Martfotai
Padawan Learner
Having worked as a hypnotherapist (but one-third as long as Laura) I feel there are some important points to address here, for the sake of those who are questioning the validity of hypnotherapy. These perceptions are the result of my own experience.
Many people use the word hypnosis and hypnotherapy interchangeably, when in fact they are not. Hypnosis is the state of trance in which the 'critical thinking faculty' becomes more or less permeable, allowing contact between otherwise dissociated parts of the consciousness. Hypnotherapy is the practice of utilizing this state (or function of mind) to provide therapeutic relief. That covers a WIDE range of possible approaches, everything from the smarmy 'authoritarian' method to the more cooperative (though potentially covert) Ericksonian techniques. I've met hypnotists who will literally smack clients on the head while shouting at them to "SLEEP!" while others have been very proud of their 'slyness,' always trying to do the next NLP trick they learned from a weekend seminar -- with no genuine interest in the health of their client. I have also met compassionate and aware healers, who allow each persons own instincts, intuitions and insights to guide the way. So there is hypnotherapy, as a true healing modality, and "hypnotherapy" which is often, and unfortunately, not without basis, associated with quacks and nut-jobs.
Finding the right hypnotherapist IS NOT easy, and many people do not have even the precursory experience of themselves and their own inner world to know what to look for in the right guide. This is troublesome indeed, for these are the people who would most benefit from a true hypnotist, and yet are the most susceptible to suggestion and predation by poorly trained, though often convincing, egotistical psychopaths. But it's not impossible, and shouldn't be ruled out as a possibility; if it's like putting a band-aid on a severed artery, then I question the validity of the technique, in that context, not the science as a whole.
When I meet people who are truly interested in hypnosis and the possible therapeutic use thereof, that is, not looking for a magic cure or something to titillate their imagination, I often suggest to them that they learn for themselves. Find an accredited school and see for yourself how it works, in a supervised environment -- it's a more expensive approach, but knowledge-of-being is not cheap, and it requires one experience for oneself, not simply take it as fact.
But should one dabble in it? Certainly not. As Laura put it "Proceed at your own risk," but if you have a question and are willing to pay, then by all means, proceed.
Many people use the word hypnosis and hypnotherapy interchangeably, when in fact they are not. Hypnosis is the state of trance in which the 'critical thinking faculty' becomes more or less permeable, allowing contact between otherwise dissociated parts of the consciousness. Hypnotherapy is the practice of utilizing this state (or function of mind) to provide therapeutic relief. That covers a WIDE range of possible approaches, everything from the smarmy 'authoritarian' method to the more cooperative (though potentially covert) Ericksonian techniques. I've met hypnotists who will literally smack clients on the head while shouting at them to "SLEEP!" while others have been very proud of their 'slyness,' always trying to do the next NLP trick they learned from a weekend seminar -- with no genuine interest in the health of their client. I have also met compassionate and aware healers, who allow each persons own instincts, intuitions and insights to guide the way. So there is hypnotherapy, as a true healing modality, and "hypnotherapy" which is often, and unfortunately, not without basis, associated with quacks and nut-jobs.
Finding the right hypnotherapist IS NOT easy, and many people do not have even the precursory experience of themselves and their own inner world to know what to look for in the right guide. This is troublesome indeed, for these are the people who would most benefit from a true hypnotist, and yet are the most susceptible to suggestion and predation by poorly trained, though often convincing, egotistical psychopaths. But it's not impossible, and shouldn't be ruled out as a possibility; if it's like putting a band-aid on a severed artery, then I question the validity of the technique, in that context, not the science as a whole.
When I meet people who are truly interested in hypnosis and the possible therapeutic use thereof, that is, not looking for a magic cure or something to titillate their imagination, I often suggest to them that they learn for themselves. Find an accredited school and see for yourself how it works, in a supervised environment -- it's a more expensive approach, but knowledge-of-being is not cheap, and it requires one experience for oneself, not simply take it as fact.
But should one dabble in it? Certainly not. As Laura put it "Proceed at your own risk," but if you have a question and are willing to pay, then by all means, proceed.