Has anyone tried hypnotherapy?

[ridiculous bear]

Hi all,

I've never actually contributed to this forum before but the more I have read, the more I see the same issues coming up over and over again to do with shame, guilt, powerlessness, anger, frustration and so on and so on. So many people looking for solutions to fix their symptom, but the thing is, its a symptom, not a cause. Masturbation, porn addiction, visiting a prostitute, being a sadist or a masochist, whatever the hell this 'awful' thing is: these things are not the problem. They are a solution to a deep pain, one that each of may or may not be aware of. So many of these things are hidden deep in our psyche that you simply can't imagine where they come from, maybe because they come from before your conscious memory began. Or even more screwy, you know exactly where the feelings come from, you can rationalise it and understand it endlessly, but the addiction or deviant act fulfills such a strong need inside you and is so effective at it that no amount of willpower will ever shift it because its helping you to avoid something painful. I know it sounds woowoo, but just for a second give your subconscious the benefit of the doubt: he's doing stuff to stop you hurting. It might not be the best solution in the world, but in his world he's being really really good at solving your problem. When the symptom is actually serving you really well in certain areas of your life then its damned hard to kick, because deep down you need it. You can say this about pretty much any addiction.

So I don't want to blather on and on, but in all sincerity have people tried hypnotherapy? I mean with someone who really cares and really understands their issues, who they can truly and honestly open up and say the truth to? Because the thing is, men are not faulty and they aren't guilty and they aren't ever 100% wrong. There is always a kid inside who wants to do good, no matter how deep he may be buried. We are all just hanging on to some hopeless ideas of how to heal ourselves from hurt or loneliness and even though those ideas may not be not working very well, they provide some relief and are working better than nothing. The hypnotherapists job, in fact you can maybe simply say the job of love, is to see the good. To see the good no matter how bad the person thinks themselves to be, no matter how much they are suffering or believe bad things about themselves. Send them love, believe in them, and hand them their miracle. Put it there in front of them and say go on, I dare you, live and love like you truly truly wish you could. The anger is only hurting you, the one you are frustrated with doesn't even know what you are thinking, or doesn't care, or is so old now they need you more than you need them, or is already dead. Or whatever it may be. I'm not saying hypnotherapy is guaranteed to work, it completely depends upon the individuals true wish to fix themselves, but damn it does work well in those situations. That might sound evangelistic, but I really truly believe it, I experience it and I do it for others. It usually requires a lot of forgiveness - of others and of ourselves - frequently needs a lot of anger and frustration to be released, but eventually when an individual accepts themselves as they are, 100%, human, making mistakes, lacking self control, fucking up and realising we are all like that then... wow. The world changes. I could write and write about this but eventually it all comes down to self acceptance, love and forgiveness. The world is full of light and shade and the quicker we come to accept the dark side of ourselves then the easier the tension inside us will release. With that, the need to find a momentary inner oblivion or hit of life through some sexual outlet or other disappears. Instead of wanting to wank off for a moment of connection in the pain and aloneness, the world starts to show its love. And that, honestly, is what this is all about.

Why hypnosis? Because it gets straight to the subconscious and that's where our feelings and habits lie. A year of psychotherapy might never get to the subconscious and do what a few session of hypnosis can achieve. I wont sell it any more but if you want any further answers let me know, if just one person can lift their head above all this stuff and breathe again in peace then its all worthwhile.

I know this sounds simplistic and I apologise for that, I can imagine people here have been suffering for years. I mean nothing other than to help so if you think my words are stupid that's fine, I don't have all the answers but maybe some of you may find this at the right moment. Ask me whatever you like if it will help.

 

[Do all to the glory of God]

"Hypnotherapy" is an oxymoron. Hypnosis is not therapeutic. Hypnosis is an act of surrendering one's will to the will of another, and within that act one's own will and willpower is weakened, often permanently. Those who wish to enslave their own powers of mind and judgment to the will of another human being are misguided at best, for there is no human worthy of such a trust, and no sane mind would seek to relinquish his or her own rights and powers in such a manner. Essentially, it is an act of desperation in the vain hope for an easy shortcut for the one who fails to properly exercise his or her own willpower. Similar, in some ways, to a "get rich quick" scheme, all participation in hypnosis is doomed to failure. It can never hope to succeed, and results in losses which none can afford. I, personally, would stay far, far away from any hypnotist.

