Experience with Hypnosis Therapy

Clinical hypnosis can be useful, but perhaps even more so than therapy in general, it is all about the skill and experience of the therapist administering it. Milton Erickson MD, the father of modern clinical hypnosis, was an absolute artist and genius in the way he used language to access the unconscious mind.

I'm biased (I'm trained in Ericksoninan hypnosis), but I've found it to be useful for a number of things, typically blocks where an intellectual mind gets in the way of accessing feelings. Non-Ericksonian clinical hypnosis (sometimes called "classical hypnosis") is, to my experience, less effective, especially with more intellectual types. And there's another commonly used practice, NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) that attempts to take some of the tenets of Ericksonian work and reduce it down into an almost mechanical process. Some people swear by it, but I personally (having training in that as well) have never found it to be either effective or terribly useful. It can, however, be done by someone with a lot less skill and practice than Ericksonian work, which is why you see it.

And for those reading the thread, please don't even consider going to someone who is offering hypnosis but does not have other counseling or psychology background. There are a ton of places out there that will certify people in hypnosis, but without the rest of the background, it can be unhelpful at best and dangerous at worst.

Depending on the specific issues you're dealing with, you might find EMDR or Brainspotting (both somewhat similar techniques) to be more effective, if the goal is to address emotional material arising from traumatic events. EMDR has been in use for 20+ years at the VA, and is quite well studied and validated. Brainspotting is newer, but also seems to have equal promise, and draws on some of the same theoretical underpinnings.

As far as the actual session... it isn't anything like the 'stage hypnosis' crap that you see. That generally isn't hypnosis at all. There are many different styles out there. I think there may be some videos of Milton Erickson doing sessions on Youtube. You won't likely run into anyone as brilliant as he is doing the work currently, but it might give you an idea.

 

If you're talking about stage show hypnosis, it's mostly because it's bogus... it works mostly off of power of suggestion, the desire to fit in, and the participant's willingness to be suggestible. The stage hypnotist always does a couple of warm-ups before whatever their big event is, and quickly gets rid of the ones who don't respond, while simultanously spouting nonsense like "Only highly intelligent people can be hypnotized" (which is BS. Anyone can be, with a properly trained therapist.)

If you're talking about clinical hypnosis, done correctly, the therapist is carefully watching very subtle responses from the client and adjusting what's being said to what the client is experiencing as evidenced by his or her breathing, heart rate, muscle tenseness/relaxation, etc. So while it is possible for someone who wishes to do so to experience a similar effect from watching, they'd have to basically set that intention in their own mind.

And the therapist (again, if it's a good one) is being very analytical and keeping close track of what's going on, so the effect isn't the same.

Now... if you are talking about mindfulness or guided imagery meditations where the therapist is guiding that, then yes, usually the therapist also gets some benefit of the relaxation that occurs. But that's a very different sort of work than hypnosis.

 

Wow. It sounds like you've found a really gifted therapist. Hypnosis is an incredibly powerful tool in the right hands, but not that many therapists really understand how to engage and use it effectively. What you're describing is pretty close to an ideal outcome.

The hardest part for me was and is having the patience to work through the stuff that takes time, and also the self-compassion piece. If you aren't already familiar with it, I highly recommend Kristin Neff's book "Self Compassion". Her work is really foundational to the self-respect piece that is so crucial.

 

Yes and yes, as it will help you get to the core issues and feelings that underlie the shame that's interfering with accepting yourself. That said, you want hypnosis from a licensed psychotherapist, not from a person advertising him or herself as a hypnotherapist without a psychtherapy or mental health degree and licensure. Also, hypnosis isn't the only option, and it isn't a cure-all. More important is a strong, trusting bond with your therapist.

 

Those are both good steps. It isn't exactly hypnosis, but you could simply start saying affirmations... "I love and accept myself as a gay man". This sounds hokey, but actually has an impact over time in rewriting the unconscious message that is playing.