"Hypnosis: Use it on anything" by Delia Nessim, MS

           Clinical hypnosis is not just for weight loss or smoking cessation.  More and more people are realizing that since the subconscious seems to be running the show, it behooves us to get in there and have some say over where it’s leading our life.  The motto of the national guild of hypnotists says, “We help ordinary, everyday people with ordinary, everyday problems of all kinds.”

How does it work, you might ask? Well, the subconscious mind is good at recognizing patterns and speeding things up by jumping to conclusions. This way, the things we do routinely get done quickly and easily without troubling the conscious mind.  For example, I used to drive a car with a stick shift.  At first, it took concentration and coordination to learn to press down on the clutch and shift gears.  After a while my subconscious took over and I hardly thought about it.  Then when I drove an automatic car and I prepared to stop, my left foot instinctively looked for something to press down on.  After slamming on the brakes a few times, I realized that my conscious mind had to be activated to remind me that there was no clutch and my left foot could just relax and enjoy the ride.

So one goal of the subconscious is to automate our life and another goal is to keep us safe by doing what is familiar because those things kept us alive up to this point.  These two things make it difficult for us to welcome changes of habit into our life. New behaviors are threatening to our security and they are in conflict with our familiar patterns.

Hypnosis is not an attempt to control anyone’s mind. Contrary to what some people believe, a hypnotist cannot make people do things against their will. The client’s values and morals can never be violated. Another fact is that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis.  The client must allow the hypnotist to assist him/her into trance.  The suggestions the hypnotist uses are a combination of standard scripts interspersed with suggestions gleaned from the conversation between client and hypnotist regarding the client’s desired changes.  Although everything that is suggested while under hypnosis is for the highest good of the client, the client has the wherewithal to reject any suggestions that don’t feel right.

So what does hypnosis do exactly?  Hypnosis gets the critical mind out of the way and allows the hypnotist (or the self in cases of self-hypnosis) to convince the subconscious mind that it is safe and desirable to make certain changes.  Once the subconscious is on board, it becomes easier to make behavior changes.  The client no longer relies solely on willpower, which we all know is not very powerful or long lasting.  Hypnosis is safe, pleasant and there are no unwanted side-effects. So it turns out that you really can use hypnosis on anything.

For more information about hypnosis and to participate in a group demonstration, Please attend a free workshop to be held in the Resiliency Center community room on Wednesday, October 3, 7:00-8:30 pm.

For private hypnosis sessions, please contact Delia Nessim at (610) 416-7535. Or email Delia@soulsibling.com.