As I write I am anticipating my first week of training in clinical hypnosis. I have been studying the topic since I went to a conference and learned just a little about it in December of last year. The more I studied the more excited I got. So I contacted one of the premier trainers in the field, Michael Yapko, and engaged him to train me. Over the next six months I will be receiving 100 hours of training at which time I will be certified to practice hypnosis by the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH), considered by many the most stringent certifications. Beginning in November 2009 I will have the necessary tools and training to begin using hypnosis with clients.
Many ask "what is hypnosis." Most people know only what they see in shows and on television. Most of what you see is NOT what I will be doing. In counseling and therapy hypnosis is used to break down barriers and go around blocks so that less time and energy is used on getting to the solution and more on the solution itself.
The unasked question is what hypnosis is NOT. Hypnosis is not something "done to" you. It is a process that the person guiding the session and the person experiencing it do together. Hypnosis will not "make" you do anything you do not wish to do. It can help you reduce fears and other blocks so you CAN do something you want to but have been unable to do. The notion that someone can be hypnotized and secret plans be planted so they go off and do things weeks, months, or years later is simply false. Suggestions that one does this or that when they wake up from the trance (called post hypnotic suggestions) generally last a few days. Most often this is used to suggest a behavior or emotion change to further the therepeutic work. Again, suggestions you do something completely against your nature will fail. You will stop yourself from doing it.
Hypnosis can be used for many purposes including relaxation, weight loss, eliminating bad habits, addiction recovery, behavior change, non-chemical anesthesia, and much more. In my training I will be exploring many, if not all of these things. I have not yet decided what I will be doing in terms which things I will incorporate into my practice. Call me and we can talk about it.
