new and nervous!

[ECHOES]

Hello to all. I was so surprised to find this site and I'm glad that I did. I was searching for info on hypnotherapy. I have been doing guided imagery with my psychologist for a month or so. I thought this was just for relaxation but she told me last week that the guided imagery would become hypnosis. For some reason, even though I love the guided imagery and ordered several CD's that have guided imagery, meditation, and autgenics on them, when my therapist said "hypnosis", it rattled me.

Looking back to the last couple of guided imageries, and after reading about hypnosis/trances, I beleive we have been close or have already done some kind of hypnosis. I remember her suggestion of warmth in my arms and how warm and heavy they felt. The last two times when I opened my eyes I felt euphoric and as if I was kind of floating. It lasts several days most of the time.

My treatment is for trauma, anxiety, depression. It seems odd to me that we don't talk a great deal like I have in other therapies. But I do like the results of what we are doing. I am looking forward to longer lasting results as we continue. I can't beleive I am saying this because if she had tried to tell me of the sucesses I've had I would not have been able to believe her. This is amazing.

Yes I will finally get to a point... lol.
I'm looking for feedback from anyone, but particularly from anyone who has used hypnosis/hypnotherapy for treatment of trauma, anxiety and/or depression and how it helped (or didn't).
And, still being quite scared I am asking what is it like to get to issues or memories that are too hard to talk about without hypnosis? I cannot talk about some things and I'm afraid of where this will go, what I will feel like, if I will then be able to talk about these events, what I will feel like when the session is over.

Thanks in advance for your reassurances and for sharing if you can!

ECHOES :cool:

[Poodle]

First we can't comment because we don't know the hypnosis skills of your psychologist and even if we did it would be very bad to comment upon them ethically. Anxiety is a medical word we don't work with. We work with feelings and behaviours. Thank you for mentioning it. I was going to look up autogenics tonight as I have a client that just returned from California and the relative did autogenics hypnosis. Hypnosis is simply the by-pass of the critical factor. Whether one uses guided imagery, metaphors (stories) or makes direct or indirect suggestions it is hypnosis. If the critical factor is not by-passed you have just had a nice time relaxing. CD's usually don't work well but occasionally one can find one that works just perfectly. Hypnosis works well on clinical depression too. As for the trauma, I would ask my provider for a referral to someone that practices Time Line Therapy. You lived through it once. That was more than sufficient and there is no reason to make you recall it in detail now. The world of hypnosis and techniques is constantly evolving. Wishing you the very best and a speedy return to fantastic health and happiness. Pood

PS -- Why not change nervous to excited? A lot more fun that way!

[skip]

"I'm looking for feedback from anyone, but particularly from anyone who has used hypnosis/hypnotherapy for treatment of trauma, anxiety and/or depression and how it helped (or didn't)."

It works beautifully and fast for all these issues from both a providers standpoint and a 'users' standpoint, in skilled hands.

I would suspect that your concerns about hypnosis stem from a stereotyped notion of hypnosis that isnt anything at all like genuine hypnosis.

Forget hollywood and stage hypnosis claims and think about gaining focus and clarity and control instead of losing it. That would be more accurately put.

cheers,

skip

[Merlin]

Hi there,
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c344/Myhrrhleine2/smilies/welcome.gif
Hypnosis is just a word describing a learning method. It get's blockages like doubt and disbelief out of the way momentarily so that one can learn a new behaviour.

[Terry (existing)]

You ask primarily for reassurances, and though you have come to the best source of information, I must confess I find that rather amusing. You say you have already experienced benifits from your treatment, so how come you wish for comfirmation that it works from a group of total strangers. Surely you must have a great deal of trust in your local therapist by now, so what more can strangers tell you? Hypnosis regardless of what you have heard, is probably the most powerful therapy when done by a skilled person. As for what it will be like for you when you get to the nitty gritty parts you fear, well most likely that is why you are being eased into it instead of being taken directly to the problem and dealing with it quickly. Nobody here will interfer with an existing therapy condition, it is a matter of ethics., but it sounds like your therapist is being very cautious, and based on your need to confirm, I can understand that, and repect their greater knowledge of you.

[Stoic]

Hypnosis is amazing! Theres no need for doubt, just do it and enjoy it with confidence!
I love these success stories! Good luck, and let us know how it feels after you overcome what you will overcome both consciously and unconsciously!

[Jack]

Yep, it works, whatever we choose to call it.:)

As for uncomfortable memories, most professional
hypnotherapists have ways of enabling your subconscious
to explore those old memories and emotions without
you feeling anything other than mild discomfort. In fact
it can be done without any discomfort at all, and
without you being aware that you have dealt with the
hard stuff.

Of course, you will be aware that you feel so much better!

So, you can relax. If you like and trust your therapist then
all will be well.

Jack