What is hypnosis in Psychology? What is hypnotherapy used for?

An introduction to hypnosis

As a result of education, humankind has been able to achieve a higher status on earth than the rest of animals. If we take away education and culture from humans, they will surely return to their primitive states. Culture has had a pivotal role in the intellectual revolution of humans.

Having a better life has been the sole purpose of all cultures. To achieve this, they have designed new methods to try to find a better way to reach human salvation.

In this regard, numerous methods and books have been invented and written over the years, which have been used one way or another. Sometimes excessively and sometimes not all. Sometimes newer versions are developed. In a nutshell, we witness the development of newer versions through various methods every day.

Hypnosis and hypnotherapy are no exceptions. Even though, the official history of this field dates back to hundreds of years ago, we have to accept that in recent millennia, clever individuals of royal courts have used hypnosis.  

Greeting, I’m Reza Khodamehri. I am a hypnotherapist and researcher in the field of mental health and today I have decided to answer many questions about hypnosis.

By reading this article, you will understand the reality of this field more and you will know science and anti-science better.

What is hypnosis?

Many definitions of hypnosis have been proposed so far.

Each of these definitions has tried to explain this process in some way.

However, after much study in this field, I have come to the conclusion that the best definition is provided by Mr. Dave Elman.

Mr. Elman is truly the greatest hypnotherapist of the last century, and the modern science of hypnotherapy owes him so much.

He says that hypnosis is a process in which, under the guidance of a hypnotherapist, the subject’s mind reaches a hypnotic state of suggestibility that enables the hypnotherapist to bypass the critical factors of his/her conscious mind and establishment acceptable selective thinking.

To define hypnosis in a simpler language, we say that hypnosis is the creation of a mental state in which the subject becomes suggestible.

What is the critical factor of the conscious mind?

To define any process, the author has to use a set of terms with which he can describe problems more easily.

The wall of the conscious mind( critical factor of the conscious mind ) is a term that is common among hypnotherapists and means the wall of all our beliefs that we humans cannot easily give up.

Hypnotherapy is the bypass of the critical factor of the conscious mind and the establishment of acceptable selective thinking.

After understanding the definition of hypnosis and the protective wall of the conscious mind, we realize the power of hypnotherapy in changing wrong behavioral patterns, but many questions remain unanswered that we must answer logically.

Unchanging beliefs and hypnosis

Look at this picture, what do you see? (Take a look and then answer the questions below carefully)

You can see two women in this picture. The old woman is looking down and leaning to your left. And a young woman with her back to you and you see her neck and hair and half of her face from the side. If you look more closely, you will notice that the necklace of the young woman is actually the mouth of the old woman.

Why did I show you this picture?

The old woman is in fact all our beliefs that have filled our whole minds and have a lot of power, and these beliefs do not allow us to see anything else. In this photo, the same woman is young.

Our beliefs can be right, wrong, good, or bad. Whatever they are, they are rooted in our unconscious mind, and it is not possible or very difficult for us to see anything other than them.

This is where hypnosis comes into play, and with its techniques, it shows us alternatives and gives us the opportunity to examine other mental states more closely. By seeing them, we can accept the ones that are good for us and change our perspective.

This time, stare at the picture and find the young woman and look at that for some time. After a few minutes, it will be difficult for you to find the old woman.

In the next paragraph, I will hypnotize you, and you cannot stop me. The more you try not to become hypnotized the more you let me to hypnotise you. (Read the next line)

You may not have experienced the following by the time you read this.

As I speak, I want you to feel the place you have leaned on. You either have leaned on a chair or wall or have laid on a bed. Wherever you have leaned on, think a little. Feel it. You feel a sense of security, right?

Now think of your shirt or watch and how they feel on your skin. Did you pay attention?

Now that you are paying attention, you are aware of them and you feel them. However, our minds normally block these unconscious sensations.

Do not worry if the above exercises make you feel stupid. These exercises prove that your mind is working just as well as it was designed to, and I slightly stimulated or hypnotized them.

Is hypnosis real?

Understanding this question depends on understanding the process of hypnosis.

Hypnosis is a process that can change beliefs and patterns of behavior. If you think a little more carefully, you will see that this process is happening every day without you knowing it.

For example, if you think about it, you will remember when and how you changed your beliefs by one or more people. Isn’t that so?

TV commercials force you to eat a sandwich you knew was bad for your health.

Haven’t your friends’ norm-breaking behaviors led you to do what you believed was wrong?

Don’t Hollywood movies, books, stories, and magazines hurt your feelings and change your beliefs about things?

As you can see, you are being hypnotized every day without knowing it.

We conclude that the process of changing behavioral patterns can occur at any time in our surroundings, and hypnotherapy only tries to use it to your advantage.

Is Hypnosis Scientific?

Science is an accepted definition and contract for a phenomenon that we can see or understand and then measure.

If it is outside this range, we do not consider it scientific.

In the meantime, if we have a common definition for hypnosis that we can measure with mathematical numbers, we can label it scientific.

