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An Austrian medical doctor, Franz Anton Mesmer (1734 – 1815), is
considered the father of modern hypnosis and hypnotherapy. Before
being treated in hypnosis with hypnotherapeutic techniques, it may
be very helpful to have a basic understanding of what the state of
hypnosis is.
Little of what is portrayed in so-called 'stage hypnosis', is in
fact hypnosis. The purpose of the stage 'hypnotist' is to ENTERTAIN,
and not to HEAL! They therefore create cleverly orchestrated,
hilarious situations to trick the audience into believing that the
'hypnotist' has full control over the subjects by getting them into
his 'power', putting them in a 'deep sleep', and making them behave
in bizarre ways. In fact, no human being has that amount of power or
control over any other human being. As the primary function of the
unconscious mind is survival, to protect the integrity of the self,
it never allows a person to lose control and disregards suggestions
considered to be threatening to one’s physical, emotional or
spiritual survival. It concludes that we know with certainty that
the hypnotherapist possesses no power (magical or otherwise) over
the patient. Control lies within the patient.
In the more relaxed form of hypnosis we experience the same feeling
or state as when we awake after a good night’s rest. While we feel
deeply relaxed we can remember our dreams, but after we have gotten
up to go to the bathroom we cannot remember the dream any more. On
the other hand, we experience the attentive or concentration form of
a hypnotic state when we drive from point A to B. After we have
driven for a few kilometres we realize that our thoughts were so
focussed on something else that we don’t know if we obeyed all the
traffic rules. Yet, we were in full control of the vehicle and if
someone had swerved in front of us, we would have reacted instantly.
Due to its complexity, it is very difficult to exactly define the
state of hypnosis. Hypnosis can be seen as an alternate state of
consciousness where the patient deals in a more direct way with
their emotions, instead of rationalizing it. During hypnosis the
patient is deeply relaxed, in an elevated state of alertness,
totally focussed, the mind is crystal clear, thinking becomes acute
and all the senses are sharper. This resolves that the patient is
more open to suggestions.
Hypnotherapy enables communication between the conscious and
unconscious minds. Besides being responsible for survival and
protection, the unconscious mind is also responsible for storing
traumatic events and emotions. Therefore, if some memories are too
painful it cannot be accessed by the conscious mind, only by the
unconscious. In order to access these memories the hypnotherapist
facilitates the communication process between the unconscious and
conscious minds. The hypnotherapist guides the patient, like a
trainer of an athlete guides the athlete through his/her training
programme, into his/her own unconscious mind to discover both these
mentioned trauma and inner resources stored there. Only the patient
him/herself can delve into his/her unconscious mind. No one else can
access it. Due to the fact that the patient is in control, he/she
decides whether or not to disclose what he/she discovers. The
patient is then guided in various ways to resolve and overcome
his/her trauma or problem, mostly in a safe, calm and serene manner
during hypnotherapy.
Hypnotherapy is utilized to address pathology in a holistic manner
taking cognisance of all five areas of human functioning, namely
cognitive, affective, physiological, spiritual and conduct-oriented
functioning.
The four individual models of hypnotherapy mostly applied in South
Africa and in this practice are discussed next. Sometimes only one
model is used, but for the most part combinations of two or more
approaches are skilfully combined in treating a patient. Other more
basic approaches, like cognitive behaviour and/or rational emotive
therapy, are also incorporated into hypnotherapy.
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