# Hypnotism



## Encore (Apr 17, 2008)

Today my shrink brought up hypnotism as a method to get me comfortable outside. Anyone been hypnotized? Should I be worried about beheaded chickens, and pocket watches?


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## screwjack (Dec 19, 2008)

What you see on tv/movies is not how hypnotism really works. More like the therapist will have you lay back, relax, focus on your breathing and then they will start speaking in a monotone. Usually they will have you imagine a relaxful, peaceful setting and situation and tell you encouraging things which hypothethically will enter your subconcious.

I don't know maybe I have a really strong ego but I could feel myself go under and could come out of it whenever I liked, I was never not in control. Supposedly some people are more hypnotizable than others. It's worth a shot at worse it will help you relax if it does nothing else.


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## LALoner (Dec 3, 2008)

I know someone who said it worked for her. I won't try it cuz I figure I'd just laugh through it.


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## coldmorning (Jul 4, 2007)

I have only used mp3's where they have you relax and 'visualize' stuff. I think it helps a little but I'm not really sure. They say some are more easy to hypnotize than others. 

Years ago I did see a hypnotist show (I wasn't hypnotized) and it seemed very real. They had people in the audience act like dogs or think they saw a celebrity... all the stuff you see on tv. I suppose they might have paid off people in the audience to act, but this was in college at a dorm and all the people were students I'd seen before. If it was a set up, they did a really convincing job.


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## screwjack (Dec 19, 2008)

coldmorning said:


> I have only used mp3's where they have you relax and 'visualize' stuff. I think it helps a little but I'm not really sure. They say some are more easy to hypnotize than others.
> 
> Years ago I did see a hypnotist show (I wasn't hypnotized) and it seemed very real. They had people in the audience act like dogs or think they saw a celebrity... all the stuff you see on tv. I suppose they might have paid off people in the audience to act, but this was in college at a dorm and all the people were students I'd seen before. If it was a set up, they did a really convincing job.


"The effects of stage hypnosis are probably due to a combination of relatively ordinary social psychological factors such as peer pressure, social compliance, participant selection, ordinary suggestibility, and some amount of physical manipulation, stagecraft, and trickery."

The "hypnotist" for stage hypnosis usually whispers for the participant to play along and uses tricks like reverse psychology to make it seem like it's real.

It's like psychics if you don't know about cold reading and the methods they use you can be convinced that it's real and that they can tell the future or contact the dead but of course it's all phony.


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## striker (Jun 20, 2008)

I went to see a Hypnotist for my anxiety back in 07.

She put me in a trance, recorded it. 

Before the session, she asked me what I wanted to accomplish. She worded some of that in that talk she gave.

The session will like this. She will dimmed the lights. It was kinda cold. Put me under a blanket on a reclining couch. Slowly, I got into a sleepy mode. In the end, I was able to hear her voice, when she was asking me to wake up.


To try it first, I would get some mp3's online of Paul Scheele.

Its similar stuff. he has got several. You need to find the right one for anxiety and try it.


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## OliverPilon (Jul 6, 2008)

hypnosis can be good to get into a relaxed state etc.
But just being given suggestions while in a trance state is not the solution to sa at all.
Nor are affirmations.

hypnosis has its place, and sometime is really useful, including when dealing with physical pain issues etc
...but you just cant "get rid" of SA with hypnosis.

If someone tells you so and ask you for expensive sessions, run like hell!

Oli


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## Still Waters (Sep 18, 2008)

Saw a psychiatrist years ago- he said there's a famous basketball player who's got extreme performance anxiety. He hypnotized him before every game. Of course he did'nt tell me who.


