Clinical Hypnotherapy
Clinical Hypnotherapy also known as Suggestion Therapy is ‘normal’ hypnotherapy as we know it.
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When you hear the term ‘hypnotherapy’ used in the media, they are (most often) referring to this type of therapy. Basically, you will be relaxed into a lovely, calm light hypnotic state (where you will be wide awake and fully in control – but nice and relaxed) and you will be given suggestions which will affect your behaviour/feelings once you are out of the hypnotic state – hence the term ‘post-hypnotic suggestion’.
The type of suggestion given will depend on the symptom you are wanting help with. If you are stopping smoking, a typical suggestion would be ‘you will feel a huge sense of pride and pleasure now you are a non- smoker’ or ‘you will find it easy to live your life as a non-smoker’. Note that ALL suggestions given will be completely positive and worded very carefully in order to get the very best results. This type of therapy session is ideal for: smokers wishing to quit, a person suffering from pre-test nerves, someone wanting help with their driving test, or help with pain control – particularly for childbirth.
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Suggestion therapy can be very effective but the results tend to be fairly temporary – hence it is particularly useful when short-term benefits are needed (see above).
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Suggestion therapy only requires one, or maybe two sessions. There is, however, a clear parallel in everyday life – it’s called television advertising. If you want proof that television is hypnotic, just look at some small children watching daytime TV – utterly entranced. Television advertisers take a lot of trouble to hold your attention – keep you in the trance – and then sell you their message, their product. Suggestion therapy is doing the same thing but there is something else that can be learnt from the TV advertisers – keep doing it or the effects will wear off. Hence it is a good plan to repeat the suggestions regularly – either by use of a CD or MP3 recording, or by the simple linking of the ideas to something you do regularly, even something ordinary like brushing your teeth, or finding other ways to remind yourself. Repetition is important.
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For symptoms that are more severe or long-term, we recommend you have a discussion with your therapist as they may well recommend beliefs work or hypnoanalysis depending on what you tell them.