There’s a lot of skepticism and fear around the practice of hypnosis. I hope here to try to de-stigmatize the practice and explain it a little better. I think that the practice is actually healthy for the mind of an addict! In fact, I consider hypnosis to be a sort of “mind dump” for negative thoughts and a “magnifier” for positive affirmations. Yogis have been practicing hypnosis for a while now via a practice called yoga nidra (we’ll explore this a little later). But modern hypnosis has been around since the 18th century and is both effective and safe for those who can be hypnotized.
So just what happens during a hypnosis session?
Hypnotic techniques aim to either focus or diffuse thoughts in three basic phases:
- A pre-suggestion phase
- A suggestion phase
- A post-suggestion phase
Hypnotic techniques aim to induce states of selective attentional focusing or diffusion. During the presuggestion phase, you begin to focus your mind through imagery, distraction, or relaxation. During the suggestion phase, a specific strategy or suggestion is introduced to attempt to shift your perspective and how you percieve an experience. The post-suggestion phase involves monitoring and encouraging the new behavior following the end of hypnosis . Strong evidence suggests that hypnosis is effective in cancer pain and some evidence shows that it is effective for other chronic pain types as well … so why not the emotional pain that causes addiction?
You can create your own hypnosis script. My, my how many there are on the internet! The basic formula is this.
1. You still the physical body
2. You stimulate the imagination
3. You suggest a new belief or behavior
4. You return to ordinary consciousness
If you’re not into research, check out a sample script here: Self – hypnosis for addicts script If you’re game to try it out, send me a line and let me know how it went. If you’re still skeptical, tell me why? I’ll be working on an audio file soon, so check back for an audio download soon.
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