Every Monday, I address a common myth around hypnosis and hypnotherapy…

I feel I need to warn you. This myth is a Big Myth. In fact, this myth is so pervasive in the world of therapy, hypnotherapy and hypnosis that perhaps it should carry a health warning.

I mean that seriously.

The problem, as I have come to understand it, is that there are many therapists out there – working in many different disciplines – who will tell you that it is necessary to understand why you feel the way you do in order to feel better. Let’s call this myth the Big Myth of Why.

But first, let me ask you something. Are there things going on for you right now that you understand perfectly well – and perhaps you may even have had a couple of years of soul-searching and/or therapy to understand where those feelings come from and you have a very good intellectual understanding of these problems – and yet you still seem to be experiencing them, all the same?

I meet people every day who have an incredibly finely honed and articulate understanding of the history of their problems. They have spent years thinking about it and analysing it. They can understand why that something is happening and yet the why doesn’t necessarily help them to change the behaviours, habits, emotions and responses that they want to let go of. The why doesn’t necessarily change anything.

My feeling is that ‘why ‘doesn’t serve us particularly well when we want to make changes in our lives.

And, indeed, I have met people who are on a search for why. They are on a big mission of why. They are making why their life’s work. Their internal script goes, ‘If I can just understand why this is happening, I will feel better…’ and they have been trying to understand why for the last two or twelve or twenty years. And this trying to understand why has become a painful and tortuous journey in which they find themselves feeling worse than when they started. Maybe they are now obsessed with the idea of wanting to know why or caught up in endless rumination and questioning that is creating a lot of anxiety and feelings of somehow not being good enough.

And this search for why brings them to the consulting room of a hypnotherapist. Because the Big Myth of Why says that a hypnotherapist can go inside your mind and discover why. A hypnotherapist can regress you to the exact time and place in your life where the problem started – and then you will know and then you will feel better. Right?

Well, erm, actually, not necessarily. In fact, probably not.

It’s a seductive notion, this concept of ‘deep underlying causes’ for our problems and issues. If we could neatly pin it down to one formative event – for example, the day our primary teacher told us off in front of the class for getting a word wrong and then we suddenly became unable to read aloud in front of others -  that might certainly be very convenient. But is this a little over-reductive?

Problem One: Now, I am not saying that some issues that people experience do not carry with them the resonances and echoes of prevous experiences. Of course, they can do. Over the years, we can form beliefs about ourselves as the result of our experiences, the things we hear around us,  our interactions with significant others, for example.

However, fears, problems, phobias and habits tend to fade away over time unless we are actively keeping them fuelled with our own thoughts and worries and beliefs and the way that we talk to ourselves inside our minds.

So our primary school teacher may have introduced us to the notion of fear – but that is only part of the story.We have somehow kept the fear going. In order to let go of the fear, we need to understand how we are still doing it to ourselves twenty-five years later, so that we can start to change things.

Problem Two: Even if a hypnotherapist can help us to indentify the so-called ‘root cause’ of a particular issue, this doesn’t mean that it actually happened  or happened in the way that we experience it now in hypnosis.

We still do not sufficiently understand the way that memory works, for example, but it is thought that, in order to experience a memory, our brains need to go back and reimagine or recreate that memory in order for us to experience it again. And we may not recreate it in exactly the way that it actually happened.

Have you ever experienced a situation that really didn’t bother you until you began to go over and over it in your head and it gradually assumed all the proportions and details and colours of a horror story? That’s the kind of thing I’m talking about.

In a similar way, dreams and fantasies can be re-imaginings and re-workings of what we have experienced in the day. And although our dreams can feel very ‘real’ to us when they are happening, we wouldn’t dream of supposing that they are representations of truth.

We can’t be sure that how people experience things in hypnosis is how things actually happened either. There may be a feeling-tone, a sensory theme of the hypnotic experience that carries emotions and  memories and associations from way back. But things can get a little blurry and what actully happened and how we re-experience it can get a little mixed-up.

