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Contact me at barbara.burgess@blueyonder.co.uk

Hypnosis conjures up images of swinging watches, people running around like chickens, and the oft quoted "look into my eyes" - it seems that stage hypnotists have done us a disservice in the image of hypnosis, even if they have raised it's profile and proved to the public that it works! Although the term 'Hypnosis' was first coined in the 19th century there is evidence that it was used therapeutically by the Hindus of Ancient India and the Ancient Egyptians in their ‘Sleep Temples' and many belief systems utilise trance as a way of accessing spiritual understanding or healing which are induced by similar methods to those we can use to induce hypnosis (chanting, mantras, rhythmic drumming & other rituals).

Hypnotherapy is a method of accessing this internal focus of concentrated attention, in partnership with the therapist, in order in order to attain a desirable therapeutic outcome. It has been shown in scientific studies, time after time, to be an effective therapy for many different issues. Results have shown that it is useful in cases of IBS; Cancer; Pain Control; Weight Loss; Healing after Surgery.....and many more. Those of us who use hypnosis in our therapies know that it can work for many other problems and provides an excellent tool for personal development, working directly on the subconscious.

Hypnotherapy seems to straddle the gap between the accepted orthodoxies of psychology, psychiatry & psychotherapy and the complementary or alternative therapies. However, hypnotherapy was accepted by the British Medical Association as a form of orthodox medicine in 1892 and is used by both psychotherapists & psychiatrists. Most forms of psychotherapy use only spoken conversation, though some also use other forms of communication such as the written word, artwork, drama, or narrative story. We all know that, just because we know why we do something, it doesn’t necessarily stop us doing it and just because we know that certain beliefs we have about ourselves are not logical, we still have those thoughts.

Suppose you bought yourself a second hand car, it looks good, starts well and sounds fine, the only thing is the funny little rattle it has when you come to a junction - the guy you bought it from tells you it has done it for ages and he’s had it checked and there’s no problem - it’s just something that happens with this model. You could continue to drive it around until it starts to really annoy you, or you could talk to anyone you know who has some mechanical knowledge so you know what it could be, or you could take a look at the engine and find out what is not quite right before that loose bit causes you real trouble.

Hypnotherapy will take us straight to the engine, the subconscious, that is running your interface with the world.

We tend to spend our lives thinking we are living in a conscious world, but the conscious brain really does very little. If you want something, your conscious mind may say “I want that” but your subconscious would have told you that you wanted it and have a box full of reasons why (advertising told it; it reminds me of * *; the smell takes me back to * *; my Mum had one; it buys into a lifestyle idea that I have). The conscious brain would then decide to reach out for it, but the unconscious autonomic reactions will get the blood flow right and all the right muscles moving.

Which is all fine if what you want is a glass of water. When the subconscious is giving you ideas, thoughts or feelings that are in conflict with your own good, just like the rattle in the engine, it becomes a bit of a problem. You could continue live with it until it gets really annoying and your subconscious is sabotaging your life, you could go to talk to someone who could possibly tell you what you should be thinking or, with hypnosis, you could lift the bonnet and have a look at what’s rattling!