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## OliverPilon (Jul 6, 2008)

Still Waters said:


> Saw a psychiatrist years ago- he said there's a famous basketball player who's got extreme performance anxiety. He hypnotized him before every game. Of course he did'nt tell me who.


you have a good point there stillwaters.
Even when hypnotism helps, it doesnt solve the problem
itself at the root cause, its sort of a patch, not working on the real cause, and as with any patch it needs to be worked on again and again.. like that basketball coach who needed an hypnosis session before every game.

good point
Oliver


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## Sugababie4 (Jan 6, 2009)

coldmorning said:


> I have only used mp3's where they have you relax and 'visualize' stuff. I think it helps a little but I'm not really sure. They say some are more easy to hypnotize than others.
> 
> Years ago I did see a hypnotist show (I wasn't hypnotized) and it seemed very real. They had people in the audience act like dogs or think they saw a celebrity... all the stuff you see on tv. I suppose they might have paid off people in the audience to act, but this was in college at a dorm and all the people were students I'd seen before. If it was a set up, they did a really convincing job.


I've been in one of those shows before. I was faking the entire time. I didn't want to expose the guy as a fraud or anything.

But I have hypnotized myself before. It does work as a temporary solution, and like meditation, it relaxes you. I would recommend it if you like naps and want to feel like you've accomplished something with said naps.

Here's a self-hypnosis site if you're open to that sort of thing. It's discussing mainly lucid dreaming, but I suppose it could be applied to anything.

http://www.world-of-lucid-dreaming.com/self-hypnosis.html


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## Encore (Apr 17, 2008)

So I got hypnotized. It was really cool, for a moment in that room I was completely immersed in my thoughts. I need to go and work on my SA and I don't think it is that important. It was through my school counseling so it didn't cost anything.


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## Fayee (Mar 4, 2009)

OliverPilon said:


> you have a good point there stillwaters.
> Even when hypnotism helps, it doesnt solve the problem
> itself at the root cause, its sort of a patch, not working on the real cause, and as with any patch it needs to be worked on again and again.. like that basketball coach who needed an hypnosis session before every game.


Hypnotherapy can find and resolve the "root" cause of the problem. Depending on the technique that is used, it is not only a patch. It's important to find a Hypnotherapist that doesn't just script read. You want a Hypnotherapist that is trained in techniques to uncover the initial sensitizing events and work to resolve it. These processes come from widely respected Psychotherapists, Hypnotherapists, and Doctors and have seen much sucess.


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## Futurebeats (Feb 11, 2009)

Try and download one of the richard bandler nlp talks (i don't think they are worth the hundreds he charges)

He's developed techniques with language patterns that can do some really interesting things, it's hard to explain without seeing it for yourself.
It's hypnotism without being put in a trance... like you visualize a situation that makes you panic, then visualise a situation you are having lots of fun in, keep flipping the images in your mind and make the feeling of fun "spin" inside you and get stronger until eventually you associate the panic situation with one you are having fun in.

i guess you have to watch it, i can't explain it lol

it had a definite effect on me for a little while, he does talks specifically for anxiety/phobias i think. But it's strange because you watch it and he'll talk cryptically and sometimes doesn't make sense consciously yet makes you feel different - derren brown uses a lot of the techniques if you've seen him on tv


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## Fayee (Mar 4, 2009)

Futurebeats said:


> Try and download one of the richard bandler nlp talks (i don't think they are worth the hundreds he charges)
> 
> He's developed techniques with language patterns that can do some really interesting things, it's hard to explain without seeing it for yourself.
> It's hypnotism without being put in a trance... like you visualize a situation that makes you panic, then visualise a situation you are having lots of fun in, keep flipping the images in your mind and make the feeling of fun "spin" inside you and get stronger until eventually you associate the panic situation with one you are having fun in.
> ...


You are infact in trance when you are going through an NLP process. It may appear that the person isn't only because they are not sitting in a chair with their eyes shut.


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## Shorty1 (Jun 7, 2013)

*Hypnotherapy worked for a while.*



Encore said:


> Today my shrink brought up hypnotism as a method to get me comfortable outside. Anyone been hypnotized? Should I be worried about beheaded chickens, and pocket watches?


I'm now seeing a woman who uses hypnotism to help relieve my anxiety and improve my feelings of self-worth. It's amazing how much those two things go together!! She used a script with my name and some specialized instructions to hypnotize me. But, it seems she needs to repeat it every week or two or it stops working! (See next paragraph.)

