EVENTS

HYPNOSIS & CLINICAL HYPNOTHERAPY

Hypnosis is one of the most versatile and useful health care tools. It can be used to correct weight issues, eating disorders, attention deficit, insomnia, address fears and phobias, help smokers quit, relieve stress, increase memory and comprehension, create ease in childbirth, reduce pain and distress of disease and treatments, ease the anxiety associated with many medical procedures; reduce blood loss, medication needs, and recovery time from surgery.

Hypnosis is a state of inner absorption, focused attention and concentration. It is often referred to as trance, or altered state of consciousness. Some people associate hypnosis with sleep; the similarity between the two is a contraction of peripheral awareness. The major difference is that in sleep the focal attention dissolves, and in hypnosis it intensifies, creating a state of heightened awareness and control.

Though results can seem magical, the effectiveness of hypnosis lies in the relationship between the outer, conscious mind and the inner, subconscious mind. As all hypnosis is self-hypnosis, whether working alone or with a hypnotherapist, a basic understanding of the way the inner and outer minds function can be very helpful to the process.

The Conscious Mind
The conscious, or outer mind is the one usually most active during our waking hours. It is continually receiving information from the senses, storing data in the brain, and receiving related memories as they are stimulated. The power of the conscious mind is reasoning, though it can be a challenge to exercise. Typically, the senses and memory are constantly bombarding the outer mind and creating thoughts. The more focused our attention, the more we reason with these thoughts, and the better our chances of forming beneficial desires and flexible approaches. The more we scatter our attention, the more we react to these thoughts, and better our chances of forming fears and fixed approaches.

Each desire, fear or expectation is essentially an image, where we see ourselves within particular circumstances, reacting or responding accordingly. The conscious mind functions like a camera, clicking away at whatever subject is held before it. It does not discriminate between what we like or don’t like, what is beneficial or destructive, or whether we are aware or unaware of our thoughts. Each image is treated equally as photographic subject matter.

The Subconscious Mind
Where the outer mind is the camera, the subconscious, or inner mind is the developing room. Each image captured by the outer mind is impressed within the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind works to energize and fix the image; developing it to the extent that it’s quality is felt emotionally, imprinting it physically thru subconscious control of the automatic bodily functions such as respiration and heartbeat, and projecting it into the energy field around the body, where it serves to attract people and events that best support the impressed idea or image, be it true desire or fear. The subconscious mind ensures that, in one form or another, our thoughts become things...inclusive of behaviors and compulsions.

The goal of hypnotherapy is to harness this creative power of the mind. We begin your session by constructing careful images of desired behavior and physiology. As you are guided into deep relaxation, with the body quieted and the outer mind stilled, the receptivity of the inner mind becomes heightened, and those things desired can be clearly impressed and developed.

Our clinical program includes training with mental exercises that each client performs at home. These strengthen the ability to still the mind, and hold the attention at will; so that harnessing and directing the mind's creative power comes with the ease of second nature.