Rebecca Darling BCH, SWC is the owner of 1000 islands Hypnosis and consults individually with clients.

613 384-2229 info@darlingassociates.ca

What can hypnosis help with?
Hypnosis helps change attitudes, which is the key to changing behavior. With hypnosis, a person is empowered, and independent enough to solve his/her own problems with reinforcement and encouragement. With hypnosis a person can change behaviors that would otherwise seem difficult.
 
Hypnosis can also improve your essential experience of life, in all its circumstances.  The study of hypnotic phenomena is now properly held within the domain of normal cognitive science, with papers on hypnosis published in many major scientific and medical journals. Newest clinical research findings reveal, however, that hypnosis and hypnotic suggestion, when used properly, can powerfully alter cognitive processes as diverse as memory and pain perception.
 
Hypnosis is not:  talk therapy, advising, diagnosing or prescribing. That would be the domain of other professionals, licensed to counsel. The hypnotist's job is to assist the subject to achieve those natural states of mind where deep relaxation and change can best happen.
 
Is hypnosis real? If so, how does it work?
It’s real.  Exactly how it works is unclear. Over the past few years, researchers have found that when someone is hypnotized, they actively respond to suggestions, even though they sometimes might perceive the dramatic changes in thought and behavior they experience as happening "by themselves." During hypnosis, it is as if the brain temporarily suspends its efforts to validate incoming sensory information, allowing new behaviors and thoughts to occur. And, some people are more hypnotizable than others, although scientists still don't know why.
 
Is hypnosis medically approved?
Hypnosis was first officially recognized as a viable therapeutic tool by the British Government through the Hypnotism Act in 1952. Then, in 1958 both the British and the American Medical Associations (AMA) sanctioned the official use of hypnosis by physicians. In 1958, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) also approved hypnosis for use by professionally responsible individuals.
 
Prestigious hospitals in the U.S. now use and teach hypnosis, such as Stanford University School of Medicine in San Francisco, the Beth Israel Medical Center in Boston, and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
 
What is hypnosis like?
Hypnosis is not a state of deep sleep but one of heightened awareness. There is a feeling of well-being, and the acceptance of new ideas that are not in conflict with personal values. The hypnotic state is like meditation, where the body is relaxed and the mind has a heightened awareness. The ability to vocalize is limited, and the limbs feel leaden or light, tingly or somewhat numb. The perception of time may be distorted where an hour might seem like just a few minutes.
 
Who can be hypnotized?
Most people can be hypnotized, and different people go into hypnosis in different ways. Part of the hypnotist's job is to identify what approach will work best for which subject. Those who have trouble trusting the hypnotist or the process, may take more time to go into a hypnotic state, and may not enjoy as many benefits.

There is a common idea that those with 'a strong will' cannot be hypnotized. It has been shown that intelligent people can be hypnotized faster because they have greater access to their imagination, and can follow instructions. In fact, those with an extremely low intelligence cannot be hypnotized at all. The biggest prerequisite to someone being able to be hypnotized is their willingness.
 
 
Sources and reference:  Tom Nicoli, BCH, CI
Website: www.worldhypnotismday.com   

 
 Member in good standing with the National Guild of Hypnotists