Comments on: Hypnosis for addiction recovery treatment – what is it?

By: Billy

Billy — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 23:40:17 +0000

Hiya-I don’t know if anyone can shed any light on this question-I hope so. I’m a substance misuse worker (employed) and a drug awareness trainer (self-employed). My role as SMW involves working in a multi-agency building where various “brands” of substance remedies are expressed-harm reduction, 12-step, criminal justice etc but at no time have I heard of hypnosis being applied to opiate addiction. My colleague is a self-employed hypnotherapist and frequently works with addictions, however, in addition to smoking cessation, he tends to only deal in cocaine use. This seems to mirror most hypnotherapy options I am aware of. It would be too simplistic to suggest that opiate users would not be able to provide the required fees (as opposed to the stereotypical “well off” cocaine users). Neither am I aware of councils buying into hypnotherapy whilst they will often finance (as they do in my building) auricular acupuncture (including “black box” options) and other complementary therapies. I am aware that there is conflicting evidence around the validity of these therapies. Why is this situation so? Is opiate use too “strong” an addiction? Is it because of the physical elements of opiate/opioid withdrawal? can anyone enlighten me? Thanks in advance.

By: Caroline

Caroline — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 14:43:38 +0000

Many thanks for the great posting. I am glad I have taken the time to see this.

By: Minh

Minh — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:34:33 +0000

Thanks, some great information there. Beating an addiction is never easy and going through rehab treatment can be a difficult experience for any person. Hypnosis can help addicts relax and be more receptive to the message of recovery.

By: Addiction Blog

Addiction Blog — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:26:54 +0000

addictionhelper – Are you speaking from experience? Have you actually tried hypnosis?

By: addictionhelper

addictionhelper — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 21:24:56 +0000

It seems that hypnosis is a little like being high on drugs. Addicts are often in a trance state of mind when they are high and unaware of whats happening in present time unable to track with whats going on in the world around them. How can hypnosis be considered to help an addict recover from addiction when they are actually losing memories?

By: John A Petrone

John A Petrone — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 04:23:56 +0000

Here Here! I strongly, very strongly believe in hypnotherapy as a tool in early recovery to get the ball Rolling. I was suffering from depression and anxiety in my early teens. My doctor had recomended “relaxation techniques” as an alternative to the barbituates he had prescribed me at the git-go. Anyway, being an avid reader at that time(Heinlein, Azimov, Dr who) I was very fortunate to find an old rag on auto hypnosis at the local library. Within a week I was hypnotizing myself, my friends, and anything else with a brain. And I was GOOD. The anxiety and depression were gone, my grades had improved, and then I found drugs.
To make a long story short, after growing up stoned, then going through half a decade of cocaine addiction, I decided I was going to get clean. It took another five years of trying. A lot of things have to happen before you can make that leap. When I finaly figured out I was going to have to work a daily program of recovery, I decided to use everything I had to push myself toward accomplishing that. I actualy remember lying on that couch four years ago, relaxing my body from the feet up. Visualising that pasture full of herfordshire calves, with the little outhouse in the middle. Idylic puffs of coton in a vast blue sea of comfort overhead.I opened the door looking down the stairs into that powerfull blackness that was and is the enormity of my existence, infinitely powerfull ,in connection with all of this world and all worlds. I stepped through.
Going down flight after flight of stairs. It was the deepest I had ever gone. To the very center. To that scared little boy. I was not alone. We told him what he needed to do. He hasn’t stopped.
Thank you for taking me back there, and letting me share.

By: Bill Urell

Bill Urell — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:54:28 +0000

Sounds nice….But…The evidence of empirical, clinically controlled outcomes for hypnosis being effective as a means of addiction treatment is sketchy, not conclusive.

One of the mysteries of addiction treatment is that there is no clear winner of what constitutes THE most effective therapy.Several approaches have been shown effective, but, In fact,most studies show very little differences between these clinical approaches.

I am willing to remain objective until hypnosis is clinically proven in controlled experimennts to be at least as effective as those therapies that have already been studied and proven effective. In this case the jury is still out, I’ll stick with what works.

Bill
Addiction Therapist, MA, Caap-11

By: Sharon M. O'Connor, RN

Sharon M. O'Connor, RN — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 16:46:46 +0000

Most of what you say here is very accurate. Hypnosis is simple, affordable, safe, and powerful. It does work for addictions. I am an RN certified hypnotherapist and I love what I do.

Now, about addictions:

In response to uncomfortable emotions, we take some action. We could manage the emotion directly, but we often don’t. Instead, we use a “distractor”. This is an action or behavior that makes us feel better temporarily. It could be eating, smoking, drinking, exercising, cleaning house. It may be something healthy, but the problem is, it doesn’t get to the root cause. We need to address the underlying issue, not the symptom.

Hypnosis and hypnotherapy do this in a simple and effective way. We can learn to respond in a different way to stress and also remove some of the painful “Old Stuff”.

In my experience, people don’t need to “believe” in hypnosis for it to work. (Do you need to believe in or understand how a computer works to benefit from it?) They have to want change to happen. I say this because many people have come to me as a last resort. I can’t tell you how many have tole me after the fact “You know I really didn’t think this could work”. One guy even paid me for 2 sessions telling me he knew it wouldn’t work in one session, if it worked at all. The change he wanted was accomplished in one session.

Hypnosis was approved by the American Medical Association in 1958 – FIFTY Years ago. It’s time we availed ourselves more often of it’s huge potential for healing and wellness.