How Does Hypnotherapy Work?

When Clients first come to see me, I’m often asked to explain how Hypnotherapy works.  I believe the reason why it is so effective is that essentially Hypnotherapy provides a vivid healing or corrective psychological experience. 

Often this is achieved without the Therapist having to delve into the clients past or by the Client having to be in a deep Zombie like trance.  It’s facilitated through the relationship between the Client and the Therapist, it’s very much a team effort and it most often culminates with the client finding their own resolution internally.

A useful analogy is that our emotional lives are similar to rolling calculations in a spreadsheet.   As we are going along in life new experiences are entered into our emotional calculation just like numbers being data entered into a spreadsheet.  All going well any associated emotions will be processed prior to entering the experience data; however occasionally if this doesn’t happen it can cause a “corruption”  of the data.  The  “corrupt” entry may then throw the rest of the calculation out going forward.  Sometimes you can correct this by tracing it back to the original “corrupt” entry and by correcting it at that point so that all the subsequent experiences are recalculated to be perceived differently.  Alternatively sometimes you correct it from the current position and allow for the fact that up to that point there are errors, however going forward the calculation has been corrected.  A small miscalculation at one point can have a compounding effect. 

Moving away from the analogy to a real life example, let’s say someone who is terrified of being alone.  Throughout their life they’ve felt uneasy and afraid when left alone and the longer it’s been allowed to go along the stronger the fear has become.  It’s possible that this is because of a significant event, however it’s also possible that it’s because one night when they were 3 or 4 they woke in the night and called their parents, their parents being fast asleep didn’t hear them so they ultimately fell back asleep feeling a bit scared and alone i.e. without resolving the emotion.  The next morning they have no recollection that they were even awake, however from that point forward without knowing why they don’t like being left alone.  That unprocessed emotion has thrown out how they calculate their emotional response to what they perceive as similar situations.

While under Hypnosis the Therapist may direct the client’s imagination back to look for the initial event and resolve it.  A properly trained Therapist will have the skill to do this so that the Client feels safe and aware that they experience is not real but rather a vivid recollection (As with all forms of  Therapy it’s important to ensure that your Therapist has been properly trained).  Equally it may be decided to process the triggered emotion in the here and now.  Either way as previously explained, the Client is aware at all times that they are safe and secure and that the process is utilizing their imagination.

This resolution will help people resolve limiting beliefs about habits whether it’s their eating habits, smoking or even their habit of responding anxiously to certain or general triggers.  Often these habits and responses stem from unresolved emotions, or a belief that the habit fulfills an emotional need.  We all know for example that Ice-cream is not really capable of solving our problems and yet in times of crisis a tub of Ben  & Jerry’s can be the first thing we turn to!  This belief has a source, and that is stored in our subconscious available to be accessed when triggered, it will keep coming up as a response to crisis until the emotion attached to the belief is resolved so that it can be archived.

Of course some habits have been formed purely through repetition. The brain loves repetition because it allows it to lay down pathways, which it can then easily run habits through while allowing the Cognitive part of the brain to rest. In cases like this Hypnotherapy can be used to fast-track the creation of new healthier habits that re-route the automatic behaviour away from the old unhealthy habit pathways on to new healthy Super Highways! This is done using the infinite power of the client’s imagination.

The Client often feels as though nothing has changed and it’s only when their behaviour during or at the end of their program is compared to the measures taken before Therapy that they realise they’ve been making significant changes in their daily life without even noticing.   When I ask people how their week has been I often smile to hear them say e.g. If they’re a weight loss client “nothing has changed really, although I guess I’ve started eating more vegetables, I’ve started going for a few runs, I’ve stopped buying take-away every second night, and I’m going to bed earlier and sleeping better than I can remember”.  Oh, I reply “so nothing’s changed then…… ”

Melbourne Hypnotherapist Georgina Mitchell is located in Mentone and Skype Sessions are available.
Georgina is a member of the Australian Hypnotherapy Association and the Australian Counselling Association.  Private Health Rebates may apply, check with your provider about your policy.

At Hypfocus  Therapies we advise anyone interested in trying Hypnotherapy in Melbourne to ensure that their therapist is properly trained and a member of an accredited association.

If you would like to book an appointment call 0435 923 817 or use click here to use the contact form.