WHAT IS HYPNOTHERAPY?

Hypnosis is a state of mind during which a person's consciousness is altered and distractions blocked. It resembles sleep, but people under hypnosis are still able to concentrate intently on a memory, a particular sensation, or any other issue. The hypnotized person is alert, yet relaxed.
People under hypnosis have been shown to decrease their heart rate, alter body temperature, and reduce blood flow to particular areas of the body.
Through hypnosis, some people can learn to control habits such as smoking or bedwetting, and reduce pain, stress, and anxiety.
About nine out of ten people can be hypnotized, at least to some degree. Many can be trained to hypnotize themselves and thus, for example, manage their own pain. Hypnotism will not work if the person does not want to be hypnotized. Children are better hypnosis candidates than adults, probably because hypnotism requires the trust, imagination, and open-mindedness which most children have.
Hypnotism as a useful tool in modern medicine began with Franz Mesmer, an Austrian doctor who believed that illness was caused by imbalances in the body's magnetic forces. He believed he could restore magnetic balance through the use of soothing words and quieting gestures. He called it "Mesmerism." Today, to be "mesmerized" means to be hypnotized, charmed, or captivated.
Mesmer's original idea of achieving magnetic balance through Mesmerism has long been discarded as incorrect. However, the value of hypnotism in producing certain health benefits is widely accepted and often used.

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Hypnotherapy evokes a state of deep relaxation. It can help divert a person's attention from negative stimuli such as pain, and it increases the ability to respond to suggestion.
Hypnosis does not cause a person to lose control. In fact, the purpose of hypnosis is to allow one to gain control over personal behavior. This is brought about by intense concentration in a relaxed state.
Studies at Stanford University produced important information about how hypnosis might work. Researchers found that hypnotized subjects could suppress or stop their brains' electrical response to a picture by imagining that they did not see it. This ability was previously thought to be involuntary and not under the individual's control.
This ability to block a natural response through intense concentration makes hypnotism a good pain reliever for dental surgery and painful medical experiences. "Spinal anesthesia illusion" uses hypnotherapy to control pain during surgery. The "illusion" of external anesthesia actually blocks the pain. Hypnosis can block pain even under very dramatic circumstances such as open heart surgery.
However, hypnosis is not a cure-all. It does not eliminate all behavior problems or addictive disorders. It cannot cure serious disease.

WILL IT HELP?
Hypnosis can help in certain situations. Among people with a proven ability to become hypnotized, it can relieve pain, including cancer pain. It helps some people go through dental drilling comfortably. It has been used successfully as a sedative during childbirth and to treat the pain of migraine headaches.
Hypnosis has helped some smokers stay off tobacco for six months or longer. The success rate for hypnosis in smoking cessation is about equal to that of other methods used today. It can also help calm problems of anxiety, depression, and a variety of phobias. Hypnosis has helped many people overcome their fear of flying.
Cancer patients may consider hypnotherapy as a means of reducing pain, promoting relaxation, and reducing stress.
Like other complementary therapies, hypnosis may be used in relieving certain symptoms of cancer and side effects of cancer treatment. Hypnosis should not be expected to slow or reverse growth or spread of cancer.