Clinical Hypnosis

Hypnosis is a natural psychological process that emphasizes inner absorption and a reduction in critical thinking. A type of selective thinking and perception are established and used to alter waking thoughts and behaviors. While there is general agreement that certain effects of hypnosis exist, there are differences of opinion within the research and clinical communities about how hypnosis works. Some researchers believe that hypnosis can be used by individuals to the degree they are innately hypnotizable. Other professionals believe that hypnotizability can be learned and that it varies depending on the situation and various motivational factors. Although some individuals experience an increase in suggestibility and subjective feelings of an altered state, this is not true for everyone. Some hypnotic indicators and subjective changes can be achieved without relaxation or a lengthy induction by means of simple suggestion or waking hypnosis, a fact that increases the controversy and misunderstandings around hypnosis and the hypnotic state. Hypnosis is like any other therapeutic modality: it is of major benefit to some patients with some problems, and it is helpful with many other patients, but individual responses vary.

Practitioners use clinical hypnosis in a variety of ways. First, they encourage the use of imagination. Mental imagery can be very powerful, especially in a focused state of attention. The mind seems capable of using imagery, even if it is only symbolic, to assist us in bringing about the things we are imagining. For example, a patient with ulcerative colitis may be asked to imagine what his/her distressed colon looks like. If she imagines it as being like a tunnel, with very red, inflamed walls that are rough in texture, the patient may be encouraged in hypnosis (and in self-hypnosis) to imagine this image changing to a healthy one.

A second basic hypnotic method is to present ideas or suggestions to the patient. In a state of concentrated attention, ideas and suggestions that are compatible with what the patient wants seem to have a more powerful impact on the mind.

Finally, hypnosis may be used for unconscious exploration, to better understand underlying motivations or identify whether past events or experiences are associated with a current problem. Hypnosis avoids the critical censor of the conscious mind, which often defeats what we know to be in our best interests. The effectiveness of hypnosis appears to lie in the way in which it bypasses the critical observation and interference of the conscious mind, allowing the client's intentions for change to take effect.

Here is an interesting news piece hosted by Diane Sawyer: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4345359