 

[Marcus Aurelius]

I've thought about it. The results could certainly be enlightening in theory.

Hypnosis freaks me out though. Opening up my mind like that to a perfect stranger, where I don't have any control over what I say or reveal is very uncomfortable for me. I've had surgeries where I was put under and I didn't have a problem trusting my body and my life to the surgeons, but the mind feels different somehow.

 

[InappropriateUsername]

This is getting way to Manchuria Candidate here. Hypnosis is a way to delve into the subconscious mind more. While hypnotists can place suggestions in the patient’s mind, they can’t make a person do something they wouldn’t normally do. Y’all watch too much Hollywood shit.

 

[ridiculous bear]

"Hypnotherapy" is an oxymoron. Hypnosis is not therapeutic. Hypnosis is an act of surrendering one's will to the will of another, and within that act one's own will and willpower is weakened, often permanently. Those who wish to enslave their own powers of mind and judgment to the will of another human being are misguided at best, for there is no human worthy of such a trust, and no sane mind would seek to relinquish his or her own rights and powers in such a manner. Essentially, it is an act of desperation in the vain hope for an easy shortcut for the one who fails to properly exercise his or her own willpower. Similar, in some ways, to a "get rich quick" scheme, all participation in hypnosis is doomed to failure. It can never hope to succeed, and results in losses which none can afford. I, personally, would stay far, far away from any hypnotist.

This is really important to dig into, so thank you for the comment. Let me try my best to go through each of your convictions and see how best to respond. Have you ever been hypnotised? Your description is well off mark for what people actually experience. Plus your username makes references to god, so I am going to assume that you have a religious belief that underpins your comments. And you are entitled to all these concerns, they are valid when you haven't experienced it: I would simply ask you to keep an open mind on something until you have experienced it for yourself.

So, lets go:
"Hypnosis is an act of surrendering one's will to the will of another, and within that act one's own will and willpower is weakened, often permanently."
There are aspects of this that we all fear and for good reason. The whole reason we are advertised to on the tv is in the advertising executive's hope that the tv has already put us into a hypnotic trance where those evil advertising suggestions will just slip through. Propaganda is another example, Nazi Germany. People can be led to do things seemingly against their will if the environment supports it and scratches an itch within them. Lets be honest, porn is hypnotic. The tv hypnotic argument actually is mute, because people have willingly chosen to go into that hypnotic trance much like when you go see a movie at the cinema. You quite deliberately suspend reality to go to a fun place in your mind, you make believe. Similarly with porn, its an act of choice: people want to suspend reality for a moment and feel the love or connection or release. The propaganda argument is harder to grapple with because it includes so many factors: social norms, peer group pressure and so on make up one side but then the individual's personal anger, frustration or sheer boredom with the routine of life can make them choose to believe things that they might not otherwise wish to believe. People have a dark side that can be triggered easily if they suffer enough. So yes, lets say its possible. Lets not simply deny that possibility, but lets put it into the context that good and bad lives in the world, light and shade, and we all have choices to make every moment of every day. Just because you deny the bad doesn't make it go away.

