What is Hypnotherapy?

[ What is HypnoTherapy? - Part 1 ]

What we do in hypnotherapy is to bypass the conscious mind by quietening it down so that it doesn't get in the way of us communicating with the subconscious. When operating at this level we say that the patient is in trance. It is while in this state that a therapist, or the patient themselves, can suggest new ways of looking at or experiencing things when in the conscious world. Then when the patient awakens, those thoughts and ideas are now operating in their subconscious and capable of making the changes the patient desires.

Since a patient is not actually asleep during a hypnotherapy session they are fully aware of what is happening and what is being said. Nobody can be made to do anything under hypnosis that they would not ordinarily consent to.

Finally, all patients will wake up at the end of a hypnotic trance session. Some patients worry about remaining in a trance state, but by following an awakening procedure a therapist or the patient themselves can leave trance successfully. Similarly, in an emergency (such as a fire alarm) the patient can leave trance quickly since the patient is fully aware of what is happening.

Just as it helps to remember things by repeating them to ourselves, it helps post-hypnotic suggestions to be more effective if they are repeated during further trance sessions where the patient can be taught to practise self-hypnosis and so reinforce the messages for themselves later.

We hope that anyone contemplating hypnotherapy for whatever reason can see that it a safe, effective and completely natural process which, when conducted by an experienced and qualified practitioner such as a HypnoAlliance therapist, can offer long lasting solutions for longstanding issues.