But what really concerns me about the Big Myth that goes, ‘there must be an underlying cause somewhere in a person’s past for the problems and challenges that s/he might be facing in the present,’ is that this assumption can result in long (and often expensive) periods of fruitless searching, over-thinking, rumination and anxiety.

If you’re asking yourself why something is happening for you, a well-trained hypnotherapist can help you to understand how you are doing that thing in the present and what you can do differently to change it as well as any possible emotions, associations and habits you’ve been carrying from the past.

So, I think this is good news. Because if it’s possible that there is no why,  no single pin-downable ’cause’ for what you are feeling, then you may simply have been looking in the wrong direction. The search for why may have been holding you back from becoming more consciously aware of how you can do the problem differently.

Tags: hypnosis, hypnotherapy, regression, underying cause
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Every Monday, I’m going to be addressing a common myth around hypnosis and hypnotherapy…

This week, let’s look at the one that goes: ‘Hypnosis is weird/ scary/ mystical/ mind-control/ utter hippy nonsense/ what that bloke off the telly does/ brain-washing/ something you do to me to fix my head  *

* or a combination of the above.

Firstly, I want to let you into a secret. Noone knows exactly what hypnosis is. Nope. Hypnotherapists don’t know what hypnosis actually is, and neither do researchers looking at people’s brains whilst in this apparent state of hypnosis with MRI scans and other neuroimaging techniques.

In MRI scans, we can see parts of the brain either ‘light up’ or get ‘turned off’ when people are apparently in hypnosis. Here is an example of the kind of research into hypnosis that neuroimaging is making possible, carried out by Amir Raz, who wanted to look at how hypnotic suggestions might affect the regulation of pain in the brain. This particular research gives us fascinating data about how hypnotic suggestions ‘turn off’ the area of the brain known as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), which would normally get activated when performing certain tasks. It has many interesting possibilities for further research and application.

But it still doesn’t really tell us what hypnosis actually is.

The question of whether hypnosis is an actual state of attention (state theory) or a set of beliefs, attitudes and expectations (non-state theory) is hotly contested in the field of hypnotherapy and hypnosis. In fact, you will find people arguing about it all over the internet.

The state theory maintains that hypnosis is an actual change in the quality of our attention and awareness, a kind of experiential shift or hypnotic ‘trance’ state that is often described by people in terms of changes in temporal and spatial awareness (‘My body feels so heavy,’ ‘My hands feel so huge’ or ‘Has that really been half an hour? It felt like ten minutes’).

The non-state theory of hypnosis claims that there is no such thing as this altered state of awareness or hypnotic ‘trance’ and that the effects of hypnosis can be explained by the motivation, cognitive set and expectation of the person being hypnotised and the way that he or she is prepared to work towards a therapeutic goal.

You will notice that, so far, there has been no mention in either of these theories of a sleep-like or unconscious state, nor of vaudevillian stunts. Contrary to popular misconception – and I do still meet people who think of hypnosis in this way – hypnosis is not like being asleep or unconscious. It is not something that a hypnotist or therapist does to you.

In hypnotherapy, the therapist does not go inside your mind and flick levers and switches or make things disappear or convince you that something you previously thought true is now suddenly untrue. (I don’t know about you but I would personally find that rather unnerving. I wouldn’t go anywhere near a hypnotherapist if I believed that s/he could do that to me!)

We know that hypnosis is something that you actively need to co-create with the therapist you choose to work with. The therapist guides you through the process of going into hypnosis (state theory) or you yourself create the mindset and beliefs within which the changes can happen (non-state theory) because you want to make the changes you want to make. Or a combination of these two.

To illustrate this more clearly, we know that if a person sits in the chair with their arms crossed and says, ‘Humph. Well you’re not going to put me under. You’re not going to hypnotise me, matey,’ well, then they are right. They will not be experiencing anything very soon except their own desire not to go into hypnosis. And maybe their own fear, which may be what is preventing them from making the changes in the first place.

