Hypnosis was accepted by the AMA in 1958 as an effective discipline for treating nervous tension, and stress related symptoms. But does it really work, and what should a person look for when seeking a hypnotist, or purchasing hypnosis tapes & CDs?
There are many novel hypnotic methods that are used to reach the unconscious mind to invoke change. Each method has its good points and its bad points. We are all different, so it only stands to reason that the best results will be reached by utilizing the methods that each person will respond best to.
Most hypnosis tape vendors offer products that consist of standard traditional hypnosis methods. A few vendors offer much more modern and effective Ericksonian Hypnosis methods. And fewer still offer NLP or Neuro-Linguistic Programming techniques.
The newest and by far the most powerful technique is video hypnosis. Video hypnosis utilizes the latest Neuro-linguistic programming thought processes to produce instant change in someone. Video hypnosis modalities are not subliminal in nature.
With "Traditional Hypnosis," we simply make commands to the unconscious mind. In case you are wondering, as far as I'm concerned, the term unconscious, and subconscious are equivalent -- they refer to the same part of the mind. This type of posthypnotic suggestion works well for a subject who generally accepts what they are told without doing a lot of questioning.
Most hypnosis tapes sold today are based on "Traditional Hypnosis" techniques. This reason is it doesn't really take much schooling to write a script and just command an individual to do something. Unfortunately Traditional Hypnotherapy is not very practical for people who are analytical in their thinking processes.
By contrast, Ericksonian Hypnosis and NLP techniques work far better for most people in today's generation! This is because today individuals are taught to analyze everything, rather than just do what everyone else is doing. So these methods do work very well on people who are critical in their methods of thinking.
While it's true that these modalities have a much greater success rate at reaching and influencing the unconscious, it's also true that it can take a lot of experience to learn how to apply these techniques with success. So this is a challenge taken on by only truly dedicated hypnotists.
With "Ericksonian Hypnosis," we use little stories; we call hypnotic metaphors, to present suggestions and ideas to the unconscious mind. This is a compelling technology, because it usually eliminates the resistance to suggestions that is often caused by the conscious mind. There are two types of metaphors, "Isomorphic," and those of the imbedded command or "interspersal" nature.
Isomorphic metaphors guide the subconscious by telling a story that offers up a moral. The unconscious draws a one to one relationship between contents of the story and ingredients of a negative behavior. For example, if a child is telling a lot of lies, the hypnotherapist might tell the child the story about the "Boy who cried wolf." The subconscious would draw a parallel between the boy in the story and the child, and realize that telling lies could lead to disaster, so the child would probably stop lying.
With the Embedded Command technique, the hypnotherapist tells an interesting story that engages and distracts the consciousness. The story includes covert direct suggestions that are usually accepted by the subconscious. For example: While the client is in hypnosis, he will hear the hypnotist say something like: I'm going to tell you a story about a [beach that has feelings. Isn't that] strange to [you]? It's a warm summer's day, and the beach [feels great].
The hypnotist pauses, shifts his voice tonality, and emphasizes the bracketed text. The subconscious recognizes a "Selectional restriction violation." Beaches can't have feelings. So it's like the subconscious says to itself: "Wait a minute, a beach can't feel anything, so that must mean that I'm supposed to feel something, and I'm supposed to [feel great]." Since the suggestions are embedded in a theme that is misdirecting the conscious mind, its unlikely that the conscious will realize that it has just received a command, so it won't block it or resist it.
"Process Instructions" direct the subconscious to remember the experience of an appropriate learning experience from the past, and then apply that learning to eliminate bad behaviors in the present.
With "Neuro-Linguistic Programming" (NLP), rather than using suggestions, we use the same thought patterns that are creating a problem, like an excessive appetite or stress, to cast away the problem. NLP in the hands of a trained and experienced NLP’er can be very effective.
NLP Anchoring: Have you ever heard an old song and had it recreate feelings from the past? When you originally listened to the song, you were experiencing those feelings, and they subconsciously became attached to the melody of the music. So the song became an Anchor for the feelings. Now when you hear the song, it triggers the same feelings again.
Anchoring can be a very effective methodology. Suppose that you have a memory of being commended for having done a great job in the past. If you revivify that memory, you'll be able to revivify the feeling of self-esteem that you had at that time. If you touch two fingers together while you re-experience those feelings of self-esteem, that touch will become an anchor for the feelings of self-esteem.
Now suppose that you want to create motivation to stick to a diet and lose weight. If you make a mental image of yourself with a thin, sexy body, and simultaneously trigger the anchor - (press the two fingers together again), your unconscious will connect the feelings of self-esteem to the mental image of yourself with the thin body and your level of motivation to lose weight will increase substantially.
NLP Flash: This is a very effective and powerful NLP technique that can be used to "flip" things around in the unconscious, so that thoughts and experiences that used to trigger feelings of stress actually trigger relaxation instead.
The NLP Flash methodology is also a fast way to erase a conditioned response. For example: If a smoker has a cigarette while drinking coffee, his/her subconscious will pair the two behaviors together so that he/she automatically gets a strong urge for a cigarette anytime he/she has a cup of coffee. The Flash will cause the smoker's mind to disassociate the image of a cigarette from the cup of coffee so that he/she does NOT get a craving to smoke just because he/she is drinking coffee.
With "subliminal" CD’s, the recording has two different tracks. One track contains a cover sound that is heard by the conscious mind. The cover sound could be anything from music to nature sounds. The second track contains direct commands that are listened to by the unconscious mind. These hypnotic suggestions are repeated hundreds of times during a session.
Subliminal programs can be played in the background while you are watching a movie on TV. You don't have to stop what you are doing and relax like you do with hypnosis or NLP. Subliminals can be used in addition to hypnotic therapy. But Subliminals will never replace Self-hypnosis or NLP because they are not as effective! They're not even in the same universe!! Some research claims that it can take up to 80 hours of listening to a subliminal CD before it will have any effect on many people.
The last hypnotic methodology that we're going to discuss is "Video Hypnosis." Video Hypnosis is the most useful form of hypnosis! The video technology has been perfected and Patented for weight loss hypnosis CDs and stop smoking hypnosis CDs.
The techniques used in video hypnosis are based on the Neuro-linguistic programming technology, which works based on the utilization of a person's existing way of thinking instead of post-hypnotic suggestion.
Over 70% of the people on the planet learn much more automatically by seeing, rather then by hearing. Think about it. If you feel an compulsion to smoke or snack when watching TV, it's because your subconscious mind recorded the video image of either food in your hand, or a cigarette in your hand, and then mated that image with the depiction of the TV. You never spoke to yourself and told yourself in words to associate them together, did you?
And that's why the Video Hypnosis technique is so useful. Video Hypnosis is not hypnotic in the traditional sense, relying on the spoken word. But if you've ever cried when watching a sad movie, then you know how effective Video Hypnosis can be at reaching the unconscious mind. With this technology, results usually start with the very first viewing!
© 2006 By Alan B. Densky. This article can be reprinted as long as it is not altered and the author's name and clickable web address are retained.
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