What is Hypnosis?

Posted by Ken Donaldson on · Leave a Comment

Hypnosis is a state of focused and inward attention. This focused inward attention creates a “trance.” This is best described as an altered state of increased awareness and heightened consciousness. In this altered state, people are able to optimally connect with and fully utilize their inner resources. This is better known as the subconscious mind.

The end result is that these people who are in this trance state are better able to make internal changes and, therefore, better run their own lives, from the “inside-out.”

Hypnosis (and self-hypnosis) enables people to use more of their full potential because they gain more self-control (which is in opposition to the myth that people lose control during hypnosis).

Clinical hypnosis (as opposed to self-hypnosis), and the results thereof, occurs with the assistance and guidance of a clinical hypnotherapist.

(Side note: A Clinical Hypnotherapist is a person – like myself – who has received extensive training in hypnotherapy. Additionally, the hypnotherapist should also be a licensed mental health professional. In the state of Florida, for example, if you call yourself a hypnotherapist, the law states that you MUST have a professional license as a mental health practitioner. I mention this because there seems to be a lot of confusion around this issue.)

Research psychologists suggest that the subconscious mind is 99% of our mind functioning, with the conscious mind being only 1%!

Conscious mind can reason and use logic, and directs purposeful activities. Additionally, conscious mind also can attend to, monitor or direct a limited number of activities at the same time.

Subconscious mind, on the other hand, has many more functions. The subconscious mind has many attributes, both positive and negative, including:

Controlling body physiology
Directing emotions
Creating dreams
Sourcing creativity
Storing information
Directing many activities at the same time
Not understanding logic
Mistaking same for similar
Confusing figurative with literal
Confusing past with present
Difficulty understanding negations
Believing what you avoid is dangerous (i.e. phobias)
Believing what you go near is safe (i.e. addictive behaviors)
Confusing what’s imagined with what’s real
Creating and doing what you consciously repeat

It’s imperative for shifts to be made at the subconscious level.

The primary goal of hypnosis is to get your subconscious mind to respond the way you want it to.

In a hypnotic state, the mind and body experience relaxation. The healing process is accelerated during these times of relaxation. It’s very common for people who see me for hypnosis to have headaches, stomach aches and other muscle aches, which all significantly diminish even though our focus was on something completely different.

Personally, in my very first hypnosis training (1993), all of us were in trance as part of the training and at that time I was a habitual fingernail biter (and chewer…gross!!). Even though I said nothing to the trainer about this habit, nor did I even consciously think about it during the training, since that day, I have NOT bitten or chewed on my fingernails.

How cool is it that The American Medical Association, British Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association have all approved hypnotherapy administered by a trained professional.

If you’d like to learn more about hypnosis, or if you have questions about how this can improve some area of your life, feel free to call my office at (727) 394-7325.