Residents of Russia associate hypnosis with the sessions of Chumak and Kashpirovsky, who charged water and healed people from television in the “dashing” 90s. Does hypnosis really exist and what is it for? Read this article.

We enter a small room with cream-colored walls and furniture, and the hypnotist dims the lights. “I won’t scream or roll my eyes,” says Mikhail Nikolaevich Gordeev, hypnotist, psychotherapist, doctor of medical sciences. “Sit as you please.”

I sit and try to track at what point the conversation ends and hypnosis begins, but nothing works because it begins almost as soon as I meet the eyes of the hypnotherapist.

It turns out that you can provide not only information or sharpness, but also - this is what experts call the process of diving into the depths of the subconscious. The hypnotist's voice becomes softer, words fall into the space of the room less and less. He does not order anything to the patient, he only suggests. “Now you can stretch out your hands and imagine that there is a heavy book lying on one of them, and balloons are tied to the fingers of the other.” If you have already relaxed and are preparing to enter an altered state of consciousness, then the hand on which the book supposedly lies, under the influence of imagination, falls down, and the one with the balls involuntarily rises up. “This will help assess how ready you are to plunge into a trance,” explains Mikhail Nikolaevich.

The hypnotist kept his promise about the absence of directive communication during the session - only suggestions were made to turn to your subconscious and extract answers to pressing questions from there, and find resources to solve problems. During the session, the body relaxes, a sphere seems to form around it, including the space of clearly visible internal reality, outside of which there is a cotton-wool picture of the room and the existing reality, as if poorly painted by the artist. In this state, the focus of attention from the external environment shifts inward, leaving only concentration on one’s own experiences. From the outside it looks as if the person is absent from the room: the gaze is turned “inward”, the breathing is slow, the body is relaxed.

After leaving the trance, the two types of reality change places, the world around becomes crystal clear and unusually clear, the perception is fresh, which only happens early in the morning on the street of your beloved city, washed with dew. This is what it is, hypnosis on the part of the patient.

What is hypnosis from a physiological point of view?

According to Mikhail Nikolaevich Gordeev, hypnosis is a normal state of consciousness, akin to the rapid phase of sleep, in which the human psyche processes the information accumulated during the day. “This state of trance, which is actually a state of hypnosis, occurs in an ordinary person approximately once every hour and a half, spontaneously, on its own. It is completely natural, there is nothing surprising or fantastic in it. Another thing is that hypnosis, as a rule, is understood as a trance induced from the outside - it occurs under the influence of another person, with the consent or, perhaps, even sometimes without the consent of the one to whom it is induced,” explains the hypnotist.

“The best way to protect yourself from is to avoid these shady characters.” Mikhail Gordeev, hypnotist

The famous psychotherapist, author of one of the widespread techniques of hypnosis, Milton Erickson, believed exactly the same. In his opinion, anyone can be put into a trance, even those who suffer from mental disorders - the main thing is that there was contact with a hypnotist. Erickson considered trance to be a natural state of a person, necessary for him to process internal experience.

Falling into a trance naturally, a person can freely remain in it for about 15 minutes. In the induced version it can last much longer. Trance is born from the interaction between the therapist and the client - it is this interaction that determines the time of the session, its outline, results and much more. In addition, any of us, as Mikhail Nikolaevich claims, can learn to independently enter a trance (self-hypnosis) and control this state. In this way you can correct your mood, write books or paintings with inspiration - everyone uses this technique the way they like.

In medical practice, hypnosis is used to treat illnesses and solve psychological problems of the patient. Trance helps to look into the dark corners of the psyche, find there the roots of the problem that needs to be gotten rid of, and also allocate the necessary resources for this.

Hypnotize, according to the psychotherapist, even a distrustful person can. Only the depth of the trance into which he falls depends on the patient’s suggestibility. “There are different stages, different levels of depth of hypnosis. Therefore, the only question is to what level a person can be brought. Most often it depends on a lot of factors; one of the main ones is patient motivation. Another factor is specialist skill level who works with him,” says the hypnotherapist.

However, hypnosis as such cannot be called a psychotherapeutic technique - it is only a background that facilitates treatment through suggestion. During the session, the person is relaxed and may experience relief, but his problems are not solved on their own - a psychologist should help with this.
The most well-developed areas of application of hypnosis are the treatment of such severe addictions as drug addiction.“Soviet people could not have problems, so psychotherapy was aimed at, and hypnosis was considered its main method,” explains Mikhail Nikolaevich.