We didn't connect for a total of three weeks when her father died and 
now my anxiety is a LOT worse and/or the hypnotism isn't doing much.

Last week, she said I should see a new psychiatrist and suggested one that's about 40 minutes away! I don't know what to do now! :um


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## kadootanbal (Sep 12, 2013)

There are a lot of opinions here and a lot of misinformation about hypnosis. Hypnosis by itself does not cure anything. Also, it is not a relaxation therapy! Hypnosis is a tool used by a therapist (read:hypnotherapist) to help a person enter an altered state of mind called hypnosis, whereby we can access our subconscious mind (which has all of emotions, habits, memories stored). When we are in trance (hypnosis) our minds are multiple times more focused and attentive (of course relaxation is also a side product). It is only then that a COMPETENT hypnotherapist goes to work. A comparison would be anesthesia and surgery. Well, before the surgeon operates, the anesthetist needs to put us into body/mind anesthesia. So hypnosis itself is just a tool like anesthesia; what the surgeon does specifically is what a hypnotherapist would do such as regression therapy. Social anxiety often times has a root cause in childhood (stored away in our subconscious mind's memories) which has been suppressed by our ego defenses. Once we enter trance, the therapist then facilitates (a good therapist does not lead or direct) the recovery of these subconscious memories and integrates them with our conscious mind. Then, making sense of it all consciously, we are able to let go of the root cause. Be sure to ask a person claiming to know how to treat SAD where they got their training in hypnosis and whether they actually know how to do regression therapy or not. Most lay hypnotists don't have a clue about how to treat people with SAD. At best they know how to put someone in trance and relax them (which is not a bad thing if you are anxious), but at worst they take your money without resolving the cause. If you are wondering about my credentials, I am a psychiatry resident with an established hypnotherapy practice.


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## hypnotical (Sep 16, 2013)

*Hypnosis that helped me*

I don't know if you are still looking or not, but I would recommend http://hypnosisdownloader.com/fears-stress-and-anxieties.html. Here's a vid if you want to listen to an example: 





Here's a coupon code for a free Believe In Yourself recording, "believe".


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## Focus123 (Aug 30, 2013)

kadootanbal said:


> There are a lot of opinions here and a lot of misinformation about hypnosis.


Yes, there are a lot of opinions on hypnotherapy. I tried hypnotherapy for over a year under two therapists that had private practices with clientle. Both still practice hypnosis, and both were certified under the National Guild of Hypnotherapy. Both continue to update their certifications. One had a degree in psychology, and the other had a PHD where she was a professor at a University, before she turned to hypnotherapy as a profession. Both have experience from over a decade. So I know people, like my past hypnotherapists, can have credentials in this field both in terms of education and experience, however I don't think hypnosis works as a method to cure anxiety disorders.

Since this is a forum dedicated to one classification of an anxiety disorder, which is social anxiety disorder, members here can discuss methods of which therapy works in managing an anxiety disorder, and from my personal experience, hypnosis does not work at curing or alleviating anxiety disorders.



> Hypnosis is a tool used by a therapist (read:hypnotherapist) to help a person enter an altered state of mind called hypnosis, whereby we can access our subconscious mind (which has all of emotions, habits, memories stored). When we are in trance (hypnosis) our minds are multiple times more focused and attentive (of course relaxation is also a side product). It is only then that a COMPETENT hypnotherapist goes to work.


I think you can be a competent hypnotherapist, with background on hypnotherapy and psychology however (as I mentioned above) your method of hypnosis does not work with anxiety disorders. I say this from experience in working with this therapy for my own anxiety disorder.



> A comparison would be anesthesia and surgery. Well, before the surgeon operates, the anesthetist needs to put us into body/mind anesthesia. So hypnosis itself is just a tool like anesthesia; what the surgeon does specifically is what a hypnotherapist would do such as regression therapy. Social anxiety often times has a root cause in childhood (stored away in our subconscious mind's memories) which has been suppressed by our ego defenses. Once we enter trance, the therapist then facilitates (a good therapist does not lead or direct) the recovery of these subconscious memories and integrates them with our conscious mind. Then, making sense of it all consciously, we are able to let go of the root cause.


