What Is Hypnosis free essay sample

Word count 2017 â€Å"What is hypnosis? † Describe the physical and psychological aspects of hypnosis and discuss the role of relaxation in hypnotherapy. Hypnosis is a very natural state of consciousness in which we are able to completely relax our mind and body, it is not in any way a magic spell that has been put on a person, nor does it hold any mystical powers or is it supernatural in anyway. Hypnosis causes the person hypnotised to display and experience both physical and psychological changes. Relaxation is the key to hypnosis it is also a direct result of being hypnotised. When we are hypnotised we experience many different physical and psychological phenomena many of which aren’t anything out of the ordinary and can be experienced in everyday life, some others are slightly more unusual and are usually only experienced when hypnotised. Hypnosis has come a long way from the days of Franz Anton Mesmer in the late 18th century, Mesmer believed in a magnetic fluid which passed through the body when the person to be ‘mesmerised’ would hold metal rods which had been submerged in a large tub of magnetised water, the person would experience convulsions and fall to the floor to be cured of the symptoms affecting them. We will write a custom essay sample on What Is Hypnosis? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The modern day the hypnotist does not bear any resemblance to the mystical character we have seen in the past, it is unlikely you will ever find hypnotist like Mesmer in this day and age or even Svengali, who was a fictional character depicted by George Du Maurier in the 1894 novel Trilby. Svengali with his pointed beard and dark piercing eyes used his evil influence for personal gain. People like Mesmer and the character Svengali have become the ideal that many people relate to hypnotism. Many people throughout the years have followed the path created by Mesmer, developing techniques along the way. It was James Braid a Scottish physician who coined the term ‘hypnosis’ which came from the name for the Greek god of sleep Hypnos. Braid later regretted this as hypnosis is not actually sleep it is a different state of consciousness to sleep, he then tried to use the word monoideism in its place but this never caught on. Hypnosis is now known to be a deep state of relaxation or trance like state, using the repetition and tone in the hypnotists voice we can allow ourselves to relax deeply into this trance like state, opening our powerful subconscious mind and letting it take over the conscious. When in this deeply relaxed state the brain actually changes the frequency of brainwaves as we become more relaxed both physically and mentally, as we gently ease into this hypnotic trance we can easily accept suggestion whilst all the time being completely in control of our own mind and body. We can measure the frequency of these brainwaves using electroencephalography or EEG as it is more widely known, using EEG and understanding the way brainwaves work we can get a better understanding of how we come to enter a hypnotic trance, There are four main types of brain wave. Beta are the fastest of all the brain waves at 15 to 40 cycles per second, usually Beta waves occur while we are focussed and thinking logically for example when engaging in conversation, holding a debate and actively taking in information on a daily basis, these waves are produced in abundance. Alpha waves are the second type they are slower than Beta at 9 to 14 cycles per second and occur whilst we are relaxed and maybe resting after using the Beta waves during intense conversation, the relaxed state we enter when in Alpha waves can come and go and are not always present in the brain. Alpha waves are not present at times when we are angry experiencing fear or are in a deep sleep. They are present during the lighter stages of hypnosis. Theta waves have a pace of 4 to 8 cycles per second and are onsiderably slower present at times of sleep usually whilst dreaming, in a deeply relaxed state such as hypnosis and when performing tasks we do without consciously thinking about them such as driving a familiar journey, when Theta waves are activated we can experience high levels of emotion they are associated with the subconscious mind, sometimes the subconscious mind holds painful memories that don’t occur all the time so these theta waves can cause these memories to come t o the conscious mind, which is why this can be so important during hypnotherapy. Delta waves are the slowest at 1 to 4 cycles per second occurring during deep sleep there are no other brain waves present during Delta, a very deep dreamless sleep takes you right down to the lowest levels so does deep hypnosis but never they never go below 1 as this would be brain dead. During hypnosis we move gradually through the different levels of consciousness never jumping through the levels of brain wave activity but moving smoothly through them, whilst we are wide awake we would be in Beta brain wave state, alert and wide awake, moving gradually to Alpha as we start to relax into the slower state of consciousness, then moving through to Theta once completely relaxed and going into a deep hypnosis, finally Delta waves may kick in if we are so deeply hypnotised, then as we are gradually re-orientated we come back up through the stages in reverse order one by one until we reach Beta and are alert and wide awake once more. Of course we do go into a trance like state during every day life we don’t actually have to be hypnotised, but this trance can be compared to hypnosis. One good example of this is whilst driving a familiar journey that we may take every day, the subconscious mind takes over the conscious probably dipping into those Alpha waves, sometimes we will reach the destination with absolutely no idea how we arrived but somehow have arrived there safely. This actually happens because everything you have learned during life is stored up in the subconscious