{"id":781,"date":"2015-06-15T09:13:00","date_gmt":"2015-06-14T23:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.baysidepsychotherapy.com.au\/2017\/08\/05\/hypnotherapy-does-it-really-work\/"},"modified":"2023-08-21T04:30:56","modified_gmt":"2023-08-20T18:30:56","slug":"hypnotherapy-does-it-really-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.baysidepsychotherapy.com.au\/testing\/hypnotherapy-does-it-really-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Hypnotherapy – does it really work"},"content":{"rendered":"

When we get asked \u201cdoes hypnotherapy work<\/a>?\u201d (as we do innumerable times) a torrent of assumptions underpin the question. Typically we appreciate the wishful element in such a question but, in general, we recommend a healthy sense of scepticism. Recently, Bayside Psychotherapy received a visit by an intelligent, young Google employee for a survey. He also posed the question while voicing his opinion that hypnotherapy doesn\u2019t work. I appreciated his honesty – not because I practice longer-term psychotherapy rather than quick fix therapy, but because there was both openness and critical thinking. Simply answering no would make us seem fraudulent given we have therapists who provide a version of hypnotherapy. Nonetheless, responding simply with yes is equally flawed and does not take into account the assumptions inherent in the question.<\/p>\n

So what are these assumptions?<\/h2>\n

Commonly, but not universally, here are some preconceived ideas uncovered from interviewing prospective hypnotherapy clients.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It is curative.
\n2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s a quick fix.
\n3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s systematically performed during a sleep like state or against the subjects will.
\n4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Little personal responsibility or effort is required for it to work.<\/p>\n

Why do we maintain these assumptions while intuiting their absurdities?<\/h2>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Neo-liberalism – the ideology of perfecting the self through high performance and self-improvement is appealing, yet I would propose it reinforces a sense of emptiness by trying to fill a void with insufficient answers. Under this guise the appeal of a magical cure is hard to resist: \u201clook into my eyes, and when I click my fingers all your addictions, sexual dysfunctions and eating conflicts will vanish\u201d.
\n2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Capitalising on the above ideology, various unscrupulous marketers promote hypnotherapy as a magical cure for all through money back guarantees, massively inflated fees and testimonials.
\n3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There are actual examples of seemingly miraculous outcomes. We\u2019ve all heard stories like \u2018hey, my friend went to a hypnotherapist for weight loss and she hasn\u2019t touched sugar in three years\u2019. Generalising these examples is of course naive and inconsiderate of each person\u2019s history.
\n4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s generally more appealing to imagine a quick fix or a short-term treatment which doesn\u2019t require hard work, intensive therapy, or major commitment\/emotional investment where painful truths about ourselves are spoken about in detail.
\n5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Despite often conscious protest, it\u2019s appealing to some to place the position of a Master outside of the self and look to a hypnotist as some kind of guru who can fix us.<\/p>\n

Fine, so what can prospective clients do then?<\/h2>\n

Test drive it<\/a> yourself, otherwise it\u2019s just an academic exercise at best (kind of like the difference between hearing someone describe a song versus listening to the song yourself). But be realistic and willing to have more than a few short sessions. Choose wisely. Check out qualifications and experience. Ignore any hype or quick fix claims. With realistic expectations and a questioning yet open mind, hypnotherapy can certainly assist some people.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t take on everyone<\/h2>\n

We only take on people we believe we can work with effectively. To establish this, a thorough assessment is necessary in a session or two. Then hypnotherapy can be considered in conjunction with other methods, depending on the treating therapist.<\/p>\n

Be prepared to challenge your assumptions. Be open to whatever recommendations arise from the assessment process. And be open to seemingly amazing changes, but don\u2019t be surprised if these are short lived either. Hypnotherapy should only form part of a broader treatment context such as counselling and complement, not replace, a more in depth treatment approach. But in general, things like chronic pain, some addictions and a need for relaxation can be good indicators for considering hypnotherapy.<\/p>\n

Hypnotherapy<\/a> is a medium for influencing change in a positive way but, like everything, there are limitations. Additionally, it doesn\u2019t mean someone is more or less intelligent because they can or can\u2019t \u201cgo under\u201d during a session.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When we get asked \u201cdoes hypnotherapy work?\u201d (as we do innumerable times) a torrent of assumptions underpin the question. Typically we appreciate the wishful element in such a question but, in general, we recommend a healthy sense of scepticism. Recently, Bayside Psychotherapy received a visit by an intelligent, young Google employee for a survey. He … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[146],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hypnotherapy"],"acf":{"default_cover":"","header_text":"","meta_title":"Hypnotherapy - does it really work | Bayside Psychotherapy","meta_description":"Understandably people ask whether hypnotherapy works. There is plenty of misinformation regarding efficacy of hypnotherapy and it's crucial to get the facts. Find out why.","meta_keywords":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.baysidepsychotherapy.com.au\/testing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.baysidepsychotherapy.com.au\/testing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.baysidepsychotherapy.com.au\/testing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.baysidepsychotherapy.com.au\/testing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.baysidepsychotherapy.com.au\/testing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.baysidepsychotherapy.com.au\/testing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.baysidepsychotherapy.com.au\/testing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.baysidepsychotherapy.com.au\/testing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.baysidepsychotherapy.com.au\/testing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}