I don't think hypnotherapist can be compared to surgeons. Surgeons have something tangible to work on which is the body, such as a person's heart, and don't have to interpret a person's mind. The mind is open to interpretation, since it deals with thoughts, which are not tangible, but instead are just constructs of a person's thinking.

I would agree with you that the brain can be operated on, with surgery, but to say suggestion with hypnosis is a type of psychic surgery is misleading. The only way to prove this therapy works is based on whether the patient feels better, and that can easily be the result of placebo. Hypnotherapists can only claim their sessions work, if a patient stops reacting to stimuli, but a person will never stop having anxiety. It's built into a person's brain.

My biggest argument with hypnotherapy is the use of childhood regression (or past regression, or even past life regression) to fix psychological problems. Although it is proven that behavior comes from our upbringing, as any basic psychology course would teach, regressing to our inner child does not guarantee a fix.

I think consistent self-analysis, as advocated by the use of hypnosis for healing anxiety disorders, is an unproductive way to deal with anxiety. Yes, the brain is conditioned with thought, however the brain may have already been permanently conditioned to be anxious, where it's nerve structure has already been altered to anxiety, and hypnotic suggestions cannot change a damaged brain. *



> Be sure to ask a person claiming to know how to treat SAD where they got their training in hypnosis and whether they actually know how to do regression therapy or not. Most lay hypnotists don't have a clue about how to treat people with SAD. At best they know how to put someone in trance and relax them (which is not a bad thing if you are anxious), but at worst they take your money without resolving the cause. If you are wondering about my credentials, I am a psychiatry resident with an established hypnotherapy practice.


I'm aware hypnotherapy works on some cases, such as stopping addictive habits like smoking, or possibly loosing weight. Normally those procedures don't involve working with one's inner child to convince a client that their perceptions were at fault in how they view their now. Yet even these procedures are not guarantees of a permanent fix, and hypnotherapists normally don't provide refunds.

My argument with hypnotherapy is the use of regression to trace all issues with our now. There maybe some self analysis about why we act a certain way based on our past, but to continue to use hypnosis, where we consistently dig for every past memory that causes our present conditioning is tiring and just a waste of time.

Hypnotherapists charge fees which are outrageous for sessions (often between $100 to $150.00 a sessions). I would be willing to pay the fees, if the sessions worked, but from experience, they don't have any lasting effect. Of course, if you find a therapist licensed to practice psychotherapy, that therapist can charge the session to insurance, under a psychiatric disorder, but not for hypnosis. Many therapists are avoiding the practice of hypnosis due to lawsuits from clients that argue that finding unrepressed emotions is misleading, especially for claims about sexual abuse. **

I'm very much against hypnotherapy being advertised as a way to either fix, cure or alleviate anxiety disorders, especially for people like myself, who have severe anxiety which can lead to major depression, if not managed with the appropriate medication. I don't think hypnotherapists have a right to tamper in managing people with psychiatric disorders, like anxiety disorders, because their methods do not work for these psychiatric conditions.

Anxiety disorders are the result of brains damaged during their development years, and hypnotherapy cannot perform a psychic surgery to heal a damaged brain. Hynotherapists are not lobotomists. They may be able to provide suggestions to alleviate certain thinking patterns of a client, but they cannot alter the genetic structure of a damaged brain.

Likewise hypnotherapy training is normally not part of the educational curriculum at accredited universities in managing psychiatric disorders, instead hypnotherapist musts pursue training outside the university field, such as the American Guild of Hypnotherapists, to get accredited. It is categorized as a field of alternative therapy, not a mainstream therapy, which has subjective evidence to back up their claims of effectiveness. Insurances are skeptical to cover hypnosis because there is no guarantee this therapy will have a lasting impact in psychological treatment.

