Practical Application

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The following example shows how a person could overcome a fear of flying. At the first visit to the hypnotherapist, once in a trance, the patient was told to imagine travelling and arriving at an airport. At the second and subsequent visits, the person gradually imagined the stages of boarding an aeroplane, going on a very short flight and finally travelling to a different country.

To help the patient afterwards, a recording of the consultations had been made and these could be played in the home whenever required. The treatment proved to be completely successful with the patient being able to fly overseas frequently.

It is considered advisable to consult a hypnotherapist who is qualified as a general practitioner too, since should there be any specific disease present it will be recognized as such. Not all doctors are convinced that there is a scientific foundation for hypnosis, but for those who are also qualified hypnotherapists, the practice is incorporated with conventional treatments.

Once a person is in a trance and past events have been brought to mind, other bodily functions such as brain activity and the pulse rate will react as if the event was actually happening. When a person in a trance imagines themselves to be a very young baby and the foot is stroked gently underneath, the reflex action is for the toes to curl upwards. This is the reflex response of a baby under six months old, after which the toes no longer curl upwards but downwards.

This demonstrates how the person actually regresses to being very young and with the reflex actions applicable to that age.

Although aware of the existence of this sort of evidence, doubt has been ex-pressed by some doctors that people are actually put into a trance. They tend to believe that there are different sorts of consciousness, with the level related to reality ceasing to work and another level taking control that is associated more with the imaginative and perceptive part of the mind.

When fully conscious, the normal reaction would be to reject any thoughts or suggestions placed whilst under the influence of hypnosis. Concern has been expressed that a patient's memories of past events have been slightly modified or altered in some way to become what the patient or therapist would want them to be.

Although these uncertainties about the trance state do exist, it is still recognized that hypnotherapy provides relief from pain without the use of drugs and is valuable in the treatment of various psychosomatic disorders. Increasing numbers of medical and mental health professionals now use hypnosis to overcome the pain of chronic headaches, backaches, childbirth, cancer, severe burns, dental phobias, and more.

Some psychologists use hypnosis to help patients overcome bad habits, anxiety, phobias, and depression, even to help patients recall past events-although the accuracy of this recall is controversial. Family doctors have begun using hypnosis to treat psychosomatic illness, to control appetite, and to reduce the need for medication, or lower its dosage, in chronic illness.

As is the case if you are seeking a psychotherapist, you should be very careful when seeking a hypnotist, simply because of the difficulty of imposing a standard of training and skill in such a discipline. Again it is worth starting with your general practitioner or your local health centre, or perhaps with a friend who has undergone hypnosis and found it useful.

There are some people who have mastered the art of self-hypnosis, but it is important to seek professional advice and to do quite a lot of research on the subject before you actually try this. You do not want to become involved in something that you find you cannot handle.