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Hypnosis was accepted by the AMA in 1958 as a viable treatment for treating anxiety and stress related symptoms. Does it definitely work? And what should a person consider critical when looking for a hypno-technician, or purchasing hypnosis tapes?

There are many diversified hypnotic methodologies that are used to reach the subconscious to bring about change. Each method has its good points and its bad points. Every person is different, so it stands to reason that the best results will result from using techniques that each individual will have the most success with.

Most companies that sell pre-recorded hypnosis programs offer tapes that consist of standard traditional hypnotic techniques. A few vendors offer much more advanced and effective Ericksonian hypnosis methods. And fewer still offer NLP or Neuro-Linguistic Programming methods.

The most effective method is video hypnosis. Video hypnosis relies on the latest Neuro-Linguistic Programming thought processes to create instant change in a person. Video hypnosis modalities are not subliminal in nature.

With "Traditional Hypnosis," we simply make suggestions to the subconscious mind. In case you are wondering, as far as I'm concerned, the term unconscious and subconscious are equivalent - they refer to the same part of the mind. This type of hypnosis works well for someone who generally accepts what he/she is told without questionning everything.

Most hypnosis CD's that are sold today are based on "Traditional Hypnosis" methods. This reason is because it really doesn't take much experience to create a script and just tell a person to do something. Unfortunately Traditional Hypnotic Suggestion is not very efficient for people who are critical in their thought processes.

By contrast, Ericksonian Hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming methods work more effectively for most members of today's generation! This is because today individuals are taught to question everything they see and hear, rather than just do what they are commanded to do. So these methodologies do work effectively on people who are critical in their thought processes.

Ericksonian Hypnosis and NLP are much more effective at reaching and influencing the subconscious. However, it can take years of training, study, and most of all experience to learn how to apply these methods effectively. This is a task that is only accepted by truly dedicated hypnotists.

With "Ericksonian Hypnosis," we use little stories, called metaphors, to present new ideas to the subconscious. This is a compelling modailty, because it usually eliminates the mental blockage of suggestions that is often caused by the conscious mind. There are two types of metaphors, "Isomorphic," and those of the imbedded command or "interspersal" nature.

Isomorphic metaphors offer direction to the subconscious by telling a story with a moral. The subconscious draws a one-on-one relationship between the parts of the story and the parts of a problem situation or behavior. For example, if a child is telling a lot of lies, the parent might tell the child the story about the "Boy who cried wolf." The subconscious would draw a parallel between the boy in the story and the child, and realize that telling lies could lead to disaster, so the child would probably stop lying.

With the Embedded Command technique, the hypno-therapist conveys an amusing story that engages and distracts the conscious mind. The story contains hidden direct commands that are generally accepted by the subconscious. For example: While the person is in hypnosis, she might hear the hypnotist say something like: I'm going to tell you a story about ...[a beach that has feelings. Isn't that] ...strange to... [you]? It's a warm summer's day, and... the beach [feels great].

The hypnotist pauses, shifts his voice tonality, and verbally stresses the bracketed text. The subconscious recognizes a "Selectional restriction violation." Beaches can't have feelings. So it's like the subconscious says to itself: "Wait a minute, a beach can't feel anything, so that must mean that I'm supposed to feel great."

Since the suggestions are hidden in an article that is distracting the conscious mind, it is not very likely that the conscious will realize that it has just received a post-hypnotic suggestion, so it will not resist it.

Process Instructions direct the subconscious to recall an experience of an appropriate learning experience from the past where something useful to the present situation was learned, and then to apply that experience to eliminate negative behaviors in the present.

With "Neuro-Linguistic Programming" (NLP), rather than using post-hypnotic commands, we use the same thought patterns that are creating a problem, like insomnia or stress, to eliminate the symptom. NLP in the hands of an experienced practitioner can be very effective.

NLP Anchoring: Have you ever heard an old song and had it trigger feelings from the past? When you originally listened to the music, you were experiencing those feelings, and they unconsciously became attached to the sound of the melody. So the music became an Anchor for the feelings. Now when you hear the song, it triggers the same feelings again.

Anchoring can be a very useful method. Suppose that you have a memory of being commended for having a great accomplisment in the past. If you get back inside of that memory, you'll be able to recreate the feelings of self-esteem that you had at that time. If you touch two fingers together while you re-experience those feelings of self-esteem, that touch will become an anchor for the feelings of self-esteem.

Now suppose that you want to create motivation to stick to a diet and lose weight. If you make a mental image of yourself with a thin, sexy body, and simultaneously trigger the anchor - (press the two fingers together again), your subconscious will associate together the feelings of self-esteem to the mental image of you with the thin body and your level of motivation to lose weight will increase markedly.

NLP Flash: This is a very powerful NLP method that can be used to flip things around in the subconscious, so that thoughts and experiences that used to trigger feelings of stress actually trigger relaxation instead.

The NLP Flash method is also a fast way to obliterate conditioned responses. For example: If a smoker has a cigarette while watching TV, his/her subconscious will pair the two behaviors together so that he/she automatically gets a craving for a cigarette anytime he/she watches TV. The Flash will cause the smoker's mind to disassociate the image of a cigarette from the TV so that he/she does NOT get a craving to smoke just because he/she is watching TV.

With "Subliminal" recordings, the recording has two different tracks. One track contains a cover sound that is heard by the conscious mind. The cover sound could be anything from music to nature sounds. The second track contains direct suggestions that are heard by the subconscious mind. These suggestions are repeated many, many times during a session.

Subliminal programs can be listened to as they play in the background while you are working, or driving or partisipating in any other activity. You don't have to stop what you are doing and relax like you do with self-hypnosis CD's. Subliminals can be an addition to hypnotic programs. But Subliminals will never replace Hypnosis or NLP because they are not as effective! They are not even in the same universe!! Some studies have claimed that it can take up to 80 hours of listening to a subliminal recording before it will have any effect on many people.

The last hypnotic modality that we're going to talk about is Video Hypnosis. Video hypnosis is the most efficient form of hypnosis!

The techniques used in video hypnosis are based on the NLP technology, which works based on the utilization of a person's existing thought processes instead of hypnotic suggestion.

Over 70% of the people on the planet learn much more quickly and easily by seeing, rather then by hearing.

Think about it. If you feel an urge to eat or smoke when watching TV, it's because your subconscious recorded the video image of either food in your hand, or a cigarette in your hand, and then linked that image to an image of the TV. You never spoke to yourself and told yourself in words to associate them together, did you?

And that's why the Video Hypnosis mechanism is so powerful. It's not hypnotic in the traditional sense, relying on the spoken word; rather, it relies on transmitting images to the subconscious. And if you've ever shed a tear when watching a sad movie, then you know how powerful video hypnosis can be at reaching the subconscious. With this technology, results usually start with the very first viewing!

The Video Hypnosis / NLP technology is marketed under the tradename of Neuro-VISION. It programs the subconscious by way of a high-tech digital process. This frees a person of their urges and allows someone who smokes to quit without willpower or weight gain, and a dieter to lose their urges and appetite. Results start with the very first viewing!

(c) 2007 By Alan B. Densky, CH. This document may be re-printed as long as it isn't changed in any way and the author's name and clickable web address links are retained.

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