Hypnotherapy is an assisted procedure that allows one to concentrate while asleep. During hypnotherapy session, a trained professional, guides patients through hypnosis using soothing words and imagery to help them relax.
Once relaxed, the practitioner helps you ignore distractions and focus on improving your mental and physical well-being. After the session has ended, the doctor will awaken you, and you’ll be able to remember what transpired since hypnotherapy doesn’t cause a loss of control.
Health professionals offer Hypnotherapy services to help people dealing with depression, anxiety, and other unwanted behaviors like excessive drinking and smoking.
Unfortunately, while this treatment has proven helpful, it can result in undesirable outcomes and increase your chances of developing other health conditions.
How Does Hypnotherapy Works
The science behind hypnotherapy is still unclear. However, experts say during this assisted relaxation and focus procedure, one’s mind is quieted and can tap into whatever is troubling them.
At this point, you can connect with your brain’s part responsible for feelings, beliefs, perception, and memory.
Before the end of the session, your doctor will have helped you to alter
and replace the feelings causing your current behaviors.
What Are the Benefits of Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy comes with a bucket full of advantages for people undergoing this treatment.
Some of the most common benefits associated with hypnotherapy include the following:
1. Provides Relaxation for Individuals with Sleeping Conditions
Hypnotherapy provides relaxation for people with sleeping conditions like insomnia.
Doctors say hypnotherapy sessions help sleepwalkers wake up once their feet touch the ground, preventing them from experiencing prolonged sleepwalking.
Hypnotherapy also enables people having trouble sleeping to fall and stay asleep.
How does hypnotherapy improve sleeping conditions? Verbal cues put one in a trance-like state, whereby you don’t concentrate on what’s happening around you. This means you fall asleep immediately during or after a hypnotherapy session.
2. It Helps with Chronic Pain
Hypnotherapy eases pain, both mild and severe.
Suppose you are just out from surgery or experiencing severe migraines or tension headaches. In that case, you might need to undergo a hypnotherapy session to ease your pain.
Individuals with arthritis, cancer, sickle cell disease, and severe back pain can also benefit from the pain-relieving ability of hypnotherapy.
Hypnotherapy can help one cope with pain and develop control over it.
As earlier stated, hypnotherapy is all about assisted relaxation. Your doctor enables you to divert the feelings of pain by redirecting the attention away from the cause. As a result, you become relaxed and experience less pain.
3. Improves Anxiety Symptoms
Hypnotherapy, as a relaxation technique, helps improve anxiety symptoms. However, hypnotherapy is believed to be more beneficial for individuals experiencing anxiety due to chronic health issues like cancer and heart conditions than for those experiencing a generalized anxiety disorder.
Additionally, hypnotherapy helps with phobia, a condition that makes one experience intense fear of harmless things and situations.
Hypnosis improves anxiety and phobia symptoms by helping you feel relaxed and develop courage through verbal cues and breathing techniques.
What Are the Risks of Hypnotherapy
Unfortunately, like everything else, hypnotherapy is two-sided. It comes with benefits and risks.
Among the most common risks include the following:
4. Recalling Memories
In hypnotherapy, the hypnotist guides your relaxation while you take control of the rest. At this point, you have no choice but to recall unwanted memories which can worsen your case.
Recalling traumatic memories during hypnotherapy can have several potential negative effects:
- Emotional distress
- Re-traumatization
- Intrusive thoughts and flashbacks
- Worsening of symptoms
- Strained relationships
- Increased risk of self-harm or suicidal ideation
For this reason, it’s advisable to talk to your doctor about your fears to enable them to develop a way of helping you without awakening your worries.
If necessary, the therapist should modify their approach or refer the patient to another professional who specializes in trauma-focused therapy to ensure the individual receives the appropriate care.
5. It Can Heighten Anxiety
While hypnotherapy helps improve anxiety symptoms, it can also heighten them if the session isn’t overseen or done correctly by a professional hypnotist.
This could be because the patient is guided through their fears, which might be triggered if the session doesn’t go as planned.
For this reason, ensure to work with a professional to avoid worsening your case in the name of improving it.
Other risks associated with hypnotherapy include headache, dizziness, nausea, and drowsiness.
Conclusion
Hypnotherapy treats various issues, including severe pain, mental issues, and unwanted behaviors. Patients remain conscious and aware during the session, experiencing a trance-like state of deep relaxation and suggestibility.
Working with trained and experienced professionals is essential to ensure a positive experience and minimize potential risks.
By choosing the right practitioner, you can maximize the benefits of hypnotherapy and improve your overall well-being.
