Hypnotherapy Holistic Treatment

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Introduction

Hypnotherapy is an alternative and complementary medicine treatment that employs hypnosis to help treat specific health conditions. It uses focused attention, intense concentration, and guided relaxation to attain an increased state of awareness known as trance. The patient’s attention is usually focused during this state and everything taking place around the individual is usually temporarily blocked or ignored. While in this state, an individual focuses their attention towards specific tasks or thoughts with their therapist’s help.

Psychiatric Condition

Hypnotherapy can help with treating various conditions which is why various people opt to try out hypnotherapy. Research has shown that hypnotherapy is a possible application for conditions such as dementia symptoms and chronic pain conditions. Hypnotherapy can be also be used to treat conditions related to chemotherapy, such as vomiting and nausea and pain associated with surgery, childbirth and dental procedures. Furthermore, hypnotherapy is effective in treating skin conditions such as warts and psoriasis. Worth noting, hypnotherapy is helpful in the treatment of conditions such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and irritable bowel syndrome. Hypnosis can help boost the success of other treatments such as depression, stress, sleep disorders, post-trauma anxiety, phobias and anxiety, and grief and loss (Langham, 2019). Hypnotherapy has also proved helpful in overcoming habits such as overeating and smoking. Hypnosis is effective and helpful for people that have severe symptoms or need crisis management. Because hypnotherapy is used to change problematic behavior, it is used to help patients sleep better.

How Hypnotherapy Works

In a hypnotherapy session, a person is guided by a qualified professional and induced to a trance-like state. They focus their minds, respond more promptly to suggestions and become relaxed. Hypnotherapy uses heightened awareness of this state to help the patient focus more deeply. Relaxation is one of the techniques that hypnotherapy uses. Here, the patient is guided by the professional to visualize themselves in a state of relaxation and peacefulness even when they are confronting a problematic action or an object of their fear. Suggestion is also another technique employed in hypnotherapy. The therapists make subtle suggestions concerning behavior changes that help a person conquer the problem they are battling (Bhandari, 2021). For instance, one may be trained to see themselves as a supportive advisor whenever they go through a phobic reaction. This way, they learn to trust themselves and their ability to overcome a specific situation. Coping skills are also another viable technique that therapists can employ in hypnotherapy. The therapists can teach the patient-specific cognitive-behavioral coping skills like guided imagery as well as the STOP! Technique that one can use to confront their anxieties or fears. Exploring past experiences is also a viable technique that can be used to treat the psychiatric conditions associated with hypnotherapy. In this technique, a person is encouraged to speak about the first time they faced a problem or behavior that they are currently trying to get through at the moment. The patient is encouraged to talk about how they felt at that exact moment they encountered the problem. Analysis is also another way to approach the problem. In this approach, the professional uses the patient’s relaxed state to assess possible psychological root causes of their symptoms. This approach employs a relaxed state to gain access to the traumatic past problem that the person hides in their unconscious memory. After the trauma has been revealed, it is then addressed with the help of psychotherapy.

Treatment and Medication

During the first visit, a patient is asked to provide medical history details and the condition they want to address. The hypnotherapist explains what hypnotherapy is and how it works. The patients are then directed to relaxation techniques using various suggestions and mental images that are intended to relieve symptoms and change behavior (Fritscher, 2021). For instance, people who have panic attacks are told that they will be in a position to relax when they feel like relaxing in the future. The therapist teaches the patient the basics of self-hypnosis and may give them an audiotape to listen to while at home to help them reinforce what they learned from the session. Each session lasts for approximately an hour and the majority of the people begin seeing results after 4 to 10 sessions. The hypnotherapist and the patient monitor and evaluate progress over time. Children aged between 9 and 12 years tend to get easily hypnotized and are likely to respond even after 1 or 2 visits. There are various drugs used to treat hypnotherapy for sleep disorders, including amitriptyline, diazepam, zolpidem, and zopiclone. Notably, these drugs have varying generic and trade names. Amitriptyline is prescribed for depression and is used as a tricyclic antidepressant. Diazepam is prescribed for anxiety and is classified as a benzodiazepine. Zolpidem is prescribed for a patient with insomnia and is categorized as a sedative-hypnotic. Additionally, Zopiclone is prescribed for insomnia and is categorized as a sedative and hypnotic. Prior to considering hypnotherapy, one should always contact a professional for a diagnosis. This especially should be the case if they suffer a psychological condition such as anxiety or phobia. It is important that they are evaluated by a psychiatrist. Without a proper and accurate diagnosis, hypnotherapy only makes symptoms worse. It is rare for hypnotherapy to lead to the advancement of false memories formed by the unconscious mind.

References

Bhandari, S. (2021). Hypnosis and Mental Health. Retrieved 20 March 2022, from https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/mental-health-hypnotherapyFritscher, L. (2021). What Is Hypnotherapy?. Retrieved 20 March 2022, from https://www.verywellmind.com/hypnotherapy-2671993Langham, R. (2022). What is Hypnotherapy? Does Hypnotherapy Work? – TherapyTribe. Retrieved 20 March 2022, from https://www.therapytribe.com/therapy/what-is-hypnotherapy/