When I first met my therapist and she introduced the idea of hypnotherapy for mental clarity and peace, my mind went straight to “Get Out” and my eyes got huge. I’m not interested in visiting the Sunken Place or seeing that movie again. Ever.
Thankfully there were no tea cups involved and I didn’t become lost in a trance. Rather this hypnosis was more of a deep meditation. A way to block out everything going on around me and experience the beauty of a sunset while hearing about my power over stressors and self-doubt.
As a scientist who typically needs hard evidence and sound scientific reasoning, hypnotism was something I used to roll my eyes at. Some weirdo calling a volunteer from the audience and making them quack like a duck at the sound of a bell.
This isn’t hypnotherapy. For me (and it’s different for everyone), hypnotism is not losing control of your mind and body. It’s not traveling to my past to understand a key event in my life. My personal experiences have been assisted deep meditation that leave me feeling at ease and ready to take on the rest of the day and even the week. Some of the things that typically trigger anxiety and panic become less of a threat because I can go back to that peaceful feeling and the words that I was hearing while there.
As always, I love finding support for my suggested relief methods. What surprised me here what that some pretty standard sources speak to this method of therapy. Here is Mayo Clinic’s take for example. They have wonderful information to prep you for visits to a therapist the same way they prep you for an appointment with your primary care physician. Cleveland Clinic also dives into this topic and has a great explanation of why hypnotherapy is a great solution for anxiety. Lastly, there are plenty of case studies that can be found with a Google search.
What are your thought? Experiences? Questions?
Taking the Tee 