Hypnosis for Health

I'm starting this blog to discuss hypnosis with those interested, and to educate the public about misconceptions and myths regarding hypnosis. I am a mental health counselor who uses hypnosis as a tool, to help individuals use their inner resources to facilitate change. I have an M.S. in Rehabilitation Counseling and am licensed by NYS. I encourage readers interested in Clinical Hypnosis to check out the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis website at http://www.asch.com/, of which I am a member.

Seeing a Clinical Hypnotherapist is like seeing a personal trainer for your mind. Hypnosis is known to help individuals with smoking and weight loss, but it can do much more.

"Hypnosis has been used in medicine for more than 150 years to treat everything from anxiety to pain, from easing the nausea of cancer chemotherapy to Irritable bowel syndrome. Clinical Hypnosis is also found to be effective for phobias, panic, low self-esteem, insomnia, stress, IBS, headaches, and high blood pressure.

All of these uses can help existing conditions; however, hypnosis can help with preventive measures also. We know in a logical way that certain lifestyle choices improve our health. However, this conscious way of thinking is only the tip of the iceberg. A person’s thinking and behaviors are influenced by conditioning outside of conscious awareness that can lead to health damaging choices despite our best intentions. A common example is the emotional and visually stimulating content in fast food advertising, that we observe while in a "trance-like state" in front of the television. Suggestions made in Hypnosis can help replace unhealthy conditioning with more health affirming messages and facilitate behaviors such as exercise and healthy eating.

Self Hypnosis can be a valuable tool used to increase awareness of the mind body connection and unconscious conditioning. It is not something a therapist does to you, but rather, a state they guide you through. All hypnosis is self hypnosis, and it is the ultimate form of self control.