The classic technique that is used most often is coding according to Dovzhenko. It works well thanks to subconscious fears.

“Coding is actually the coupling of the desire to drink with the fear of death: if you drink, you will die. Suggestibility helps the code stay in the psyche. There are quite a lot of people who are coded, sometimes for a certain period of time (more often for a year than for three or five years), although Dovzhenko himself still sought to turn patients away from drinking for the rest of their lives,” says the hypnotist.
However, according to the doctor, coding only works on those alcoholics who are determined to recover. Some people may slowly start drinking a month or two after the session, but their body will not react to alcohol in any way. But there are also cases of death. “The technique is based on psychosomatic mechanisms, so before coding the patient gives a receipt stating that he is warned of death if he decides to drink,” the doctor shares his experience.

In addition to traditional drug addiction, specialists use hypnosis when working with a variety of personal and family problems, post-stress and psychosomatic disorders. Doctors began to use this technique even during rehabilitation after such a serious illness as a stroke. This pathology, caused by impaired cerebral circulation, often deprives a person of the ability to swallow, speak and even move. According to hypnotherapists, their treatment makes it possible to better restore lost body functions.

So far, this method of rehabilitation is used only in one of the capital’s clinics, but this experience is already spreading to other Russian regions.

The word “hypnosis” in most citizens of our country is associated with the mass sessions of Allan Chumak and Anatoly Kashpirovsky, as well as with movie villains who forced their victims to commit crimes and suicides. But is the power of hypnosis really so enormous that one hypnotist can subjugate an entire room? And are all people susceptible to hypnotic suggestion?

Hypnosis in psychology and psychotherapy

Contrary to popular belief, most people who know hypnosis are not engaged in fraud or other criminal activities, but are certified specialists in the field of psychiatry and use their skills to provide psychological and medical assistance. In medicine, hypnotherapy is a separate area, and most often its methods are used in the treatment of psychosomatic diseases, and to eliminate phobias and psychological problems.

Hypnosis is considered one of the most effective methods of combating obsessive fears, childhood psychological traumas and sexual complexes, since with its help you can not only instill in a person the correct attitude, but also find the cause of the problem. The essence of hypnosis is that the hypnotist (psychotherapist, psychiatrist) puts the patient into a trance state, when consciousness “turns off” and the unconscious comes to the fore. . In a state of trance, many functions of the human body, as well as such functions of consciousness as individual control and self-awareness, are significantly weakened, thanks to which the hypnotist gains direct access to the subconscious and can eliminate the symptoms and causes of psychological problems and psychosomatic diseases.

In modern medicine, three types of hypnosis are used for treatment, with the help of which one can influence certain attitudes of a person, correct his perception and mental state, and also gain access to the patient’s memory. These types of hypnosis are as follows:

It is these three types of hypnosis that are most often used in psychotherapeutic practice, and the effectiveness of hypnotherapy directly depends on the professionalism of the psychotherapist-hypnotist and on the individual characteristics of the patient’s psyche. Also The patient’s trust in the hypnotist plays an important role , therefore, people who want to get rid of any psychological problems or with the help of hypnosis are recommended to contact only those specialists who do not cause any antipathy.

Truths and myths about hypnosis

Even though hypnosis is an officially recognized medical practice, there are still many myths and misconceptions surrounding it. Some people even believe that the ability to put another person into a trance is magic, and an experienced hypnotist can make anyone do anything through hypnosis. Of course, there is no truth in these statements, since there is nothing supernatural in the technique of inducing a hypnotic trance and anyone can learn it, but It is impossible to hypnotize a person without his desire . Even hidden hypnosis (gypsy hypnosis, NLP, etc.) is quite easy to resist - to do this, you just need to concentrate your attention on something extraneous (look out the window, count passing cars, etc.) or think about something of your own without listening hypnotist.

In addition to misconceptions about the supernatural nature of hypnosis and the absolute impossibility of protecting yourself from hypnotic suggestion, the following myths are also quite common in our society:

Myth: There are people who cannot be hypnotized

Is it true: Every mentally healthy person can be hypnotized, but the degree of hypnotizability (suggestibility) is different for everyone. About 30% of people respond well to hypnosis and quickly fall into a trance, 40% are less suggestible, and the remaining 30% can only be put into a hypnotic trance by an experienced hypnotist.

Myth: People with high intelligence and strong will are less susceptible to hypnosis than weak-willed people.

