What is Hypnosis and how does it work?

Therapeutic Hypnosis is used for, but not limited to:

Therapeutic Hypnosis is what most people go to a hypnotist for - to change habits, get rid of phobias, remember forgotten things, eliminate pain, or prepare for dentistry or medical procedures, etc.

Hypnosis has been used for thousands of years to meditate, experience tribal rites, and maybe even undergo primitive surgery. Modern hypnosis has been studied for about 200 years. Hypnosis is safe and natural and you can't get stuck in hypnosis.
The United States Department of Labor in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles lists Hypnotherapist as a job title and tells the characteristics of hypnosis and what it is used for.

Hypnosis is a temporary, induced trance-like state; intense concentration that changes the way the brain processes perceptions and makes the person suggestible to instructions. It may be induced by another person, a group ritual or the person him or herself. It may also be induced by a movie, book or commercial! A person can learn to use self-hypnosis for many things. Some say that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis.

Understanding the Mind

To understand hypnosis you need to know some things about the mind. There are basically three parts to the mind. The Unconscious, the Conscious and the Subconscious. Another name for the Unconscious is the Autonomic Nervous System. It regulates your bodily functions: breathing, reflexes, heart beat and blood pressure, etc. The Conscious part of the mind is logical, has "will power," temporary memory, and a point of focus. It can be focused on the past, present or future, but it is limited by the amount of memory it can hold at one time. The Subconscious is your permanent memory and it's like the Library of Congress - maybe unlimited. It is highly organized and works by association. Your habits, beliefs, emotions and imagination are parts of the Subconscious mind.

Each part of the mind has protective functions.

• The Unconscious has the reflexes and the immune function.
• The Conscious is logical and rational.
• The Subconscious has a Critical Function or Critical Factor which compares any new information to what is already stored in the Subconscious. This guardian accepts only new information or information that agrees with what is already in the Subconscious. If a piece of information contradicts what is already stored in the Subconscious, it may be stored in an "anomaly file." It is not discarded, it's just put in a "holding file," where it is not acted on.

The hypnotist helps the person relax, mentally and physically. In this state the critical faculty is bypassed and the person experiences a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination. During hypnosis the subject is alert the whole time. It is most often compared to daydreaming, or the feeling of "losing yourself" in a book or movie. You are fully conscious, but you tune out most of the stimuli around you. You focus intently on the subject at hand, to the near exclusion of any other thought.

During this state the person is able to accept suggestions agreed on by the person and the hypnotist beforehand. You have been in hypnosis thousands of times - in everyday life. Daydreaming, getting caught up in a movie or book to the point where you feel the emotions of the characters or lose the conscious knowledge of your real surroundings. You may see things that are not there or not see things that are there. You have gotten bumps or bruises you don't remember at a later time, etc.

For more information about hypnosis, go to: The Banyan Hypnosis Center for Training & Services, Inc. and How Stuff Works