Using hypnosis for childbirth takes away the risks associated with analgesic and anaesthetic medication. Epidural analgesia has increased within the past 20 years and is now the most commonly used pain relief and is used by approximately 2 million women yearly for childbirth pain. (Lieberman & O’Donoghue, 2002).

A recent systematic review of the literature that examined the side effects of epidural analgesia found that epidural is “associated with lower rates of spontaneous vaginal delivery, a higher rate of instrumental vaginal delivery and longer labours…..but there is insufficient evidence to determine whether epidural does or does not tend to increase the risk of caesarean delivery….”( Lieberman & O’Donoghue).

Using hypnosis reduces stress, boosts your immune system, enables you to build your confidence and self-esteem, release phobias and develop the positive mind state for success ... if you want to. Developing a positive outlook through the psychology of optimism is very different from seeing the world through unrealistic rose-tinted spectacles and pretending that your problems do not exist, or worse, running away from them in denial. On the contrary, you will have a clear aim and develop the positive motivation to pursue it with tenacity. You will be able to encourage yourself to work on achieving your aim, despite any obstacles that might be in your way, with optimistic, realistic thinking. You will enjoy increased self-confidence and self-esteem. You will learn practical life skills that will enable you to think (and feel it) ‘I can’, rather than ‘I should’ or ‘I have to’. You will be able to tap into your inner resources, such as strength, resilience, courage, hope, and develop a radical sense of responsibility to face all the inevitable life difficulties. How?

Remember all those times when you really wanted to overcome a problem but, at the same time, you also thought (and felt) that you wouldn’t be able to do it? ‘What if I can’t handle it?’ ‘What if I fail?’ ‘What if it doesn’t work?’ Your inner dialogue (the way you talk to yourself) was full of such self-defeating, energy depleting and anxiety producing ‘What ifs’. In other words, what you wanted to do was in conflict with what you thought would be happening. You wanted a positive result, but, at the same time, you were imagining (and worrying about) a negative outcome. I am sure that you like me have experienced that when your will power conflicts with your imagination; your imagination usually wins out.

The psychology of optimism is designed to help you end that inner conflict and use your cognitive skills more constructively so that you can influence your feelings, your behaviour and your performance in positive ways.
It will also enable you to gently uncover any unhelpful beliefs and attitudes, which in turn generate automatic uncomfortable and undesirable behaviour, and change them to more positive and constructive ones. The methods employed are easy to learn and very effective at reducing both physical and mental tension and anxiety, as they help you boost your self-confidence. You will be able to do things you were unable to do before or to stop doing those things you do not want to do anymore.

Hypnosis – simple facts behind the myth
Have you ever wondered how hypnosis could help you? What would it feel like, what would you hear, what would you see? And indeed how could you benefit from hypnosis? Remember the last time you stared out of the window with that far-away look in your eyes? You were absorbed in a particular thought or idea and for a few moments you were not quite there. And yet you were perfectly aware where you were and that you were doing it, and if anything needed your attention you immediately snapped out of that dreamy mode. In hypnosis your mind is gently focused on one particular thing while your body is deeply relaxed. You are turning inwards. Even though you may be staring at something in your environment, you don’t really see it - you are immersed in your inner thoughts. The imaginative and feeling part of your mind is now more active than the critical part. You are in a deeply relaxed state where your mind readily accepts positive encouragement for your well being and self-improvement.

Douglas Craddock: Hypnotherapy Services

Does Hypnosis Work?

Does hypnosis work? If you're wondering whether or not it works, you may also be wondering how to apply it. There are many theories and lots of different viewpoints on whether it works and how it can be used. It is certainly not mind control the way it is often portrayed in movies, and the overall factors that create the experience can be accounted for and even reviewed scientifically.

The mind is a very powerful tool. When hypnotic therapies have been applied to help a client redirect their behaviors and make different choices the end result is often positive. For instance people who want to quit smoking or get rid of excess weight may undergo hypnotic therapies in order to help gain control over their behavior.

As with most therapies these techniques work better for some people than for others. The determining factor is usually whether or not the client is open to being hypnotized for behavior modification. Being open to the possibility allows the hypnotherapist to take the patient further into the state and thus it is more effective. Being resistant to the idea makes it more difficult for the practitioner to get the client into a state of open mindedness to be receptive to the therapy.

Hypnosis works through the power of suggestion. From the moment we are born to the day that we die we are subjected to suggestion, whether it is from our parents, teachers, friends or envioronment, suggestion make us what we are today. There are many ways in which to give suggestion to a client and two ways are openly give the suggestion where the client can hear what is being said to them or subliminaly where the client cannot consciously hear what is being said but the subconscious mind can hear.Subliminal messaging, is powerful enough that it was used in everyday advertising and even often in shopping centres to encourage people to spend money on certain items. It was so effective that it has actually been regulated so that free will is still an option when shopping or watching TV.

Taking suggestion to the next level is typically called hypnosis. Those who take a scientific approach explain that a hypnotic state is one where the pathways in the brain that control behavior are not concrete and therefore are able to be manipulated by a skilled practitioner. Those who take a spiritual approach explain that by allowing the subconscious to interact with the practitioner behaviors and even experiences can be manipulated.