Is it true: In order to enter a state of trance, you need to concentrate on the words and actions of the hypnotist, and also have developed imagery, so it will be easier for a specialist to put a strong-willed and intelligent person into a hypnotic trance.

Myth: A hypnotist can make a patient do anything.

Is it true: In a state of hypnotic trance, conscious control of one’s actions is weakened, but not completely switched off, so even under hypnosis a person will not do anything that contradicts his moral standards.

Myth: After emerging from a state of hypnotic trance, a person does not remember what happened during the session.

Is it true: Most hypnotherapist patients clearly remember what happened while they were hypnotized.

Myth: Hypnosis can only influence a person’s mental state.

Is it true: Hypnotherapy is effective both in eliminating psychological problems and in treating a number of psychosomatic diseases. For example, with the help of hypnosis you can relieve a person from stuttering, psychosomatic pain, and even toothache.

Myth: An experienced hypnotist can hypnotize many people at once without their desire.

Is it true: The source of this myth is sessions of mass hypnosis, in which part of the audience actually fell into a state of trance and followed the instructions of the hypnotist, as well as testimonies of people who were hypnotized while watching the session on television or listening to it on the radio. Obviously, in these cases, the key role was played by people’s desire to be hypnotized, and also - at the popular mass hypnosis sessions at the end of the last century, not everyone present fell into a trance, and the sessions of Anatoly Kashpirovsky shown on TV did not have any effect on the majority of viewers.

Myth: Hypnosis is bad for your health

Is it true: The trance state is natural for the psyche, and under hypnosis a person relaxes and calms down. In everyday life, people experience a state similar to a hypnotic trance when they relax after heavy mental work or neuropsychic stress, as well as when falling asleep.

Perhaps the most common question with which a specialist’s meeting with a patient begins is: why is hypnosis dangerous?

It should immediately be noted that there are contraindications, in the presence of which it is not recommended to be exposed to hypnotic and NLP techniques. The list includes: epilepsy, mental disorders - schizophrenia in various forms and hysteria, a tendency to seizures, as well as alcohol and drug intoxication, fever, acute poisoning.

Despite the fact that there is a successful practice of treating colds using Ericksonian hypnosis methods, people suffering from the indicated ailments should still refrain from the initial use.

At the mercy of the hypnotist

When speaking about the possible dangers of hypnosis, most patients mean the fear of being in the power of the hypnotist by turning off the person’s will. Such fears are unfounded and often far-fetched. Let's look at the main fears.

The help of a modern specialist is aimed at solving the problems of normal, mentally healthy people, which may be associated with getting rid of various types of fears, problems in building relationships, finding a partner, and others. Many ignorant people are influenced by stereotypes based on films and pop performances, which rarely correspond to the real state of affairs.

Why is hypnosis dangerous for the human psyche?

Any person, plunging into a state of trance, has the intention of adjusting certain details of his own psyche and making some improvements. At the same time, he has every right and opportunity to get out of this state at any time if he doesn’t like something - for example, the patient hears attitudes that strictly contradict him, or experiences physical discomfort.

Today on the Internet you can see videos in which a hypnotist puts women into a trance, has violent sex with her, and then brings her out of this state. The woman gets dressed as if nothing had happened and has absolutely no memory of what happened to her. However, experts deny the likelihood of such phenomena, the existence of which in nature is extremely unlikely.

Some may object, citing the example of gypsy hypnosis, with the help of which scammers take away valuables, money, and apartments from people. It is necessary to understand what gypsy hypnosis is. First of all, this is ordinary chattering aimed at overloading a person’s consciousness. As a rule, gypsies approach in a group - one demands to change money, the second asks something, the third picks you up, the fourth asks something else. Thus, a person’s consciousness is completely overloaded, and as a result, he himself does not remember how he was deceived by losing money.

Standard mind overload techniques are sometimes used to achieve greater effectiveness in individual therapy cases. To this end, the specialist begins to chatter the client or invites him to solve mathematical problems, make some kind of calculation, overloading his consciousness and achieving his shutdown.

An additional benefit of this practice is manifested in the formation of resistance in the patient, who has managed to immerse himself in a state of trance with the help of a specialist, to attempts to deceive by attackers somewhere on the street. Such a person is aware of the circumstances under which his brain begins to turn off and immersion in a trance occurs and, if there is trust, he does not resist, allowing himself to enter the desired state. If trust is absent, the person will not enter a trance state.

