Clinical Hypnotherapy offers benefits to individuals experiencing emotional or physical discomfort of any kind. The range of issues treatable through hypnosis is diverse. While hypnosis is often linked with habit cessation like weight loss or smoking cessation, it can enhance treatment outcomes in nearly any area addressed by conventional methods. A skilled clinician in hypnotherapy can assist clients dealing with the following conditions:

Alcoholism, Anger, Anxieties, Asthma, Bed Wetting, Blood Pressure, Blushing, Breathing Disorders, Bulimia, Burns, Chronic and Acute Compulsions, Confidence, Dentistry, Depression, Eczema, Exam Nerves, Exam performance, Gambling, Gastro – intestinal Disorders, Goal Setting, Grief, Guilt, Habit Control, Headaches, Hostility, Insomnia, Memory Enhancement, Mood Swings, Nail Biting, Obsessive / Compulsive Behaviours, Obstetrics (hypnobirthing), Over Eating, Pain Control, Assertiveness, Communication, Pain management, Panic Attacks, Personal Growth, Phobias, Psoriasis, Public Speaking, Relationships, Relaxation, Releasing the Past, Resentments, Sexual Dysfunction, Skin Problems, Sleep Disorders, Smoking Cessation, Sports Motivation, Stress relief, Study Recall, Stuttering, Warts and Worry, even some forms of schizophrenia and multiple personality(DID) have been treated with hypnotherapy.

Hypnosis is applicable in treating a wide range of disorders, whether mental or physical, by leveraging the relaxation response to enhance the individual’s mindset. For instance, in cases of physical injury, hypnosis can mobilize mental resources to help manage discomfort, facilitate rest, and reduce emotional distress. It’s crucial to emphasize that Hypnotherapy complements rather than replaces medical treatment by a qualified physician. The key factor influencing therapy’s effectiveness is the sincere motivation to achieve wellness.

A Clinical Hypnotherapist employs hypnosis to help clients attain a state of mental, physical, and emotional relaxation. During hypnosis, the conscious mind—the busy, critical, analytical part—takes a break. This state enables individuals to access the reservoir of information stored in the subconscious, also known as the unconscious mind, and enact positive changes to thought patterns, habits, or the effects of traumatic experiences impacting mental or physical well-being.

The experience of hypnosis varies for each client depending on the technique used and their psychological makeup. Some may feel heightened awareness, while others experience deep relaxation. Clients may hear every word spoken by the hypnotist clearly at times, while other times the voice may fade in and out or become completely indistinct. In Ericksonian hypnosis, the client is never under the “control” of the hypnotist; they always retain the freedom to adjust their experience or awaken whenever they choose.

Hypnosis is a natural and healthy state of mind that occurs without the use of drugs. To my knowledge, there has never been a documented case of harm resulting from the use of hypnosis.

Leslie Le Crone, psychologist and authority on hypnosis, states: “As to self-induction, many thousands have learned it and I have yet to hear a report of any bad results of its use”.

In his book Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Dr William S Kroger states: “Platonof, an associate of Pavlov, who used hypnosis for over fifty years in over fifty-thousand cases, reports as follows: ‘We have never observed any harmful influences on the patient which could be ascribed to the method of hypnosuggestion therapy, or any tendency toward the development of unstable personality, weakening of the will, or pathological urge for hypnosis”.

Dr David Cheek, MD, who has vast experience in the field, writes, “We can do more harm with ignorance of hypnotism than we can ever do by intelligently using hypnosis and suggestion constructively”.

Psychologist, Rafael Rhodes, in his book “Therapy through Hypnosis”, writes: “Hypnotism is absolutely safe. There is no known case on record of harmful results from its therapeutic use”.

Clinical Hypnotherapist, Gil Boyne, who I have had the pleasure of training with, states, “In almost forty years of practice and more than 40,000 hours of hypnotherapy, I have never seen or heard of any harm resulting from hypnosis”.

However, at this point I would like to bring up poker machines. Briefly, Progression of Emotions and Coping Strategies

Understanding the way the emotions progress is important. It is important that we develop appropriate coping strategies when we are first hurt. An example can be:

HURT: A man goes to work and his boss tells him that he may be losing his job.

PAIN: He gets a headache.

FEAR: He starts to worry about his bills, can he get another job.

ANGER: He is driving home and yells at an old lady who is driving too slowly.

DEPRESSION/SAD: He gets home and just sits and feels very sad – life is not worth living, why does this always happen etc.

DISASSOCIATION: He feels numb, sleeps all day, watches TV or drinks excess alcohol, plays poker machines etc.

Examples of good coping strategies – going for a walk, calling a friend, doing breathing exercises, seeing the funny side or other person’s side etc.

Just take note of a poker machine room, it is perfect for trance. Very rarely do they have window, and only just recently did a law come in to say a clock had to be in clear view. The hypnotic sound of the machines, how now you only have to slide money in to the shoot, no breaking state to get more change etc. The hypnotic pattern of the left right eye movement. Remember the watch. Very good place to get away from pain, except when the money runs out and you have to come back to reality.

What hypnotherapy does is to help bring out the best in you. This means that you will change by leaving behind any habits or baggage you no longer need or want and thereby become a stronger and happier person. Hypnosis will not put something into you that was not there in the first place. It just helps you to uncover your strong and good qualities, which you may not even have known you have.

Being in hypnosis is often described as a state of deep physical and mental relaxation, comparable to the moments just before fully waking or drifting off to sleep. Some liken it to daydreaming. During hypnosis, individuals experience profound relaxation mentally, physically, and emotionally, which is inherently therapeutic. Dr Milton Erickson, a leading American Hypnotherapist, described the process of clinical hypnosis as “a free period in which individuality can flourish”.