Counseling and Hypnotherapy in Cincinnati Ohio

Hypnosis –

"A trancelike state that resembles sleep but is induced by a person whose suggestions are readily accepted by the subject"; Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Franz Anton Mesmer (mesmerize) began treating people in the mid-eighteenth century using hypnotic techniques. Since then, hypnosis has been used to treat a variety of problems.

I was formally hypnotized for the first time in my life about 12 years ago. I had signed up for a training program on learning how to work with people using hypnosis in therapy. I had heard over the years about the power of hypnosis, and I'd seen any number of T.V. programs where the hypnotist did amazing things with people they’d hypnotized. I was interested in learning more about hypnosis.

Part of my training included watching videos of individuals hypnotized – these people were very emotional; sobbing and bawling. This surprised me – I expected people to be tearful and cry, but this was much more intense. These reactions were pretty powerful; although this intensity quickly subsided as the session drew to a close. I started feeling nervous after watching those videos.

I was nervous because I knew that as part of my training, I was to be hypnotized. I felt like, while I could be hypnotized, nothing of any significance would happen to me (unlike those people who were so emotional in those videos) because I didn’t get emotional like that. My opinion was that the people I’d seen on those videos were dealing with significant life problems, and that’s why they were so emotional. Hypnosis gave them permission to express themselves with such emotion.

My nervousness increased as the time came for me to be hypnotized approached. After all, I’d never been hypnotized before. While I’d seen individuals be hypnotized, it was territory I’d never traveled.

I clearly recall my nervousness decreased inexplicably when it was my turn to be hypnotized. I laid on the floor, looking up at a spot on the ceiling, listening to the hypnotherapist’s words which were calming and relaxing. As I was staring at the ceiling, my eyes began blinking; the hypnotherapist suggested I close my eyes, and I decided to do so. I heard everything in the room – I remember the air conditioner running, and someone else coughing. (Several people were in the room as observers). I followed the directions being given to me; picturing myself walking down stairs, and I felt myself become more relaxed, but nothing else really changed. I didn’t feel like I was ‘under anyone’s control’ - I still heard everything in the room, and I was not sleepy. I continued to choose to follow the hypnotherapist’s suggestions to me, because I didn’t find any of the requests offensive.

As the session progressed, I was asked to, and easily recalled certain emotions like sadness. The hypnotherapist then asked me to recall situations when I felt sad, and again, I was able to do so.

The surprising part came when I began to feel the sadness, and I began sobbing. While I knew that I wasn’t in that event, because I was hypnotized in the room, I felt as though I were there. I spent time talking about/working through feelings surrounding an event in my life. The hypnotherapist guided me back to the room I was in, and I felt strangely tired yet energized.

Hypnosis works because I (or you) let it. It’s not magic, it’s not mind control. We have and use, ‘defense mechanisms’ in our everyday lives. These ‘defense mechanisms’ help us live life without falling to pieces under criticism or prevent us from paralysis that would occur when we make decisions that don’t always agree with our values.

Hypnosis cuts right through those defenses, like a hot knife through warm butter. Using hypnosis, the clinician can avoid a lot of the normal therapeutic issues that occur between therapist and client. While a person wants to be in therapy, and wants to make changes, his or her defense mechanisms work to avoid looking at or deal with pain, which extends the therapeutic process.

I didn’t quack like a duck, or bark like a dog while hypnotized. Not because the hypnotherapist didn’t make those suggestions, but because I didn’t want to. Hypnosis is a choice, one I’m glad I made, and one I recommend others experience to help with problems, or to develop deeper spiritual connections.

Dennis Mendleson

To schedule an appointment or if you just have questions, call (513) 471-2250 or email Dennis@CincinnatiTherapyGuy.com