My name is Diane Hamilton; I am a hypnotherapist who works in Benfleet. For many years I have enjoyed going to Mind, Body and Spirit Fayres. I was always envious of the people I saw there who were doing something they really liked and at the same time were helping others, and thinking it was a lovely way to earn a living. I have dabbled with some complimentary healing, I have done an introductory course for Reflexology, and I am a Reiki Master, but it was while I was a member of St. John Ambulance Brigade about 20 years ago that I had one of those ‘wow’ moments.
One evening we had a lady visit to give us a talk about what she did, this lady was a hypnotherapist, she told us a bit of the background and then did a demonstration on one of the members. It was seeing this that made me want to learn the art myself, but it was a few years before the opportunity came up for me to be able to achieve my dream. I trained at The Essex Institute of Clinical Hypnosis in Southend-on-Sea, gaining my Diploma.
A Brief History of Hypnotherapy
Far from being a modern technique, the Egyptians had knowledge of hypnosis as early as 3000 BC; this has been proved by hieroglyphics found in tombs of that period. It was also understood by the Greeks, the Mayans, Chinese, Celts and others, and was often referred to as ‘incantations’. Voodoo and Witch Doctors also use a form of hypnosis. It is entirely possible that it goes back to prehistoric times with various rituals being handed down through the generations.
Modern day hypnosis was pioneered by Anton Mesmer; sometimes know as ‘The Father of Hypnosis’. It is from him that the term mesmerised originates. Mesmer was a Viennese physician who one day had been watching a street magician using magnets or lodestones, claiming that he could make people do his bidding by touching them with one of the magnets, this led Mesmer to believe that the power was in the magnets and from this he developed his theory of magnetism.
He claimed that a person’s good health depended on the direction of the magnetic flow and that it could easily be reversed. What he didn’t realise was that this was just the power of suggestion. But thanks to the research carried out by such people as Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and more modern therapists, for example James Esdaile and Dave Elman and one of the greats Milton H Erickson, we know far more about the subject. New advances are being made all the time, there are many ways that hypnotherapy can be used to alleviate problems.
What is Hypnosis?
There are many misconceptions about the art of Hypnosis, it is just a deeply relaxed state, and you are not asleep or unconscious. You cannot be made to do anything that you don’t want to do, or that goes against your own moral code. So if anyone asks “Can I be made to cluck like a chicken”, then the short answer to that is “Of course you can, if that’s what you want”. Hypnosis is a naturally occurring state that happens to us every day of our lives. Daydreaming, being engrossed in a good book or film, or maybe starting out on a journey, driving somewhere, and when you get to your destination, for some reason can’t remember the middle part, these are all different forms of hypnosis. Anyone of average intelligence can go into hypnosis, if someone doesn’t, it is because they don’t want to, not because they can’t.
What Does Hypnosis Feel Like?
There is no standard ‘hypnotised feeling’, everyone experiences it differently, you might just feel very relaxed, you might be more alert and all sensations will seem to be sharper. Your mind may even drift away, perhaps you will be going over your shopping list or thinking about what you will do later in the day, you may not consciously hear a word that is being said to you, but your subconscious will hear everything. You might feel heavier or lighter, you may get tingling in your hands or feet, you may even have some time distortion, thinking that you have been in hypnosis for only five minutes, then discovering that it was actually half an hour. You may even feel no different at all. But there are physical signs that the therapist can see which will show that the client is in hypnosis.
How the Clinical Hypnosis Works
The first meeting with a client is what we call the Initial Consultation, this is absolutely essential, we need to find out what the problem is that is being presented by the potential client. We need to get some background knowledge so that any therapy can be tailored to their specific needs and personality type (there are three basic types); we also need to get their medical history in case it is necessary to get permission from their health professional. The client may be on certain medication, or have a certain medical condition that means hypnotherapy would be unsuitable for that particular person. Someone might come to me for pain relief; perhaps they were having headaches, in these circumstances I would have to be satisfied that all medical reasons had been ruled out before proceeding with any therapy. It would be folly to treat someone only to find out that they had dropped dead three months later because they had a brain tumour.
We are not allowed to work with anyone who has a mental illness, as taking them into hypnosis could make their condition worse. We would also not work with anyone who at the time is under the influence of drink or drugs.
How Effective is it?
As with all therapies, whether they are conventional, complimentary or fringe, hypnotherapy is not always successful. Some people are not suitable, some problems can’t be solved. You cannot repair congenital damage, you cannot grow a new limb or make someone live longer, although you may help them have a happier, healthier life, and you cannot change a person’s basic underlying personality. However, hypnotherapy is totally safe and drug-free. If you went to your GP and were prescribed tablets or ointment for a condition and it didn’t work, you would go back to that GP for a different prescription, it’s the same with a hypnotherapist, should the treatment not be effective, it could just mean that the particular therapist wasn’t right for you, but then you could get spectacular results with another therapist.
What can it Treat?
The range of conditions that can be treated with hypnotherapy is vast; there is not enough room here to list all of them. A therapist will always say treat not cure, although with some therapies it might feel like a cure. Someone may have been suffering from I.B.S. for a number of years, but after a few sessions with a therapist who will teach them relaxation and visualisation techniques they feel so much better. Many people have the impression that I.B.S. starts in the intestines, whereas it actually starts at the throat, the muscles in the gullet push food and drink down, which is why you can still eat and drink whilst hanging upside down. It’s when those muscles get out of sync that causes the pain.
The most common problems that seem to be presented to the therapist are those where someone wants to quit smoking or reduce their weight. They may have tried to do this on their own for years without success before eventually seeking the help of a hypnotherapist. Even though a person may have consciously wanted to change a behaviour, there is something in the subconscious that is preventing them from doing so.
During the very relaxed state of hypnosis the subconscious can be accessed more easily, and if the subconscious then accepts that the changes that you want to make are for your benefit it will act upon them.
In over 90% of cases high blood pressure has no medical cause; they could be mainly down to lifestyle, diet, lack of exercise, stress, a mistaken belief that everyone else in the family has it so it is just the client’s fate that they will have it as well.
According to the rumour mill, The Duchess of Cambridge is undergoing hypnotherapy to help with her morning sickness, it has also been suggested that she will use hypnotherapy when she gives birth. It is fear and tension that causes the pain in childbirth, we as therapists can change that perception by teaching relaxation and visualisation techniques so that the mother has a calmer, more relaxed birthing experience.
Why is it that the uterus, when it is doing the job that it has been designed to do, is the only muscle in the body that causes pain, animals don’t experience pain in childbirth because they haven’t been told that they are supposed to.
These suggestions get into the subconscious from an early age, when mothers take their youngsters along to groups and they start talking to all the other mums about their experiences.
Other treatments that can be offered are Confidence Building, Stress Reduction, Fear of The Dentist, Improving Sports Performance, Driving Test Nerves, habit breaking, Nail Biting for example, Memory and Learning, Speaking in Public, Blushing and many, many more.
If you are unsure if a therapist can help, then ask one, if you have a problem with something, then it is a valid problem, even though it would not cause a problem for another person. No-one will judge you, everything you say to a therapist is in complete confidence and most therapists will offer a free consultation with no obligation, so that if you decide that it is not for you, then you can just walk away. Because there are so many conditions that can be treated successfully, no one therapist will deal with all of them, most therapists will have their own areas of expertise, so that if a potential client has a problem that the therapist does not work with, that therapist will know someone who does and refer them on.
Diane Hamilton
