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, 32 MOMENTUM 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.