Hypnotherapy

[Daniel1395]

Okay so i was just just looking at the current poll on whether or not people would take the magic pill and it's got me thinking. Now i know theres no such thing as this magic pill but has anybody ever had hypnotherapy?. I apologise if somebody has already discussed this but i cant find any info like this in the main forum so here goes. Ive had a fear of hypnotists and i have developed a lack of trust in hypnotists since i saw a programme on TV a long time ago and basically what happened was this hypnotist made a man homosexual and this got me thinking if a hypnotist can make someone homosexual surely they can do the opposite aswell and make a person heterosexual.

Do you believe this Can actually be done or should i just stop believing everything i watch on TV ?.

Just so you all know if this can be done it's definately not something that i would consider i'm perfectly happy as bisexual and i don't want to change but could you imagine if somebody tried to make you heterosexual and then tryed to put you back to normal could it be done?. Im not sure it could because of well ive personally been everywhere on the kinsey scale so how could they possibly put a bisexual person back to exactly the way they where? i just don't think it could be done.

what do you think?.

Also I'd really appreciate it if anybody who has actually been to a hypnotherapist could tell me what it's like because i don't really know anything about it and i'm just curious although i actually never want to ever visit a hypnotherapist.

Thanks

ps sorry for any spelling mistakes

[Herbwoman39]

Daniel;

I'm a certified hypnotherapist with over 500 hours of training. I've helped many clients stop smoking, lose weight, improve their memory, locate lost items and other things as well.

Hypnosis is a progressive relaxation process that accesses the subconscious mind in order to help people change their unwanted habits. The subconscious mind is on the mental level of a 2 to 5 year old child. It doesn't know right from wrong or a lie from the truth. It only knows what its told.

You say the man was turned homosexual. In my experience a person will not do anything while in hypnosis that they would not normally do when they let down their inhibitions. In other words, he would have probably acted in a similar manner when very drunk or in an altered state of consciousness.

Please feel free to ask me questions. I'll be happy to answer any you have.

[Long Duck Dong]

I fully agree with herbwoman..... and i myself have practiced hypnosis and hypnotherapy for about 8 years now

what you see on tv, is edited and the audience is filtered for the people that are most suggestable and free under hypnosis
they take about 100 people to get the 10 or so you see on stage.... so it pays to be very careful what you believe... and to my knowledge, its not possible to turn a straight person gay, unless they is underlaying gay / bi tendencies in the person already

now i also have been to a hypnotherapist.... about 5 years ago, i needed a few teeth removed ( 18 teeth )... and I react badly to most forms of anesthetic..... the person i went to was a trusted person, and I allowed them to * put me under *

i sat in a chair, with a dim light and they sat in the same room about 3 feet from me..... they slowly talked me into a hypnotic stage, counting me down from 10 where each stage a new level of relaxation and clearness of mind
now don't be fooled.... you are fully conscious under hypnosis..fully alert and aware of your surroundings and what the hypnotherapist is saying to you... and you have total control over yourself....except in my case, the person told me that once i was fully relaxed and at ease, I would not be able to open my eyes, but i would feel no fear, no panic.... and i was able to free myself from the hypnosis at any time by saying a * trigger word * which was a sign for the person to bring me out
you remember everything under hypnotherapy UNLESS you ask not to remember certain details in advance... and that comes down to the hypnotherapist... and if they are willing to do a such a request

now I was facing 2 hours in a dentists chair and 50 odd injections ( we don't have gas in NZ )....but such was the skill of the hypnotherapist.... I sat in the dentist chair for 45 minutes, 18 injections... and laughing softly... and I have 18 teeth removed in one go.... and to say my mouth was badly abscessed was a under statement....overnight my whole gumline have erupted, top and bottom, and so i lost all my teeth.... anybody that has had a abcess tooth, know the pain and suffering.... so times that by 18 lol

that night, 4 hours after the dental work, I had a hot meal of mince and spuds.....with no pain.... and I never suffered the side effects that i had suffered every other time at the dentist

[Daniel1395]

Hey thanks herbwoman and LDD you both have already answered the questions i was going to ask.