According to Archimedes, the world is made up of numbers, and the world’s scientists are trying to measure and explain the phenomena of this world with numbers.

Since we do not have an accepted definition for the phenomenon of hypnosis, we cannot evaluate it in a common contract.

That is why the struggle over this issue has continued to this day.

Other problems have been in the way of making hypnosis scientific, for example:

On the other hand, for example, we say the science of advertising. While advertising is a branch of hypnosis. It is a process just like hypnosis. 

Unfortunately, there are many cultural reasons that stand in the way of the science of hypnosis, such as the fact that in different cultures, witchcraft was considered a job and in fact, it was a job that could force people into doing something they did not want. Unfortunately, hypnosis is associated with this kind of primitive cultural behavior and is known in society as a form of fraud.

What can we do and what cannot we do with hypnotherapy?

Any process that can affect the brain’s electrochemical reactions can benefit from hypnosis.

However, some processes are the result of genetic code tendencies in which hypnosis cannot play a major role. For example, the development of bones.

Therefore, raising height by hypnosis or changing the color of the eyes with hypnosis will not have the desired result.

Bone production is within the scope of genetic code commands.

Hypnosis is responsible for changing beliefs that can indirectly affect biological behaviors.

For example, if someone breaks their foot, it is very foolish to say that with hypnotherapy we can repair the bones of their foot. This problem definitely needs medical attention.

However, with hypnosis, we can reduce the length of treatment and speed recovery period to get bone healing faster. Why?

Because the length of treatment or recovery period is the result of different brain processes such as the body’s defense system or the production of hormones and many other factors that we can improve the efficiency of by indirect hypnotic induction and indirectly helping the healing process of leg fractures.

Many problems can be improved directly or indirectly with hypnotherapy.

The use of hypnotherapy

Here is a list of the benefits of hypnotherapy: (since this list is long, I will only mention a few to familiarize the readers)

• Topical anesthesia for surgery and painless delivery
• Diet for weight loss
• Quitting Smoking
• Stress management and anxiety management
• Seasonal allergies treatment
• Treatment of phobia
• Improving focus when learning and strengthening memory
• More focus and strength in sports
• Premature ejaculation treatment
• Depression treatment
• Boost confidence
• Self-hypnosis to improve study
• Migraine treatment
• Treatment to prevent nail-biting and hair pulling
• Treatment of stuttering
• Strengthen the body’s immune system
• Pain management (chronic pain)
• Eating disorders
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome treatment
• Hypnotherapy for PTSD (post-traumatic stress)
• Bipolar disorder
• Losing weight
• Smoking cessation
• Dental anesthesia

Dangers of Hypnosis

Hypnosis should only be performed cautiously by a professional hypnotherapist for those with severe mental illnesses such as depression and multiple personality disorders and some others but it is completely safe and unobstructed when the person is mentally healthy.

THE MYSTERIES OF HYPNOSIS

Hypnosis is one of the sciences that has suffered the most from opportunists and liars.

Opportunists have always taken advantage of people’s beliefs to the point of harming them. We see these things around us a lot every day.

Here are some questions to help the readers of this article better understand hypnosis.

Hypnosis is not sleep

The hypnotic state is the same as when the teacher wants to hand out the score sheet. That means 100% focus!

How can a person sleep at such a moment?

Unfortunately, profiteers use the word dream or sleep to pretend, for example, that a person has no choice. Just like when he is asleep, the thief comes and takes all his belongings, and he does not understand anything.

In hypnosis, the person hears all the sounds around him well and is fully conscious.

Is the person in control of the hypnotizer? No

In the process of hypnosis, a person’s concentration increases from 100 degrees to 200 degrees. How can someone else take control of him when his personal intelligence has increased a hundredfold?

If under normal circumstances someone can take you into their own hands, under hypnosis they will not be able to do so.

If that were the case, they would have hired a hypnotizer in the courts to bring the perpetrators to justice. However, we know that if we hypnotize a criminal and ask him a question, he can deceive his interrogator with a better fake story.

In the process of hypnosis, the subjects have complete authority and no one can force them to do what they do not like or ask them a question that they do not want to answer.

Does anyone forget what happened to them during hypnotherapy?

Most people remember everything, but a few have minor forgetfulness, which we call amnesia.

After hypnotherapy, the hypnotherapist may also instruct the person to forget some of the memories he or she had during the hypnotherapy. This is to take care of the person, and the hypnotherapist has no bad intentions. However, over time, it is possible for the same memories to be remembered.

Are meditation and yoga Hypnosis? No

In meditation, the subject tries to get rid of the negative thoughts or thoughts of his mind for a few moments while practicing meditation in order to achieve some kind of mindfulness.

In hypnosis, the hypnotherapist tries to produce thoughts and analyze them, and these categories are the opposite of each other.

The difference between meditation for relaxation and self-hypnosis for relaxation

In meditation, the subject must spend at least half an hour to achieve the desired result, and the place of practice must be quiet.

However, in the self-hypnosis method, the person can enter into a deep trance of calmness within a few seconds, and in this method, the person does not need a calm environment and he or she can practice it everywhere.

