Posted by DC on May 8, 2000, at 21:28:44
In reply to Hypnotherapy, posted by LD on May 8, 2000, at 15:11:19
> I recently started going to a new therapist and he wants to start using hypnotherapy to help me get over some major traumas from my childhood and learn to see things in a different light. Has anyone else tried this? What has been your experiences? Has it helped? I am also using medication jointly with therapy (Effexor XR 300 mg right now).
>
> Thanks.
LD, I think there is some pretty good evidence for the efficacy of hypnotherapy. Dr. Herbert Benson at Harvard wrote an influential book called The Relaxation Response. In his second book he talks about using affirmations along with deep relaxation. It seems to help for all kinds of things. Hypnosis as I see it is basically meditation with suggestion. Cognitive therapy and meditation are the only therapies that show much evidence of really helping people. Most psychologists still cling to the psychoanalytic framework--with all the emphasis on repression and early childhood. But studies indicate that psychoanalytic therapy is no more effective than placebo.
poster:DC
thread:32788
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000508/msgs/32831.html