Hypnotherapy, stress & health - why it works. (Hypnotherapy)

Member Name: Motley

Product:	Hypnotherapy
Date:	19/08/00 (148 review reads)
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Misconceptions about hypnotherapy are popular. Many of the untruths can be traced back to the unfortunate early use of not-always-ethical side shows and demonstrations of hypnotherapy as a form of entertainment on stage and
television.

Leaving aside that rather dubious form of hypnotherapy, the best way to view it is as a state of intense relaxation and concentration, in which the mind becomes remote and detached from everyday cares and concerns. In this relaxed state the subconscious part of the mind is best able to respond creatively to suggestion and imagery. It can focus
on the things you wish to change and on the ways you can best do so, free from analytical or anxious thoughts.

Hypnotherapy can be controlled breathing exercises, a one to one session with a therapist who directs you into relaxation, an audio tape that directs you into a relaxed state or it can be done on your own and by yourself as a form of meditation (although it does take practice).

Once you are in this relaxed state - for the purpose of this review we will call it being hypnotised - then you can suggest certain things to the sub conscious mind which you couldn't necessarily to the conscious mind.

For example, it is easy to tell yourself that you are not afraid of flying. You could say it a million times but still your heart would beat faster, adrenalin would start pumping and your hands would go sweaty as you walked towards the plane. However, the theory is that if you suggested to your sub conscious that you were not afraid of flying because it is irrational and causes you unpleasant feelings when on a plane, you should not suffer the bodily reactions the next time you went on a plane.

Now, whether it works or not is yet to be scientifically proven. But I will give you one shred of evidence....

In Self-Hypnosis: the complete manual for health and self-change by authors Alman and Lambrou, they detail an experiment on a c
ancer patient and I will explain it here.

A man had a cancerous tumour and after chemo and surgery was relying on his own immune system, or natural killer cells, to keep the cancer at bay. He also studied hypnotherapy and used visual imagery while he was hypnotized. He used to imagine his cancer as a herd of monsters running through a maze. He also visualised a fleet of knights on white horses who would gallop through the maze spearing the monsters. This is how his mind encouraged his immune system to keep the cancer at bay.

His blood was tested regularly to measure his level of natural killer cells and to check whether the tumour was returning. Most of the time his immune was fine and the NK cells were numerous. During one hypnosis session he commented that he could no visualise many knights on horseback and that in his mind, they seemed to be over-powered by monsters. Tests showed that the cancer was coming back. He has more treatment to remove it and continued with the hypnosis.

He continually reported that the white knights were plentiful and there were no monsters to kill and the man is now fine.

Now believe what you will, it would be nice to think that it was really this easy to influence not only your sub-conscious mind, but your immune system too. I wish it was - but there is probably a little something in it.

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