However, even while in a state of immersion, the patient can easily come out of it, feeling some physical or emotional discomfort. In practice, funny cases happen. So, the client, being in a trance state, unexpectedly came out of it, experiencing strong sexual arousal. Being deeply immersed, the young man decided to interrupt the session and independently came out of the trance. It is noteworthy that during the session, the patient, with the help of a specialist, dealt with the issue of searching for a relationship, and, at some point, the body naturally reacted.

Is hypnosis dangerous for humans?

There are fears that a hypnotist can instill in a person an obligation to carry out certain commands from a distance. This effect is called post-hypnotic suggestion and is characterized by the phenomenon when a person who comes out of a trance state, after some time, can begin to carry out certain instructions that he received during the immersion. In this case, it is necessary to understand that no one can connect to a person’s consciousness, but there is an attitude received by the patient during the session, which helps to gain confidence in certain circumstances and is part of the therapeutic correction of behavior.

In addition, any specialist values ​​​​his reputation and is not interested in using any dishonest methods that could harm the patient or leave an imprint on his professional activities. Submitting oneself to the will of another person is a responsibility that requires a colossal expenditure of one’s own time, effort and energy as a specialist to guide a person through life.

The task of a modern hypnotherapist is to help the patient mobilize his own reserves, direct him on the right path and get rid of aggravating circumstances that prevent the full manifestation of all his individual abilities. So why is hypnosis dangerous for a person?

Another common fear is to give all your money and property to a hypnotist under the influence of suggestion. It is based on the same gypsy hypnosis, the influence of which forces people to give all their money to attackers. The peculiarity of this effect is its temporary nature. Having woken up from hypnosis, victims turn to law enforcement agencies, and would-be hypnotists get themselves into trouble in the form of problems with the law.

A specialist who respects himself and his patients will never engage in such tricks due to moral and ethical principles, as well as the publicity that accompanies this type of activity, risking causing irreparable damage to his own reputation. True professionals use honest methods in their work that do not contradict the law. In addition, as mentioned above, a person who has experienced immersion in a trance state with the help of a specialist is practically not susceptible to attempts by scammers, understanding the whole mechanism of what is happening.

Is hypnosis dangerous for humans? Real life example

A striking example is the story of a client who turned to a hypnologist for help to solve a specific problem. The session was successful, the patient easily fell into a trance, solved his own problems with the support of a professional and safely emerged from the hypnotic state.

After a short amount of time, this man, during a meeting with a certain woman, felt familiar signs of influence. Understanding what was happening based on past experience, he turned off the state, managing to prevent an attempt to influence him at the subconscious level. Thus, the specialist’s session helped the patient not only solve the assigned tasks, but also protected him from the possible negative consequences of unwanted interference in his own psyche.

It is extremely important to take a responsible approach to choosing a hypnotherapist. You should definitely pay attention to whether he has professional certificates confirming his knowledge of the techniques. In addition, the specialist must engage in targeted activities in a specific area.

Dealing with the designated specifics - for example, relationships, medicine and others, the therapist works with tasks in which he has achieved mastery, provided by years of practice, special knowledge, and research into specifics from different angles.

Thus, a hypnologist practicing health improvement must have medical skills. A relationship specialist has extensive experience working with people, helping them build new relationships, understand existing ones and analyze past ones, help them make decisions about the advisability of continuing communication, returning former partners and ways to achieve the desired result.

A professional hypnologist in the field of gender interaction will help normalize your sex life, solve your own problems, get rid of negative attitudes, gain confidence, etc.

Any narrowly focused question that defines the specifics of a hypnotherapist’s activity actually includes a fairly wide range of related topics. The framework of intersexual relationships may well include harmonization of sleep with the help of hypnotic and meditative practices, motivation and increased self-confidence, and the search for one’s path in life.

An example of such a relationship is the desire of a client - a young man - to meet a girl, the problem in the implementation of which is low self-esteem. To get rid of the inhibitory factor, it is necessary to find out the direction of life, earning potential, and social desires. Solving all these issues will help increase self-esteem, grow in your own eyes and the eyes of others, arousing interest in the opposite sex. The same goes for women. You need to find yourself, your interests, dreams and ways to achieve them - this will allow you to reveal your own attractiveness. Such questions are interrelated, which is why hypnologists effectively address them in the context of a specific task.