LDD i feel so sorry for you and i thought fillings were bad

[deremarc]

Okay, does hypnosis work well for quitting smoking? I would love to quit, but have not had much success. How do you find a hypnotist and know that they are genuine?

[Long Duck Dong]

lol daniel......

my original problems started when i was 7, I needed a abscessed tooth removed... and the abscess never drained fully and my mouth became infected...and over the next 25 years i progressively lost all my teeth lol

it doesn't worry me, I had a car accident at 16, and broke my jaw in a number of places.... and the re constructive surgery was stuffed up.... and it needs to be redone... so i was gonna lose my teeth anyway.....

lol demarc... how do you know a hypnotherapist is genuine and safe ???

I can't answer for the USA, tho I am sure herbwoman can

in nz the training course is only 100 hours....and of all the people i know that practice hypnotherapy... I would only recommend 3 to people
so i guess thats the way, to do it..... ask around people....and see what sort of feedback you get lol

personally, I recommend acupuncture AND hynpotherapy to people trying to quit smoke....it increases the chances about 20-25% more, with quiting smoking without going back for at least 2 years

[Herbwoman39]

I trained with one of the largest certifying bodies in the US: the National Guild of Hypnotists. If you go to www.ngh.net there is a referal button.

Definitely see about doing accupuncture in conjunction with hypnosis and make sure you see someone who does more than one session. Smoking is mostly habit once you've gotten though the first 7 days of being smoke free.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

[deremarc]

Thanks for the advice. I know there are legit people out there, and scammy people too. OMG-acupuncture--needles...the thought might make me give up smoking.

What does acupuncture actually do? Or, well, how does it work to make me quit...other than scaring the bejesus out of me?

[Herbwoman39]

I've had accupuncture before and it doesn't hurt. You just feel a teeny tiny prick and it's done. I can't really explain how it works. I just know it does.

My accupuncturist helped me clear kidney stones with accupuncture and herbs. It's really rather incredible stuff.

[Long Duck Dong]

lol acupuncture and acupressure ( without needles ) work using points of the body...

its a lil hard to explain in simple english, but..
its a chinese developed form of medicine that is about 3000 years old.... so all the bugs have been worked out of the system, unlike modern tablets

acupuncture uses various very fine needles to block * energy flow * thru the body.... it works on the same principal as martial arts...
the same force that i use to break boards and bricks, is the same * energy * that flows thru the human body, lol and yeah thats hard to believe...but all i am doing is focusing that energy with a single intent.....

generally the acupuncturist is using the needles to dull or stimulate the bodies energy, organs, nerves and muscles....its widely believed ( and modern medicine is finally taking better notice ) that the body needs treating while in good health and in bad health.... so acupuncture helps restore the natural balance of the body

how it works in treating smoking... is it blocks the bodies signals to the brain... and vice versa....so the addiction / habit is stopped from making its presence felt

I never studied acupuncture, but as part of my marital arts training, I studied acupressure....now the difference is that i am not using needles but my fingers and hands ... and so i can numb parts of the human body with nerve strikes or prevent you moving parts of your body for short or extended periods of time....but i can also numb the body with a nerve pinch and reset broken bones without you feeling any pain..... and yeah, I do have the ability to kill immediately or with a delayed reaction of up to 3-4 days, using acupressure, and using the same pressure points that i would also use to clear a headache or migraine... but thats not something i practise on people lol

[leizy]

Just in the interest of disclosure - I'm a clinical psychologist, and am by nature extremely conservative in clinical matters.

While I have practiced hypnosis in some situations, I am not a strong proponent of it. It is extremely useful in short-term settings and situations, such as medical procedures. I do not believe that it is at all useful in such long-term matters as smoking cessation. As with stage hypnosis, I suggest that much of the effect received by clients seeking smoking cessation help can be explained by expectancy effect and placebo.

