The more you understand about hypnotherapy the more effective it is likely to be.

•Hypnosis is a special way of using various naturally-occurring psychological and physiological states.  It’s a collaborative process in which you allow yourself to follow the guidance of the therapist by using your imagination to evoke positive emotions and rehearse behaviour change

•Everyone can, in principle, be hypnotised.  It has been shown to help if you relax, think positively and imagine the things being suggested.

•Hypnotic trance, so-called, is an increased ability to respond to positive suggestions, usually accompanied simply by relaxed attention to the ideas being suggested.

•Hypnosis is definitely not unconsciousness or a state of sleep (even though we may use the word ‘sleep’ in the induction of hypnosis).  Roughly 90% of people report being aware of everything that happens, and relaxation helps but it is not essential to hypnosis.

•Hypnosis is definitely not a state of mind control.  You cannot be made to do anything against your will.  On the contrary, normally you must want to accept suggestions and actively imagine responding to experience their effects.

•Hypnosis is completely safe when used in a responsible and professional manner.  Nobody has ever been ‘stuck’ in hypnosis.

•Stage hypnosis has very little to do with clinical hypnotherapy and has been shown to foster misconceptions which prevent people from benefiting from the sessions.  Take what you see on TV with a generous pinch of salt.

• Hypnotic suggestion is a means of experiencing certain helpful ideas at a level profound enough to directly influence our emotions and behaviour.

•Psychological and emotional problems can be seen as the result of negative thinking, whereas hypnotherapy aims to encourage (‘suggest’) positive ideas which lead to improvement.

•Hypnotherapy usually needs more than one session.  However it is probably the briefest form or therapy and in clinical studies the average number of sessions was around 4 – 6.

•Thousands of positive experimental and clinical research studies have been published on hypnosis.  It was recognised as an effective treatment by the British Medical Association (BMA) and the American Medical Association (AMA) in the 1950’s and more recently by the American Psychological Association (for obesity) and the NICE guidance (for IBS) used by the NHS.

•Hypnosis is a simple down to earth, common sense therapy.  For example, by relaxing, thinking positively and picturing your goals, hypnosis can help you to progressively improve your habitual feelings and behaviour.