find a hypnotherapist

Hypnosis is an art form that almost defies categories and types. There are almost as many types of hypnosis as there are hypnotists. It is almost like fingerprints. Every person that is hypnotized requires a little bit different method. This makes it complicated to define the types of hypnosis. But for purposes of discussion and to better understand hypnosis, it helps to break it down into a couple of prominent types.

One very helpful way to categorize hypnosis is by the approximate historical development of the styles of hypnosis. Looked at this way, the three types of hypnosis are: Traditional hypnosis, Ericksonian hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (or NLP for short).

Traditional hypnosis fits the old fashioned stereotype that most of us have for stage hypnosis. The hypnotist brings you into a trance using fairly straightforward scripts. Once you are hypnotized he may test you with a few questions or suggestions. When he is sure you are under he will have you do whatever fits the agenda. In other words, why were you hypnotized in the first place? If it is a stage show, he will probably have you do something silly or embarrassing. If the purpose was therapy, the therapist might be exploring for answers or he might make direct suggestions. For example, he might ask you why you started smoking cigarettes when you first started or he might simply tell you to stop smoking. Again, everything is straightforward in traditional hypnosis. There is no hidden agenda. No hidden meaning inside a story with this type of hypnosis. Traditional hypnosis is mostly concerned with the trance induction. It does not have a lofty therapeutic or ethical goal.

For therapy, traditional hypnosis still has a place. It works great on people who tend to believe everything a doctor tells them. No questions asked. But for people who are skeptical about hypnosis it usually does not work.

Milton Erickson developed Ericksonian hypnosis in the 1960's and 70's. It pretty much follows the same trance induction methods used by traditional hypnosis. However, the methods of suggestion are totally different. Ericksonian hypnosis uses story telling to influence the patient's mind. These stories are called metaphors. Nothing is obvious in Ericksonian hypnosis. Meaning and suggestions are hidden or embedded in a story. Erickson found that by using metaphors it is much easier to get past the critical, questioning part of a patient's mind. The metaphors go straight to the patient's unconscious mind and are much more influential as a result.

NLP is a relatively recent development in the history of hypnosis. Strictly speaking, NLP is not a form of hypnosis. It is actually more a philosophy of how the mind works. But hypnosis plays such a big role in NLP that it is almost always considered a type of hypnosis. NLP is a science that studies how language can program our subconscious minds. It is straightforward and practical like traditional hypnosis. However, it is much deeper and more modern in its understanding of how the mind works.

There are many other ways to break down hypnosis into types. Group hypnosis, self-hypnosis and individual hypnosis are all different types of hypnosis. Grouping it by purpose is also interesting. Sometimes hypnosis is used to change people. Sometimes it is for entertainment. Sometimes just to find things out. Some hypnotists even claim to be able to age regress you to discover past lives. But placing all of those under the three headings of Traditional hypnosis, Ericksonian hypnosis and NLP is the best way to get all of hypnosis under one umbrella.

Hello and Welcome

Buenos noches

my dear reader I hope you'll like my posts. I'll talk mostly about mastering hypnosis.

“The Hypnosis Experience” is an audio CD set by Eric Greenleaf, a hypnotherapist and director and founder of the Milton H. Erickson Institute of the Bay Area. It contains 2 CDs, the first CD covers the topics of “Using the Resources of the Unconscious Mind” and “Experiencing Useful Trance” . The second CD covers the topics of “Tuning the Body” and “A Pharmacy of Emotions” . All you need to play them is a regular CD player. Before I get into the review, I thought I'd let you know that I have formally studied hypnotherapy and therefore I may use terms without explaining them.

I must confess from the start that I found it very difficult to listen to this CD set. The first time I listen to any sort of CD, whether its music or even if its an instructional CD, I try to just relax and go with it. I don't spend too much of my energy analyzing the product. However when I listened to this CD set I found it very hard to just relax and listen. For starters the sound quality was very poor. I could hear the following noises clearly:

1. Pages being turned
2. A squeaky noise. Maybe a microphone being adjusted?
3. The sound of saliva moving around Eric's mouth as he talked (disgusting!)

Background music was not used in this CD set, which is unusual because it is quite common for hypnosis CD's to have background music to promote relaxation. However the only music on these tracks was at the very beginning before Eric began to talk and at the very end of the track. This was a real shame, because music might have helped mask some of the background noise.

Another thing that really annoyed me was Eric's meandering approach. It is possible that Eric was trying to utilize a very Ericksonian technique of speaking in a way that overloads the conscious mind, so that the unconscious mind comes to the fore. However for me Eric's approach was just plain confusing. On all tracks the first half seemed to be dedicated to information concerning the topic of the track. Then at about the half way point Eric would say something like “I'd like you to just let your mind roam in time and space” and you would think to yourself, “Oh ok so now I'm being hypnotized”. But often Eric would start like this and then just end up rambling on with more information again. It was incredibly hard to tell whether Eric was delivering a lecture or actually trying to hypnotize me. I also found that Eric's way of pausing between words was quite disjointed, which made it difficult to focus on his message.

Now to the question of value for money. I bought my copy of “The Hypnosis Experience” from the Human Condition Bookstore for $69.00 AUD and I really couldn't say it was worth the money. I mean it's not an incredibly expensive CD set, however it was an incredibly disappointing CD set.

Now comes the part where I address the question of whether or not the product met it's claims. This was actually a lot harder to judge than I would have thought, mainly because of the vague nature of the claims made. So the claims made about the CD were that I would learn how to:
1. Develop a natural approach to meeting your goals. - Well I did not find it easier to achieve my goals, which is what I imagine developing “a natural approach to meeting your goals” is all about.
2. Trust yourself. - I took this to mean self-belief, which I think would manifest itself through confidence. I wouldn't say that I noticed any difference in my self-confidence.
3. Truly listen to your body. - Really wasn't too sure what this even meant. But I'll hazard a guess that it relates to your ability to monitor your bodies internal processes. I took myself through a few exercises for listening to my breathing, heart rate etc and found no improvement in my ability to do this.
4. Tap into your unconscious resources. - Ok now this was the hardest of all the claims to measure. So I'll just be honest and say I didn't even know where to start with this.
5. Enhance and expand your self-communication. - I took this to mean being able to communicate intentionally to the unconscious mind, which I would usually do through self-hypnosis. Again this did not seem to improve.
6. Effectively get out of your own way. - Again I think this has to do with goal achievement, but I'm not sure.
Also according to Eric, you will apparently “Experience fewer symptoms and fewer troubles”. This is a pretty hard claim to measure. The question I have to ask is fewer symptoms of what? I guess in many ways the vague language that is used in hypnosis itself sometimes is being used in Eric's marketing strategy as well.

Now I am willing to admit that there are quite a few potential criticisms of my review. For example, it is possible that I didn't listen to the CD set enough times (I listened to it all the way through on four consecutive days). Another potential criticism of my review is that I didn't really understand how to measure any effects the CD may have had on me. However in my defense the best I can do is be honest. So to be brutally honest, this CD set was incredibly disappointing and I would not recommend it to anyone, especially not to people who have never experienced hypnosis.