HOW DOES HYPNOSIS WORK?

ABOUT HYPNOSIS

Many clients are worried about hypnosis. They have perhaps seen stage hypnotists who make people believe they are chickens or eat onions believing them to be apples and they fear being made a fool of. However, clinical hypnosis is practised for the benefit of the client. At the heart of everything we do are your needs and helping you to achieve your goals.

Your hypnosis begins with you sitting on a chair of lying on a massage bed. You close your eyes and listen to Lowri Turner speak. She talks to you, leading you gently into a wonderful relaxed state with her voice. This is called being in a ‘hypnotic trance’ and is harmless, a bit like drowsing before you fall asleep at night.

Once you are in this relaxed state, you do not have to do anything. You will simply hear what are called ‘positive suggestions’, statements  such as ‘you have no reason, no need and no desire for chocolate’.  These ‘brainwash’ your mind so you are less likely to succumb to unhealthy behaviours. These positive suggestions will vary according to what will be most effective for but could include instructions to go to the gym, feel calmer in a stressful situation or easily fall asleep if you have insomnia. These positive suggestions will vary according to what will be most effective for you but could include instructions to go to the gym, to reduce drinking, to slow down eating or stop snacking.

Another hypnotic technique is guided visualisation. For example if you are undergoing IVF and approaching ‘egg transfer’, you may see in your minds eye a picture of your baby or babies nestling down on a nice soft pillow. To reduce menopausal hot flashes, visualising coolness moving through your veins can be helpful. For weight loss, simply being able to ‘see’ yourself at your goal weight can be very powerful.
Longer programmes may include more advanced techniques such as age regression (to remove negative feelings from the past and build self esteem), ‘rehearsing the future’ where you ‘practise’ new, better behaviour and Time Line Therapy to heal hurt feelings from past events (childhood bullying, family breakdown or an abusive relationship). All techniques are discussed in advance so that you are completely comfortable at all times.

Hypnosis ends with a ‘count out’ where Lowri Turner counts from 5 to 1. As she does this, you should feel yourself coming back to full consciousness, feeling energised and optimistic.

COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT HYPNOSIS

Will I go to sleep?

No. Hypnosis works best when you are relaxed but not asleep. You will still be able to speak and get up and walk out of the room if you choose to, although no client we have ever had has ever done that. The process is very enjoyable.

What if I can’t be hypnotised?

Many people worry they won’t be able to go ‘under’, but in truth we all hypnotise ourselves all the time. If you drive home and go on ‘autopilot’ for the last mile or so, you are in a hypnotic state. When you day dream you are in a hypnotic state. It is an entirely natural process and Lowri Turner simply helps you to achieve it more quickly than you would  be able to do it on your own.

How does hypnosis work?

Everything we do while we are awake we do at two levels – conscious and unconscious. When we agree with something, we say ‘yes’ . That is our conscious response. When we agree we are also likely to nod our heads. We do not consciously do it. It happens anyway, as an unconscious response.

Hypnosis allows us to access the unconscious mind because deep relaxation switches off the conscious one. For example, on a conscious level we might decide we are on a diet. However, a bad day at work and we unconsciously reach for a biscuit and the diet is blown.  This unconscious link between stress and eating biscuits will have been set up either by childhood experiences – fall over and your mum gives you a sweet – or will have become a habit. When something becomes a habit, a conscious decision to eat a biscuit becomes automatic` or unconscious.

Because hypnosis can access the unconscious mind, we can ‘reboot’ it and remove any viruses that have been slowing down your progress. Those annoying self-defeating behaviours that have seemed so difficult to escape can finally be overcome.

 

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