But lets now go to what I’m talking about, not hypnotism of the masses but one-on-one therapy. Here, I assure you, hypnotism brings about a state of heightened awareness within the individual. They aren’t asleep, they aren’t numb, they are vividly (and I mean really vividly) aware. They are in no way giving up their will and their willpower is definitely not weakened. I would debate how strong willpower is anyway, if we could fix things through willpower then honestly there would be no-one on this website. Willpower doesn’t work. No, I’m taking here about a state where your conscious mind, with all that judgement and criticism and blather and armour, takes a seat next to you in the passenger seat of the car. He’s there the second you need him, he hasn’t gone away anywhere, but he’s chosen for a small moment to sit back and let you communicate with your inner mind. So you can see your truth, so you can learn and maybe love yourself, not so you can rub out your truths and replace them with someone else’s. I assure you, the second your conscious mind gets a sense that someone is trying to manipulate your thoughts, that door will slam shut and you will wake up. People on stage do crazy things in hypnotic trance because they want to, they want the freedom of making a fool of themselves on stage and blaming the hypnotist afterwards - they love the freedom to be silly. I hope that makes it clear. You say “there is no human worthy of such a trust, and no sane mind would seek to relinquish his or her own rights and powers in such a manner” but in so saying you are assuming that an individual just rolls over and gives in to the hypnotist; but nobody gives up their rights. The only reason the hypnotic contract works is because the two people decide in unison to do their best to help fix a problem. And seriously, the second you as the client feel that’s not what’s occurring, you will wake up mad as hell. So it’s not going to happen. But yes, you need to find someone you trust, obviously. You need rapport and respect and a room where there is no judgement, where all is open, to be able to tell someone all those things that you’ve been trying hard to cover up all your life. But that’s part of the magic.

And moreover, the hypnotherapist is not there to fix the problem for you, he’s there as your guide to help you understand what is causing you to act in the way you do. He’s not perfect, he doesn’t have all the answers and he cannot fix the problem for you because he cannot twist your mind. You, the client, do all the work, but the reason you do it is because all the presumptions of your conscious brain (the one that has been trying to fix it for years and failed?) has decided that maybe his isn’t the only way so go on, see what you can do. I’m here if you need- just pull the alarm chord. The whole thing is a very welcome and vivid act of choice and consent and learning. You will become aware of things you had completely forgotten.


“Essentially, it is an act of desperation in the vain hope for an easy shortcut for the one who fails to properly exercise his or her own willpower.” Yep, maybe this one is partly true (although it is not an easy shortcut). You’ve tried willpower and it hasn’t worked. You really want it to work, you have the will, but it just doesnt seem to be sufficient. You’ve tried psychotherapy and it hasn’t worked. You’ve tried religion and it hasn’t worked. You’ve tried visiting a shaman and going into an orgiastic rite and it hasn’t worked. So back of the list, oh my god have I sunk this low?, is the hypnotherapist. What the hell, I’ve tried everything else. I see this often. Let me say this as often as it needs to be said: if willpower worked, this website wouldn’t need to be here. If you want on a later post I can give you a more thorough explanation of why hypnotherapy works but hypnosis works in conjunction with your will, not against it.


“Similar, in some ways, to a "get rich quick" scheme, all participation in hypnosis is doomed to failure. “
It’s nothing whatsoever like a get rich quick scheme. For a start, no-one is trying to sell you anything. There is no manipulation. And anyone promising you instant or guaranteed results is a liar. What I’m saying is that people suffer for years and years because of fear. In a way, your whole argument above could be seen as based upon fear. With fear comes denial and with denial comes tension, anger, frustration, shame, anxiety, discord…. Hypnosis will simply help someone accept themselves and with the comes peace. No-one is being brainwashed, they are being allowed to be themselves. Imagine a world where everyone was nice to you, where they respected you, where you were looked after and felt secure, where you were valued and trusted. That world all exists inside you, you just need to love yourself. It has nothing to do with the world outside or how other people treat you. And it starts by accepting who you are as human, shaking off any preconceptions, any guilt, and just being you. Maybe that doesn’t fit with your idea of religion, I don’t know, but honestly the experience is one of inner emancipation. When you know yourself so well, addictions are no longer necessary because you have everything inside yourself that you seek and to hurt yourself would be nonsense. That doesnt mean you are fixed overnight, habits have triggers and so it can take time. But the need, the basic problem that is causing the symptom, has shifted.

I hope that addresses your issues, but number one is nobody is going to take control away from the individual.

 

[ridiculous bear]

I've thought about it. The results could certainly be enlightening in theory.

