Healing with Hypnotherapy PDF Print E-mail

Fears | Phobias  | Smoking Cessation | Weight & Pain Management | Celtic Quests

There is nothing more magical, more efficient, more powerful than the subconscious mind. - Dr Georgina Cannon, Ontario Hypnosis Center Director

What is Hypnotherapy?

When we are hypnotized we enter a state of trance. Trance state is a resource that occurs naturally. We are in trance when we daydream, when we are driving on the highway and we pass the exit because we are thinking of something else, when we loose ourselves in a good book, or when we meditate. You are in trance when you are just about to drop off to sleep. People often take advantage of that trance state to give themselves self affirmations. When you come for hypnotherapy I give you exercises to practice self hypnosis – giving yourself suggestions just before you nod off to sleep.

When we are in trance we are experiencing an altered state of consciousness – our mind and bodies are so relaxed that we can say that we are in a state of “heightened consciousness” and “heightened suggestibility”. We are using Alpha brain waves in both meditation and hypnosis. So what is the difference? The purpose is the primary difference. We use meditation not only to relax but also to reach a high sate of spiritual consciousness whereas in hypnosis we are relaxing and entering a state of suggestibility so that we can give ourselves suggestions for change.

Why is Hypnotherapy effective?

When we are in our conscious state and make a decision to change behaviour (eat less, exercise more) we hear the chatter going back and forth (yes I will, no I won’t). This back and forth chatter interfeers with our focus and dilutes the messages we are giving ourselves to make change happen. By using hypnotherapy, we are bypassing our critical mind and giving the hypnotherapist permission to feed suggestions directly to the subconscious without conscious interference. This strengthens our resolve.

Let’s return to the example of multi-tasking on the highways and byways – let’s think of a time when you were so absorbed in your thoughts that you passed the exit on the highway. Now you were still able to function, to drive the car, to listen to your passenger telling you that you just missed your exit. When you are in trance in my office you are able to function, to listen to what I have to say and to talk back to me. You are in control at all times. It is no more than a gentle state of relaxation, but the key is you are in a high state of suggestibility and receptive to whatever it is you want me to feed back to you.

Meditation is similar but different. Meditation is primarily used for spiritual growth while hypnotherapy is used to promote change. Hypnotherapy can help you make the changes you need in your life more effectively and faster than ever before.

What is hypnotherapy useful for?

Consciousness … where the self is aware that there is other than self
- Richard N. Potter  

  • Smoking Cessation
  • Stress Management
  • Pain Management
  • Weight Release
  • Sleeplessness
  • Relationship Building
  • Fears and Phobias
  • Motivation
  • Sports
  • Sexual Performance and more.

Hypnotherapy has been used by sports people to improve their game by improving focus and concentration. I can help you improve you golf game! Hypnotherapy has been used in medical procedures and in dentistry. Hypnotherapy is used in pain management.

I have used hypnotherapy with people who are stressed, who want to feel better about themselves and their lives. I use Celtic imagery to bring people on a journey of self discovery. The possibilities are infinite.

 

Examples of the uses of Hypnotherapy.

Stress Management – you can increase Effectiveness, and Avoid Burnout

This Stress Management section come to you form the International Dental and Medical Hypnotherapy Association (with slight modifications).

The human brain receives messages from several sources, each dealing with separate types of information. Input dealing with everyday matters such a news, music, jobs, relationships, weather etc, come from the external environment. Our own bodies provide data concerning movement, digestions, tension, pain etc all in the form of messages sent to the brain.

The conscious mind deals with reasoning and logic, decisions, goal planning and conscious activity. The unconscious mind, which includes both the subconscious and the superconscious, wields the greatest influence. It receives all the messages from our social, spiritual and genetic backgrounds and all the conflicts and disturbances which enter our consciousness each and every day. The unconscious mind receives and holds its information, neither accepting not rejecting the messages. It does not evaluate. That procedure is reserved for the conscious mind.

From primitive times the human animal has possessed an escape mechanism that even today, under severely threatening conditions, ca cause regression to primitive behaviour. The response sends us into fight or flight (or survival) mode. It is a means of dealing with fears, threats, attacks and other disturbances. The survival mode is exists to protect us. 

Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion
will one day become a reality. - Earl Nightingale.

 

Enter Stress and Worry - Over time our brain has evolved to include reaction vs. action and repression vs. sadness. But sometimes our brains misinterpret the event and goes into survival mode anyway. Our heart pumps faster, blood pressure rises, super-strength can be generated …but there is nothing to fight. We can’t fight a job, an accident, or a bad decision. So what now? Unable to fight, the brain turns to the alternative which is to take flight. Often there is nowhere to run to and the result is apathy, and sadness or hypersuggestibility. Negative input finds acceptance. Futility  and melancholy develop and an overreaction to the senses develops together with a loss of tolerance. The road turns downhill.

The Hypnotherapies may not be able to alter the client’s life conditions but can alleviate suffering by helping the client to look at their situation differently.

Every individual differs in their tolerance of stress. They may be quite capable and intelligent human beings who have had long term issues that result in feeling trapped and powerless. Sheer willpower is not the remedy in stress cases.
Effective and permanent relief responds to desensitization, which can be accelerated with hypnosis.  Through hypnosis positive new responses can be created to replace the devastating reactions of the past. Buried feelings can be brought to the surface and released. Outside pressures can be relieved. And finally, new responses to old disturbances can be induced with major changes in attitudes and reactions.

 What is a Hypnotherapy Session like?

The first session take 1.5 hours at the rate of $110.00. Further sessions take 60 mines and are $85.00 per client hour.

The intake session differs because I test to see how you respond to suggestibility tests. This helps me determine how you function and what type of scripts will work best for you. In addition, gaining information on your issue will help me tailor the hypnosis to best meet your needs. The first session gives me an opportunity to clarify and refine the script that I will feed back to the client under hypnosis.

I choose a method of inducting - leading the client into a gentle, peaceful and calm trance state. Again the induction is based on information gathered in the first session.

I deepen the state and depending on the issue I may ask the client to create a safe place that they can use between sessions to strengthen their resolutions. Then I talk, feeding back the suggestions often in the form of a story. I teach the client to self hypnotize beginning with self affirmations. After the session, I reinforce the suggestions and emerge the client from the state of trance. At any time the client can bring themselves out of trance. The client is always in full control.

All hypnosis is self hypnosis!! 

Welcome whatever is in each moment, harmonize your bodymind with it, and become curious as to how it will continue to unfold in a positive way. -  Stephen Gilligan, Phd.

Celtic Quests - Are you ready to take an inner adventure?  “Rud is ionamh is iontach” – Gaelic saying “that which is rare is wonderful". Sure every individual is a  rare, unique and wonderful creation!!


The Celtic Knot designs (also seen in Egyptian culture) are said to be symbolic representations of life externally interweaving in and upon the dimensions of itself.

The interlacing comes back onto itself making the pattern more complex, stretching out into time and back in time.

There is a sense of infinity, patterns stretching back in time and moving forward from generation to generation to generation. There is a sense of relationships interweaving. Our relationship with ourselves, with others, the natural and spiritual worlds that sustain us. Traditional therapies, such as Family Systems (Bowen) acknowledges the generational impact on family functioning.

Celtic wisdom plays a central role in my holistic approach to heath and healing. Donna Eden uses the term Celtic Weave to denote energy weaving through the body and creating resonance and harmony with the body, mind and spirit connection.  So along with traditional talk therapies, I use music, myth, folklore and Celtic consciousness in my hypnotism practice to deepen the experience and connection to our personal power and to the world around us. In this inner journey the client finds the extraordinary in the ordinary.The client takes up the paintbrush and melds in the energy, the power and the light that they want to have shine on their inner canvas. They apply this new energy to their lives, lifting the tone of their vibrational energies and transforming our relationships.

In Celtic culture we connect with all ancient cultures that connect us to our essential life force. Some of you may call this your  Higher Power, the power of God or the Goddess, or the power of the Universe. Whatever you choose to call the Source of all power is up you. Take a journey to ask the Source about your life purpose. Notice the effects this has on your life choices! Do you have to be “spiritual” to take an inner journey? No. With this journey you just have to be open to listen intently to your inner voice.