by William Mitchell
Doesn't every therapeutic intervention involve suggestive communication or a shift in thinking or sensory experience? Hypnosis is a process of communication that allows the client to use their own power for self-help, maintaining health and healing. "Hypnosis allows for therapeutic possibilities simply not likely through other means. This alone warrants serious consideration."(Michael Yapko, PhD,Family Therapy Magazine,Aug.2008)
Hypnosis is far more than a party trick!
Harvard,Yale ,Stanford and many other of the finest academic institutions include hypnosis as a vital component of behavioral medicine programs. As a pastor, my training in seminary had been very traditional. When I was approached about learning to use hypnosis to help people, I called a psychologist that belonged to my church. My psychologist friend said, "Hypnosis is great! I use hypnosis often with my clients. No need to be afraid of hypnosis. It is not going to cure everything, nothing does! Hypnosis is a valuable tool for many people." My friend was so right! Hypnotism has helped my clients in all types of pastoral counseling, pain management, weight control, smoking cessation and confidence issues such as sports psychology.
How could you use Hypnosis to help people?
Hypnosis is typically integrated with the approach of the counselor/hypnotist (CBT, EFT, IPT, DBT, MBCT, etc.). Therefore how it is applied is consistent with how the practitioner thinks about the client's symptoms or situation.
Dr. Yapko lists these applications in the article cited above.
1. Hypnosis amplifies experience. Automatic Thoughts? What about using hypnosis to install positive automatic thoughts? 2. Hypnosis can be used to manage symptoms. Reduce anxiety, manage pain, help sleep etc. 3. Hypnosis can be used t o foster skill acquisition. It is a vehicle of experiential learning. There is evidence that hypnosis enhances teaching specific skills, such as social skills or problem-solving skills. 4. Hypnosis can be used to establish associations and dissociations. It allows one to structure sessions according to the aspects of experience which might benefit the client to connect to or disconnect from, or to amplify or de-amplify.
Other ways to use hypnosis include building positive expectations, enhance empathy and sensitivity toward others, amplify and work with emotion-laden memories, enhance cognitive flexibility instill better coping skills and to increase self-efficacy.
In the age of psycho-pharmacology, I believe too many practitioners are often more likely to encourage clients to try drugs than to teach new coping skills. For many practitioners learning a new technique like Hypnosis is outside their comfort zones. (As it was mine!). However, in an age where many Practitioners are talking about "mindfulness", "focusing", "guided imagery", "mind-body healing," it is clear that these techniques are hypnotic-based in their use of focusing and suggestive methods to achieve their results. If you want to learn and understand more about how to use the unconscious processes to help clients, then learning and using HYPNOSIS makes sense.
For more information visit: www.MitchellProgram.com
Posted: 02/02/2011