So if we assume that most people seeking the help of a hypnotherapist actually want to make some changes in their lives, is hypnosis a state that therapists guide them into or a description of their set of beliefs and expectations that will make it possible for the therapist to work with them?

Personally, I think it is a combination of these two.

Many people who come to work with me are worried that they won’t be able to ‘do it right’ or relax sufficiently (see last Monday’ Myth-Busting) or go into hypnosis but, despite these fears and apprehensions, they learn exactly how to use the power of their minds and the power of self-hypnosis in helpful ways.

Whether you think that hypnosis is a weird (or mystical or in some way spiritual) state or non-state really depends upon your own set of beliefs around turning your attention inside yourself in a focused way. Some people think this is a very ordinary thing to do. For others, it is actually something quite special.

What I do know and continue to notice all the time in my own practice – both as a hypnotherapist and as someone who regularly uses self-hypnosis – is that it’s so easy to be carried away by the busy-ness of our everyday lives so that making time to direct our attention inwards in a focused way and really notice what we are feeling and thinking and how, in a sense, we are doing or creating or imagining our lives can feel strange, weird, pleasant, a relief or even slightly scary at first. It may be something we haven’t done for a long time.

When we begin to learn and understand how to do our lives and thoughts and internal experience in more helpful and progressive ways, I do personally think that is a very powerful experience. Learning to relax deeply or notice our thoughts or the way that our body feels in the midst of our busy-ness can be a kind of special or transformative experience.

There are some who would say that all our experiences are kinds of ‘trance state,’ either positive, neutral or negative, until we become consciously aware that we are doing them. So we find ourselves going into the trance of a particular relationship (he says that, she says that, you say that) or the trance of work (everything is so hard and it will never get any better) or the one about money (I need more and never seem to have enough and if only I had more my life would be so much better), for example.

Hypnosis, then, in this regard, is a kind of waking up from the trance of our everyday lives.

Tags: hypnosis, hypnotherapy, hypnotic suggestibility, non-state theory, state theory, suggestion, trance
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What do you think about when you think about ‘evidence’ in hypnotherapy? Or when you think about ‘evidence’ for any kind of clinical or theraputic intervention?

I think it’s an interesting and important question to ask.

Evidence can mean – and is often thought to mean, solely and entirely – the data gathered through third-person research and quantitative studies such as random controlled trials and systematic reviews. These are reviews that are largely designed to produce ‘objective,’ ‘third-person’ evidence. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: evidence, evidence in hypnotherapy, evidence-based practice, hypnotherapy, research
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One of the many reasons that I think I was so powerfully drawn to the kind of work that I do as a hypnotherapist is my interest in – or should I say passion for – metaphor.

Over the years, I have researched conceptual metaphor theory extensively and used it consciously and subconsciously in my own writing. I am fascinated by the way that we all use metaphor, every single day of our lives, to describe our experiences.

We have spatial metaphors: I feel so down today.

We have metaphors that suggest that we experience our body as a sort of container for our emotions: I was seething with anger. I thought I might explode.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: bed, hypnosis, hypnotherapy, therapeutic metaphor
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Every Monday, I’m going to be addressing a common myth around hypnosis and hypnotherapy…

Sometimes, when I’m working with new clients to gather information for the work we’re going to begin together, they will say something like: ‘I am worried that you won’t be able to hypnotise me because I just can’t relax.’

In other words, hypnosis and relaxation are often thought of as more or less the same thing. Well, whilst it’s true that many people experience hypnosis and self-hypnosis as a deeply calming, centring or grounding experience in which their mind and body begin to feel more relaxed, we do not need to actually feel relaxed in order to go into hypnosis.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: hypnosis, hypnotherapy, relxation
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You may have noticed a slight change in the tone and content of these posts so far this year.

In fact, OK, what I’m probably saying here is that I really hope that you have noticed.

