The Real Truth About Hypnosis
31 Frequently Asked Questions and Answers!
(page 4 of 4)
By Dianne Ruth, CCH, PhD
A sudden distraction can cause temporary hypnotic amnesia, memory loss or
forgetfulness.
A common example of this is when a commercial suddenly
interrupts a television program during an emotionally charged scene. You are
still oriented to the movie.
Meanwhile, the commercial is attempting to sell
a posthypnotic suggestion to the behavioral part of your unconscious mind to
buy the advertised product, either now or later.
Also, when someone bumps into you in a crowd causing you to feel momentarily
disoriented, beware! This is how pickpockets thrive.
The hypnotherapist can also create temporary amnesia through similar methods
of distraction or using a verbal confusion technique. The emphasis is on the
word “temporary.”
When this takes place, memory is momentarily suspended;
however, it generally spontaneously returns in a very brief time, often in
just a few moments.
If the change you seek is a behavior or habit, you will need to access the
subconscious or inner mind. All habits, emotional response patterns,
attitudes and beliefs are in the inner mind.
“Talk therapy” communicates
with the conscious mind, not your subconscious. Change can happen; however
it takes a lot longer than using hypnotherapy to talk directly to the
subconscious, unconscious or inner mind.
No. Hypnotherapy is a powerful process for modifying behavior, making
alternative improvements, and enhancing personal growth and development. It
can be a complementary adjunct to psychological or medical treatments. It is
not a replacement.
Until recently, many people have only known about hypnosis as a form of
stage entertainment or from movies that left much to the imagination or were
pure fantasy. As a result, there have been many misconceptions about the
benefits of hypnotherapy.
Once most people learn about the value of hypnotherapy, and how powerful it
can be for relieving suffering, and for promoting personal growth such as
maximizing one’s performance, they are eager to try it.
A powerful movement reviving more humane and natural health processes is
gaining ground. Our traditional system supports surgery and “take a pill” to
make symptoms go away.
Standard psychotherapy generally takes up to several
years to get any measurable results, and then the results may only be
mediocre at best.
Hypnotherapy is one of those ancient techniques that is
gaining new respectability in the healthcare community.
No, a hypnotist or hypnotherapist cannot make you do anything against your
will, or anything that is against your personal morals or ethics.
If a
suggestion is made by the hypnotherapist that goes against a personal
belief, you will simply disregard or ignore it. Your mind has natural
defenses against unacceptable suggestions. It will always protect itself.
Yes, you will wake up. Most everyone will come out of the hypnotic trance
state when the hypnotherapist makes the suggestion for them to do so.
Occasionally, a person is enjoying the euphoria and incredible relaxation so
much that they choose to remain in this state for as long as possible
because it feels so good.
Usually, when the hypnotherapist stops talking for
a while, the person becomes aware of the silence and comes back to the
present on his or her own.
At the outside, if the person is not immediately responsive to the
hypnotherapist’s suggestion to wake up and return to the present, the person
will drift into a normal sleep state and then wake up naturally. Nobody ever
gets “stuck” in hypnosis!
During the session, if there is an emergency, or you no longer want to
participate, you can easily awaken yourself at any time.
Many people, religions, and philosophies believe in reincarnation or past
lives. There has been a wealth of documented and verified cases giving
evidence of past life recall discovered through hypnosis.
There are tons of
books written on the subject and movies made with reincarnation as a theme.
At one time, the majority of the earth’s population believed in
reincarnation.
Reincarnation is a belief and therefore subjective. Proving the existence of
it can be cloudy at best.
I once had a young man by the name of Rick come to me with a fear of flying.
He wanted to be hypnotized to find out why.
He described his fear as a huge
crushing pressure on his chest and having trouble breathing when the plane
would take off.
Guiding him into a comfortable trance state, I suggested
that his unconscious mind would be able to go back to the event that created
this fear.
Rick’s voice suddenly became that of a hysterical young boy as he described
his petrifying experience of going through a near drowning where he felt as
if his chest was going to explode.
He was subsequently rescued by his
father. He was 12-years-old. He and his family had been out on their boat in
a harbor for a relaxing Sunday outing when he fell overboard. This event
took place in the 17th century.
I helped him do some release work right then
to clear the memory of the negative emotions that had kept him stuck in the
past.
When he came back to present time, he was stunned. He commented that the
memory felt so completely and frighteningly real; however, he had never been
a believer in reincarnation–at least, not until he had that experience!
The
positive outcome was that he was able to fly in a plane with total enjoyment
and without any discomfort from then on.
The question is, did his unconscious mind make up that memory to explain his
symptoms? Does it really matter? Whether it was real or not, in
hypnotherapy, the goal of helping the client achieve healing, relief and
resolution is what really counts.
There is no guarantee that all information given under hypnosis is real or
accurate. Some people are able to easily fabricate and lie
under hypnosis.
The skilled hypnotist or hypnotherapist will have ways to know if the
subject is lying, however. Actually, a person can even lie after an
injection of truth serum.
Other situations include inaccuracies of subjective memory. For example,
three friends can be standing on a corner and witness an auto accident. Each
will have a different perspective and may recall different details.
A video
camera may have also captured the incident. People who later watch the video
may also have different reactions and interpretations! Accuracy in memory
can be questionable at best.
The idea that some people can be coaxed into “remembering” past events that
never took place has become the platform for some groups to discredit claims
of childhood sexual abuse that sometimes comes up during psychotherapy or
hypnotherapy.
It seems that the False Memory Syndrome Institute was created
by parents facing charges of abuse by their adult children who had undergone
therapy. These parents felt they had been falsely accused and claim that the
accusations stem from ideas or suggestions implanted in their children’s
minds by the therapists.
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According to the
National Institute of Mental Health, psychotherapy only has a 20% success
rate.
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success rate, and over 37+ years experience.
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I honor and respect your race,
religion, culture, sexual orientation and way of life including senior
citizens and those with disabilities.
I also welcome adults in
consensual, sane and safe, alternative sexual and other creative lifestyle
choices including those in the LGBTQ+ community.
Confirm
appointment location with Dr. Ruth prior to first meeting.
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4295 Gesner St.
San Diego CA 92117
Does hypnotherapy replace more traditional
practices like seeing a doctor,
psychologist or
psychiatrist?