I'm a hypnotist (remedial, not stage) AMA

[Eyesopenwideawake]

As per the title! I love my work and happy to answer any questions 😊

I went to 2 reputable hypnotists to help me lose weight ( a stone or two to lose ).
Neither worked.

The analogy I use for weight loss (and smoking cessation) is the "crying baby". When you were young and you needed comfort the natural thing was to have something in your mouth - a nipple or a bottle or your own thumb/fist. So we learn at a very early stage that this is nice and soothing and it's a powerful lesson. For a baby there is no concept of long term consequences, whereas an adult knows logically that overeating or smoking - whilst giving short term pleasure - does not equate to long term happiness.

Even with the best hypnosis the client has to exercise some self control - there's no magic solution unfortunately.

As an aside I helped Tim (Box) with a training session back in the summer and was a guinea pig for a demonstration. I'd developed a bad habit of mindlessly picking at biscuits as I was stuck inside with a sciatica attack and was bored and in pain. He talked to the bit of my subconscious that was looking for comfort in biscuits and told it that it would be better for it to stop. Took me two months before I even thought about having a biscuit again!!

I needed sweetness in my life hence my craving for sweets. I understood that.

Would you be able to help a person who 'thinks' non-stop, please? At the stage now whereby sleeps last for 2-3 hours per night. Fall asleep 'thinking', and waken up 'thinking.' Have some physical difficulties which are being exacerbated by this process.

@ ZIEVAR - Probably. There isn't a part of the subconscious that's 'responsible' for sleep, so it's a matter of finding out which bit of your mind feels it's needs are so important that it has to override your sleep.

Imagine your mind as an office block. As the workers go home to rest and turn their lights off the block becomes dark and inactive - that's what sleep should look like. Except there are some individuals who are so intent in figuring out their problems that they light up their little windows and disturb the rest of the building.

Once they realise they are not helping they will also leave their tasks to be completed when the body is fully recharged and much more able to deal with whatever the issue might be.

Hi, I wonder if you could tell me if this is self-hypnosis or something else.

I close my eyes and imagine that I've accomplished something, and feel overjoyed about it. It can be about myself or someone else, and most of the time it becomes reality.

For instance, I was an average child but I imagined that I was getting an offer from one of the most prestigious unis in the world. A few months later I did.

I imagined that I would marry X who was with someone else at the time and nobody thought we would get together. But we did.

I hypnotised myself so I could have a baby boy, then a few years later a baby girl. We were then blessed with a boy then a girl.

The list is endless.. it seems like I could make things happen if I really try hard to create an image in my mind and reciprocate the feeling (sometimes the thought of it makes me cry with joy).

Have you had this experience before? If so, is it something you can train yourself or does it come naturally? I've been able to do this since very young.

Hi @Eyesopenwideawake

Fascinating thread. Can hypnosis help with M.E./CFS and if so, how?
I would love to find something that will make a noticeable difference to my fatigue, poor concentration and brain fog.

@LeMoo - I believe so. Not my area of expertise but I have a colleague who specialises in fibromyalgia and pain management. Happy to PM you her details if you'd like.

Hi @Eyesopenwideawake , do you have any thoughts on my experience? Would really appreciate if you could tell me anything that comes to your mind. Thank you.

@sparechair - you have been very fortunate in your life and that's wonderful 😊

I do believe in the power of positive thought (and hard work - which is I guess what got you into that uni!) and self belief; and also resilience, which will get you though the hard times that we all face at some stage in our lives.

Thank you, @Eyesopenwideawake

It feels as if I'm not working hard but life takes me to places or to people who help me achieve those goals.

Many of them I could not have achieved even with hard work. I'm wondering if what I have been doing was to be in touch with my subconsciousness which led me to those places and people. I don't know. Feels strange as I've never met anybody in RL who has had similar experiences as me.

Your post reminded me of this. Thanks for helping everyone out

I don't think I can be hypnotised. I've tried loads of hypnotherapy, including gastric band hypnotherapy in person, and found that I was just laying there listening and / or fell asleep. How can I try to become more hypnotisable?!

@Arsewangry - remedial hypnosis doesn't involve being "hypnotised" (put into a trance) as, in a nutshell, it's not necessary to achieve the same results as traditional hypnosis and there are additional benefits - if we hit a barrier the client can tell me what's going on in their mind during the session.

I work by talking directly to your subconscious mind by using IMR's (ideomotor responses); specifically finger movements that are not controlled by your conscious mind. If you think about it you do many things every day that you don't actively think about - when you walk you don't consciously tell your legs and feet to move, they just do it. So I ask your subconscious to communicate by moving your fingers independently of your thoughts. As I mentioned up thread, when a client says "fuck me, that's weird" I know it's working! 😊

It's important to say that this method doesn't work for everyone and it's not right for some issues, which is why I always have a free, no commitment, initial consultation. There's no point for either party to try to effect a change if the subconscious can't or won't respond.

Thank you, I'd be really grateful if you would :)

Done!

Would this be therapy be helpful for an 11 year old girl who struggles with extreme constipation. She has been under a specialist for years and has to take laxatives and softeners everyday but cannot relax as she is scared if the pain and so the problem is aggravated.

It would have been really interesting if Box had hypnotised you to stop reaching for the biscuits but not told you that's what he'd done, then check in with you a month later. Would that be possible or do you have to engage?

@Dahliasrule - honestly, I don't know but have a chat with Therese Langford of www.facebook.com/calmmindhypnotherapy - she offers a free consultation with parents and will tell you if she thinks she can help.

How does hypnotherapy work if you don't put the person in a trance? I was hypnotised for a fear of needles and even though I remember it all , I was still under, almost like I was half asleep. It worked for My fear of needles yet weirdly it gave me anxiety for about 2 weeks after.

@ICanHideButICantRun - there's no trance involved so I heard consciously exactly was my subconscious was being told - stop eating the bloody biscuits! We seriously underestimate how powerful our primitive/inner child brain is and what it can do when it knows it's behaviour is in our best interests.

I can't comment on your own experience (obviously!) but I can tell you about a client of mine who had a needle phobia. They had just been able to avoid it with it until a cancer diagnosis caused a crisis.

The conversation I had with their subconscious was that needles were going to be part of the foreseeable future and that the only decision was to either make it better or worse for the client, because swerving wasn't now an option. Given that the subconscious always wants the best outcome, it opted for acceptance. At the last session the client was able to handle needles happily and recognise they were needed for their treatment and recovery - a necessary evil.

This is so interesting. I have an 8 year old with severe anxiety, is it Therese who you recommend i contact?

@slithytoveisascientist - it is, and she does a free initial consultation with the parents. Hope it goes well. 😊

Thank you x

Thank you for sharing, I find the power of the mind absolutely fascinating and although different to this, have personally has great success for ptsd with therapy.

I have a terrible habit of late night sweet eating which, when I really think about it, I know is linked to meeting an emotional need. Anything self care related I am terrible at and I self sabotage myself which I think is connected to my low self esteem. Would hypnosis be a good way to address this is or cbt a better option? (Even as I type this I know I will need to "convince myself" to do something as my overwhelming urge is to not so anything and focus my attention anywhere else than on me).