3. Using Hypnotherapy for Others. (Draft 1)

In this section, we will describe the role of the hypnotherapist and the subject. 

Time Required.

A hypnotherapy session typically requires at least 45 minutes to an hour. There appears to be no limit to the maximum session length. Although, in very long sessions, subjects have been known to switch from a state of hypnotic, relaxed suggestibility too true sleep.

The Environment.

Hypnotherapists can communicate directly with the patient’s unconscious mind. In fact, it is often mistakenly assume that the hypnotherapist actually induces a state of sleep in the subject. However, this is not correct. What actually happens is that the hypnotherapist induces a state of deep relaxation in the subjects conscious mind, inducing a state which is very sleep like. But, during the induction of this state, the subjects conscious mind is put to rest or quiesced, while allowing the hypnotherapist to communicate directly with the subject’s subconscious mind, which is now active and without the distraction of conscious attention.

The Room. The room where the subject will be hypnotized should be quiet, free from the distractions of loud noises and outside sounds. 

Lighting. Lighting should be a gimmick and interact. It is not necessary for the room to be darkened. In fact, a dark room may actually induce sleep rather than a suggestible hypnotic state. 

Sound. The room should be quiet. White noise, such as the sound produced by a radio tuned to an inactive radio station may be used to mask other sounds. It is also possible that soft relaxing music may be played in the background.

Position. There is no specific position in which a subject must be placed to induce a hypnotic state. However, lying down with a head and shoulders slightly elevated is typically the most effective for the largest group of individuals.

Suitability of the Subject.

Almost anyone can be hypnotized. It is very rare to find that the subject cannot be hypnotized, although a few of those people do exist. A belief in the efficacy of hypnosis does not appear to be a requirement to have a hypnotic state induced. However, adamant and willful resistance to the concept of hypnosis and an active resistance to hypnotic suggestions usually results in an unsuccessful session.

Hypnosis and Memory.

Conscious memory of the events of a hypnotic session may, in some cases, be eliminated. The subject may be induced to forget the session or any part of it. However, this is not a permanent erasure from memory, nor is it typically desirable. Where it is therapeutically beneficial for a subject to forget a particular event, and when there is agreement in advance that conscious memory of that event should be suppressed, that is usually possible through hypnotherapy. However, memory of the event is typically desirable and beneficial. 

Subject with a full recall of the event are often surprised at the state in which their body becomes hypnotized and are usually rested and refreshed at the end of the session. In fact, under hypnosis it is possible to induce a sleep like state which imitates and apparently rejuvenated identically to actual sleep. It is important to note however, that there is no clinical evidence to indicate that this long-term induction of a sleep like state is as beneficial to the body has actual sleep.

Objective of the Session.

Prior to the beginning of a session is advisable that the hypnotherapist and subject reach an explicit agreement as to the desired outcome of both this specific hypnosis session, and, if multiple sessions are involved, as is often required, the overall outcome and objective of all such sessions.

Committing this information to writing create a contract or agreement between the participants, clarifies the objectives and outcomes, reinforces the legacy of hypnosis to the subject, and to some degree, protects the hypnotherapy.

2. A Brief History of Hypnosis. (Draft 1)

Fritz Anton Mesmer (1783 to 1815) was the originator of what we call today, hypnosis or hypnotism. It is his name which gives us the term mesmerism. Interestingly enough, Mesmer was a medical doctor and his original application of mesmerism was used to treat illnesses, believing that most, if not all illness was the result of an imbalance in the body's electrical fields which manifested themselves as disease. 
Despite conventional medicine, there is still a substantial population which believes that a proper balance of energy within the body can eliminate the symptoms of organic disease. There is certainly some evidence that one’s state of mind can directly affect one’s health.

Mesmer's work was followed up on and expanded by James Braid (1795 to 1860), a Scottish medical doctor who coined the term hypnotism which was actually a shortened version of the term neuro-hypnotism which meant "sleep of the nerves."

