Does hypnotherapy really work?

Hypnotherapy is scoffed at by more than a few people, questioning, ‘does hypnotherapy really work?’. The concept of a swinging pocket watch and the saying ‘you are feeling sleepy… very sleepy’ is what springs to mind when anyone hears the word ‘hypnotherapy’. Either that or they link it with being made to do demeaning stuff like ‘clucking like a chicken’.

However, a hypnotic approach is certainly not a frivolous party trick or mumbo jumbo; it offers the very real opportunity to change lives by re-educating the brain into letting go of harmful habits, such as cigarettes or eating too much, and helps free people from crippling anxiety or depression. Yet it is, after all, normal to wonder ‘does it really work?’, especially if you’re considering using this therapeutic method. Hence it is important to spend time to find out about the real benefits that this form of treatment may provide.

How does hypnotherapy really work

The hypnotherapist can get rid of undesirable thinking or practices by making use of suggestions and images to re-wire the subconscious mind. Whilst the conscious mind only remembers a small part of what we see, hear and experience; the subconscious mind retains anything and everything, more often than not without our awareness. Simply by accessing this complicated ‘unseen’ network of forgotten past ordeals and unconscious current beliefs, the hypnotherapist could help the person to generate new, more beneficial thought processes by operating directly with the source of all our behaviours – the subconscious.

One common myth is the fact that hypnotherapists get people to go to sleep. But, what really will happen is that the individual is guided into a really relaxed state of mind.

Some clients don’t even notice quite how relaxed they were until they are brought back into a fully alert state of mind. Many people undergo no conscious shift in their state of mind because within a hypnotherapy session, the client remains conscious of all that is taking place around them. However, many people may be surprised by how little they can remember about the session, as often a level of amnesia occurs when we are significantly relaxed.

Hypnotherapy – a truly effective method

Quite a few clients have experienced constructive life changes by utilising a hypnotic approach, for problems including smoking tobacco, weight issues, anxiety and panic, depression, sleeping disorders and addiction.

Many famous people have also benefited from a hypnotic approach, including Matt Damon (to help him give up cigarettes), Orlando Bloom (to beat an addiction to chocolate), Kevin Costner (to stop sea sickness whilst recording ‘Waterworld’) and Sophie Dahl (for weight reduction).

Whilst the hypnotherapy profession has only achieved widespread notice fairly recently, it has been a respected profession for many years.  In the 1890’s, the British Medical Association commissioned an investigation which stated that:

“as a therapeutic agent hypnotism is frequently effective in relieving pain, procuring sleep, and alleviating many functional ailments [i.e. psycho-somatic complaints and anxiety disorders].”

Even Einstein used hypnosis!

Having more than a hundred years of positive feedback, and countless personal successes, hypnotherapy offers a tried-and-tested strategy to solve a variety of issues.

Paul Howard at The Surrey Institute of Clinical Hypnotherapy, whose hypnotherapy practice is based in Surrey, stated, “Even after 12 years in this business, it never fails to amaze me how clients make radical changes very easily – almost effortlessly. That may seem a bit overly dramatic but when I came into this field I expected clients to have to work pretty hard to achieve real change. But when I see someone that has been crippled by anxiety for years turn their life around in just a few sessions it blows me away.”

The Surrey Institute of Clinical Hypnotherapy is committed to raising awareness of the help that hypnotherapy can bring to sufferers of psychological issues. They have specialists that cover various topics such as anxiety, weight control, insomnia, psoriasis and smoking. They have been in practice since 2002 and have male and female therapists on staff.