Hypnosis freaks me out though. Opening up my mind like that to a perfect stranger, where I don't have any control over what I say or reveal is very uncomfortable for me. I've had surgeries where I was put under and I didn't have a problem trusting my body and my life to the surgeons, but the mind feels different somehow.

You have all the control in the world. You reveal what you want to reveal. But the point is, you are here for a reason and if you want to fix it then you have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Take responsibility, accept, and take steps to get out the hole. It can work, you simply need to embrace it. People always come with fear that they don't want to lose control and its hard to describe the sensation until you have experienced it yourself: you are very aware of yourself and it feels really really good.

 

[Deleted Account]

"Hypnotherapy" is an oxymoron. Hypnosis is not therapeutic. Hypnosis is an act of surrendering one's will to the will of another, and within that act one's own will and willpower is weakened, often permanently. Those who wish to enslave their own powers of mind and judgment to the will of another human being are misguided at best, for there is no human worthy of such a trust, and no sane mind would seek to relinquish his or her own rights and powers in such a manner. Essentially, it is an act of desperation in the vain hope for an easy shortcut for the one who fails to properly exercise his or her own willpower. Similar, in some ways, to a "get rich quick" scheme, all participation in hypnosis is doomed to failure. It can never hope to succeed, and results in losses which none can afford. I, personally, would stay far, far away from any hypnotist.

That's true and it's not. If someone finds himself in a situation where he's not able to take control of his life, hypnotherapy helps him take control step by step by helping him identify specific, actionable, time-sensitive goals, then relaxing him to influence the subconscious to bring about the goal. It can and does help people get to a place in their life where they have enough control to carry on by themselves.

There are also top-flite athletes and businesspeople who use it to give themselves a competitive edge. Whether or not this is ethical is another matter, but the people in question are the most strong-willed, high-functioning people there are, and they don't end up hulled-out shells on council estates because someone helped them focus their mental resources towards a goal they themselves have chosen.

 

[Deleted Account]

"Hypnotherapy" is an oxymoron. Hypnosis is not therapeutic. Hypnosis is an act of surrendering one's will to the will of another, and within that act one's own will and willpower is weakened, often permanently. Those who wish to enslave their own powers of mind and judgment to the will of another human being are misguided at best, for there is no human worthy of such a trust, and no sane mind would seek to relinquish his or her own rights and powers in such a manner. Essentially, it is an act of desperation in the vain hope for an easy shortcut for the one who fails to properly exercise his or her own willpower. Similar, in some ways, to a "get rich quick" scheme, all participation in hypnosis is doomed to failure. It can never hope to succeed, and results in losses which none can afford. I, personally, would stay far, far away from any hypnotist.

Also, churches have been using hypnosis for centuries. Long, boring sermons that put you in an alpha state then program you with intoned liturgies, along with symbolism instinctively recognised by the unconscious. Priests aren't stupid - they know what they're up to.

 

[Do all to the glory of God]

I certainly do have religious convictions, as my moniker here plainly declares: however, hypnotism can be understood easily by simple logic to be exactly as I have represented it. The fact that one cannot be hypnotized without first submitting his or her will entirely to the hypnotist shows that, in place of strengthening that will, it is an exercise in the exact opposite direction--weakening the will, even eliminating it entirely for a period of time, to allow someone else to dominate it.

Suppose I have a piece of PVC pipe which I use to hold up my tent where one of the poles is missing. Now, suppose the missing pole can only be matched by adding a slight angle to the PVC. In order to position the PVC at that correct angle, I must manipulate it a little, for it naturally is straight and not angled. I, therefore, heat the PVC a little to weaken its own natural "will," and do a bit of "therapy" upon it. Once finished, sure enough, the PVC will have conformed to the shape I wanted. But is it stronger for having been thus manipulated? No, indeed. It has been weakened. The more often, in fact, that I bend the PVC, with or without any heat, the weaker it will become.

So it is with hypnosis. If one has an apparently weak will to begin with, hypnosis will render it still weaker. The only way one's will can be strengthened is by maintaining itself without compromise--without submission, without allowing itself to be dominated by an external influence. As time without thus yielding passes, the will becomes more settled in its position, and "hardened." Practice at eschewing all compromise will in the end be the best possible means of having a strong will.