Because, you see, I am doing a thing here. My thing. The thing I think I always wanted to do but never quite felt brave enough or free enough or perhaps never slowed down enough to notice that I wanted to do it.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: being me, coaching, creativity, hypnotherapy, letting go, writing
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Much as I hate to start my Monday morning with a grrrrrrr, I am going to be doing some grrrrr-ing. But I think it is good grrrring. It is not a moaning and complaining kind of grrrr that is on my mind but more a general myth-debunking, righting wrongs kind of grrring that I hope will be helpful in some way.

It started on Thursday evening. I had just come back from a pleasant evening out and caught the tail-end of a new drama series on BBC1 called, ‘New Tricks.’

It is apparently about a group of eccentric ex-police officers who meet up to solve crimes and, guess what? In the bit of the storyline that I caught, the evil killer was finally apprehended… or so the main characters thought. What caught my attention were his words: ‘No, when I met her [the victim] I hadn’t got into NLP… I didn’t know about mind control…’

Ha! If it wasn’t so sad, I would have laughed out loud.

Here we are, yet again, with another suspected evil killer, under suspicion because he knows how to control people  not with blackmail, extortion or a stolen Kalashnikov but with the deadliest weapons known to man: hypnosis and Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP).

Oh dear, oh dear…

Every day, I talk to people in my consulting room about what hypnotherapy can help them to achieve in their lives, the changes they can make by learning to master their own thoughts with some simple ideas from NLP, and how they can let go of fear and unhelpful emotion using hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis. I explain how in the very natural relaxed and focused state of awareness that we call hypnosis, they have access to their own amazing resources for change – and can even strengthen those resourceful states or begin to create new ones. I explain that I, as a hypnotherapist, have no power over them. Contrary to some beliefs, I cannot make them thin, rich or happy. I can help them to discover these things for themselves.

In the same way, after working with me they will not find themselves dancing like a chicken, emptying their bank accounts and handing the contents over to me or committing murder – unless, of course, they already wanted to do that in the first place.

Because I have no ‘control’ over the people I work with – and it would be very improper if that were the case. Although it can be tempting to hope that someone can actually get inside your mind, flick a switch and make you stop overeating or smoking, wouldn’t that be rather unnerving, to say the least?

Would you really be wanting that to happen? Isn’t it even more amazing when you realise that, with the help of a well-trained and experienced hypnotherapist, you can do these things for yourself in a lasting and permanent way?

I explain all of this to my clients, debunk the myth that hypnotherapists are expert manipulators and then along come the writers of ‘New Tricks’ on BBC1 and, in one fell swoop, they reinstate the idea of the evil hypnotist who uses NLP and hypnosis to make someone kill their own mother.. Evil cackle, evil cackle.

By a very clumsy plot twist, it turned out that this is not what had happened… but still, the misrepresentation of hypnotherapy – a profession that helps people and that is now a recommended treatment by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) for a range of problems including IBS and ulcerative colitis – is unfortunate to say the least.

It makes me a bit annoyed, it makes me go grrr because I know what a huge leap it is for many people to say, ‘I need some help with this,’ and then to pick up the phone and call a professional hypnotherapist. Programming like this may actually be detrimental to the well-being of a person who could really benefit from hypnotherapy.

So grrrrrrrr to you BBC. We need more responsibe talk about hypnosis and hypnotherapy,even in low-budget TV dramas. Otherwise, you are misleading people who may need help.

Grrr…. grrr… grrrr…

Meanwhile, I will keep doing my bit to spread the word about the benefits of solution-focused hypnotherapy.

Tags: 'New Tricks', hypnotherapy, TV drama
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One of the single most influential hypno-stories to have gripped the pubic imagination in recent months, is Lily Allen’s transformation, dropping two dress sizes from a very pretty size 12 to a toned size 8, which she attributes to hypnotherapy sessions.

It’s interesting to see media all over the world picking up on this story. Here’s a link to the Ahlan! Live in the United Arab Emirates version of the story. They also mention other recent celeb stories:

Mel B, last week revealed she sought hypnotherapy in a bid to boost her body-confidence, Fergie to quit biting her nails, and nicotine addicts Charlize Theron and Drew Barrymore to kick the habit by being “put under.”

