Hyped on Hypnosis : Inside the Mind with a Hypnotherapist
Hypnotherapy has been helping people overcome irrational fears and heal in other ways for ages but does it work ? Here , a look at how it can be used to treat anxiety and more .
Hypnosis comes from the Greek word ‘ hypnos ' — which means sleep — and has been used in some form by nearly all ancient cultures from Persia , China , Sumer , and India . In Egypt and Greece , the sick often went to healing centres known as sleep or dream temples to be cured by hypnosis . How is this age-old healing modality used today and is it a legit treatment for mental health conditions ?
You ’ ve likely heard about people who ’ ve quit smoking or lost weight with the help of hypnosis but if you ’ re envisioning staring at a swinging pocket watch or being magically compelled to kick the habit , that ’ s not what we ’ re talking about . People clucking like chickens or drinking hot sauce thinking it ’ s orange juice is the stuff of late-night TV and is known in the field as stage hypnosis .
Hypnotherapy is a well-studied treatment modality 1,2 with quite a bit of clinical data to support it . In fact , Milton H . Erickson , MD , the psychiatrist who introduced hypnosis to the American Psychological Association back in the 1950s , had more than 10,000 case studies .
When delivered by a licensed practitioner , hypnotherapy can be an effective and complementary therapeutic tool for a host of issues ranging from
anxiety , stress , and pain to weight loss and yes , smoking cessation . ( Some psychologists and therapists receive training , too , finding it a useful add-on to more traditional forms of
therapy .)
To better understand how hypnotherapy works , we have connected with
Susan Holman a seasoned clinical hypnotherapist and neuro-