Description

Hypnotherapy

Many have been skeptical of hypnosis, which has been
shrouded in mysteries and myths for centuries. At the same time, hypnosis
has attracted the attention of many famous scientists who are interested in
human behavior. Sigmund Freud, Alfred Binet, William James, Wilhelm Wundt,
Clark Hull, Ernest R. Hilgard, and many important scientists of psychology
thought seriously about hypnosis. Yet hypnosis has only recently gained
the attention it deserves. In addition to being an intense research
subject in experimental psychology laboratories all over the world, it is a
treatment component whose effect is clearly visible.

Hypnosis is a process in which a healthcare professional
or researcher suggests that the patient or client experiences feelings,
perceptions, thoughts or behavioral changes at that moment. The hypnotic
state is usually created by an induction process. While there are many
different types of hypnotic inductions, many suggest relaxation, calmness, and
relaxation. Instructions to imagine or think about pleasant experiences
are also common in hypnotic inductions.

With the relaxation and relaxation created by hypnosis,
the person concentrates on his own thoughts and the therapist’s suggestions.
As can be seen from the definition above, hypnosis is not a therapy method like
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Psychoanalysis. It is the state of
consciousness that a person is prone to suggestion.

Hypnotherapy is the application of psychotherapy
techniques to the person under hypnosis.

Although the state of consciousness of the brain under
hypnosis continues, since the person concentrates on his own thoughts and the
hypnotherapist’s suggestions, there are no situations such as resistance,
incomplete, inappropriate fulfillment or non-implementation of the tasks
encountered in classical therapies.

Therapies performed under hypnosis are applied more
easily and comfortably by the hypnotherapist and rapid response is
obtained. In addition, the obstacles to be experienced during classical
therapy are removed and the power to cope with them is increased. For
example; In cognitive behavioral therapies, exposure technique is applied
to patients with claustrophobia such as riding an elevator. In
hypnotherapy, on the other hand, while under hypnosis, the person is encouraged
to think about the location of the elevator, the conditions of the environment,
and gradually portray the elevator alone (imagination). With these
suggestions, the reactions of the person in that environment are immediately
learned, therapy techniques are applied and thus the treatment response is
accelerated. This whole process takes place in an environment such as
hypnosis where the person relaxes and feels comfortable and under the
supervision of a hypnotherapist.

Indications for the Use of Hypnosis

Although hypnosis can be used as a complement to almost
all psychotherapeutic procedures, it applies to specific problems with
well-defined efficacy. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Panic Disorder,
Agoraphobia, Claustrophobia, Social Phobia, Dissociative Disorders, Sexual
Dysfunction, Obesity, Eating Disorders, Psychogenic Pain Disorder, Exam
Anxiety, Tic, Stuttering, Enuresis Nocturnal Disease, Hair and Hair Disorders
Hypnotherapy can be used in many psychiatric diseases such as (trichotillomania)
and cigarette addiction. Hypnosis has been shown to provide certain
benefits in the treatment of pain, smoking, medical conditions (eg hypertension
and ulcers), dermatological conditions, asthma, obesity and eating disorders.

Contraindications to the Use of Hypnosis

Since hypnosis is a therapy complement rather than a form
of treatment, it should not be treated as a magical cure for problems the
therapist cannot handle without it. The
traditional rule of thumb is: If you do not have the quality to treat without
hypnosis, a condition cannot be treated with hypnosis. Nor
should a therapist treat a situation with or without hypnosis in a way that
goes beyond his or her education, expertise, or capacity. Such an
initiative is unethical.

Before, during, and after a hypnosis session, it is vital
that clinicians strengthen their own beliefs and expectations that patients
will react to hypnosis. For example, when driving in traffic, it is not
uncommon to say “how did I get here”, “I missed the crossroads”
or “I came home but I don’t remember the last few minutes”. It
is also common for a person who focuses on a book, newspaper or television to
not hear or respond to those who speak out. These are “natural
hypnosis” states that are in life and are not directly related to a mental
problem.

How Much Of What I Know The Hypnotherapist Will Learn or What Can I Do?

People can react differently to hypnosis. Some
describe the situation they are experiencing as a change in their state of
consciousness. Others describe hypnosis as a normal state of focus, in
which they feel very calm and relaxed. Regardless of how and to what
degree they react, most people describe the experience as a very pleasant
feeling. Most importantly, it remembers what happened in the experience of
hypnosis.

Sensitivity to hypnotic suggestions varies from person to
person. One of the factors in this sensitivity is variable, besides
susceptibility to hypnosis, positive and negative information learned from
different sources about hypnosis and related expectations. Unlike what is
generally depicted in written and visual sources such as books, magazines,
movies and newspapers, the person does not lose control under
hypnosis. They usually know who they are and where they  have been, and they usually remember what
happened at the time of hypnosis, unless they are in a state of amnesia with
special suggestion. Under hypnosis, getting away from
personality and losing conscientious value judgments does not happen. If
the person under hypnosis is given an unwanted or disapproved suggestion
(making them say something or get it done), the person rejects these
suggestions. If these rejected suggestions are repeated persistently, the
person comes out of hypnosis.

Hypnosis makes it easier for people to experience the
suggested experiences, but it does not force them to go through them.

For example, if a person who is afraid of boarding an
airplane is posthypnotic (post-hypnosis) suggestion that, during hypnosis,
“you will never wear your seat belt on the plane, despite all the warnings
and the risk of being kicked out of the plane”, what would be the
result? Wearing seat belts on the plane is a social rule. When such
an indication is given, the person does not forget that it has social and
individual consequences and opposes this suggestion. If it is insisted,
the person comes out of hypnosis after this opposition reaches a certain level.

Posthypnotic suggestion by the hypnotherapist in this way
is incompatible with ethical values ​​and
laws.

It should not be forgotten that hypnotherapists are also
mental health professionals.

Autohypnosis

Autohypnosis taught to the person by a hypnotherapist; It
is a person’s hypnotizing himself by giving suggestions to himself. Here,
the hypnotherapist teaches which suggestions to be given in which situation and
which steps to follow. The suggestion taught in autohypnosis can only be used
for that complaint.