What is Hypnosis?

Introduction:

Lets get this blog started for real with some actual information about hypnosis. That is its main reason for existing, after all! I thought the best place to start would be with an explanation about hypnosis itself, what it is, what the sensation is like, its benefits and limitations. Read on…

Hypnosis:

Hypnosis is a natural state of deep relaxation that is achieved by focusing the mind, thereby removing all unnecessary extraneous thoughts. It is best described as the state you reach just before you drift into true sleep, that point where you are still just conscious but feel totally relaxed and comfortable. For an in-depth description of hypnosis, see my website at http://www.hypnosic.com as well, there’s lots of other information to be had and its also growing as more articles get added.

There is no actual “hypnotised” feeling that can be described in textual terms. However, some people report various sensations, ranging from a feeling of lightness and even floating, to a softly sinking sensation, or even heaviness of limbs in some cases. Most people will feel nothing at all, except that deep sense of inner calm.

What surprises most people who enter the hypnotic state, upon regaining full conscious awareness, was that they were able to hear everything the hypnotist said and that they didn’t feel as though they had been hypnotised at all. That is quite normal, in fact, when a person is in a light hypnotic trance their senses are actually heightened. In my practice, I was often mildly amused, or even a little surprised at some of the comments my patients would come out with while deeply hypnotised.

“That pen of yours is awfully squeaky.” I always thought my old Parker was silent until after I was told this, so I put my ear very close to it as I slowly drew a line and was surprised to hear an almost inaudible whine as the pen moved across paper!

One day I’d just had the gas man carry out maintenance on my boiler when a patient deep in a trance said she could smell gas.

Or after a session I was often told by several patients:

“Do you know, while I was listening to you describe birds singing in the trees, I could actually hear those birds singing. It was so real!”

In actual fact they could hear the real birds singing some distance away in a local park – even though my consulting room was soundproofed and I couldn’t hear them (although I knew they were there as I could hear them when I went outside.

So bearing this in mind, a patient in hypnosis is very much aware of his or her surroundings, despite appearing to be fast asleep. They are not, of course, as hypnosis is not sleep. Once you fall asleep (and it has happened more times than I care to admit) you are no longer in the hypnotic state, you are well and truly asleep! This does often happen, as a patient drifts down into a deeper and deeper trance state, they can go all the way to sleep. When that happens, I have to bring them back a way, often by asking them to answer a mundane question, like: “What day is it today?”

That engages the conscious, rational part of the brain to think if it’s Monday or Tuesday, etc.

Also, when in a state of hypnosis, you cannot be forced to do anything that you would not want to do, or anything that would be contrary to your moral beliefs. Anyone who has watched a stage hypnotic show would doubt that statement, having seen a skilful stage hypnotist reduce even the most apparently strong-willed person into a screaming, baying child, or make them think they are a dog, or to eat raw onions thinking they are apples, or whatever.

What is taking place here, is the power of suggestion – something I will leave for a future posting, as that subject is huge and it would make this posting too big to digest all in one go!

So, to Recap:

Hypnosis is a natural state of relaxation combined with heightened awareness of the senses, where the person feels very relaxed but can still interact verbally or physically with the hypnotist. It is not sleep. It is not magic or hocus-pocus. Its just a very enjoyable, safe and natural state of consciousness.

Almost anyone can enter the state of hypnosis to varying degrees and can regain normal consciousness just as easily.

That’s it for now. Please come back in a day or two for my next posting.

Thanks for your visit

Terry Didcott DHP

Fledgeling Website

My Own Website

Well, its always a good idea to promote a new website from what will now be its sister blog, so i'll be doing just that right here!

The idea of the website www.hypnosic.com will be

a) To act as a rich information site on the subject of hypnosis and hypnotherapy

b) To be a platform for the sale of my own collection of hypnotherapy CDs

c) To expound the concept of the use of music as an enhancement to hypnotherapy

In its current state, however, only the first point is being covered - this will and is growing gradually and steadily as I add more content to its pages. A lot of that content is taken from my old site from when I was in full practice in the UK in the 1990s. It was called Beacontree Hypnotherapy (www.beacontree.hypnotherapy.cwnet.com). A bit of a mouthful and no longer in existance, although if you searched it in google it still finds links to the defunct site.

Luckily, I had the foresight to back up the data files from the site to CD (all but one - I lost the "Sunday Magazine" article based on my therapy sessions with one of my clients - that was good advertising!). So I'm currently reformatting those old pages to fit in with my new site design, which all takes time but will yield good results in the end.

To start things rolling, and as money is tight, I've had to use free hosting (and have to suffer the banner ads of the hosting site), but as the site grows to its full potential and starts generating revenue I'll go to paid hosting and just have the ads that I want!

Retirement?

Did I mention retirement? Well, at the tender age of 42, it wasn't retirement from the workplace, just from practice as a hypnotherapist. After eight years I felt I needed a break. I was also planning my move to Spain which meant the end of that phase of my life. But not completely.

I've been here for over four years now and during that time of semi-retirement I met up with the husband and wife team from Elite Clinics, a hypnotherapy practice in Fuengirola. That rekindled my interest and sowed the seeds for this venture.

So now I'm active on the web - who knows, maybe I'll be tempted back into full practice in the near future?

Watch This Space!!!

Thanks for your visit. Do come again soon!

...and remember to check out my new site at: www.hypnosic.com ... Thanks

Terry Didcott DHP

Hypnosis & Music

Introduction

Welcome to the hypnosis and music blog.

I've started to put this together because so many people have been asking me to put my ideas and work where people will see it. Well, here it is, or will be when I get it all typed up.

So, who am I and what exactly will this be about?

I'm a qualified hypnotherapist and practised in the UK from 1994 to 2002 as a member of the International Association of Hypno-analysts (I.A.H), the National Council of Hypnotherapists (N.C.P) and the British Hypnotherapy Association (B.H.A). They enabled me to put the letters MIAH, MNCP, MBHA after my name, which looked good on my advertising and brochures and gave my clients piece of mind that I was a bona fide practising therapist with the security of my three governing bodies. In 2002 I retired from practice and moved to southern Spain, where I now live. I cancelled my membership with the three associations, as I didn't see the point in keeping up the annual subscriptions if I wasn't going to be practising professionally any more.

After a gap of a few years, I have been persuaded to share some of my not inconsiderable knowledge (gained from my years as a practitioner), so this blog will be built with information about my particular variation of hypnotherapy (hypno-analysis using the freudian psychoanalysis base) as well as letting you know how to get your hands on the collection of hypnosis CDs that I am having re-mastered and reprinted.

That's for a later date when they are ready to be unleashed on an interested and receptive public.

So come back again soon when my first article will be ready.

Thanks for your visit

Terry Didcott DHP

(That stands for Diploma in HyPnotherapy, if you were wondering :)