Vlad Pozier | Relationship Psychologist

A practicing psychologist with extensive experience in the field of love relationships between a man and a woman will help you see and reveal personal qualities that are attractive to the opposite sex and use them when meeting and communicating with people you like.

During individual conversations with Vladimir Sokolov, you will not only get rid of complexes, but also be able to build new lines of your behavior. Under the sensitive guidance of this specialist, hundreds of people were able to realize the value of real relationships and get rid of the burden of past grievances and addictions.

The results of close communication with a psychologist will not keep you waiting long, as he is a professional in his field, masterfully using hypnotechnics and advanced psychotherapeutic techniques

It is not uncommon to read about the so-called risks associated with hypnosis. Personally, I have performed several thousand hypnosis sessions and have never encountered a dangerous situation. However, at the beginning of my activity, I made two mistakes and I will not hide it.

Once I suggested to a curious journalist that she had returned to childhood again and was only three years old.

The fact is that my son just turned three years old, and I arranged a meeting for him with a journalist. Although I didn’t tell him anything, the baby immediately realized that this big aunt was actually a small child. He took her with him to the children's room. I followed them and watched them play. They argued about toys, then made up again. I was forced to intervene only when the journalist definitely wanted to get into my little son’s wooden crib.

Then the journalist discovered the TV. The son explained how to turn the TV on and off, how to change programs. She was shocked, because in her childhood there were no televisions. She could not tear herself away from the fascinating process of turning on and off the TV and changing programs until I interrupted the experiment. And then I discovered that she did not react to my words, “ rapport" turned out to be violated.

Apparently I left her as a child for too long and she grew into the role. I tried various methods to establish contact, but all in vain. Then I resorted to the remedy that I had been taught for such cases - to remain calm and deepen the hypnosis.

Since she did not react to my words, I covered her eyes with my hands for a few seconds and gave the appropriate suggestion to deepen. When I removed my hand, my eyes remained closed. I suggested to her that I wanted to interrupt the hypnosis. Very slowly he began to add one year at a time, brought it up to her current age and ended with the words: “Now I will count to three again, you will open your eyes and feel fresh and rested. You are now 23 years old, and everything will be the same as it was before the experiment began. On the count of three, open your eyes and feel completely fine.” As soon as I said “three,” she opened her eyes. Everything was fine.

Once again I suggested to the patient that he could only practice self-hypnosis once in my presence. Whatever he tells himself will be as true as if I had said it. And he will strictly follow this. Since I was not present at this, it seemed to me that there would be no harm from such an experiment.

I told the patient that he could give his subconscious only one task, and at the same time he had to tell me what it was. But he did not listen and immediately inspired himself: “I will count to three and fall asleep, and nothing can wake me up.”

Before I could intervene, it had already happened. In an unwise act, he made a terrible mistake. With the last phrase, he removed the opportunity to rid himself of hypnosis.

I only had to further deepen his suggestion about sleep, and I began to guide the patient with the words: “You are sleeping soundly and deeply, very soundly and deeply, and no one will wake you up. Now you feel that you have had enough sleep and notice how you gradually begin to wake up. Nobody wakes you up, you wake up on your own. But now you are completely awake.” As soon as I said this, he opened his eyes.

I told the patient about his mistake. I managed to force his subconscious to carry out the order without contradicting my own suggestion, only because I recognized it and only continued the patient’s self-hypnosis.

The patient really wanted to repeat the experience without making the mistake he had made. I explained to him that this would not work, since the subconscious had previously been inspired that he would have the right to engage in self-hypnosis only once, and the second experiment would be ineffective. He couldn’t believe it, but no matter how hard he tried, nothing worked - after all, the subconscious strictly followed the expressed suggestion.

So the reader can see for himself that with the correct technique, such misfires are quite harmless. You just don’t need to suggest something that would contradict a previously expressed suggestion, because otherwise there will be a clash of two differently directed suggestions. In this case, it is preferable to pick up the suggestion already expressed, even strengthen it in order to eliminate internal resistance, and then gradually remove the experimental person from the state of hypnosis.

Dr. Felgeshi also talks about one unfortunate incident. A mother came to the appointment with her daughter, who had menstrual irregularities. Dr. Felgeshi hypnotized her and suggested that her menstruation would occur on a certain day at 12 noon. The mother insisted on being present during the hypnosis session. Exactly on the day prescribed by the doctor, the daughter started bleeding - but so did the mother! This means that the order given under hypnosis also had an effect on the mother, although she was only a witness and not a patient.