mind, how to drive has been stored up so the conscious mind doesn’t have to work hard so it drifts off whist the subconscious mind keeps you doing what you have already learned in the past, until there is a change to the regular route and you have to stop at a red light this is when the conscious mind comes back and you wonder how you got to that place so fast. The aspects of hypnosis I have already explained all happen psychologically within the brain, when we look at stage hypnosis we see popular misconceptions we have been led to believe, everything is visual we see actual evidence of hypnosis, or we are made to believe that we are seeing real hypnosis this is all the showmanship of the hypnotist, of course the people who are hypnotised could well be but usually this is done back stage to save time and sometimes the people have been pre chosen to perform. As the hypnotist uses his ‘powers’ taps the person or tells them â€Å"sleep† for example they suddenly fall into a deep sleep, some of this could be due to conformity, the people do what they believe is expected of them. Catalepsy is a phenomena of hypnosis that we may see evidence of on stage in the form of the human plank trick when the hypnotised person remains rigid as another person stands on them as they are suspended by using two chairs at either end of the body. It can also be used as a test to check if a client is hypnotised during a hypnotherapy session, the hypnotist will suggest to them they are unable to move a part of the body and indeed they cannot. Other physical aspects of hypnosis occur naturally in everyday life sometimes when we rest or sleep. Eyelids may flutter as they start to relax into hypnosis the client may or may not notice this but like all the other aspects this is completely normal. They may also have rapid eye movements similar to the ones we have in REM sleep. Physical relaxation is another indication the client is hypnotised, their muscles will relax the jaw may relax and drop open slightly, they may even slobber a little bit, the pulse rate changes as the person starts to relax deeper and also as the breathing becomes slower and more rhythmic. Usually when going through a relaxation technique the hypnotist will ask the person to concentrate on their breathing resulting in it becoming slow and deep. Just as we do when we are falling asleep we may feel our body twitch subtly as we enter hypnosis and all the muscles in the body start to relax, sometimes the eyes water but it doesn’t mean the client is crying we can check this later on though by asking questions about the clients experience. Subjects of hypnosis also experience changes to the senses, hyperaesthesia occurs when the senses become super-acute even tiny changes in temperature have been noticed by people who have been hypnotised, we could experience a change in our senses if we were to be blindfolded our other senses would change to allow for the lack of vision but when using hypnosis the change would be rapid. As well as hyperaesthesia it is possible to experience hypnotic anaesthesia or analgesia which is pain relief on different levels. Analgesia is the term used to describe localised pain relief due to loss of sensation in that specific area, to anaesthetise a person the hypnotherapist would use suggestion under hypnosis to lose the sensation in that particular area, in stage hypnotism we would see the like of this for the person to be pricked on the finger and not feel the pain or in a medical situation the person could actually be operated on in a specific part of the body that has been anaesthetised by hypnosis. It is possible to hallucinate during hypnosis, although not without suggestion, for example the hypnotist can tell the hypnotised person there is something there that actually doesn’t exist and they will see it, also they can use this the other way around by suggesting to the person that an object actually isn’t in the room when it is. An important psychological change that may occur under hypnosis is hypersuggestability, for example the person to be hypnotised not to feel pain in their arm during an operation would not be able to achieve such a thing if they weren’t under hypnosis and able to accept the suggestion that they wouldn’t feel the pain unless they were actually hypnotised. There are other phenomena like this such as time distortion, a client who has had an hour long hypnotherapy session could re-orientate feeling like only 10 minutes has passed. To be able to achieve these things and to be treated using hypnotherapy there must be an element of trust between the hypnotherapist and the client, as it is important the client is able to relax in the environment with their hypnotherapist. Relaxation during hypnotherapy is probably the most important aspect as hypnosis is a deep state of relaxation and without relaxation hypnotherapy would not be possible. We become relaxed by listening to the hypnotherapists voice repeating the hypnotic induction all the time the mind and body needs to be able to relax to make the session as successful as possible. A hypnotist does not hold special powers to send you into a trance you have to be relaxed to allow yourself to go into the deep state of hypnosis for hypnotherapy to begin. Hypnosis is an extremely useful tool, even if ultimately it is only used as relaxation as learning to relax can be hugely beneficial to everybody. The history of hypnosis proves to be an interesting insight into how hypnosis and hypnotherapy has evolved over the years, how relaxation has become a much more important aspect of hypnotherapy and how hypnosis has been used throughout the years by many different people. The cycles of the brainwaves show us that every stage of hypnosis it an important one becoming deeply relaxed enough to reach the powerful subconscious mind and to experience all of the physical and psychological aspects, in order to let the power of suggestion be delivered, hopefully to change life for the better.