Both Freud and the CIA abandoned efforts to use hypnosis to create long-term change in people, because whatever effects were created tended to be transitory in nature. If you can't trust the CIA and Sigmund Freud, who can you trust???

However - I do find hypnosis a fascinating conundrum - modern science cannot really explain it. Brainscans (PET, MRI, EEG) of hypnotized subjects look no different than that of people in a calm relaxed state. And yet, being hypnotized certainly feels different. Why?

cheers.
david

[Herbwoman39]

The key to long lasting change in hypnosis is reinforcement. When I was practicing on a regular basis, my stop smoking package was three sessions one per week (because it takes a minimum of 21 days to change a habit) and a two CD set that the client uses at home to reinforce what was learned during the sessions.

Now of course this takes an effort on the part of the client. But anything worth accomplishing takes some effort.

[Long Duck Dong]

roflmao... well i can answer it, ....in the oddest way possible....

and leizy, knows your background in medical mental understanding, i can use big words lol

when i use hypnotherapy on a person.... I sense no change in the heart rate, or neural waves, outside the normal patterns associated with relaxing and talking...but...lol

i sense the change, in the normal energy of a persons thought waves.... now i can read actual thoughts.... but the focus of the persons attention shifts....its like a mild form of meditation....much like the state of mind of a meditation master.... they access the lower brain waves...and that becomes the * norm *

its a lil hard to explain in words..... but using hyphotherapy is a way of telling the person to think normally... but the brain of the brain that is listenng, is not the normal everyday logic and thought processing area.... but the subconscious * inner * thought area... so there is far less conflict and logic filtering to the hypno suggestions

i think the best way for a person doing a study, is to give the person tregetrol ( sp) for a 1 week period... then monitor the changes NOT in the brainwaves.... but in the level of perception of the subconscious brain... that is when it shows the affects of hypnotherapy
you need to dull the higher logical center lol or tell it to shut up, in oder to put most people under hypnotherapy

[leizy]

Duck - I wish I could say I understand what you said. I really do. I really tried. I feel though, like I need to be high to understand it. And, since I'm at work, that ain't gonna happen. Thanks for trying though!

david

[Long Duck Dong]

then get high lol

same principal....lol

when you are high... you don't think as logical or so much.... and thats the same as hypnotherapy.... you don't think as much

[Herbwoman39]

There's another way to think about it. Think about Sunday mornings lying under the blankets nice and cozy warm. Your arms and legs are really heavy and you're just kind of drowsy. You're not quite awake and not quite asleep. You're sort of aware of what's going on around you but you really don't care.

That's hypnosis. :bigrin:

[leizy]

That's Alpha state. But, to my limited knowledge, eeg on hypnotized individuals look identical to that of fully awake individuals, where alpha waves are not dominant.

[Long Duck Dong]

lol leizy... thats cos they don't change.... what is changing is the perception of the person lol

do you know of the term * highway hypnosis *.... its when a person is fully conscious, yet can drive down a road, and their mind * switches off *.... they are still fully conscious, fully alert...and a safe driver.... its just that their mind stopped focusing on the road and the driving and so they can drive 100 miles and not remember it...lol
they are said to be in the theta zone.... or a state of * day dream / meditation

you have the alpha waves
the normal brainwave of a person who is awake but relaxed;

then the beta waves
the normal brainwave of a person who is awake and alert

then the theta waves
this is the wave level most connected to learning, meditation, day dreams, and hypnosis... and yeah with psychic sensing

then the delta waves
A slow brain wave, associated with deep sleep in normal adults


a person under hypnosis is listening at the theta wave level..... not the alpha or beta....the alpha and beta are running normally..... but the persons focus is with the theta..
most logic and reasoning thought patterns, happen with the beta and alpha... and thats why meditation works at the theta level..... there is no interfering logic / reasoning thought waves....