Hypnotherapy. Anyone found it beneficial?

[mibbelucieachwell]

Is it like a guided meditation or does it feel ‘deeper’?

Following for a friend.

You need to be the sort of person who can accept the premise which I think says much about the practice.

I had it for needle phobia. It did F all.

I know multiple people who have used it for smoking and said it was a miracle.

I think it’s worth a shot if you’re running out of options and willing to part with the money.

About thirty years ago I went on a self-hypnosis weekend after reading an Observer article.
It was astounding. After my first session under I went home and had the most profound sleep, like diving into a deep well.
I learned techniques I still use today, though due my chronic procrastination, not often enough.
And yes, we did the lying across two chair backs with no support, and the nappy pin through the skin. I have photos of the latter. All of these were at the end of the weekend, not its beginning or purpose.

You do have to be willing, i.e ready to be hypnotised, and this is not judgment of those find it useless. Part of the process was counting from 1-5 to come out of self-hypnosis and one the participants had a counting phobia. They became very angry.

@Sweetiedarling7 is correct, though the feel of their post is snarky.
A friend at the time said hypnosis was bollocks because it was all in the mind. Duh. Of course it's all the mind.

I have used it and it was great

I used it for a phobia and it worked.

I used hypnobirthing for the birth of my second child at home in 2009. I was a bit sceptical about all the “woo” stuff but was absolutely blown away by how effective it was. Over the course of several weeks the therapist gave me a box of tools, some of which I preferred to others.

The most surprising session was when we were using breathing techniques to enter a calm state and she had us visualise a lemon on a chopping board which we cut open and bit into. I swear I could taste the lemon in my mouth. I accused her of witchcraft because I was so amazed!

The mind is incredible and you can train it to control your body. I had a virtually pain free labour, wasn’t distressed at all, and was having tea outside with the neighbours 2 hours later!

Mixed responses. How was the feeling of being hypnotised? I had one session yesterday and was distinctly underwhelmed. Maybe it improves with further sessions though?

I had 4 sessions and as I said in my previous reply it did nothing.

Maybe it was me not being the right candidate maybe it was that my therapist wasn’t very good, who knows.

i was always “aware” though out all the sessions.

I did a 10 wk hypo birthing course learned many excellent techniques, ended up with 3 days of labour, failure to progress and a dramatic emergency c-section.

Self hypnosis helped me manage the pain very well, which in my case was NOT a good thing as it delayed getting help. My baby's heart rate dropped and nearly didn't make it.

Each birth is different and some self hypnosis techniques can work for pain management but it does not make an easy or safe birth more or less likely, unfortunately.

I went to two ... one was a waste of time (in very nice premises) and the other was somewhat useful. I was not getting over a bad breakup, basically I was ghosted by my husband, and it was on my mind all the time.

The hypnosis was a bit boring but then I realised it was an hour later. When I left i was walking along and realised I was thinking about what I was going to do later that day ... which was amazing.

Obviously I don't know if I would have been a bit better soon anyway.

Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences. I was recommended it as a complementary therapy to help with a chronic condition. I do wonder if I’m not a suitable candidate after the first session as per pp, but I guess at worst it won’t hurt.

I had it for a phobia and it did nothing. At the time I felt positive and thought it was going to be helpful but that soon wore off.

Just like in normal life, there are some absolutely amazing hypnotists and also some seriously mediocre hypnotists.

It’s not a one size fits all profession.

Mr DH is amazing (but retired now). He could cure phobias in one session and he did a sort of hypno birthing with me before it became fashionable.

If you don’t feel that the person you’re seeing is working for you, try someone else.

I can be very suggestible if I’m in a relaxed, semi-sleepy state and with someone I deeply trust, like dh. He has used a few techniques on me that have been surprisingly effective.

I have tried hypnosis twice with professionals to no effect.

I think trust is probably a key factor for me.

Sorry @mibbelucieachwell I didn’t actually answer the question.
The professional sessions were like a guided meditation with one of them doing a strange echo-cho-cho-o voice every so often. I couldn’t quite switch off my inner cynic. But it was nice and relaxing.

With dh, it’s just like he’s said something really profound and wise that I completely agree with and know to be true.

I had hypnosis and it really helped with my panic attacks.

I had it for insomnia and anxiety. Lifechanging. I still use the techniques.

I had hypnosis despite being a bit unsure / wary about it and it helped my chronic fatigue . It seemed linked to a trauma in my past which the practitioner found very quickly.
So weirdly I kept having a reflex to use swear words afterwards and never would normally, luckily this has worn off but I remain cautiously wary of hypnosis as don't really understand it !

I did hynotherapy (guided meditations effectively of about 20 mins) as part of a wider online self-confidience course (with chloe brotheridge) and amazingly yeh I think it did work. I mean it definitely helped. And I still dip back into the recordings to go to sleep (though you're meant to actually listen to them awake lol) and notice a difference the next day. Perhaps it works especially well as complementary to other 'work' you are doing.