Hypnotherapy

 

“Our client’s problem is that they have lost rapport with their unconscious mind. Our job is to help restore that relationship."

- Dr. Milton Erickson, founder of Ericksonian Hypnotherapy

​

Most of us treat the unconscious mind as a bit of a nuisance. 

​

The thoughts that distract us. 

​

The compulsions that tug at us. 

​

The fear that haunts us. 

​

The emotions we try to suppress. 

​

Hypnotherapy isn't about making people do funny tricks (that's stage hypnosis which is a different thing). 

​

It is actually about restoring a positive relationship with your unconscious mind. 

​

Anyone who has ever had a food craving they couldn't ignore, a word that just popped out of their mouth, a habit they couldn't break, or a dream that shook them to their bones, knows how unbelievably strong the unconscious mind is. 

​

How much would your life change if that power worked for you, instead of against you? How would your health, happiness, work and relationships change?

​

That is what hypnotherapy is. The beginning of peace talks and negotiations between two warring nations: the conscious mind and the unconscious mind. 

 

David Gill is a qualified Ericksonian Hypnotherapist, which is a branch of hypnotherapy that has a few points of difference from classical hypnotherapy: 

​

• Light: trances and hypnosis are used more often than deep trance  (in a light trance you are fully conscious and play an active role and it's often conversational; by contrast we use deep trance for specific purposes such to quit smoking, for example, but get your permission first).

• Gentle: In a light trance, instead of ordering the unconscious what to do, we work with it and befriend it.

• Holistic: the belief is that you're already in a trance (e.g. an anxiety trance, an addiction trance, an anger trance), and the goal is to change the trance to something useful. 

• Metaphor: language, imagery and the nuance of words are the key in the lock to the unconscious mind.

​

According to The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Dr. Erickson believed his system of hypnotherapy was a way for people to extend their limits. Suffering from polio in both his teenage years and adulthood, he spent much of his life doing just that: extending his own limits, from disease and pain, to freedom.

​

EXAMPLES of sessions in clinical hypnotherapy might be applied to:

 

• feeling anxious, fearful, or worried

• compulsive or and addictive behaviour

• habits and unhealthy behaviours 

• low-self confidence 

• fears & obsessive habits

• quitting smoking

• to assist with pain 

 

RESEARCH:

​

• A medical case study published in the scientific journal "Acta Bio-Medica" in 2017 of a child with selective mutism found that Ericksonian Hypnosis over 3 months lead to the complete remission of mutism symptoms. 

• According to an article in The Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy and Hypnosis in 2009, Ericksonian Hypnotherapy can help with quitting smoking by creating "change from the inside-out, enabling a client to tap in to the endless stream of healing energy that flows within the mind-body connection."

• A small study in 2012 by researchers from Bakirköy Education and Training Hospital in Turkey found that Ericksonian Hypnotherapy was effective for treating the symptoms of tinnitus. 

• A study in 2007 by researchers from the University of Liège in Belgium found that Ericksonian Hypnotherapy (especially using self-hypnosis) was very effective in treating tinnitus pain.

• A 2007 study compared support groups for people with chronic health conditions: one group with standard support group model, and another group with Ericksonian Hypnotherapy model. Both groups were found to be highly effective in improving health & goal attainment in participants.

• Researchers from Tel Aviv University published 3 case studies in 2001, showing that Ericksonian Hypnotherapy was highly effective in treating adolescents with trichotillomania - a condition where there is a compulsion to pull out your own hair. Standard psychotherapy is ineffective for this condition. 

• A study in 2007 on patients with fibromyalgia by researchers from the Centro Médico Nacional Ignacioi García Téllez in Mexico, found that Ericksonian Hypnotherapy was effective after 3-4 months of treatment in reducing tender points.

• A study published in The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis in 2008 wanted to compare the effectiveness of Ericksonian Hypnotherapy with Brief Dynamic Therapy (a common treatment in used in standard psychotherapy). Ericksonian Hypnotherapy and Brief Dynamic Therapy were found to be equally as effective as each other. 

• A 1992 study found a combination of Eriksonian Hypnotherapy and NLP coaching was more effective than traditional counseling for marriage and relationship therapy.

• Other published medical case studies have found Ericksonian Hypnosis effective for sexual dysfunction, emotional difficulties in children, and intractable shoulder pain.