“Guided by the North Star: A Roadmap to Creating a Life of Purpose and Meaning"
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What is hypnosis and how does hypnotherapy work?
Hypnosis is a state of deep relaxation, heightened focus, and hyper-suggestibility where selective thinking can be established. Hypnotherapy is a very effective form of psychotherapy that creates positive changes and improvements in behaviors, responses, attitudes, thoughts, and physical conditions. It allows you to bypass the conscious mind, which is very judgmental and analytical, and communicate directly with the subconscious mind. This is where the real change takes place.
Will I do or say things I don’t want to during hypnotherapy?
Hypnosis can’t make you do something that is against your morals, ethics, values, or beliefs. During hypnotherapy you are awake, able to talk, think and even move about if necessary. You are always in control. All hypnosis is really self-hypnosis. The therapist is just guiding and facilitating the client into a deeply relaxed state of trance, to tap into the subconscious mind, where they can work on the issue that the client would like to overcome.
How will hypnosis benefit me?
A skillful, certified hypnotherapist can help you change your negatives into positives and improve attitudes, bad habits, and self-defeating thoughts. With hypnotherapy, you can take charge of your life, relieve stress, develop creativity, improve in sports, overcome fears and phobias, alleviate anxiety, and reduce physical pain. Since 1958, hypnosis has been recognized by the American Medical Association and is recommended to its members for everything from pain control, weight loss, to stress reduction. Hypnosis is a normal, natural state of consciousness. Hypnosis actually strengthens the mind, creating new neural connections and deleting old negative ones. This neuroplasticity of the brain is why hypnotherapy works so well at creating effective and permanent change.
What will my hypnotherapy session be like with you and how long will it last?
Sessions are approximately 1.5 hours long. As a certified Integrative Mindfulness/Life Coach, we will spend the first part of your session discussing your client intake form(filled out prior to your appointment) so that I can get to know you. We will work together to determine the issues to be worked on and the best strategy to give you the most success.
The second part of your session is dedicated to hypnosis. You will get very comfortable, reclining if you wish. Your eyes will be closed to help you relax. I will then guide you into a deeper state of relaxation or trance through spoken words with suggestions, often based on NLP(Neuro-Linguistic Programming). This experience is tailored to each individual and to the issue to be resolved. No two people are the same so your session is customized specifically for you. Afterwards, we will discuss your hypnosis session and the next steps for you to reach a resolution to your issue and integrate all of it into your daily life.
How do I know if I can be hypnotized?
Almost everyone can be hypnotized, as long as they want to and choose to do so. Those who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, very young children, people who are severely mentally challenged, and those who do not want to be hypnotized, are not good candidates for hypnotherapy.
What is it like to be hypnotized?
Hypnosis is in between being wide awake and asleep. You are aware of everything being said yet you are very relaxed at the same time. We often pass through light levels of hypnosis in our day-to-day life without even realizing it.
Do results differ online as opposed to in-person sessions?
No! Hypnotherapy success is dependent on a quiet, relaxed atmosphere for communication, your desire for change and success, and our rapport. None of these factors are lessened by the online experience.
The science behind hypnosis…
Most people go through 90% of their day using habits as their way of coping with day-to-day problems and stresses. Their responses-their words, thoughts, and actions are purely habitual. This apparent human “weakness” is also an intrinsic human strength because if the habitual pattern of response is empowering and effective, then it is highly desirable. But when it is not, problems can arise and the individual may need external help.
Habits, or habituated patterns of response, are subconscious mind activities that we have developed over the period of our lives as a result of our direct experiences as well as thoughts we have absorbed through various external sources such as parents, teachers, friends, social media, and TV. Once a pattern is accepted, it is then “forgotten”. It is absorbed into the deep subconscious mind where it continues to exert an influence on our lives without our conscious awareness. The subconscious mind is the feeling mind. If you change your feelings, you change your behavior. So if you change your feelings about something, then you have altered the subconscious structures that govern human behaviors.
So how does this happen? Neuroplasticity. The human brain is incredibly adaptive. Our mental capacity is astonishingly large. The brain’s ability to act and react in ever-changing ways is known as neuroplasticity. This special characteristic allows the brain’s estimated 100 billion nerve cells (neurons) to constantly lay down new pathways for neural communication and rearrange existing ones throughout life, thereby aiding the processes of learning, memory, and adaptation through experience. Without the ability to make such functional changes, our brains would not be able to memorize new facts, master a new skill, form a new memory, or adjust to a new environment. We would not be able to recover from brain injuries or overcome cognitive disabilities without the brain’s neuroplasticity.
Neuroplasticity works in two directions. It is responsible for deleting old connections as frequently as it enables the creation of new ones. And this is where hypnotherapy comes in. Through the process of hypnotherapy, we are able to put up a roadblock to old, unwanted habituated neural connections that aren’t serving us well. We are then able to create new, more positive connections that help us to live a happy and healthy life.