 

[Marcus Aurelius]

You have all the control in the world. You reveal what you want to reveal. But the point is, you are here for a reason and if you want to fix it then you have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Take responsibility, accept, and take steps to get out the hole. It can work, you simply need to embrace it. People always come with fear that they don't want to lose control and its hard to describe the sensation until you have experienced it yourself: you are very aware of yourself and it feels really really good.

Interesting. I guess I have based my view of hypnosis on sci fi movies as @InappropriateUsername suggested... I'll have to look more into it.

 

[ridiculous bear]

I certainly do have religious convictions, as my moniker here plainly declares: however, hypnotism can be understood easily by simple logic to be exactly as I have represented it. The fact that one cannot be hypnotized without first submitting his or her will entirely to the hypnotist shows that, in place of strengthening that will, it is an exercise in the exact opposite direction--weakening the will, even eliminating it entirely for a period of time, to allow someone else to dominate it.

Suppose I have a piece of PVC pipe which I use to hold up my tent where one of the poles is missing. Now, suppose the missing pole can only be matched by adding a slight angle to the PVC. In order to position the PVC at that correct angle, I must manipulate it a little, for it naturally is straight and not angled. I, therefore, heat the PVC a little to weaken its own natural "will," and do a bit of "therapy" upon it. Once finished, sure enough, the PVC will have conformed to the shape I wanted. But is it stronger for having been thus manipulated? No, indeed. It has been weakened. The more often, in fact, that I bend the PVC, with or without any heat, the weaker it will become.

So it is with hypnosis. If one has an apparently weak will to begin with, hypnosis will render it still weaker. The only way one's will can be strengthened is by maintaining itself without compromise--without submission, without allowing itself to be dominated by an external influence. As time without thus yielding passes, the will becomes more settled in its position, and "hardened." Practice at eschewing all compromise will in the end be the best possible means of having a strong will.

You are entitled to your opinion and I can see that you won't be swayed so that's fine, just ignore my thread. I don't need to persuade you of my rightness and I respect that your views are certain. But for the benefit of anyone else who is reading this, there is no weakening of one person's will nor is there domination. There is no manipulation, the client does the work they want to do in the way they want to do with a hypnotherapist accompanying them on the journey. Your words suggest that for there to be a winner there must be a loser but in the environment I'm talking about, both people have the same goal - to help the client - so the client doesn't give up anything, indeed he gains strength and awareness. There's no bending of the will, no weakening of the spirit, no manipulation. If anything the client will be secured, their spirit strengthened as their self awareness increases. What we are talking about here is knowing onesself better and accepting onesself as one is: the person grows through hypnosis, they do not weaken. They aren't led down some path they don't want to go, they go down the path they choose and the process is a revelatory one.

I completely disagree with you about one's will being strengthened by uncompromising focus, without submission. For me, that sets someone up to painful disappointment in themselves as they inevitably falter along the way. There are hundreds of threads on here of people who have lost this uncompromising focus and are suffering within themselves as a result. It is the psychology of a perfectionist and perfectionism really makes people suffer. People are human, they make mistakes, and that's how they grow.

 

[Deleted Account]

I certainly do have religious convictions, as my moniker here plainly declares: however, hypnotism can be understood easily by simple logic to be exactly as I have represented it. The fact that one cannot be hypnotized without first submitting his or her will entirely to the hypnotist shows that, in place of strengthening that will, it is an exercise in the exact opposite direction--weakening the will, even eliminating it entirely for a period of time, to allow someone else to dominate it.

Suppose I have a piece of PVC pipe which I use to hold up my tent where one of the poles is missing. Now, suppose the missing pole can only be matched by adding a slight angle to the PVC. In order to position the PVC at that correct angle, I must manipulate it a little, for it naturally is straight and not angled. I, therefore, heat the PVC a little to weaken its own natural "will," and do a bit of "therapy" upon it. Once finished, sure enough, the PVC will have conformed to the shape I wanted. But is it stronger for having been thus manipulated? No, indeed. It has been weakened. The more often, in fact, that I bend the PVC, with or without any heat, the weaker it will become.

