Does Hypnosis Work?

Does Hypnosis Work?

August 19, 2018 0 By Aisling

This is one of those questions that I’m asked from time to time, the other question asked is what is hypnosis? Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness that we are all familiar with, it happens to every one of us every single day.  Hypnosis happens when the part of the brain that keeps you alert to all the many stimulus around you at any one time during the day, takes a step back,  it takes a break, this part of the brain is called your critical faculty, it’s the part of you that analyses your current situation and keeps you protected from danger, or another way to put it, it keeps you on alert and on guard, keeps you out of trouble.

To give an example of the phenomenon of natural hypnosis; when you are learning to drive you are in a heightened state of alertness, you need to be aware of so many operations, you guide the car using your accelarator, break, clutch, steering wheel, your mirrors, you may control the temperature of the car, the noise level of the radio, lights, indicators, your general comfort and safety, the safety of your passengers, you read the road, you concentrate on what is going on around you and are at all times on high alert.  Over time, and no one can say exactly when it happens, you discover that you are driving the car using automatic skills that have been learned in this heightened sense of FOCUS, you can drive the car without thinking about how it works, you can continue to read the road, be a safe driver using so many skills and you are now driving a car as easily as you move any part of your body, which is pretty amazing really.  Can you ever remember driving to a somewhere you have driven to many times before, you know the route so well, you are safety aware, yet you can not exactly remember many details of the journey, that is when you are in an alterered state of awareness and functioning perfectly well.

Ok, so what’s with the deal with using focus or hypnosis to create change, how does that work? Does hypnosis work at all? .. well yes, it does work, yes hypnosis DOES work.  The why is easy, you are using the same learning system that you used when you were learning how to drive the car / learned how to read / learned how to type / learned how to walk etc… you block out all other stimulus by creating the optimum environment for change or learning, you relax, you focus on the positive thing that you want to create, this can all be done with creativity and care, and you repeat the process as necessary! Everyone can learn things with focus and persistence, the same is true with hypnosis.

Some of the changes we make can happen immediately, some need to be repeated by practicing them over and over again.  There are also some topics that are more complicated, the change needed might be caught up in a few layers of issues and a good hypnotherapist can help you with this, outsource a professional hypnotherapist who is willing to work with you and you can discover what the solution is.  There are also other hypnotherapies that are named “content free” these are great as you can release certain outdated beliefs of behaviours that are holding you back in one big whoosh.

So to answer the question does hypnosis work? For sure it does, yes it does, it works, hypnosis works every day.

Chat soon

Aisling O’Donoghue

Life, Leadership & Executive Coach registered QQI

Advanced Dip in Mental Health & Wellbeing Coaching Reg Cert EMCC

Dip Hyp Reg. Cert I.H.A.