Many people have the misconception that hypnosis is some kind of magic wand. Unfortunately it isn’t. The therapist won’t swing a watch in front of your eyes, ask you to stare at a ‘hypno disc’ or tell you, “You’re under!”
These were all old-style ‘authoritarian’ hypnosis techniques. These days, things are different…
Think of hypnotherapy more like counselling, but with the added benefit of hypnosis.
A typical hypnotherapy session will include the more traditional counselling skills of good listening, rapport building, empathy, goal-setting etc. before any hypnosis takes place.
The thing is that hypnosis is unlikely to have any positive impact if a safe, therapeutic relationship hasn’t been established first. (If you don’t like your therapist, good outcomes are difficult to achieve).
So typically, a hypnotherapy session involves a mixture of psychotherapy/counselling but with the intentional use of hypnosis as this helps you tap into your most powerful learning state – the REM state.
A hypnotherapist might also teach you self-hypnosis techniques that you can practise between sessions and set agreed-upon ‘homework’ tasks – things you can do to aid the changes you’re looking for.
Sometimes, I’ll suggest listening to a specific hypnosis recording at home as this can reinforce the work done in the hypnotherapy session.
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