Clinical Hypnosis

Why Choose Hypnotherapy With THE HEATH?

There are two good reasons for choosing a hypnotherapist at THE HEATH. The first is the degree of training we have and the second is that we do proper hypnosis - with hypnotic phenomena rather than just relaxation.

Firstly, a quick google search for 'hypnosis' or 'hypnotherapy' in your postcode area will bring up a multitude of hypnotherapists. Unfortunately hypnosis is not regulated which means there is no guaranteeing the quality of the practitioners rolled out by some of the less ethical self-appointed training organisations. It's important to know that many hypnotherapists have had barely more than one to two months training in total (frequently even less), including some from just correspondence courses without any actual supervision, before setting up shop. There is no requirement for them to have any formal therapy training and the blog post 'Cowboys hamper use of hypnothery... illustrates some of the harm badly trained hypnotherapists can do.

Would you be happy to entrust your needs or those of someone you care about to someone with such minimal training? It would be inconceivable for a GP to start practicing without having had any supervision and working on real life patients in their training. At THE HEATH our hypnotherapists are not just hypnotherapists but also trained counselllors in other fields - Felix being a chartered psychologist and Linda about to complete a very comprehensive counselling diploma. We abide by strict codes of ethics and conduct and have the counselling skills to understand and work with the range of problems presented to us by our clients.

Secondly, as a result of the very differing qualities of training, many people who advertise themselves as ‘hypnotherapists’ are seldom proficient in actually hypnotising their clients. They usually stick to safe and risk-free techniques such as using a progressive relaxation script which all too often merely succeeds in just relaxing clientsd without actually hypnotising them (we call these ‘relaxo-therapists’). Such hypnotherapists are seldom confident enough in their abilities to elicit hypnotic phenomena such as hand levitation, hand sticking (hand stuck to lap as if stuck with glue); localised anaesthesia or amnesia for basic numbers. At THE HEATH we are confident in our extensive training and experience and will always test our hypnosis using hypnotic phenomena. If you have seen a ‘relaxo-therapist’ and felt relaxed but not hypnotised, then you might well still be a good hypnotee without knowing it. True clinical hypnosis involves you entering a deep state of trance whereby your conscious mind begins to uncritically accept the suggestions presented to you without interfering.

What Is Hypnosis?

Hyponsis is not easily explainable. It is an altered state of awareness but there are many common misconceptions about it. You may have seen stage hypnotists instruct their subjects to 'sleep' , to which you see the subjects head roll to one side and seem to instantly sleep. But it's not true sleep. In true sleep you would be unconscious and not hear instructions issued to you, so they would go wasted. In hypnosis a part of the mind is still awake and active and able to listen and process instructions. In fact, it might be even commenting on its own internal experience. Many hypnotherapists will tell you that its a state of relaxation, but it's also possible to hypnotise people while they are excited and unrelaxed. Hypnosis can involve relaxation but its not necessary for hypnosis. Many hypnotherapists will also tell you that its impossible to be hypnotised against your will, but this is also inaccurate. It is more accurate to say that if your unconscious mind chooses to respond to hypnotic commands, then it will do so even against your conscious will. Occasionally during hypnosis I test people and say ' I want your unconscious mind to lift your hand towards your face and I want your conscious mind to resist it as much as it can'. You can see people genuinely struggle with something against their conscious will. What determines whether your unconscious mind will choose to cooperate with the hypnotist's suggestions? This depends on several factors - the degree of rapport and trust you have with the hypnotherapist, the hypnotherapists skill in leading your brain so that your unconscious mind becomes dominant and your conscious mind becomes passive; your unconscious mind's readiness and motivation to cooperate and the absence of other interferences and distractions. In scientific terms, during hypnosis the brain begins to operate predominantly at more unconscious frequencies - shifting from beta level wavelengths to alpha,theta and even delta wavelength

Good results using hypnosis require a good hypnotist and a good hypnotee. A good hypnotee is someone who is willing and able to follow instructions, and does not have blocks in the way to being hypnotised that require a lot of preliminary work to address. Having said that, I have often worked with people who think of themselves as poor hypnotees – informing me that they had poor imaginations, or doubted their capacity to be hypnotised, or perhaps they felt they were too analytical – and ended up surprising themselves with how deep into trance they went. I know we can do hypnotism. We have to find out whether you can.

Why Use Hypnosis For Therapy?

Quite simply hypnosis is the best medium known to science for accessing the programming state of our mind and body, and approved by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE). It is used by doctors, surgeons, dentists, psychologists, hypnotherapists and other health practitioners for an infinite variety of benefits. Your unconscious mind is the controlling intelligence in your body. It is the connection between the mind and the immune system; the source of creativity and making links between discrete chunks of information; and it runs the ‘strategies’ we have learnt to get our emotional needs met. Hypnosis is the medium which allows you to enter into deeper rapport with your unconscious mind, and your unconscious mind is the gateway to powerful and effective change in your mind and body. Most practitioners of hypnosis tend to focus its application to alleviating physical conditions. Most commonly it is used for boosting one’s immune system response for overcoming disease, eliminating pain to allow operations to be undertaken without anaesthetic; and for eliminating phobias and cravings, such as smoking or comfort eating. Hypnosis can also be used for changing our emotional state with regards to how we feel about ourselves, others in our lives and the world around us in general. Many successful sportsmen, authors, managers and entrepreneurs attribute their success to the level of rapport they have cultivated with their ‘intuition’ (or unconscious mind). The greater the rapport, the greater the level of access to one’s creativity and intuition.

Is it Dangerous In Any Way Or Will I Lose Control?
Hypnosis has been used for unethical purposes by unscrupulous people. However, an ethical hypnotist will never ask you to experience any unnecessary, dangerous or embarrassing suggestions. We are interested in therapy not stage entertainment and its not in our interests to have people badmouth the profession. In addition, I make it a matter of standard practice to record all my sessions, as a protection for both the therapist and the client. Finally, in some ways in the hypnotic state you can experience more control over your feelings or your body e.g. inducing anaethesia over localised pain. By agreeing to let the hypnotist have temporary control over your unconscious mind, you will get speedy and effective results and ultimately walk of out the session with greater control over your life.

Therapists trained in Hypnosis Practicing at The Heath:
* Felix Economakis - to see clips of him using hypnosis on TV visit FelixEconomakis.com
* Linda Connors
* Radhika Doohan

Clinical Hypnosis Hampstead, hypnosis Hampstead, hypnosis Camden, Hypnotherapy Camden, hypnotherapy London NW3 NW3 NW8 NW11, hypnotherapy Golders Green; Hypnotherapy West Hampstead;hypnotherapy London

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