So it is with hypnosis. If one has an apparently weak will to begin with, hypnosis will render it still weaker. The only way one's will can be strengthened is by maintaining itself without compromise--without submission, without allowing itself to be dominated by an external influence. As time without thus yielding passes, the will becomes more settled in its position, and "hardened." Practice at eschewing all compromise will in the end be the best possible means of having a strong will.

You speak as one who has no experience in the matter, and your logic and the analogy you draw are superficially plausible but flawed in fact.

 

[Do all to the glory of God]

Anytime one mind tries to control another mind, it goes against nature. Each person is to be his or her own mind and conscience. As a Christian, I follow the Bible, and the Bible is clear that no one should be mind, conscience, or judgment for another. I believe the Bible presents facts worthy of my attention. It is dangerous for anyone, no matter how good a man he is, to endeavor to influence another human mind to come under the control of his mind.

Everyone is free to choose their own course in this matter, but as for me, I will follow God's Word, which says:

But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. (Mark 10:42-44)

Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience? (1 Corinthians 10:29)

One does not need experience in something to know enough about it to avoid it. The argument that because I have never come under the hypnotist's influence I have no standing upon which to oppose it is a fallacy of logic. By that same logic, I would have no standing to oppose pornography, cigarettes, caffeine, alcohol, or illegal drugs, for I have never come under their influence either. Try to persuade me against all reason and logic if you will, you will not succeed. Perhaps by virtue of the fact that I have never yielded my mind to the hypnotist's enchantments, the strength of my will is stronger and my insight is clear.

I have done that which some here would consider impossible: I quit my sex addiction on the strength of my will, without counseling, without support or even the knowledge of anyone known to me (my wife doesn't even know yet, as we have not had opportunity to meet in nearly six months, and I haven't discussed it). I had already quit for months when I joined this forum. Perhaps the hypnotist should be seeking to me for wisdom in how to have such a strong will. Certainly, there is no reason for me to surrender my will to some other human mind.

 

[Deleted Account]

Anytime one mind tries to control another mind, it goes against nature. Each person is to be his or her own mind and conscience. As a Christian, I follow the Bible, and the Bible is clear that no one should be mind, conscience, or judgment for another. I believe the Bible presents facts worthy of my attention. It is dangerous for anyone, no matter how good a man he is, to endeavor to influence another human mind to come under the control of his mind.

Everyone is free to choose their own course in this matter, but as for me, I will follow God's Word, which says:


One does not need experience in something to know enough about it to avoid it. The argument that because I have never come under the hypnotist's influence I have no standing upon which to oppose it is a fallacy of logic. By that same logic, I would have no standing to oppose pornography, cigarettes, caffeine, alcohol, or illegal drugs, for I have never come under their influence either. Try to persuade me against all reason and logic if you will, you will not succeed. Perhaps by virtue of the fact that I have never yielded my mind to the hypnotist's enchantments, the strength of my will is stronger and my insight is clear.

I have done that which some here would consider impossible: I quit my sex addiction on the strength of my will, without counseling, without support or even the knowledge of anyone known to me (my wife doesn't even know yet, as we have not had opportunity to meet in nearly six months, and I haven't discussed it). I had already quit for months when I joined this forum. Perhaps the hypnotist should be seeking to me for wisdom in how to have such a strong will. Certainly, there is no reason for me to surrender my will to some other human mind.

That just means you have an exceptionally strong will. If someone who is physically weak seeks coaching or help to strengthen himself, there's nothing wrong in it. The only thing wrong would be having a complex, analogously advocated by yourself, about not knowing how to strengthen himself without help.

There is no analogy between hypnotherapy and drugs. I've studied and used hypnotherapy to turn my own and other people's lives around. Sometimes one does need experience to show oneself one's assumptions are just plain wrong, as in this case.

