Wholeness Healing Center

Hypnotherapy at Wholeness Healing Center

Hypnosis is the “extraordinary quality of mental, physical, and emotion relaxation which by- passes the critical factor of the mind, and thus the mind becomes highly responsive to suggestion”. It also is the “simple shifting between the conscious and subconscious mind” and as such is a natural state, which we all enter into if we have driven somewhere and then don’t remember the drive. “Hypnosis is the treatment intervention comprised of inducing the client into a relaxed, suggestible state, and then offering post-hypnotic suggestions for relief of symptoms. Hypnotherapy is the process of psychotherapy with a client who is in the hypnotic altered state of consciousness. (Wellness Institute) One of my co-workers and I recently attended a six day intensive training on “Heart-Centered Hypnotherapy” presented by the Wellness Institute of Issaquah, WA. This particular hypnotherapy was created by Diane Zimberoff, MA, LMFT and is a training model for therapists wanting to incorporate hypnosis in their therapy practices.

One of the comparisons revealed in the training was that Hypnotherapy has a 93% recovery rate after 6 sessions, making it one of the fastest and most efficient ways to address certain issues. According to Roswitha M. Winsor in an article printed in 1993 in Social Work: The Journal of the National Association of Social Workers, “If on the other hand, hypnosis is seen as a means to empower clients and increase their sense of efficacy, then it provides a valuable enhancement to social work

treatment”. (Winsor, 1993) Issues that can be addressed include addictions (alcohol, drugs, tobacco, sex, etc. ) and eating disorders; anxiety, fears, phobias; PTSD; sexual abuse and incest; codependency; pain control; and stress-related illnesses, along with strengthening the mind/body connection.

Much of the training was spent in learning the techniques to help clients “access and release previously blocked emotions” and to work with clients on age-regressions and reframing some of the previous words we have let become imprinted in a person’s mind, keeping him/her locked into similar behavior patterns. Emotions that have been stored for years can be released, the client can be open to re-parenting in a healthy way, and clients are guided to trust their intuition.

This form of hypnotherapy is identified as a “Heart-Centered Therapy” as it incorporates humanistic psychology including Gestalt, TA, mind/body connection, and Reichian bioenergentics; developmental psychology including inner child work; cognitive-behavior modification techniques; traditional and Ericsonian hypnotherapy; and a heart-centered holistic approach. Each therapist is trained to take the client to a relaxed state; clients may stop at any time, but it is only possible to reach the healing state if the client is guided to his/her depth.

Zimberoff is also the author of Breaking Free from the Victim Trap and Longing for Belonging, both available from The Wellness Institute.

We are excited to be able to offer hypnotherapy in both Broken Bow and Grand Island. We also will be offering hypnosis groups in the immediate future with the Trim-Life weight loss program and the Clean-Break smoking cessation program. If you are interested in learning more about hypnotherapy and hypnosis, please call the office.

Winsor, R. M. (1993) Hypnosis-a neglected tool for client empowerment. Social Work Journal of the National Association of Social Workers, 38, 5, 607.

www.wellness-institute.org

Tags: hypnosis, hypnotherapy