19/03/2025
HI everyone, my apologies for the lengthy delay in posting. I intend to remedy this from here on out with regular posts or links to help people become the best they can be.
To this end, as you know, I am studying to add hypnotherapy to my range of tools I can use to help those clients wanting to make changes in their lives, whatever these may be for them. Anxiety, trauma, motivation, other difficulties they may have. All manner of emotions that impact our lives can be supported if just the right method is used.
Not all methods will work with all clients. For example, someone who like to learn working hands on or physically, will unlikely connect with a direct CBT (cognitive behaviour) approach. While someone who has a strong leaning to reading may struggle to engage easily with a more visual intervention such as Hypnosis.
However, understanding the purpose of the interaction and the way a client responds to certain ways of engaging is hugely important.
I am regularly asked when meeting people, “what is it you do?” I have given thought to this more recently and my answer boils down to this. “I help people achieve their desired goals by using a range of strategies to identify what is most meaningful to them and assist them to find the path that best fits with the person they are and want to be in the future”.
This may sound ‘airy fairy’ but in essence I am stating that I don’t ‘fix’ people, they have that ability within them all the time, it’s just that they feel they have lost this ability and I am there to help them find that which has been covered and bring it back to the surface by whichever method works for the client.
Let’s take my current focus of learning – Hypnotherapy.
Many people avoid the term hypnosis as they think I and other hypnotherapists are likely to “do the woo woo’s” on them and make them cluck like chickens as demonstrated by the stage hypnotists. Nothing is further from the truth. In reality, the stage hypnotists had identified their stage ‘client’ long before the person reaches the stage and gauged the level of suggestion to enable the process to happen very quickly. Remember, no hypnotic suggestion can be achieved without the consent of the person being hypnotised and they can ‘wake up’ at any point if they so wished.
So then, what is Hypnotherapy? Isn’t it just a guided meditation? Well, yes and no is the way I answer this question.
The history of hypnosis is as ancient as that of sorcery, magic, and medicine; indeed, hypnosis has been used as a method in all three. The root of the word comes from the Greek for the Greek God ‘Hypnos’ the god of sleep. Clients experience a sense of ultra relaxation that is guided, though once learned, a person can develop the technique of ‘self’ hypnosis where they can guide themselves to the deeper levels.
Sometimes, the ‘trance’ can be so deep that they fall asleep. This is fine as you would just wake up naturally. No trigger words would return you to the hypnotic state unless you wanted to.
How does this differ from meditation? Well, meditation involves focusing or clearing your mind using a combination of mental and physical techniques. Depending on the type of meditation you choose, you can meditate to relax, reduce anxiety and stress, and more.
Meditation and hypnosis are both practices that involve relaxation and focus, but they have different purposes and techniques.
Meditation is a practice that involves training attention and awareness to achieve mental clarity, calm, and stability. It often involves techniques such as mindfulness, loving-kindness, and mantra meditation. The goal of meditation is to develop an awareness of self and to be present in the moment.
Hypnosis, on the other hand, is a state of focused attention in which people can be more responsive to suggestion. It involves a deep state of relaxation and concentration, often guided by a hypnotherapist. The goal of hypnosis is to alter behaviour through suggestions, visualizations, and exploring memories and beliefs. Hypnosis can be used for various purposes, such as relieving physical discomfort, enhancing performance, or gaining insight.
Both hypnosis and meditation involve changing the mindset, but the path to achieving this change is different. Hypnosis can be defined as a state of focused attention in which people can be more responsive to suggestion. Meditation can be defined as the use of a technique to train attention and awareness with the purpose of achieving mental clarity, calm, and stability. There are many forms of meditation, including mindfulness, loving-kindness, and mantra meditation.
While hypnosis is often used for specific therapeutic purposes, such as relieving physical discomfort or enhancing performance, meditation largely focuses on being in the moment and cultivating a general awareness and presence. Hypnosis can be more practical for children, as its effective application can require only a few minutes a day initially. On the other hand, effective meditation may require 10 to 30 minutes of daily or twice-daily practice indefinitely.
I invite people to try different techniques and discover how they best learn. This way, I can adapt the method to the client to help them find what works for them the best and strengthen their ability to achieve the goal, whatever that may be.
So over the coming weeks and months, I intend to share some insights, methods, links and commentary to help everyone to be the best they can be and experience life as it should be, fun, relaxing and exciting.
Hopefully, my own journey to improvement can help others.
Until next time.
