Hypnosis
Author: Susan Quinn, MA, MFT

HYPNOSIS

What is hypnosis? The dictionary defines it as "a state of concentrated attention where the subconscious mind is able to take suggestion without censoring the material with the conscious mind." The definition itself suggests that an environment for change is created in this process. With the conscious mind "out of the way" the subconscious mind is able to absorb images which can change behavior, and feeling states that have been problematic, or no longer useful.

Besides getting desired changes with hypnosis, it is used medically, to help people manage pain. As a matter of fact, it was first developed in the 19 Th. century by Franz Mesmer, then called "mesmerism" for the purpose of anesthetizing surgery patients, because they had no chemical anesthetics in those days. In the early 1800's James Esdale, a Scottish surgeon used it on over 1.000 patients anesthetic purposes, and only lost about 5% of those patients in the process. This was an amazing result in those days before chemical anesthesia and modern health procedures.

The Power of the Subconscious Mind
In his new book MIND OVER BACK PAIN, Dr John Sarno, a professor of medicine at N.Y.U. School of Medicine, describes the working of the subconscious mind in causing chronic back pain. He says that the fear of the pain actually creates the pain, because emotion effects the autonomic nervous system, which controls the involuntary functions of the body, such as tearing, salivation, breathing, heartbeat, digestive activity, urinary and sexual function and blood supply. These autonomic functions respond to emotion. Emotion, and he is talking about fear, cause the parts of the back and neck and buttocks to be deprived of the correct amount of oxygen, therefore they begin to have spasms. He recommends psychotherapy using suggestion to change the perception of fear as the only way to cure most chronic back problems, because he finds that they have no physical basis and therefore do not respond to medication.

This mind-body approach to understanding disease has been gaining acceptance since it was first written about in Norman Cousins' book ANATOMY of an ILLNESS. In the introduction to this book, which was written by Dr Rene Jules Dubous, a world famous scientific researcher, Dr. Dubous states that he believes that "practically everything in the body is governed by the mind, and that the mind is more important than anything else in the body."

Hypnosis is now used for many different therapeutic outcomes, such as: enhancement of self confidence, assertiveness, creativity, peak performance, and the reduction of anxiety, trauma&ptsd symptoms, test anxiety, social anxiety, as well as habit or addiction elimination, such as smoking.

I would offer one word of caution for anyone considering seeking hypnotherapy. It is essential that you go to a licensed mental health clinician. The reason for this is that only a licensed person is trained and knowledgeable in how to handle emotional material that often emerges during hypnosis. Frequently during hypnosis many strong emotions will emerge. This is ultimately helpful for healing, but only if dealt with properly and skillfully.

An example of this from my practice happened a time I worked with a man to see if he could remember his native language (the country shall remain unnamed). He had left his native country at age 18 to come to the U.S. He now wanted to return to the country and wasn't at all able to speak his original language with any fluency. He had lived in this country for 29 years. I told him that the unconscious mind always has good reasons for behaviors, and that if the language memory emerged, there would likely be other memories with it that could be very disturbing. The language did emerge, and with it many memories that went with it. Dealing with these memories helped him to get relief from certain fears that he had been living with for a long time. He had a realization, as we were working, that the real reason he had wanted to come in had been to deal with the fears, but he hadn't been able to consciously admit that to himself up until now.

To find licensed mental health therapists trained and experienced in hypnotherapy there are 2 organizations with web sites. They are ASCH and APMHA.

Susan Quinn, MA, MFT








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Susan Quinn has been a licensed psychotherapist in Los Angeles for the past 12 years. Please visit her web site at http://susan.quintal.net

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