And there’s the annoying thing. It seems that hypno-lingo is pretty universal too. Phrases such as being “put under” – even with the inverted commas – or the headline of this article ‘Look into our eyes..’ seem to be getting far too ubiquitous for my liking.

Maybe I should announce a campaign, right here and now on this blog, for better and more accurate reporting of hypnosis and hypnotherapy stories.

I mean, harrumph! Using words like ‘going under’ or ‘look into my eyes’ is not only tired and unimaginative but also very misleading. Hypnosis is not like being ‘under’ as in anaesthetised; and we hypnoptherapists do not ask people to look into our eyes or at our swinging pendulums and watches.

I had a client a while ago who opened his eyes and said ‘But I was aware of everything you said to me…’ He felt cheated and a little disappointed about his first experience of hypnosis, even though we did some great work together, got a great result and I had explained to him at length beforehand that hypnosis would not feel like being asleep. 

Now, I happen to think that the natural trance state is pretty magical and powerful in and of itself. Being able to access your subconscious and allow it to find solutions to your problems is rather awe-inspiring when you think about it. I don’t know about you but, when I’m entering hypnosis, I like to know that I am fully focused and in control while this amazing process is happening. I don’t want anyone putting me ‘under.’

One popular application of hypnosis that I have, however, been enjoying recently is the TV show, ‘The Mentalist’. If you haven’t yet seen it, the show stars Simon Baker as Patrick Jane, an independent consultant with the
California Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Jane (and I must admit that it is a little disconcerting when his colleagues call him that) has a remarkable track
record for solving serious crimes by using his razor sharp skills of
observation. Within the Bureau, Jane is notorious for his dapper dressing and his blatant lack
of boundaries and protocol. His semi-celebrity past as a psychic medium also adds a whiff of scandal because he now admots that he feigned his
paranormal abilities. I just love spotting his use of hypnotic language patterns and they way that he ‘enables’ suspects, crime victims or witnesses to recall or reveal things about themselves.

I think that, most of all, I like his wearing of waistcoats on California beaches. I think you can catch it in the UK at 9pm on Thursdays.

So less tired old miselading hypnosis lingo and more hypno substnce, please. Or at the very least, can we have more amusing hypno crime-solving programmes? If anyone is asking, I wouldn’t mind playing a crime-solving hypno-cop… and I wouldn’t even need a waistcoat.

Tags: hypno, hypnosis, hypnotherapy, Mentalist
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So I was at my parents’ house on Easter Sunday, keeping my mum company, and my mum pointed out a double-page article on hypnotherapy in her Sunday paper, The Sunday Times.

The article, very imaginatively entitled ‘Look into my eyes,’ (ha, ha, ha….we haven’t heard that one before, have we?) highlights that, despite the many jokes and quips about hypnosis, there is also:

‘a body of scientific evidence to back up the effectiveness of hypnosis for weight loss  and a range of other issues, from anxiety and sleep disorders to infertility and compulsive shopping.’

You can read the online version of the article here.

The article goes on to say:

‘Let’s face it, hypnosis does not exactly have the best reputation, what with the ritual humiliations employed by stage hypnotists. “The stage scenario has given the process a bad name,” concedes Georgia Foster, a hypnotherapist who has treated a string of high-profile clients. “People think it’s all about mind control, but nobody can really control someone else’s mind. It will only absorb what it knows is appropriate. Hypnotherapy is like Google. It puts helpful information into the subconscious mind so the brain can find it next time it’s doing a search.” ‘

That’s an interesting metaphor. You know, I tend to dislike metaphors that compare the brain to a computer and our thoughts to software that can be ‘re-programmed.’ I think that way of thinking is a little reductionist. It doesn’t really work for me. Metaphors are, after all, highly personal.

