More and more mental health professionals are embracing the use of clinical hypnotherapy as an aid to therapy and counseling. The hypnotic state reached through hypnosis allows patients to explore hidden or distressing thoughts, memories, and emotions in a safe, comfortable environment.
What is Clinical Hypnotherapy?
Clinical hypnotherapy, also called hypnosis or hypnotic suggestion, is a holistic form of mental health therapy. The psychotherapy field considers hypnotherapy to be a valid complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practice.
The use of hypnotherapy can be an effective treatment modality for many people and has proven especially useful in trauma therapy and counseling. However, determining if a patient is a good candidate for hypnosis and its effectiveness requires the expertise of a trained and certified hypnotherapist.
During hypnotherapy, the therapist uses guided imagery and verbal repetition to assist the patient into a trance-like state. With guided relaxation and intense focus, the patient achieves a heightened sense of awareness and opens the mind to positive suggestions.
How Hypnosis in Therapy Works
Trained therapists use hypnosis in one of two ways: suggestion therapy or patient analysis. During suggestion therapy, hypnosis encourages more responsiveness to mental suggestions.
This can help patients change certain behaviors and habits, such as overeating, nail-biting, or cigarette smoking. It can also help patients change how they perceive their senses, which makes it uniquely useful for treating pain.
Another approach to clinical hypnotherapy uses the hypnotic state to gain personal insight and discover the root cause of a symptom or disorder. For example, hypnosis can help patients remember painful past event hidden deep within their memories.
Once revealed, the therapist and patient can begin to process and address the trauma using more traditional approaches in individual counseling. It can also be useful when integrated with other alternative psychotherapy modalities like EMDR treatment.
The Benefits of Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy offers many benefits to patients who want to gain personal insight and change unwanted or unhealthy behaviors. Studies have proven that hypnosis is effective for managing stress, anxieties, fears, and phobias.
Clinical hypnotherapy may also improve the rate of treatment success with other mental health conditions, such as depression, grief, and PTSD. It is also commonly used to help overcome such problems as insomnia, smoking, bed-wetting, over-eating, and other behaviors.
Speak With a Hypnotherapist in Boca Raton
The usefulness and benefits of clinical hypnotherapy are wide-ranging and continue to grow as more people become familiar with this holistic, alternative psychotherapy practice. However, hypnotherapy is not for everyone. In seeking hypnotherapy, only a trained therapist certified in hypnotherapy can determine whether hypnotherapy is appropriate in your circumstances.
Morgan Center for Counseling and Wellbeing offers Heart-Centered Hypnotherapy to help individuals to gain personal insight and improve their quality of life. In addition to being a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP), our Boca Raton therapist is a highly trained, Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist.
If you would like to learn more about how hypnotherapy can benefit you or are already prepared to make an appointment, please contact Morgan Center or call 561-717-2900 to speak with us directly.
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