{"id":227,"date":"2020-01-01T14:40:39","date_gmt":"2020-01-01T14:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helpforhealth.com\/?p=227"},"modified":"2020-01-18T13:03:29","modified_gmt":"2020-01-18T13:03:29","slug":"hypnotherapy-university-of-maryland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helpforhealth.com\/coaching\/hypnotherapy-university-of-maryland\/","title":{"rendered":"Hypnotherapy – University of Maryland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is hypnotherapy?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The term “hypnosis” comes from the Greek word hypnos, meaning “sleep.” Hypnotherapists use exercises that bring about deep relaxation and an altered state of consciousness, also known as a trance. A person in a deeply focused state is unusually responsive to an idea or image, but this does not mean that a hypnotist can control the person’s mind and free will. On the contrary, hypnosis can actually teach people how to master their own states of awareness. By doing so they can affect their own bodily functions and psychological responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the history of hypnosis?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout history, trance states have been used by shamans and ancient peoples in rituals and religious ceremonies. But hypnosis as we know it today was first associated with the work of an Austrian physician named Franz Anton Mesmer. In the 1700s, Mesmer believed that illnesses were caused by magnetic fluids in the body getting out of balance. He used magnets and other hypnotic techniques (the word \u00e2\u20ac\u0153mesmerized\u00e2\u20ac\u009d comes from his name) to treat people. But the medical community was not convinced. Mesmer was accused of fraud, and his techniques were called unscientific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hypnotherapy regained popularity in the mid 1900s due to Milton H. Erickson (1901 – 1980), a successful psychiatrist who used hypnosis in his practice. In 1958, both the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association recognized hypnotherapy as a valid medical procedure. Since 1995, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has recommended hypnotherapy as a treatment for chronic pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other conditions for which hypnotherapy is frequently used include anxiety and addiction. (See “What illnesses or conditions respond well to hypnotherapy?”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does hypnosis work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When something happens to us, we remember it and learn a particular behavior in response to what happened. Each time something similar happens, our physical and emotional reactions attached to the memory are repeated. In some cases these reactions are unhealthy. In some forms of hypnotherapy, a trained therapist guides you to remember the event that led to the first reaction, separate the memory from the learned behavior, and replace unhealthy behaviors with new, healthier ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During hypnosis, your body relaxes and your thoughts become more focused. Like other relaxation techniques, hypnosis lowers blood pressure and heart rate, and changes certain types of brain wave activity. In this relaxed state, you will feel at ease physically yet fully awake mentally and may be highly responsive to suggestion. Your conscious mind becomes less alert and your subconscious mind becomes more focused.Some people respond better to hypnotic suggestion than others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are several stages of hypnosis:<\/p>\n\n\n\n