However, I can see what Georgia Foster is saying here. It is a neat way of conveying that you, the browser of your brain, are in control. I could extend the metaphor by saying that your thoughts and emotions are only a result of the particular search terms that you enter. Hmmmm… I need to think that through a little…

The article is a useful round-up of some popular applications of hypnotherapy: to change your weight and shape, to let go of anything that may be holding you back from optimum fertility, to enjoy a better sex life and now, of course, the subject that everyone is talking about, hypnotherapy for ‘credit crunch anxiety.’

I went into a gift shop the other day and got talking to the owners about hypnotherapy and we got onto the subject of hypnosis ‘for a better sex life.’  I am constantly amazed at the conversations that my job opens up for me.

Tags: Google, hypnosis, hypnotherapy, sex
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A couple of fun things after yesterday’s somewhat serious blog post.

It is ‘awards season’ right now – the Oscars, the BAFTAs – and several major celebs seem to be happily acknowledging the role of hypnosis and hypnotherapy in helping them to lead happy and successful lives.

There have been lots more stories circulating of Lily Allen’s use of hypnosis to let go of unhelpful eating habits. She really is a great champion of hypnosis. Thank you, Lily!

Then there is this story about Black Eyed Peas singer, Fergie who says that she continues to use hypnotherapy. She used it to make some lasting changes in her life a few years ago and she says: ‘I still go. I need to. Hypnotherapy helped me a lot. I love it.’

And you can see a clip of Brian David Phillips’ hypnotising Miss India over on his blog here. Brian has been doing some very interesting work ‘using hypnosis and trancework to enhance actor training and skillsets’ with students, teachers, and guests at Kishore Namit Kapoor’s Acting
Institute, which is one of the premiere actor training institutes in Bollywood.

It’s official: pop stars and Bollywood stars love hypnosis!

Tags: Bollywood hypnosis, Brian David Phillips, hypnotherapy, Lily Allen hypnosis, Miss India hypnosis
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I have blogged about this issue before and the very strong evidence for hypnotherapy as an effective treatment of the problem of bedwetting.

It can be a real issue for children who want to sleep over at friends’ houses, go on school trips and enjoy all the usual busy socialising that children these days like to get involved in. I have found that it can also profoundly affect general levels of confidence in children.

This article in Natural News highlights an excellent 2004 study on hypnotherapy and bedwetting – or chronic nocturnal enuresis, to use the official medical terminology. It says:

‘In 2004, a study appeared in The Journal of Norwegian Medical Association
about using hypnotherapy to treat patients with chronic nocturnal
enuresis. The study consisted of 12 boys ranging in age from 8 to 16.
All of the boys had been diagnosed with primary nocturnal enuresis and
four were also diagnosed with diurnal enuresis (daytime accidental
urination). All 12 reported an average of 0 dry nights per week. The 12
participants also had a family history of bedwetting. The participants
also had tried other forms of treatments such as the bedwetting alarm
and medication.

The 12 patients underwent a medical exam prior to participating in the
research study. The boys had between 2 and 8 hypnotherapy sessions as
part of the study. They also practiced self-hypnosis on their own for
about one month after their hypnosis sessions.

Two follow-ups were performed at 3 months and one year intervals after the
hypnotherapy sessions. During both follow-ups, 9 out of the 12
participants reported 7 out of 7 dry nights per week. The researchers
referred the 3 patients who continued to experience bedwetting to seek
additional medical or behavioral treatment.

The researchers concluded that hypnotherapy is an effective treatment for boys
experiencing chronic bedwetting. They also recommend that hypnotherapy
be part of the treatment for boys diagnosed with nocturnal enuresis.’

Source: Diseth,T. H. & Vandick, I.H. (2004). Hypnotherapy in the Treatment of
Refractory Nocturnal Enuresis. The Journal of Norwegian Medical
Association, 124(4). 488-91.

You know, as I write this, I can’t help thinking that if we had evidence four years ago that hypnotherapy is a recommended part of any treatment for this probem, why don’t more children now have access to it more readily?

I guess there is still a lot of dissemination and awareness-raising to do. Hopefully, this article will make a small contribution to that.

Tags: bedwetting, hypnotherapy, nocturnal enuresis
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