How Addiction Happens

Hypnosis can be a very powerful tool to heal both the mind and body. It is a state that allows your thinking (conscious) mind to rest and your unconscious (emotional and habitual) mind to come to the forefront and be open to suggestions, without the interference and busy-ness of the thinking mind. Hypnosis allows unhealthy and negative habits to be changed with greater ease and effectiveness. The mind and body relaxation can vary in intensity or depth from mild to deep. Hypnosis is a voluntary state and you are in control of the information you ignore or listen to. Therefore, no one can get you to bark like a dog or walk like a duck unless you want to!

Hypnotherapy is a guided therapeutic process, by a professional, who can help you alter perceptions, reduce or eliminate unhealthy and destructive habits or thoughts. Hypnotherapy can be highly effective for many issues such as:

Stress Reduction
Elimination of Phobias
Reduction of Anxiety/Panic Attacks
Elimination of Post-traumatic Stress
Improvements in Insomnia
Improvements in Performance
Physical and Emotional Pain Healing
Resolution of Addictions
Weight Loss
Lifestyle Issue and Disease Improvement

Addiction is one of the most complex and difficult things to overcome. The most common addictions that hypnotherapists see are:

Smoking
Sex/Relationships
Internet
Gambling
Alcohol
Drugs – Legal/Illegal
Food

Smoking and food are the two addictions that are preventable but contribute the highest statistics of chronic disease and death in Australia. In 2009, more than 50 people a day prematurely died from smoking-related diseases. In 2008, the direct health costs for smoking-related diseases, was over billion. There are also 3.2 million Australians who are obese. The obesity rates are rising by approximately 20% every 10 years with a cost of .3 billion every year for obesity-related disease management.

So, why are some people able to overcome their addictions cold turkey and others struggle? Addiction can have a complex web of biological and psychological factors. The longer someone has had the addiction, the harder it is to stop. If addiction is used as a coping mechanism such as a stress reliever, a comforter, a celebrator, the harder it is to stop. Addictions begin to develop their own identity and as such, the person develops a significant emotional attachment to the addiction. Letting go of addiction can create significant anxiety and depression from both a biological and psychological perspective. A food addiction is harder than most as all other addictions are not a survival need and food is.

It is also very common for addiction transference to occur if the addiction is not resolved fully. This means that as one addiction is weakened another begins to replace it. For example, if you are a smoker, you might begin to stop smoking but you may take up eating, shopping, gaming. You are not aware that you are doing something to reduce your anxiety and once you have given up smoking, you have transferred your addiction to something else.

Most addictions become unconscious responding and as such respond really well to hypnosis as long as you are ready to change. The therapist needs to gradually replace your existing relationship, emotional attachment and beliefs around the addiction, for healthier, new perspectives, beliefs and behaviours. Hypnosis naturally helps to reduce the effects of stress hormones and elevates the levels of endorphins (feel good hormones). This will improve mood and coping while giving up addiction. Further suggestions may also be given to help reduce the effects of anxiety, stress and depression (that can accompany giving up an addiction) and new coping mechanisms. For most people with long-standing addiction, you won’t be instantly cured. You will notice changes in thinking, feeling and behaving with a reduction in addiction.

There are several options to alter addiction such as hypnotherapy that heals the mind and body through to altering senses towards the addiction. An altered sense may be that the cigarette now tastes and smells like offal or that cake now tastes and smells like offal. The two types of addiction alterations can also work together. For addiction not to return or be transferred therapy and healing need to be part of the process.

For optimal therapeutic outcomes you need to:

Work with a therapist on both unconscious and conscious strategies
Know you are in control of the depth of hypnosis and information that is received or rejected
Be ready and willing to change
Have a take home script to listen to several times a week
Consciously make lifestyle changes that are positive and healthy.

Hypnosis has been deregulated in most Australian states. What this means is that anyone can do a weekend course in hypnosis and then practice. When seeking out a therapeutic hypnosis practitioner make sure they are:

Trained in Clinical Hypnosis
Registered with a recognised association e.g. Australian Society of Hypnosis, The Australian Society of Clinical Hypnotherapists
A state registered Psychologist, Counsellor, Occupational Therapist or Social Worker
Offering a variety of therapeutic processes to help you improve your lifestyle

John – 75 year-old Male – Emphysema, Sleep Apnea – Needed to give up Smoking:

John was referred to me because he had increasing anger issues, chronic pain, emphysema and sleep apnea. He had been smoking since he was 15 years-old and had been told by several medical specialists that he needed both a machine to help him sleep at night (sleep apnea) and oxygen through the day (emphysema). He had cut down his smoking to 5/day from 18 with the help of medication but he still was not eligible. The reason for his smoking was mainly boredom, loneliness and habit. He was given suggestions of reducing the smoking over a 3 week period and at the same time looking for hobbies and social activities that will decrease boredom and loneliness. Some strategies of decreasing boredom and loneliness were discussed as well as anger management and chronic pain education and strategies. He was given a script to listen to for 1 week. He returned 1 week later and reported that he was down to 3 cigarettes (ahead of the schedule), he had found a new hobby and that his anger and chronic pain had reduced. Within 4 weeks he had quit smoking, he was able to get fitted for his sleep machine and he had oxygen at home for daily use. His anger and chronic pain had significantly reduced with improved sleep and oxygen intake. He still listens to the hypnosis script once a week to ensure he doesn’t slip back.

April – 41 year-old Female – Mother of 4 – Weight:

April had been overweight since she was 8 years-old. She now has 4 children aged 4 to 12. Her days are very busy looking after the kids, looking after all household duties, helping her husband in the business, helping out at the kids’ schools. She has little time for herself, was not eating regularly, she was stressed and hated herself and her body. She was given a script to listen to at night, 3 times a week. She was also given time management, communication and parenting strategies to implement to reduce the chaos in her life. 3 weeks later, in her 2nd session, she was calmer, she had implemented the strategies and the family was working together, giving her more time to herself allowing her to exercise and eat regularly. She felt better about herself, she accepted her body and was actually starting to respect herself and lose weight. After 6 sessions she had lost over 12kg, she was fitter, more toned, a lot happier and having more fun time with the family. She is still losing weight gradually without the stress of dieting.

Results will vary from person to person. The main thing is to remember that the buck stops with you! Real change happens between therapy sessions not during! People or circumstances can influence your life but you are the only one who can implement positive changes in your life!

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The unconscious mind is where all habits (automatic behaviours), memories, beliefs, emotions, and fears reside. The unconscious mind also controls healing of the mind and body as well as the release of brain and body hormones and chemicals.
Number of Sessions: 1 session will not be enough to change addiction or resolve long-standing issues. Everyone is different and so are the issues. Listening to a script at home, several times a week, will decrease the number of therapeutic treatments.
90-95% of the adult population are able to be hypnotised to some degree.

 

 

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