It is interesting to note that hypnotherapy and hypnosis in general was originally developed as a medical therapeutic process. It wasn't until much later that hypnosis became a carnival sideshow attraction and a form of entertainment.

Today, both the allopathic (MD) and osteopathic (DO) medical professions recognize hypnosis as a valid form of therapy. Hypnotherapy is used for such objectives as smoking cessation, weight control, and pain management. In the many instances, hypnosis has been seen as defective as drugs for pain management and relief.

Even today, some practitioners credit the balancing of bodily energies through hypnosis as a way to ameliorate the effects of disease caused by microorganisms, viruses and injury. We must date however that there is insufficient clinical evidence to state that conclusively. However, there is substantial anecdotal evidence to support the position.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending upon your point of view, hypnotism and hypnotherapy are largely unregulated in the United States and Canada. There are a few sanctioning bodies for hypnotherapy practitioners. And still, there seems to be no prohibition on using hypnosis as a carnival sideshow act. As a result, the efficacy of hypnotherapy is, all too often, discounted by some physicians and certainly some, if not a majority of, medical patients.

1. Is Hypnosis Real? (Draft 1)

Hypnosis is real. The human mind has two states -- conscious and subconscious. There are those functions of the mind and body which we control through our will such as reading, walking, and talking. There are also those functions of the body which happen automatically. We breathe, we blink our eyes, our heart beats, we digest food without consciously thinking about it.

Some of these subconscious function occur in the brain. Creamy and breathing are examples. Some of subconscious functions occur locally or in the spinal column. The reflex to remove a finger from a flame occurs in the spinal column. Our body moves the finger even before the brain registers the pain. Our heart beats its particular rhythm as a result of localized electrical impulses. This is not to say that messages are not sent to the brain, and even to the conscious mind while these things are occurring.

There is also ample evidence to suggest that the brain or the mind can exert influence and control over otherwise automatic, subconscious bodily functions. With proper training, we can exert some control over the automatic and beating of our heart. Although we breath automatically, almost anyone can consciously regulate the rate at which they breath.

There is clearly a link between the subconscious or autonomic bodily and mental functions and those which are volitional. Through hypnosis we can intentionally control both conscious and subconscious function.

0. My experience with hypnosis. (Draft 1)

In September of 2008, I had a stroke, a blood clot in the brain, which affected a lot of things -- not the least of which is my memory. Big chunks of my personal history are missing. And then, all of a sudden, in a rush, a group of memory starts flooding back in. I'm still prone to occasional flashes of memory recall. Some of those flashes can be quite surprising!About once a month some archived piece of my past which was purged from current memory by the stroke somehow gets rewired and recovered.

My long-time experience with hypnosis and hypnotherapy goes back to the early 1970s and my studies at Niagara University. It is one of those intriguing stories.

In September of 2008 I had a stroke -- a blood clot in the brain. Huge chunks of my memory, my personal history, like the 30 years of practicing hypnosis just weren't being accessed by my damage brain. It just wasn't there! I had no recollection, no memory of ever having been associated with hypnosis and hypnotherapy. Then, one day, my daughter's boyfriend was having a migraine headache. Something about that event triggered a connection to a memory which triggered another connection to another memory, and the whole personal history and experience with hypnosis came flooding back to me. I will become even more active with hypnosis now, as a result of my stroke, because I can see what it can do for others as well as what it has achieved for me.

As usual, I told my friend in Australia, my muse, Charlotta, who insisted that I start writing this stuff down! So I did. I am using this blog to publish my memoirs/notes/book on hypnotherapy.If you want to read along, between posts, as I edit this manuscript, you are invited to satisfy your voyeuristic curiosity by looking in on it t Google Docs. The URL to the in progress manuscript is:

https://docs2.google.com/document/edit?id=1T6LKAq6zgLZfe6OeL13mj0b4mksPef6Ief_tKQ07U_I&hl=en#

I would be very much interested in anyone's comments or observations on the manuscript, which you can post here.