Momentum - Business to Business Online Magazine MOMENTUM February 2020 | Page 34
SELF HELP
OLAN J. LATIN. MA, LPC
Insight Life Counseling
17625 El Camino Real, Suite 220
Webster, Texas 77058
832-846-6206 | [email protected]
HYPNOSIS as an
Alternative Treatment
T
here are a number of alternative treatments
to medications today as many clients are
resistant to taking psychotropic medications.
Psychotropic medications are those that affect
a person’s mental state. Although there are
benefits of psychotropic medications, therapists should
be cautious in referring a client to see a psychiatrist for
such medications. It is a well-known fact that people in
the US make up five percent of the world population,
yet take fifty percent of the prescription drugs. Many of
these drugs may not be psychotropics, but it is evident
that America is by far the most overmedicated country
in the world.
Many clients desire a more holistic approach to
treatment and want to stay away from medications if
possible. They are resistant to seeing a psychiatrist
and are much more open to alternative methods of
treatment. There are a number of alternative therapies
such as hypnosis, aromatherapy, acupressure,
reiki (channeling energy), massage, music therapy,
spiritual faith, acupuncture, EMDR (eye-movement
desensitization and reprocessing), yoga and
mindfulness. This is not an exhaustive list, but it sheds a
light on some of the alternative ways to look at mental
health and healing. The focus of this article will be on
hypnosis.
Hypnosis first came into prominence in therapy by
Sigmund Freud. He discovered the importance of the
unconscious through this technique. Under hypnotic
suggestion patients would perform actions without
even knowing it. When Freud no longer had the
patient under hypnotic suggestion and continued the
therapeutic session, patients would often become aware
of wishes and memories previously buried. Freud used
this method to recover suppressed memories and to
make things in the unconscious come to the conscious.
Hypnosis has now come a long way since Freud. In his
days, there was not empirical data that hypnosis really
worked other than Freud’s own observations. This was
such a factor that he began to stray away from hypnosis
in his later years. Today hypnosis is recognized as a
viable technique to be used in psychotherapy, dentistry,
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and medicine. It is also accepted by the American,
Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological
Association, and the American Medical Association. It
has been utilized to assist a number of ailments such
as high blood pressure, morning sickness, psoriasis,
and the pain and side effects of chemotherapy to name
a few. Hypnosis has also proven to be successful in
treating severe insomnia, some phobias, and multiple
personality disorder. Hypnosis is being used a great
deal in the psychodynamic arena and for patients with
significant psychopathology, including borderline and
narcissistic personality disorder.
Although there have been significant strides in terms
of the usefulness of hypnosis, it also has its drawbacks.
Research shows that hypnosis is generally not used in
isolation as a stand-alone treatment, but rather is more
appropriately employed as an adjunct to emerging and
well-established psychotherapies. Another problem
with hypnosis is that only 1 in 7 people fall into the
range of what is deemed hypnotizable, thus not being
an option for the majority of population.