What is self-hypnosis?

Self-hypnosis is a hypnosis technique that the subject performs on himself or herself so that he or she can enter into a hypnotic trance without the presence of a guiding hypnotherapist.

This method is first instilled in the subject by the hypnotherapist and then the act of conditioning is performed, after which the subject can easily enter his or her hypnotic trance with the key of self-hypnosis and enjoy the benefits of a good self-hypnosis.

What is a self-hypnosis file and is it effective?

Self-hypnosis files are the recorded voice of a hypnotherapist designed for a specific purpose.

Although self-hypnosis files never replace face-to-face therapy, they are very successful in some cases and are very popular because they are accessible everywhere.

In the hypnosis files, the hypnotherapist tries to simulate a real hypnotherapy session.

However, in some cases, the problem is so deep that the self-hypnosis file cannot make the desired change, and in this case, a real session and hypnosis analysis must be performed.

In any case, the use of these files has been effective in many cases and the desired result has been achieved.

Is Remote Hypnosis Possible?

Simple remote hypnotherapy sessions are possible, for example by telephone.

Sometimes a hypnotherapist, due to mobility problems, conditions the patient for online hypnosis, in which case he is able to manage difficult sessions remotely.

What is ultra-fast hypnosis (Rapid Hypnosis Induction)?

Ultra-fast hypnosis or rapid induction is one of the hypnosis techniques that is performed quickly by a hypnotherapist and causes the person to quickly go into a deep trance.

This technique is completely safe and its use is even recommended in certain situations.

Is it possible to learn a language with hypnosis?

Language is one of the complex abilities of the brain that we acquire by practicing.

If we can teach someone how to drive a car with hypnosis, then we will be able to teach them a second language.

With hypnosis, we can increase the focus of the mind and indirectly help learn other languages ​​and lessons.

However, using hypnosis to learn a second language is useless.

Is it possible to erase memories with clinical hypnosis?

Memories are experiences recorded in the book of human life without which life would not have been possible.

Assuming that even if we could erase a memory, how could we know we would not make the same mistake again, and not make the same memory again?

Memories teach us what path to take for our future.

But sometimes these memories are so bitter that they disrupt the continuation of life.

In these situations, with hypnotherapy or therapeutic hypnosis, we cannot erase them but neutralize their negative effects. What remains is a simple memory without having a negative effect on us.

Is it possible to travel to past lives through hypnosis?

One of the main techniques of hypnotherapy is hypnoanalysis, which is performed by taking the subject to the past. This method is used for approximately 90% of hypnotherapy sessions.

In this technique, the subjects sometimes see themselves in another life, and reports indicate that their past lives are their own. However, we, as hypnotherapists, do not reject or accept this.

We use the past life technique to the extent that helps treat our patient.

Whether the past life is real or not is a personal opinion and not within the scope of science.

Who is good hypnosis subject?

All human beings are prone to hypnosis. Some more and some less.

Smart people with higher IQs can be hypnotized faster. The reason is simple because hypnosis means concentration.

Smarter people are more likely to stay focused and they are hypnotized faster. 

Those with stronger minds become more easily and quickly hypnotized.

In normal life, those who are more suggestible are more successful in their work and life than others. Because they listen to everything and choose and use the best information out of it all, but lost human beings, always rely on their misconceptions and stay in one place in life.

What is stage hypnosis?

If we ask a stage hypnotizer, did you really gain control of all these people on stage with hypnosis so that they would make dog noises and make fun of others, he would say NO.

All of these people could come down from the stage whenever they wanted and not do that.

The truth is that all of these people were ready to make others laugh, not just at that moment, but also in any other situation.

They are the ones who have such a personality and do not need to be hypnotized to play a clown.

Stage hypnotist only increases this creativity by hypnosis so that they can perform them better.

If we pay attention to the flow of stage hypnosis, we will see how the stage hypnotizer cleverly selects his subjects and those who are completely looking for laughter.

What is animal magnetism?

The theory of animal magnetism was first proposed by Franz Mesmer.

He believed that living animals and humans have animal magnets and that this magnet has healing powers.

This theory was finally completely rejected by the great scientist Benjamin Franklin after causing a great deal of excitement in Europe at the time, and the practice of magnetism was finally banned in Europe.

Two hundred and fifty years later, in some countries that still have magical beliefs, the practice of animal magnetism is still prevalent and opportunists are abusing people.

Conclusion – Hypnosis works

Many things have been written and said about the science of hypnosis, but hypnosis still has not changed, and no one can change its nature.

Those who oppose it think that psychotherapy is a better alternative to it. But we see in reality that It’s not.

Hypnosis is happening everywhere. It is real. But like other sciences, is useless if it is not used properly, but if it is used properly, we can perform open-heart surgeries, which is the most difficult type of surgery, without any anesthesia agent and only by hypnotic anesthesia.

The bottom line is that we are the ones who decide how to use everything!

Now if you have used this article, I am very curious to know your opinion about it.

Please leave me a comment and describe your hypnosis experiences.