Hypnosis was accepted by the American Medical Association in 1958 as a viable technology for treating stress and stress related symptoms. But does it really work? And what should a person look for when seeking a hypnotist, or buying hypnotherapy tapes & CDs?

There are many different hypnotic methods that are used to reach the unconscious mind to bring about change. Each method has its strengths and its weaknesses. No two people are the same, so it makes sense that the best results will result from using techniques that each person will respond to.

Most companies that sell pre-recorded hypnosis programs offer programs that consist of standard traditional hypnotic methods. A few sellers offer much more contemporary and effective Ericksonian hypnosis methods. And fewer still offer NLP methods.

The most powerful methodology is video hypnosis. Video hypnosis utilizes the latest Neuro-Linguistic Programming thought patterns to create instant change in a hypnotic subject. Video hypnosis techniques are not subliminal in nature.

With "Traditional Hypnosis," we simply make post-hypnotic suggestions to the unconscious mind mind. In case you are wondering, as far as I'm concerned, the term unconscious and subconscious are interchangeable - as they refer to the same part of the mind. This type of self-suggestion works well for someone who generally accepts what he/she is told.

Most pre-recorded hypnosis tapes sold today are based on "Traditional Hypnosis" techniques. The reason for this is that it really doesn't take much experience or training to author a script and just tell a subject to do something. Unfortunately Traditional Hypnotism is not very effective for people who are analytical in their thinking processes.

By contrast, Ericksonian Hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming methods work more efficiently for most people in today's generation! This is because today individuals are taught to analyze everything they hear, rather than just follow the flock. So these methods do work effectively on people who are critical or analytical in their thinking processes.

Ericksonian Hypnosis and NLP are far more effective at reaching and influencing the unconscious mind. However, it can take years of training, study, and most of all experience to learn how to apply these methods with success. This is a challenge that is only accepted by truly dedicated hypnotists.

With "Ericksonian Hypnosis," we use little stories, called Ericksonian metaphors, to introduce post-hypnotic suggestions to the unconscious mind. This is a powerful and effective course, because it usually eliminates the blockage of and resistance to suggestions that is often caused by the conscious mind. There are two types of metaphors, "Isomorphic," and those of the imbedded command or "interspersal" nature.

Isomorphic metaphors guide the unconscious mind by telling a story that has a moral. The unconscious mind draws a one to one relationship between the contents of the story and the contents of a bad behavior. For example, if a child is telling a lot of lies, the parent might tell the child the story about the "Boy who cried wolf." The unconscious mind would draw a parallel between the boy in the story and the child, and realize that telling lies could lead to disaster, so the child would probably stop lying.

With the Embedded Command technique, the hypnotherapist tells an amusing story that distracts the conscious mind. The metaphor includes hidden direct commands that are generally accepted by the unconscious mind. For example: While the client is in the hypnotic state, he might hear the hypnotherapist say something like: I'm going to tell you a story about ...[a beach that has feelings. Isn't that] ...strange to... [you]? It's a warm summer's day, and... the beach [feels great].

The hypnotist pauses, shifts his voice tonality, and verbally stresses the bracketed text. The unconscious mind recognizes a "Selectional restriction violation." Beaches can't have feelings. So it's like the unconscious mind says to itself: "Wait a minute, a beach can't feel anything, so that must mean that I'm supposed to feel great."

Since the suggestions are embedded in a tale that is distracting the conscious mind, it is not likely that the conscious will realize that it has just received a direct suggestion, so it won't block it or resist it.

Process Instructions direct the unconscious mind to remember a past event of an appropriate learning experience from the past where something useful to the present situation was learned, and then to apply that experience to eliminate bad behaviors in the present.

With "Neuro-Linguistic Programming" (NLP), rather than using hypnotic suggestions, we use the same thought processes that are creating a problem, like insomnia or stress, to get rid of the problem. NLP in the hands of a trained and experienced NLP'er can be very effective.

NLP Anchoring: Have you ever heard some old music and had it trigger feelings from the past? When you originally listened to the song, you were experiencing those feelings, and they unconsciously became attached to the sound of the music. So the music became an Anchor for the feelings. Now when you hear the song, it triggers the same feelings again.

Anchoring can be a very useful method. Suppose that you have a memory of being commended for having done something well in the past. If you go back into that memory, you'll be able to revivify the feelings of self-esteem that you had at that time. If you touch two fingers together while you re-experience those feelings of self-esteem, that touch will become an anchor for the feelings of self-esteem.

Now suppose that you want to create motivation to stick to a diet and lose weight. If you make a mental image of yourself with a thin, sexy body, and simultaneously trigger the anchor - (press the two fingers together again), your unconscious mind will attach the feelings of self-esteem to the mental image of you with the thin body and your level of motivation to lose weight will increase dramatically.

NLP Flash: This is a very powerful and effective Neuro-Linguistic Programming method that can be used to flip things around in the unconscious mind, so that thoughts and experiences that used to trigger feelings of stress actually trigger relaxation instead.

The NLP Flash method is also a fast way to erase a conditioned response. For example: If a smoker has a cigarette while drinking coffee, his/her unconscious mind will associate the two behaviors together so that he/she automatically gets a powerful craving for a cigarette anytime he/she has a cup of coffee. The Flash will cause the smoker's mind to disconnect the image of a cigarette from the cup of coffee so that he/she does NOT get an craving to smoke just because he/she is drinking coffee.

With "Subliminal" tapes, the recording has dual tracks. One track contains a cover sound that is heard by the conscious mind. The cover sound could be anything from music to the sound of a running stream. The alternate track contains direct commands that are picked up by the unconscious mind mind. These suggestions are repeated hundreds of times during a session.

Subliminal programs can be played in the background while you are working, or talking on the phone or partisipating in any other activity. You don't have to stop what you are doing and relax like you do with NLP CD's. Subliminals can be an addition to hypnotic programs. But Subliminals will never replace Hypnosis or NLP because they are not as effective! They are not even in the same universe!! Some studies have claimed that it can take up to 80 hours of listening to a subliminal tape before it will have any effect on many people.

The last hypnotic technology that we're going to discuss is Video Hypnosis. Video hypnosis is the most effective form of hypnosis!

The techniques used in video hypnosis are based on the Neuro-Linguistic Programming technology, which works based on the utilization of a person's existing thought processes instead of suggestion.

Over 70% of the people on the planet learn more easily by seeing, rather then by hearing.

Think about it. If you feel an craving to eat or smoke when watching television, it's because your subconscious recorded the video image of either food in your hand, or a cigarette in your hand, and then joined that image to an image of the TV. You never spoke to yourself and told yourself in words to associate them together, true?

And that's why the Video Hypnosis mechanism is so powerful. It's not hypnotic in the traditional sense, relying on the spoken word; rather, it relies on transmitting images to the unconscious mind. And if you've ever shed a tear when watching a sad television show, then you know how powerful and effective video hypnosis can be at reaching the unconscious mind. With this technology, results usually start with the very first viewing of the video!

The Video Hypnosis / NLP technology is offered under the tradename of Neuro-VISION. It reprograms the unconscious mind using a high-tech simulation process called computerized digital optics. This frees a person of their compulsions, urges, and tensions and allows a smoker to quit without willpower or weight gain, and a dieter to lose their compulsions and appetite. Results start with the very first viewing!

(c) 2007 By Alan B. Densky, CH. This document may be re-printed as long as it is not altered and the author's name and clickable web address links are retained.

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