Hypnosis in the clinic

It is not easy to define what a hypnotic state is. We can summarize it as a state of suggestibility that occurs through hypnotic induction.

It is not the same as falling asleep, it is different from conventional relaxationYet the perceptions are different from those of a waking state.

The truth is that with hypnosis the critical factor of our neocortex, the one that tells us what is reality and what is not. This allows the patient to focus more powerfully on physical and emotional responses, memories, and sensations, thereby keeping distractors under control.

• Related article: "The 8 benefits of going to psychological therapy"

Who can be hypnotized?

We affirm that the brain in a hypnotic state is in what is called theta waves. We all arrive at this type of wave frequency at different times in our lives. Certain moments when we fall asleep or wake up, looking at the fire or the sea, when our brain rests and we find ourselves staring into space ...

The truth is that the ability to enter hypnosis depends more on the subject's own defenses, who try, unconsciously, to maintain control at all times as a way of safety.

That said, with the interpersonal differences that may exist, anyone can enter hypnosis with different levels of depth.

Key ideas to keep in mind

In order for the person's unconscious to allow them to enter that hypnotic state with the fewest possible alarms, it is necessary to clarify some aspects to the patient:

1. The patient will be in control at all times.

You can exit the state at any time. Nobody does anything that is against his personal principles. This implies that the hypnotist has no power over the patient.

2. The subject remains in a state of consciousness at all times

And he can speak like the therapist when needed.

3. No one gets caught in a hypnotic state

Everyone "can get out" of this state.

4. There are people who think that entering a hypnotic state implies mental weakness, but not

Nothing could be further from reality, the more powerful that brain is, the better it will enter a hypnotic state.

5. There are people who think they can use it as a lie detector

The reality is that in hypnosis you can lie perfectly. To avoid this type of confusion, it is important to do what is called pre-hypnotic talk, where all the doubts of the subject about hypnosis are clarified.

The pre-hypnotic talk

From this talk you can do what are called suggestibility tests, to check the characteristics of the subject with whom we work, or the group in question. They are used to see if the person generates a lot of resistance, is very suggestible or doubtful. It can also help us to create suggestions that are used later and check with the person can follow instructions; This is how the therapist is trusted by feeling that the suggestions that the hypnotist is making work giving, generating positive expectations about the process, without feeling the pressure of being already hypnotized.

Induction to the hypnotic state

After these tests we started the induction. The objective of the process is place the person in a hypnotic or trance state.

There is an immense range of hypnotic inductions, some slow, lasting more than 10 minutes, others fast, lasting less than minutes, and others that are immediate.

Induction allows to pass what is called the critical factor of the brain, what he considers possible, real, manageable and over which we have control. Induction crosses this border, the patient feeling that things are happening that are outside his habitual perceptions, thus making the part of our brain that generates control over what surrounds us, the neocortex, is saturated with information that he considers incoherent, and our emotional system, the libic, is activated, which does not differentiate too much between reality and imagination.

The state of deepening

From this moment on we begin the deepening process. We seek that the person increases even more the state of suggestibility of him, since the state in which the patient is can fluctuate and we want him to go deeper into what he is feeling at that moment to keep him stable and be able to work with the.

Hypnotic phenomena

Later we can apply what are called hypnotic phenomena, which further deepen the suggestion state and they also serve to further convince the patient to be hypnotized (and they have a pull in shows).

Some of these typical phenomena are:

• Catalepsies or stiffness of the body or parts of the body. The image of the subject between two chairs.
• Ideomotor movements.
• Amnesia of the name, numbers, or words.
• Regression to other important vital moments for the person.
• Projection into the future where a goal is achieved.
• See things that are not there and stop seeing others that are there: the so-called positive or negative hallucinations.
• Anesthesia in parts of the body or in its entirety, very useful for medical interventions.
• The famous posthypnotic inductions, to be used days after exercise for some healthy purpose.

Exit from the hypnotic state

Finally we will leave the state emerging with energy and with suggestions of well-being and calm. You will have thus lived in all its steps an exercise in hypnosis.