Medical Hypnosis

History

Hypnosis has had a long and varied history, with reports of hypnotic-like states as far back as ancient Greece and Egypt. It has gone in and out of fashion depending on the preferences and prejudices of the age. However, from the very beginning there have been reports of its use to treat medical conditions.

The 19th Century

The earliest instances of medical hypnosis as we would understand it come in the early 19th Century, when Dr John Elliotson, Professor of Medicine at University College Hospital in London, conducted public clinical demonstrations of hypnosis and hypnotic phenomena. He later edited a journal where he reported on the work of James Esdaile, a Scottish surgeon working in India, who’d performed several hundred operations painlessly using only hypnosis as an anaesthetic, and with better outcomes than the other rudimentary methods available at the time.

France

Towards the end of the 19th Century, in France, Dr Ambroise-August Liebeault claimed that he could cure people by hypnotic ‘suggestion’. His methods were studied and enhanced by Professor Hippolyte Bernheim, who would go on to become one of the leading early practitioners of medical hypnosis, along with Dr August Forel.

Eliminating Causes

Further work changed the approach of hypnosis from ‘suggesting’ away the symptoms, to eliminating the apparent causes. Patients in hypnosis would often recall past events.

Talking about them would bring about emotional release, after which they would begin to lose their symptoms.

Modern Hypnosis

The modern practice of medical hypnosis combines the best from both these traditions. Medical vs. Conventional Hypnosis When working with something like a phobia, or stop smoking, there’s a part of the mind which is causing the problem - even though it thinks it’s doing the right thing.

In hypnosis we can update this part and get it to do something different which serves the person better. However, when working with a medical condition, we’re dealing with a real physical problem which can often require that we retrain the body as well as the mind.

This can take much longer, almost like learning to play an instrument or a sport you’ve never played before. Some people will have a natural aptitude which merely needs some guidance to flourish, others will need more intensive and longer term training and support.

Our Training

We have both completed a comprehensive two year Masters Course in Medical Hypnosis, taught by renowned author and hypnosis expert James Pool. Based on the pioneering work of Drs Bernheim and Forel, the course covers a wide range of medical conditions and is fully accredited by the General Hypnotherapy Register (GHR), the UK's most highly regarded hypnotherapy standards register for training organisations and hypnotherapy practitioners.

Medical Qualifications

Because we’re not diagnosing or working directly on the physical symptoms of a given medical condition by giving it a pill or an operation, we don’t need to be qualified medical practitioners.

Indeed, doctors frequently refer patients to us when conventional medical practice is unable to help the patient’s so-called ‘psychosomatic’ illness.

Although to many people this word may have negative connotations of ‘faking’ or ‘all in the mind’, it’s really just an acknowledgement of the powerful effects the mind (psyche) can have on the body (soma).

How We Work

How We Work What we’re able to do is harness the power of the mind to give people relief and/or remission from the symptoms of illness which they find so distressing, uncomfortable or difficult to live with. We don’t claim to effect a cure - that would require an extended period of remission and a doctor’s confirmation.

Put You Back In Control

What we can do, however, is to put people back in control of their situation, and train them in simple practical steps they can use themselves to give relief from their condition.

Relax

We work differently depending on the condition: part of our asthma programme, for instance, is to retrain our clients to relax instead of tense when they feel the first signs of an imminent attack, which is often enough to halt it;

Background Pain

for pain clients we can train them to filter out and ignore the ‘background’ pain which is always there, and only respond to acute pain which would indicate an injury;

High Blood Pressure

for clients with high blood pressure we can not only teach them techniques for deep relaxation and stress release, but also deal with the underlying issues which cause that stress-response in the first place;

Arthritis

for arthritis clients we can train them to be able to swiftly ease stiffness and tension out of their joints, restoring mobility;

Cancer

for cancer patients we can help them to boost their immune system to give them the best possible chance of fighting the disease.

Other Conditions

Other conditions which respond well to hypnosis include allergies, skin conditions (including psoriasis and warts), epilepsy, digestive disorders (including Crohn’s Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome), chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, heart disease, back pain, headaches and migraine, diabetes and Pre-Menstrual Syndrome.

Sudden Disability

We can also help people deal with the psychological effects of sudden disability or long-term or debilitating illness.

Techniques

The techniques of medical hypnosis can also be used for conditions which are not directly related to disease.

For example, we have a specialist obesity programme and can also help with surgery preparation and recovery, sports medicine (for example by shortening recovery times after injury, ensuring compliance with reduced training regimes and maintaining a player’s ‘edge’), and in preparing expectant mothers to have an enjoyable and pain-free birthing experience.

Programme Duration Hypnosis

Programme Duration Hypnosis is a tool, not a cure in and of itself.

Generally speaking, as we’re retraining deeply ingrained physical responses, medical hypnosis isn’t able to provide a ‘quick-fix’ solution to a given problem.

However, with consistent work over an extended period (three to six months is not uncommon), it’s possible to achieve noticeable, and sometimes spectacular, results.

Appointments available at:

8 Winchester Street, Basingstoke:

09:30-18:30 Monday - Friday
10:00 -15:00 Saturday (by arrangement)

click HERE for Directions to our premises

General enquiries: info@wellbeingconsultancy.com