If we talk about the dangers of hypnosis, then I would say that the suggestion may not be removed sufficiently or completely.

The hypnotist's favorite experience is to give the test subject a glass of water and suggest that it is cognac. He reacts accordingly and becomes intoxicated.

A sufficiently active counter-suggestion relieves alcoholic intoxication, but if this suggestion is not pronounced properly, then it happens that a person becomes drunk every time he drinks a glass of water.

Word to the authorities

The most famous hypnotherapists exclude the possibility of the dangers of hypnosis.

Dr. Liebeau from Nancy, the founder of the doctrine of hypnosis as a method of therapy, wrote: “Many years of experience in the use of hypnotic suggestion gives me reason to assert that it, if used correctly, is much more effective than medical treatment. Unlike drug treatment, it is safe, its effect is quick and pleasant.”

Professor Brueggelmann from Paderborn: "To the question whether hypnosis can be dangerous, I must answer briefly - no."

Dr. Mole adds: “The cardinal issue is whether properly executed hypnotic suggestion poses a health hazard. My answer to this question is no.”

Dr. Ringier from Zurich: “I can only repeat what I have said many times, namely: I have never, in any case, encountered the harmful effects of hypnosis.”

Director Dr. Scholz from Bremen: “I have never heard any complaints about the harmful effects of hypnosis occurring in practice. These are just theoretical constructions of opponents of hypnotic methods.”

Professor Mobius: “Of course, there are doctors who are prejudiced against hypnosis, but these are precisely those people who have no personal experience in this area and who are limited to false conclusions.”

Professor Sutherland from Massachusetts: “How can doctors talk about dangers who are not themselves versed in hypnosis. Show them to me, and I will instill in them so that they never again stutter about the dangers of indoctrination.”

Dr. Otto Wetterstrand: “I predict a great future for hypnosis and can only join the opinion expressed by Professor Bernheim in his epochal work on suggestion, namely: suggestive therapy is one of the most valuable achievements of modern medicine.”

It can be added that the only danger is insufficient qualifications of the practicing hypnotist.

Hypnosis is a trance state through which the subject comes into contact with his own unconscious, and serves to treat pain and some physical disorders of psychological origin.

Let us study the methods by which the hypnotic state is induced, the practice and the positive effects by which hypnosis helps to cure certain ailments.

What is hypnosis - what is trance for?

Hypnosis – state of relaxation and short-term alienation from the world that surrounds us, including slower perception of the outside world, to focus on your inner world.

The hypnotic state occurs every day in the life of every person and is determined by the presence of a kind of internal rhythm called ultradic cycle, which governs the state of concentration and dispersal, which, depending on the characteristics of each individual person, can occur every half hour, every hour, every hour and a half, and so on.

The hypnotic state can manifest itself with various “symptoms”: yawning, sighing, difficulty concentrating, absent-mindedness, carelessness, tendency to rock in a chair, tapping fingers, etc.

Enter in state of hypnosis can a psychotherapist through a method called hypnotherapy, in which the subject is placed in a state of relaxation, alienation from the outside world, but with partial preservation of consciousness and active will.

Hypnosis used in therapeutic practice and is a valuable method in the treatment of pain and physical ailments, which have a psychological component related to the sphere of emotionality, such as anxiety, depression, as well as timidity and lack of self-esteem.

The benefits of hypnosis - what can be cured

Experts use the hypnosis method to solve a wide range of health problems, including:

• Control of painful moments. The subjective perception of pain increases with increasing states of anxiety, the elimination of which through hypnosis helps to reduce the perception of pain. In addition, chronic pain creates negative expectations in the subject, creating additional psychological suffering that can be removed by the practice of hypnosis.
• Limit and control pain and stress. Hypnosis helps the subject to maintain a state of calm, even during difficult times, by attributing the correct meaning to them.
• Treatment of phobias, that is, irrational fear of people, animals, objects (agoraphobia: fear of open spaces; arachnophobia: fear of spiders; claustrophobia: fear of enclosed spaces, etc.). The hypnotist's job is to help the patient change their perceptual filters so that they can live without the anxiety and fear that usually accompany it.
• Dependence on smoking and other substances. In this case, the therapist strengthens the feeling of abstinence, in other cases, redirects the addiction to healthier habits; at the same time, it increases awareness of the harm that smoking causes to the person himself and his family.
• Excessive shyness. For very timid people who are afraid to create social relationships, hypnosis helps to find creative resources in the subconscious, which will increase their self-esteem and experience situations in which the problem of shyness was solved without struggling with oneself.
• Eating problems. Eating disorders such as bulimia, anorexia, obesity are often associated with the emotional and mental sphere. Hypnosis can be effective for those suffering from an eating disorder because it can find the root of the disorder, change it, and return the person to normal behavior.

