are taught to question everything, rather than just do what someone tells them to do. So these technologies do work very well on people who are critical in their method of thinking.
While it's true that these methods are much more successful at reaching and affecting the subconscious, it's also true that it can take a lot of experience to learn how to apply these techniques effectively. So this is a chore taken on by only truly dedicated hypno-therapists.
With "Ericksonian Hypnosis," we use little stories; called hypnotic metaphors, to introduce new ideas to the subconscious mind. This is an effective modality, because it usually eliminates the blockage of suggestions that is often caused by the conscious mind. There are two types of metaphors, "Isomorphic," and those of the imbedded command or "interspersal" nature.
Isomorphic metaphors guide the unconscious by telling a story that has a moral. The unconscious draws a one on one relationship between contents of the story and contents of a bad behavior. For example, if a child is telling a lot of lies, the hypnotherapist might tell the child the story about the "Boy who cried wolf." The subconscious would draw a parallel between the boy in the story and the child, and realize that telling lies could lead to disaster, so the child would probably stop lying.
With the Embedded Command technique, the hypno-technician tells an enlightening story that engages the consciousness. The story contains secret suggestions that are usually accepted by the unconscious. For example: During the time the subject is in hypnosis, he might hear the hypnotist say something like: I'm going to tell you a story about a [beach that has feelings. Isn't that] strange to [you]? It's a warm summer's day, and the beach [feels great].
The hypnotist pauses, shifts his voice tonality, and emphasizes the bracketed text. The subconscious recognizes a "Selectional restriction violation." Beaches can't have feelings. So it's like the unconscious says to itself: "Wait a minute, a beach can't feel anything, so that must mean that I'm supposed to feel something, and I'm supposed to [feel great]." Since the suggestions are embedded in a theme that is distracting the conscious mind, its unlikely that the conscious will realize that it has just received a suggestion, so it won't block it or resist it.
"Process Instructions" direct the subconscious to remember the experience of an appropriate learning experience from the past, and then apply that learned experience to eliminate negative behaviors in the present.
With "Neuro-Linguistic Programming" (NLP), rather than using suggestions, we use the same methods of thinking that are creating a problem, like an excessive appetite or stress, to get rid of the problem. NLP in the hands of an experienced practitioner can be very effective.
NLP Anchoring: Have you ever heard an old song and had it recreate feelings from the past? When you originally heard the music, you were feeling those feelings, and they subconsciously became attached to the sound of the song. So the song became an Anchor for the feelings. Now when you hear the song, it triggers the same feelings again.
Anchoring can be a very effective methodology. Suppose that you have a memory of being commended for having done a good job in the past. If you get back inside of that memory, you'll be able to recall the feelings of self-esteem that you had at that time. If you touch two fingers together while you re-experience those feelings of self-esteem, that touch will become an anchor for the feelings of self-esteem.
Now suppose that you want to create motivation to stick to a diet and lose weight. If you make a mental image of yourself with a thin, sexy body, and simultaneously trigger the anchor - (press the two fingers together again), your subconscious will connect the feelings of self-esteem to the image of you with the thin body and your level of motivation to lose weight will increase dramatically.
NLP Flash: This is a very effective and powerful NLP technique that can be used to "flip" things around in the unconscious, so that thoughts and experiences that used to trigger feelings of stress actually trigger relaxation instead.
The NLP Flash technique is also a fast way to erase a conditioned response. For example: If a smoker has a cigarette while drinking coffee, his/her unconscious will pair the two behaviors together so that he/she automatically gets an urge for a cigarette anytime he/she has a cup of coffee. The Flash will cause the smoker's mind to disconnect the image of a cigarette from the cup of coffee so that he/she does NOT get a craving to smoke just because he/she is drinking coffee.
With "subliminal" programs, the recording has two different tracks. One track contains a cover sound that is heard by the conscious mind. The cover sound could be anything from music to the sound of a running stream. The second track contains commands that are heard by the unconscious mind. These hypnotic suggestions are repeated over and over during a session.
Subliminal programs can be played in the background while you are working, or watching TV. You don't have to stop what you are doing and relax like you do with hypnotism or NLP. Subliminals can be an addition to hypnotic programs. But Subliminals will never replace Trance or Neuro-linguistic programming because they are not as effective! They don't even come close! Some researchers claim that it can take up to 80 hours of listening to a subliminal recording before it will have any effect on many people.
The last method of hypnotism that we're going to talk about is "Video Hypnosis." Video Hypnosis is the most effective form of hypnosis! The techniques used in video hypnosis are based on the NLP technology, which works based on the utilization of a person's existing ways of thinking instead of post-hypnotic suggestion.
Over 70% of the people on the planet learn more quickly by seeing, rather then by hearing. Think about it. If you feel a compulsion to smoke or eat when watching TV, it's because your mind recorded the video image of either food in your hand, or a cigarette in your hand, and then mated that image with the depiction of the TV. You never spoke to yourself and told yourself in words to associate them together, did you?
And that's why the Video Hypnosis method is so effective. Video Hypnosis is not hypnotic in the traditional sense, relying on the spoken word. But if you've ever cried when watching a sad movie, then you know how practical Video Hypnosis can be at reaching the subconscious mind. With this methodology, results usually start with the very first viewing!
(c) 2006 By Alan B. Densky. This article can be re-printed as long as it is not altered and the author's name and clickable web address are retained.
Article Source: http://www.fitnesshealtharticles.com.
About the Author:
Alan B. Densky, CH is an NLP Practitioner. He began his practice of NLP & hypnosis in 1978. He offers an interactive NLP Six-Step Reframing CD on his Neuro-VISION Hypnosis website. Also available are his Free NLP article library, NLP & hypnosis newsletters and MP3 downloads.
Hypnotic Suggestion - All You Need To Know About It
