Posted by Mark H. on May 9, 2000, at 12:26:40
In reply to Re: Hypnotherapy, posted by harry b. on May 9, 2000, at 10:26:44
> If entering into this type of therapy, can the patient
> set parameters or agree on areas/subjects that are
> to be off-limits?
>
> Is it SOP to record the sessions so the patient
> can listen? Or is the patient aware and capable
> of remembering the session?Great questions, Harry, and unfortunately the answer is frequently "no." Certification in hypno-therapy is relatively easy to obtain (even in California, which over-licenses everything in my opinion), involving for some as little as two intensive weekends in Las Vegas with more participants than the promoters can responsibly screen. You "can" wind up with a Ted Bundy as a certified hypnotherapist.
That said, most have great intentions and a wide range of skills and capabilities, from minimal to miraculous. Even those with minimal skills achieve endorsement-worthy results at times from those who are sufficiently suggestible and whose conditions are vague enough not to be audited for meaningful change.
I'm not trying to put you off of trying it, Harry, but I am saying that you should put more consideration, background checks and personal interviews with other clients before selecting a hypnotherapist than for perhaps any other type of person in whose hands you'd place your psyche.
The best will, of course, let you limit topics and will tape the session at your request. In my experience, in interactive hypnotherapy I ALWAYS am aware of what I'm saying and, if anything, I'm censoring too much. I also notice the tendency to confabulate and to meet the unspoken and subtle psychological needs of the therapist, which is one of the great risks in this type of hypnosis.
Therefore, I much prefer SELF-HYPNOSIS, making my own tapes, which are then used passively. Frequently, with self hypnosis, a 45 minute tape seems to go by in about 10 minutes, even though I "think" I've heard the whole thing (I haven't). You want to leave that "lost time" up to someone else? You better trust him/her with your life, because confabulations become "real" in your subconscious once they are established.
Note the "sexual abuse treatment industry" that arose around the "discovery" that everyone but you and me were sexually mistreated as children and, for that matter, we're just in denial and haven't yet "recovered" our suppressed memories of abuse. If even half of the claims of the most ardent benefactors of this hysteria that swept through the population 10 or 15 years ago were true, we would have to stop classing child sexual abuse as aberrant behavior and accept it as normal.
Before I'm flamed off the board for criticizing the "sex abuse treatment industry," let me quickly add that this same hysterical phenomenon succeeded in trivializing the completely legitimate and substantiated experiences of thousands of women and men who were in fact abused and deeply scarred by their abusive childhood experiences. However, these sufferers do not constitute a majority of the general public.
There is more to hypnosis than we understand, in my opinion. After years of making my own tapes (before and after commerically available tapes came and went out of fashion), I've noticed that what is said has equal or less impact to how it is said. I almost suspect that an experienced hypnotist could put a person under reading a script composed entirely of gibberish, provided that she or he thought about and intended the person to experience a hypnotic state of deep relaxation. I may experiment with this on myself some day. But I digress.
I hope I haven't put you off with these rambling thoughts. If you get a good recommendation and the person checks out, by all means give it a try. But I think you'll find -- as most people do -- that hypnosis is actually much LESS powerful than you may hope it is, while still offering some positive benefits.
Hoo-boy! Tell you what, readers -- I'll go whip myself now, so you don't have to. OK?
Much love,
Mark
poster:Mark H.
thread:32788
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000508/msgs/32889.html