Congratulations on kicking your addiction by yourself. That's a great achievement. But you're just like every other mentally robust person who tells people struggling with acute mental health issues to 'get a grip'. You have no understanding of or empathy for the case in point, so really you should just be happy with your own achievements and let well-endowed people find help where they may.

 

[Do all to the glory of God]

It is an irony of life that often those most in need of help will be least likely to receive it, and not infrequently do they characterize their vice as a virtue. Wisdom is, today, as precious as it ever was; and those only find it who look beyond the majority thought to glean insights passed over by the crowd.

But not having this wisdom gets expensive. Payments may come in the form of money, of time, of health, of relationships, or even of life itself.

There are several things for which payments must be made:

1. You will pay for your mistakes.
2. You will pay for your emergencies (e.g. lack of planning, procrastination, etc.).
3. You will pay for your ignorance (lack of knowledge).

Depending on others for things one could have done for oneself is a great way to initiate the payments' program.

 

[InappropriateUsername]

Interesting. I guess I have based my view of hypnosis on sci fi movies as @InappropriateUsername suggested... I'll have to look more into it.

I spoke to a hypnotist once. They did Vegas-style shows but also had training as a hypnotherapist. He said that hypnotic suggestion is just—suggestion. He also said that highly intelligent people tend to be the easiest to put under b/c they usually have strong focus.

 

[InappropriateUsername]

Interesting. I guess I have based my view of hypnosis on sci fi movies as @InappropriateUsername suggested... I'll have to look more into it.

I spoke to a hypnotist once. They did Vegas-style shows but also had training as a hypnotherapist. He said that hypnotic suggestion is just—suggestion. He also said that highly intelligent people tend to be the easiest to put under b/c they usually have strong focus.

 

[Deleted Account]

Addiction is a three fold illness- mental, physical and spiritual. A few sessions with a hypnotherapist might take the edge off (cravings, anxiety) in the early stages of recovery but it would only be be temporary.

 

[telstra]

"Hypnotherapy" is an oxymoron. Hypnosis is not therapeutic. Hypnosis is an act of surrendering one's will to the will of another, and within that act one's own will and willpower is weakened, often permanently. Those who wish to enslave their own powers of mind and judgment to the will of another human being are misguided at best, for there is no human worthy of such a trust, and no sane mind would seek to relinquish his or her own rights and powers in such a manner. Essentially, it is an act of desperation in the vain hope for an easy shortcut for the one who fails to properly exercise his or her own willpower. Similar, in some ways, to a "get rich quick" scheme, all participation in hypnosis is doomed to failure. It can never hope to succeed, and results in losses which none can afford. I, personally, would stay far, far away from any hypnotist.

This is so far from the truth, and I say this as a trained hypnotherapist and somebody who has witnessed ‘impossible’ and radical results through the power of hypnosis. The client is always in control. Always. They hold complete authority over the situation, we don’t ‘heal’ the client, the client heals themselves through their own mental faculties. Don’t mistake hypnotherapy for stage hypnosis, they are entirely different avenues.. and to claim you hold wisdom is a display of spiritual immaturity. You’re engaging in foolish meanderings on a subject you don’t understand nor have an openness to want to understand and then gloating about how strong your will power is..
as far as hypnotherapy to treat PMO addiction, it can help some, but not all. It’s not a miracle cure for everything but can be a very potent tool in ones growth and nourishment.

 

[telstra]

Perhaps QHHT Hypnosis technique would be interesting as it’s not your conventional means of hypnosis. In this particular area, the therapist allows the client to reach the deepest depths of their subconscious mind, even deeper than conventional means. These sessions are usually recorded as an unknown
voice starts to talk through the client and the therapist is able to ask the voice questions regarding the client. The client is unconsciously conscious, and upon waking, it’s not uncommon to experience radical change and healing after one session. Perhaps QHHT as opposed to conventional hypnotherapy may be better suited to treat pmo addiction as you’re going deeper into the mind, and able to communicate with a force that can provide insight and solutions. Ive seen this technique done first hand and it’s very interesting. There are recorded sessions on youtube as well you can watch.