5 Benefits of Clinical Hypnotherapy

You are probably familiar with the concept of hypnosis, which relies on the power of a hypnotist to put a patient into a trancelike state under which they are vulnerable to suggestion. And if you’re like most people, you treat the practice with a healthy dose of skepticism. While charlatans and magicians have long used audience plants to promote the powers of hypnotism for entertainment purposes, the truth is that the practice is far from the complete hooey that most of us believe it to be. In fact, doctors and psychologists can train in the science of clinical hypnotherapy as a way to help their patients, and it may not be as difficult as you think for these professionals to get your mind to the relaxed state required to tap into the subconscious, reveal hidden memories, and plant persuasive suggestions meant to help you on your path to recovery. And there are actually many benefits that could be gained from this type of treatment. So here are just a few potential advantages you might want to consider before you completely write off clinical hypnotherapy.

1. Face your fears. One of the biggest uses for this therapeutic practice is the treatment of phobias, and it is often used to help patients overcome common fears of things like flying, drowning, heights, germs, needles/shots, dentistry, spiders, snakes, dogs, large crowds, open spaces, and more. Whether your fears are completely irrational or they’re based on past experience (a dog attack, a near-drowning incident, etc.), clinical hypnotherapy can be utilized to get to the root of the problem so that you can begin to deal with your fears, as well as to suggest to your subconscious mind that you’re no longer afraid of whatever is plaguing you. Hypnotherapy can also help with other psychological and emotional disorders like anxiety, for example.
2. Kick addiction. Another common use for clinical hypnotherapy revolves around addiction. Even though your body can purge a physical addiction to most substances fairly quickly (within a matter of days or weeks), your psychological addiction to nicotine, alcohol, and other substances can linger for the rest of your life. In such cases, hypnotherapy is used to present subconscious suggestions that you no longer need the substance in question, and further, that you don’t even want it anymore. Many lifelong addicts claim that this form of therapy has cured them of the desire to smoke, drink, or abuse drugs, despite prior relapses.
3. Curb bad habits. We all have a few bad habits, such as cracking knuckles, grinding teeth, biting nails, twirling (or chewing) hair, over-eating (or snacking late at night), and so on. Generally speaking, these habits aren’t terribly harmful to our health, although they can certainly be taken to the level of causing harm in some cases. But they can be annoying, and they usually signal some type of underlying anxiety at play. Luckily, hypnotherapy can be used to curb them in much the same way that it helps people to let go of fears and forego psychological addiction.
4. Control your pain. In addition to helping with mental disorders, clinical hypnotherapy also has several medical indications for physical issues. Most interesting, perhaps, is its use in pain management for patients that suffer from chronic and/or unexplained aches and pains. This is not to say that it should act as a replacement for other therapies, but it certainly seems to show promise when it comes to helping patients live with and manage pain.
5. Understand your problems. In case you didn’t know, clinical hypnotherapy is a two-way road. When you let people into your subconscious they can not only plant suggestions, but they can also draw out information that you may not have access to in a fully wakeful state. So if you’re trying to figure out why you behave in certain ways or why you feel the way you do, this form of psychological treatment could let you tap into stored memories that your conscious mind has buried, or even insights that you might not have the wherewithal to piece together while awake.