Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy: A Modern Approach to Hypnosis.

What is Hypnotherapy?

Did you know that Hypnosis for therapeutic purposes, otherwise known as hypnotherapy, is the oldest form of psychotherapy? Sigmund Freud was known to have used hypnosis with his clientele before introducing psychoanalysis.

Clinical Hypnotherapy is an approach to stress and anxiety that is evidence-based and well researched, as well as for pain management and insomnia. Evidence suggests that hypnotherapy is especially strong within a cognitive behavioural model and so the integrative approach I take is brief and effective.  

Hypnosis can be thought of as the focused attention upon a certain psychological event such as a thought pattern within a specific situation. It is a tool for change and so you need to feel motivated and supported to see the journey through to a new way of thinking. 

The ‘hypnotic mindset’ is actually a skill acquisition regime that requires guidance, implementation and practice to master. Once mastered, you become your own therapist and so transformations are long-lasting. 

Hypnotherapy has nothing to do with stage hypnosis or how the media portrays hypnotism. You will not be ‘controlled’ or manipulated to do or say anything you don’t want to. The way hypnosis is experienced is that you are guided through a series of specially designed verbal requests and you are encouraged to follow them ‘as if’ they were really happening.

I like to think of hypnotherapy as imagination therapy as you are utilising your own mental resources to effect change, which is powerful and leads to enduring changes in mindset.

Hypnotherapy differs from other talking therapies in that it is brief, that is you only need 4-10 sessions depending on the therapy goals. Hypnotherapy is a solution-focused approach with minimal focus on the past or childhood experiences. What creates change is an understanding of both how the issue originated but also how it is currently maintained. 

Does Hypnotherapy Work?

If your goal is to feel more confident, more relaxed and more positive? Then I’m pleased to say that yes hypnotherapy works. As with any therapeutic practice, it works better when you have chemistry with the therapist and you believe that change is available to you.

Is Hypnosis Real?

Hypnosis as a therapeutic tool is real. You might recognise the experience of being on autopilot when driving to a familiar place or completing a routine without having to consciously think about what you are doing. This feeling of flow is similar to that sensation of starting to wake up but not being fully awake, or of drifting off to sleep but still being able to hear and think clearly. 

You are in complete control when you are in hypnosis, it is not a trance-like state. When you are guided to clear your mind and focus on a task, you will find that you become more aware of your inner experiences and in turn you will be able to take control of your thoughts, feelings and habits.

What is Self-Hypnosis?

Self-hypnosis is the learning of a routine that helps you focus your attention onto your inner world and gain clarity about what’s going on in your mind. You can learn through quietening your mind to become a detached observer of your thoughts, feelings and actions. 

Why take a Cognitive Behavioural approach to Hypnotherapy?

Understanding thoughts, feelings and behaviours is something that hypnotherapists have done for decades. What makes CBH more contemporary is that we integrate other so-called ‘third wave’ psychological approaches such as Mindfulness and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT).

You experience thoughts, but you are not your thoughts. Thoughts are simply neurological events that are neutral, they are neither positive nor negative. It is the meaning that you place upon them that gives them their power. 

When you learn through hypnotherapy that you can create distance between yourself and your thoughts, they start to have less of an effect on you. This can help you alter your thoughts, accept your feelings and allow you to have more control over your experience.

Ultimately, you can learn to live life more in the present moment, aware of your interactions within your relationships and be more productive at work as you develop more emotional and physiological regulation.

You can stop yourself becoming overwhelmed by anger, anxiety or fear simply by learning to be more aware of your triggers and developing simple coping mechanisms that will quickly bring stress relief to your mind and body.

What makes CBH different from CBT or Psychotherapy?

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy (CBH) are based on similar fundamental principles of changing the way you think, feel and act all influence each other. However when you discover CBH, there is simply much more space to practice relaxation therapy techniques and the overall benefits that hypnosis can give you such as strengthening your ego and heightening your motivation to change. That is to say, hypnosis can actually cement the ideas and changes CBT brings so that you have long lasting change. 

Psychotherapy is an umbrella term for talking therapies and hypnotherapy is classed as a form of psychotherapy. However Psychotherapy and CBT are more appropriate for more severe or enduring diagnosable mental health issues that are significantly affecting your functioning in life. Please visit your doctor if you believe that you are experiencing a crisis in your mental health.

Hypnotherapy is an extremely useful approach to making improvements to your life if stress, anxiety, chronic pain, unhelpful habits, social confidence, phobias, insomnia or other types of issues are stopping you from living the best version of you. 

Often hypnotherapy is used by life coaches, psychotherapists and other types of therapists to bring about change and improve your quality of life. Hypnosis is not something to be feared and is in fact a wonderfully calm and relaxing approach to exploring situations and experiences that might otherwise be stressful or anxiety-provoking.

Whilst in a completely relaxed environment, you can safely dig deeper into your self-understanding and self-awareness, noticing patterns of thought and behaviour that normally may feel too uncomfortable to talk about in a higher-stress state of being. 

To find out more about how hypnotherapy can help you feel more like yourself, book a free initial consultation with me today here.

Rachel x