Posted by finelinebob on May 14, 2004, at 1:14:39
In reply to how strong can hypnotherapy be?, posted by 1980Monroe on May 13, 2004, at 16:30:58
Been there, done it, loved it!
Can it change the way you think? That's the point! Your personality? Not overnight, but if you work on it, it can be one path to doing so.
It's largely about attitude. My hypnotherapist did explain that having an open mind about what can be accomplished through hypnotherapy is critical to a person's success with it. Expectations, high or low, are going to subconsciously affect you as much or more than any hypnotic suggestions. She also said that different people respond differently ... some go into trance more easily than others.
I was lucky -- I slip into trance very easily. By my third session (of four ... not a long-term thing for me), between the words she used to put me into trance and the words she used to pull me out, I remembered nothing (until much later ... see below). I came back a year later or so for a "tune-up" ... just about the same. I was OUT-- very, very relaxed and very energized afterwards.
My hypnoT also made a tape for me to listen to (man, I've gotta get that digitized so I can put it on my iPod ;^). One side was a generic relaxation "script" that she used. The other was one designed for me. She would use scripted stories so that she knew exactly what she needed to say to produce the effect desired. I went to her for concentration problems. She explained that she would script a story that would use keywords associated with concentration in other sorts of contexts. The side of the tape just for me, for example, was about her using grape juice concentrate to make some juice for herself, going to the store to get it, stuff like that.
I must have listened to that tape 20 or 30 times before it hit me: "concentrate". If I wasn't in trance at the time, I would have been LMFAO. I was still very amused. Finally hearing her say that brought back to mind -- well, my conscious mind, that is -- that she had been using this story on me in our previous sessions as well.
Trance can vary quite a bit in terms of how "conscious" you are, or how aware you are of the "outside world". Just because you can :hear: or :see: (your eyes don't need to be closed for you to be in trace) doesn't mean you're not "under". When first getting used to hypnosis or self-hypnosis (she taught me a technique for it), my mind would race at first. Part of my mind was racing around, another part listening, yet another part screaming "HEY! PAY ATTENTION! THIS AIN'T CHEAP!" After a few times, I realized that not only could I NOT pay attention, but that I WAS paying attention at some level and that "paying attention" was pretty much irrelevant. If that makes no rational sense, you're catching on well!
Even when my conscious mind seemed to shut down, when it came back I'd still be in trance. She wouldn't "snap" me out of trance ... she'd tell me to slowly open my eyes and come back out of trance whenever I was ready. The deeper I was in, the harder it could be. I mean, my mind was on, I was thinking "Okay, NOW would be a good time!" and I still wouldn't move that much. Apparently, my subconscious and conscious minds didn't quite agree on that ;^). Part of me was embarrassed that I was lying there, taking up this person's time; another part of me was trying to get everything it could out of the moment. You guess which was which.
Self-hypnosis took some practice to learn, but I got pretty good with it. At the time, I was having panic attacks several times a week (no klonopin for me at the time, just zoloft and it had me manic) while I was at work (yikes!). Thankfully, my office had no windows so if I wanted to appear as if I wasn't there, closing the door was enough (I was a professor at the time ... I could get away with it!). I would put myself under with the express desire to come out of trance in 20 minutes -- just to relax and wind my nerves down. I'd set the timer on my watch for 21 minutes, figuring it would take a few seconds to get into and out of trance. Invariably, I would wake a few seconds before the timer went off. I could do the same overnight -- put myself into trance before sleep, then wake up as many hours after I went to sleep as I wanted. That was freaky, but very cool all the same.
The first time I tried it in my office, I was out ... and then asked myself, "Why do I have a rock in my mouth?" Zoloft was giving me dry mouth in the worst way, and I'd left a hard candy in my mouth prior to going into trance. I guess my tongue pushing it into the roof of my mouth was my way of coming out of trance rather quickly!
Anyway, those are some of my experiences with hypnotherapy. Again, I really think an open mind is important, as is having goals. But talk with your hypnoT about what reasonable goals might be and what you could accomplish. Don't set your expectations -- high or low -- because of what you **hear** about hypnosis.
cheers,
flb
poster:finelinebob
thread:346519
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040512/msgs/346683.html