Before beginning with the hypnosis procedure questions like –does hypnosis work and how does it work, definitely crosses every person’s mind. Hypnotherapy can be used for almost anything under the blue sky, beginning all the way from quitting smoking to losing weight. Hypnosis can be used as a powerful tool in self-improvement as it updates a person’s subconscious beliefs. There are 90.6% success reports of people quitting to smoke with the help of hypnotherapy while 87% reported abstinent to the consumption of tobacco after going through hypnosis.
How does hypnotherapy work?
When hypnosis is conducted our mind surpasses the critical stage and moves to a stage where it is all relaxed and more predisposed to learning and considering suggestions. In a deeply relaxed state as a result of hypnotherapy, our mind overcomes the automatic thoughts and our thinking is replaced with new suggestions which help our unconscious state to process these thoughts and set up new goals for us to achieve.
For example, when hypnosis is used to train our mind for losing weight; our mind is already filled with several concepts of weight loss but with the help of hypnosis these thoughts can be replaced. When a person is beginning with the weight loss program, he or she might have thoughts like –losing so much of weight is impossible, giving up of their favourite food seems so difficult and the most common one that they do not have time to exercise. These subconscious thoughts are mainly an outcome of past memories or experiences, which ultimately regulate our actions. With the help of hypnotherapy, these thoughts are altered and updated. This is one of the reasons why hypnotherapy is suggested in cases of substance abuse, getting rid of chronic pain, quitting of alcohol or cigarettes, etc.
Why does hypnosis work?
When a person undergoes hypnosis, he or she enters into a subconscious state that can be easily altered. In this state, the person tends to detach himself from awareness developed from behavioural control, and; the person surpasses their critical consciousness state by focusing on what they are doing without developing any reasons associated to their actions.
However, there are certain theories that state the person undergoing hypnotherapy have made their conclusions and assumptions beforehand, which makes them act differently after they are done with the session.
When the research was conducted on which theory perfectly fits the reasoning, it showed that during hypnosis a person’s mind goes through certain changes and thus alteration in their behaviour is developed.