Using this type of mind manipulation should always be done with care. It can be fun for a new practitioner to realize that they have this sort of influence over other people. In order to truly have this type of influence you also have to understand that it requires a certain level of responsibility when it is put to use.

Putting someone into a hypnotic state can help improve memory of specific events, can help modify behaviors, and can help someone change their associations. Those who use it as a therapy for depression are often hypnotized in order to change their basic associations. For instance if a victim of abuse is depressed because they associate lollipops with childhood pain the association they make with the lollipop can be changed. When they continue to see lollipops they can start to associate them with good memories instead of bad ones.

Hypnosis can be applied for all kinds of reasons. Applying it is a skill that has to be learned and fine tuned. It's not all that mysterious and the impression that many people have of swinging timepieces and getting people to act like monkeys on command are not entirely accurate. It's a subtle way of entering the subconscious mind and helping it reach new potential.

Law enforcement has used hypnotic efforts to help witnesses rediscover their memories or to help people remember certain events. The use of such techniques is often kept quiet due to the various opinions on its validity. There are those that will insist that it simply can not work regardless of what type of evidence that they are shown. This is often a denial based in fear as some are afraid that they may not have complete control over their own mind. This stems from a misunderstanding of what hypnosis really is and how it works.

Those who truly understand what it is and how it works support hypnotic efforts and are often excited about the potential results. There is a lot more work to be done to uncover all of the mysteries that hypnotizing people can reveal. As more people are open to the idea there is likely to be much more work done in this area.

What is hypnosis if it's not mind control? It's influence and an opening of the subconscious that allows for freer communication. It's a tool used to unblock mental pathways. It's a behavioral modification practice that can help people feel better and make different choices on a regular basis. It's a great way to encourage people to make the choices you want to see them make. What do you think? Does hypnosis work?

Douglas Craddock: Hypnotherapy Services.

Many people these days tend to find themselves curious about hypnosis at some time or another in their life, regardless of whether they have heard about it books, watched on TV, or have heard about it through other sources in general. However, many people would be surprised about how hypnosis works and what it may potentially provide for a number of different individuals.

It's said that both the name and the origins of hypnosis dates back to 19th century when a man by the name of James Braid came up with the phrase himself. James Braid was a Scottish surgeon and physician. He was considered to be highly influential amongst his colleagues and within the medical world itself, even while the church often criticized him over his methods.

To many people, James Braid is considered to be the "Father of Hypnotism" as well as the world's first hypnotherapist. His path to these titles originally came about when he became fascinated with mesmerism after watching and observing subjects who had been allegedly mesmerized by a traveling mesmerist. He later studied his findings, eventually come up with hypnotism, which he believe to be more of a type of "nervous sleep" when compared to the regular type.

When it comes to this particular type of practice, many have varying opinions or theories when in regards to its explanation. Some, however, refer to it simply as a dissociated conscious state of mind, while others may look at it as hyper-sensibility, in which a suggestion will have an effect on a person once they have awakened, providing that person is open to these suggestions, clear of mind and not resisting.

A lot of people strongly believe that there can be a lot of benefit gained by those who take on this practice. In fact, it continues to grow in its overall popularity as hypnotherapists offer new, more accessible options to people in order to allow for them to try it out for themselves, whether it's for a one-time experience or several until they achieve their goal.

Some of the more commonly seen benefits of hypnosis can include anything from potential assistance with self or auto-suggestion, smoking cessation, weight loss, self-empowerment and so forth. Others claim to gain in other ways, like reducing feelings of pain, anxiety, or more physically-related issues.

In some situations, individuals may turn to hypnosis in order to try and improve social areas of their life, along with their career and so on. Overall, there are virtually limitless areas in which hypnosis can be focused on in general, giving people numerous kinds of options when it comes to possibly finding something that might work for their needs in the long run.

An individual has the option of trying self-hypnosis or going through a professional, which often depends on their circumstances or overall preference. In fact, a lot of people might be surprised by how easy and effective some feel it can be, particularly by those who claim they have tried it for themselves. However an experienced professional is better able to lead their subjects into a more in-depth state; however, this may depend on certain circumstance.

There are various ways in which a person can undergo hypnosis, regardless if they choose to go through a professional or handle things on their own. You only need to look around some of the larger bookshops to see the mass of self-help books and C.D’s available to the general public! But what you must remember is that they are produced for a mass market. Whereas working with a professional you are treated as an individual and the therapy is personal to your needs.

Choosing the right method can very much depend on what you feel you'll most comfortable with. This is generally needed in order to be in the right frame of mind so as to increase the chances of seeing better results. Therefore, it's a good idea to try and think about whether or not you would feel more comfortable doing things yourself, or if you want assistance in learning or even having someone else guide you through the process all together.

If you would like to find out how hypnosis works, then you would need to seek the guidance of an experienced professional who will be able to set you on the right track. In the end, many people have found that they are better able to adjust to their life goals more so than usual with this type of practice, just as how others have claimed to have gained in other ways as well.


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©Douglas Craddock: Hypnotherapy Services.
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