Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy involves changing the way the subconscious mind works and leads to real changes in thinking or behaviour. You can read more about the subconscious mind in How it Works.

Hypnosis looks to change your subconscious thinking by reprogramming it to provide different thoughts. So if you want to feel more confident or unafraid, you have to get your subconscious to tell you that you feel confident or calm, or whatever it is you require.

Hypnotherapy achieves that by helping you reach a state of deep relaxation. Not sleep, or unconsciousness, but deep relaxation. In this state of relaxation, your subconscious mind can be re-educated to act in the way you want it to. Deep relaxation means that your conscious mind, the one that you hear constantly chattering to you, is silenced for a while so you can talk to the subconscious instead.

A hypnotherapist guides you into that state of deep relaxation, known as a "hypnotic trance". You and the hypnotherapist can then train your subconscious mind to think in a helpful way, when you need it, rather than hindering you.

You remain in full control at all times and can come out of the trance any time you want. The hypnotherapist won't get you to do things you don't want or silly things you'll have seen with stage hypnotists. It's therapy – there to help you with whatever you want to achieve.

When you come out of the trance you'll feel very relaxed but also very aware. You may find that you immediately start thinking in a different way or it may take a few sessions before the subconscious picks up on the new signals you want it to send. If you want to stop smoking, for example, you come out of the session feeling that you don't want or need to smoke, so you choose not to. And it all comes from you, using your own power, with the hypnotherapist acting as a guide, not a controller.

Once you learn the techniques, you don't need a hypnotherapist as you can do it yourself using self-hypnosis.

The National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH) recorded an interview with a client about Hypnotherapy, including how she felt and how it works, you can watch the video below. The video is available on You Tube and was created in October 2008.