The basis of hypnotherapy is the hypnotic trance. It is the state every hypnotherapist wants the client to be in so they can help them with suggestions and post hypnotic suggestions. The hypnotic trance is perhaps the most difficult part of hypnotherapy and yet it is the most crucial to the success of the session. Without an effective hypnotic trance, the suggestions are not as effective.
A hypnotic trance comes through a hypnotic induction. The induction involves the things the hypnotherapist says that gradually puts the person into a hypnotic trance by saying things like “You are completely relaxed and at peace” or “Count backwards from ten to one and you will be completely relaxed and in a hypnotic state”.
Having the patient in a hypnotic trance means that they are then suggestible to the statements you begin to tell them. For example, if the person was suffering from a phobic disorder, you would talk about the phobia and give suggestive statements like “I am not afraid of the water” or “I am no longer afraid of heights” or “I have no fear of dogs anymore”. It is the hypnotic trance that you put the client in that makes them believe these statements are true about themselves. You may even give them a post hypnotic suggestion that they show no fear of water when they’re exposed to a pool or some other such thing. The hypnotic trance makes the brain take on the post hypnotic suggestion and they will begin to believe them even when not hypnotized.
The use of the hypnotic trance is a vital part of treating patients with drug addictions, smoking habits or even food addictions and weight issues. You put the client in a hypnotic trance and then you begin to tell them things like “I have no need to smoke cigarettes anymore” or “I do not need to use drugs ever again” or “I am averse to chocolate and will only eat healthy foods.” The hypnotic trance is vital to the brain’s acquisition of these statement s or suggestions and they will begin to make positive changes in your life. You can use the hypnotic trance, too, for any post hypnotic suggestions you might give to the person.
When a person is in a hypnotic trance, their brain chemistry is able to change and mold to the suggestions given to them by the hypnotherapist. It is highly likely that the brain levels of endorphins rise whenever a person is hypnotized around pain issues. Endorphins fight pain and an individual who is deep in a hypnotic trance will easily learn to feel the pain as blunted and not as sharp or strong as they did before they were hypnotized—and their endorphins will probably play a role in that process.
The hypnotic trance is vital, too, to the treatment of clients who have issues around stress and anxiety. The hypnotherapist puts the client into a hypnotic trance and shows them ways to feel less stressed out and to have a lesser degree of anxiety. The person may feel instantly better.
