Hypnosis was once a rarely used therapeutic technique that was looked down on by the medical community and seemed relegated to the status of a humorous trick in stage shows. Today it's a remarkably versatile tool used by dentists to relax patients during procedures and by psychotherapists to treat numerous disorders from overeating and the fear of flying to smoking cessation. It's also starting to be used by medical doctors to treat ailments such as asthma, colitis, and eczema.

In most countries, hypnosis is considered a serious medical treatment and is banned by law from being used for entertainment. Here, in this country, the image most people have of hypnosis is derived from Hollywood and the entertainment industry. The old movie scene where a stage hypnotist, often wearing a turban, picks someone from the audience to be his subject and then makes him cluck like a chicken is often the main impression people have of hypnosis. Other movies have depicted hypnosis being used to make someone commit murder.

In reality, there is no magical trance in which the subject gives up complete control to another person and can be made to do something against his basic values. Hypnosis is just a deeper version of a state we go into all the time, while we're about to drift off to sleep or when we're meditating. For a long time, it was also believed that many people couldn't be hypnotized. In truth, while some are more naturally susceptible to this kind of therapy, nine out of ten people can be hypnotized if they set their minds to it and try to relax.

Hypnosis is about slowing down and narrowly focusing your attention. It remains one of the most potent non-pharmacological methods for relaxing that we have.

Although every practitioner has a slightly different technique, the basics of hypnosis are pretty much the same. The process is one of creating a deeply relaxed state whereby a person can access the power of his or hers own subconscious mind and, as a result, create an opportunity for positive change. Reducing or eliminating an unwanted habit or behavior, increasing motivation, reducing a fear or even reducing pain are all possible through the use of hypnosis. Cesarean Sections have even been performed using only hypnosis for anesthesia. During hypnosis the heart rate and blood pressure drop, breathing slows and the brain's alpha-wave activity increases. All of these are common physiological responses during meditation as well.

The scientific theory explaining hypnosis is as remarkable as it is simple: When we are in a deeply relaxed state, the subconscious parts of the brain that drive us to smoke or to have phobic symptoms, and that also regulate involuntary physiological processes like breathing, become more open to suggestion than in our conscious state. Ordinarily, its quite difficult to tell the autonomous nervous system what to do, but when one is hypnotized it is possible to, for instance, modify pain signals from the back or to relax spasming bowel muscles.

Studies supporting the use of hypnosis for these and other medical conditions are beginning to trickle in. One, completed last year at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, showed that surgery patients who had been hypnotized before their procedures recovered more quickly than 89 percent of those who had not undergone hypnosis, and the National Institutes of Health just launched a large trial to investigate hypnosis for pain management.

Hypnosis is proving itself to be a highly versatile therapeutic tool in many areas of mental and physical healthcare. As more studies document it's effectiveness and as more people have success being treated with it, hypnosis may, finally, take it's place as a legitimate adjunctive treatment for a wide variety of emotional and physical ailments.

If you are interested in pursuing treatment with hypnosis, I suggest retaining a licensed healthcare provider who specializes in hypnosis. Like anything else, the more education, training and experience a practitioner has, the better likelihood of an effective and positive outcome.

Article Updated 6-10-03