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Hypnotherapy: An Overview
 There
are very few therapies which are more severely misunderstood and misrepresented
than hypnotherapy. It has been used in the United States, Britain and
throughout various other countries in the world for many years to improve both
patient’s physical and mental health . Hypnotherapy has been used to help
individuals with terminal illness to find relief from pain and anxiety as well
as cancer patients to alleviate the nausea caused by chemotherapy. Dentists
also have found hypnotherapy to reduce patient’s pain response during
treatment. Hypnotherapists are now beginning to help people find relief from
the discomfort of irritable bowel syndrome and the pain of migraines. On an
everyday level, many people also use self-hypnosis techniques for pain relief
and stress management.
Hypnotherapy: A long history
Hypnotherapy techniques date
back to primitive times when healers used various trances to plant suggestions
that could stimulate self-care and assist with individuals’ various illnesses.
However, there are many misconceptions of hypnotism and hypnotherapy. Most
people’s overall impression of hypnotism is of the stage variety which is
basically show business and is used more to amuse and baffle audiences. Anton
Messmer was a famous hypnotist who introduced hypnosis for various uses to the
general public. Despite his flamboyant and controversial techniques, he
successfully treated many people with his form of “messmerism”. He was later
discredited by the French government who believed his cures were strictly the
result of his patient’s and imaginations. His reputation and hypnosis in
general had a really difficult time recovering in terms of credibility after
Messmer, despite the fact that his therapy has been used successfully for
generations and is now one of the most scientifically validated of all
alternative therapies
This is the first
installment in a weekly updated series on hypnotherapy, with later web pages
exploring “What it is” as well as “”How hypnotherapy works”.
Some information from
Alternative Therapies
Additional information and webpage by Paul Susic M.A. Licensed Psychologist
Ph.D Candidate
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