Hypnosis techniques - how to change perception

There are a lot of hypnosis methods and they are selected by the therapist depending on the theoretical and methodological orientation of the therapist, as well as depending on the problem and characteristics of the patient.

The most common methods of hypnosis are:

Traditional hypnosis

The typical state of trance and hypnosis is achieved using reading text. To induce a state of hypnosis, special words and voice are used.

The process consists of three stages:

• Preparing for hypnosis, which includes any techniques that allow you to achieve a trance state;
• A state of trance when the subject is not aware of the experience being experienced, is alienated from the external world and is directed towards the internal world;
• Awakening is when the therapist returns the patient to their natural state of consciousness.

Obviously, for hypnosis to work, the patient must completely trust the therapist.

Dynamic hypnosis

Unlike the traditional dynamic hypnosis uses additional elements such as gestures and symbols. The therapist makes gestures and noises to change the distance between the patient and himself to disorient the patient's perceptual abilities.

Tracing, which consists of repeating the patient's posture and orientation, is very effective with this method. After a series of repetitions of this type, the patient associates his reactions with the therapist and reproduces them automatically.

Dynamic hypnosis is based mainly on nonverbal communication, which is based on three archetypal symbols: “Rod”, “Circle” and “Triangle”.

This connection may be four different types:

• proximatics: hypnosis is achieved by rotating the body in space and maintaining patient-therapist positions
• kinesics: concerns body gestures, movements and postures
• digital which involves touching the patient's body
• paralinguistic, which is based on sounds that have no obvious meaning.

After the phase hypnosis induction the so-called hypnotic flash: The patient, in order to relieve accumulated tension, responds to a request made by the therapist, who tries to destroy the problem by replacing it with a new form of behavior.

At the end comes the stage restoration of a state of wakefulness, in which the patient returns to a state of active consciousness.

Regressive hypnosis

Another type of practice by which hypnotic trance is achieved is regressive hypnosis.

Hypnotic induction in a regressive hypnosis session is also carried out by a qualified therapist: the goal of such therapy is to return the patient to the traumatic experience that gives rise to the symptom, in order to change the influence he has on his current life.

Therapists who practice regression hypnosis claim that through this practice, patients can use very distant memories, in some cases even from past lives.

It must be said that in the scientific community many are skeptical about such statements: the memories that arise during a session, according to most scientists, are only vivid fantasies that have nothing to do with reality. Therefore, it is dangerous to use regressive hypnosis in highly suggestible or psychologically weak people.

More modern methods of hypnosis

Recently, hypnotherapy has once again become a very useful tool in clinical practice, thanks to the work of Milton Erickson. He developed a method of hypnotic technique, when a state called “expanded consciousness” is achieved, that is, a state of altered consciousness, which is not an alternative to the natural state of consciousness.

The therapist in this case does not look for motives, does not seek to find out “why”, he only stimulates the resources of the patient’s unconscious and uses them to force him to look for a new way of thinking and behaving in a situation that creates discomfort.

Where and when can hypnosis be performed?

Hypnosis is usually practiced in quiet environment and without additional sound stimulation, with soft lighting and a temperature not exceeding 20 degrees.

The walls of the room should have a certain color: blue, green, purple and pale pink, which directly affects the induction of a hypnotic state.

The best time for hypnosis is between 11 am and 5 pm and not too close to mealtimes.

Timing of the hypnotic course

The mode of therapeutic course in which hypnotherapy is used, as a rule, depends on the type of problems and the therapist (depending on his theoretical training. Sessions are carried out weekly or every two weeks; keeping the hypnotic state from 45 to 90 minutes.

Contraindications of hypnosis – when it is better not to practice

Having dispelled these myths, it must be said that hypnosis, as a rule, has no contraindications, but it is better to avoid it in some cases:

• In case of hypertension, hyperthyroidism and heart disease, because people with such pathologies do not tolerate strong emotions well;
• children and teenagers who do not yet have a well-defined individuality and hypnosis can disorient them.
• in the presence of serious mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, because in such individuals, mental problems are associated with chemical imbalances.