I advise anyone, who wants to manage their anxiety disorder, to avoid hypnotherapy. It is not a sound practice for managing anxiety. Personally I just find it a therapy akin to Freud's constant use of self analysis of our past, however Freud's theories of self analysis are often criticized as having any type of relief from anxiety, but only involve constant therapy sessions that go on and one about our past. *** Talking about our past can help after a few sessions, but to go on and on about it with hypnosis, is just non-productive.

* http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog...rders-damage-your-brain-especially-when-untre
** http://www.fmsfonline.org/legalsurvey.html
*** http://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/jun/22/socialsciences.gender


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## another1 (Sep 5, 2013)

Focus123, thank you for providing all that information on these threads about hypnotherapy, I have tried it too (I left a review in the treatment section), and I don't have the energy to debate or to go to such a length of providing information like you have. 

I'd just like people not waste their money on treatments that do not address this disorder physiologically. Because I really believe it is mostly physiological, though for some people it might not be the case. But in cases that are a full blown disorder, this type of stuff is not going to help at all. And for people like me who do not have money to waste on useless therapies, these prevent people from seeking out proper treatment and wasting their resources that could of been spent on something more effective. The type of hypnotherapy that I tried was focused on regression, and that is going to be a waste of time. I really felt like my mind was making up a lot of things, often I would get nothing, my mind would be completely blank, yet being gently prodded for information by this woman, I'd give a little bit, and asked about it, i'd give a little bit more, it was like trying to create a story out of nothing. It reminds me of writing games you play when you're trying to make up a fictional story for school. There was one session I nearly burst out laughing because it started getting ridiculous. I know that it was my imagination working, I wasn't doing it on purpose, but that's just how the mind works to create things. The damaging part of it is, she tries to convince me that its not my imagination when I really know that is. There was nothing real to me about any of the stuff that came up. I do not have repressed or blocked memories or any traumatic event in my life, just to clarify. I also came into it with a 90% belief in it, yet left entirely disillusioned by it. It was also something I thought of trying for a few years but wasn't really sure of, but when I read some success stories I became convinced that it would work. However, those stories were written by the therapist, I don't know what long term effect it had on those patients, plus they had problems but their cases were not severe disorders so if it did work for them, they weren't that bad to begin with.


Even with people having success quitting cigarettes, a lot of them go back to smoking, it's a temporary effect at best. It's a way to trick the mind for a while, you might as well give them placebo pills and tell them that it will make them stop smoking, it would probably have the same success rate.


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## Focus123 (Aug 30, 2013)

I don't want to use this thread as a method to bash hypnotherapy. I think it can be a legitimate practice, but it should mainly be used for healthy people (not people with mental health issues) with simple habits or problems. Hypnotherapy should NOT be used as a method to manage social anxiety disorder, or any other type of anxiety disorder.

This quote comes the National Guild of Hypnotherapy, the most accredited institution for hypnotherapy recognition, in terms of their bylaws on how to practice hypnotherapy.

http://ngh.net/wp-content/uploads/20...teLawGuide.pdf
*
As hypnotism is a different form of human service than psychology or medicine, unless you are licensed to practice medicine, psychology or some form of counseling, it is dangerous to use the terminology of those professions in your records. Therefore, avoid words like "depression," "anxiety," "compulsive," and "phobia." Similarly, avoid using the words "psychological," "medical," "clinical" or "counseling." As far as reasonably possible, use other descriptive language instead. We recommend you always follow the Guild's Recommended Terminology for Hypnotic Practice.*

Do note that the National Guild of Hypnotherapy separates hypnotherapy from the use of psychology. If you do practice psychotherapy with an actual license, your services are more prone to psychotherapy - and not hypnotherapy.

People who practice hypnotherapy are not "treating" any "disorder" such as anxiety or depression, they are simply helping healthy people with simple habits or problems, and are encouraged to give full written disclosure about their training and scope.

The most recognized organization which endorses hypnotherapy, separates themselves from any use of hypnotherapy to be practiced with psychological problems. So I'm giving more than my opinion, since hypnotherapy did not work for me, but actual facts that hypnotherapy (even from the institution that trains people in hypnotherapy) is not endorsed for psychological problems.


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