What to expect in a Hypnotherapy Session?

By Amber Light

Your First Hypnotherapy Session: What to Expect

Thinking about booking a hypnotherapy session or have already booked a session, you may be having mixed feelings! Whichever way it falls for you, congratulations for taking that first step!

Over the years, ideas about hypnosis have come a long way as research emerges that there are numerous benefits of hypnotherapy and hypnosis. Today, hypnosis uses include but are not limited to: behavior modification, stress reduction, performance enhancement, as well as spiritual applications as well like with past life regressions or between life regressions, which serve to learn more about life and our own personal spiritual journey.

With all that being said, you might still have questions about what you can expect at your session. And you should know that you have come to the right place! I will walk you through everything you need to know about your first session!

What you should know before your first hypnotherapy session

Your first question probably is, “What is hypnosis/hypnotherapy?” Well, the answer to this will really vary depending on where you look, and you will find different definitions and answers according to every hypnotist out there. Hypnosis and hypnotherapy are often confused together even though they go hand in hand together.

So, to answer that in my own way, hypnosis is a natural state of relaxed yet heightened awareness and focus; a hyper-suggestible state of consciousness. Hypnotherapy, on the other hand, is when a hypnotherapist induces hypnosis to access the subconscious and then through suggestion generates the client’s desired positive change(s). It is in these instances that hypnotherapy is used to help people quit smoking or some other issue that the client is experiencing.

Another question that often gets asked is, “Does Hypnotherapy work?” Both the American Psychological Association (APA) and the British Psychological Society say it does. The APA acknowledged that hypnotherapy is an “effective therapeutic technique.” On my website, I have a commonly used scientific finding that reports the effectiveness of hypnotherapy compared to other standard therapeutic interventions as follows.

The average success rate for…

               Psychoanalysis:                 38% recovery after 600 sessions

               Behavior Therapy:            72% recovery after 22 sessions

               Hypnotherapy:                  93% recovery after 6 sessions

                                                                       Source: Psychotherapy Magazine (Vol.7, No.1, Alfred A. Barrios, PhD

Why choose hypnotherapy

All hypnosis is self-hypnosis. It is a more cost effective and natural healing remedy without drug side effects. Natural side effects from experiencing hypnosis, you might experience: Decreases blood pressure, slower heart rate, sleep better at night, accelerated healing and more! Hypnosis helps to retain self-management skills and self-care. Hypnosis can be used to further any human endeavor!

Many hypnotherapists will say that the success rate is up to you, the client. If you walk into your session with an open mind for change, and a yearning to experience the benefits that hypnotherapy offers, then you will have a much higher success rate.

Let’s look at the numbers for those who are interested in using hypnotherapy to quit smoking as an example. Many of these people will try the pills, patches, gums, etc to try to quit first. These methods have 10-14% success rate and are not cheap over time. The next step for most smokers is to try everything that they can to help them quit smoking, usually ending paying lots of money for things that inevitably did not help them stop but some do have success with those means. If that does not help them, usually hypnotherapy is the last resort. Not just for smokers, but for far too many that have tried other means to help themselves without success with their issues. And we all know that hypnotherapy is a safe and drug free alternative compared to people’s first choice of help or therapy!

Back to the smoking cessation, many hypnotist practitioners have a good success rate of about 60-70%, much better than the earlier mentioned tactics to help them quit. The smoker wanted to quit and had an open mind, so the technique worked in an overwhelming number of cases. Let me just mention while on this topic of smoking cessation, my private one session to stop smoking technique is the most effective ever developed and has triple the success rate of expensive patches, pills and gums. This process has a proven 95% success rate backed by Oxford University!

The difference between me and other practitioners, is I combine the most advanced hypnosis techniques with a new groundbreaking neurological process to clear the cravings from the mind, where habits and cravings are stored, and from the nervous system, where the physical urges live.

Now, I must reiterate again, a hypnotherapist can only help those who want the help to stop smoking. If you are going to your hypnotherapy session because a spouse/partner is “making you,” well, it probably will not be very successful, regardless of the reason for going.

One thing that hypnosis is not, is mind control. I cannot make anyone do anything against their will, YOU must truly want it!

Hypnotherapy is an accepted treatment for a variety of issues such as:

• ·       PTSD
• ·        Depression
• ·        Migraines
• ·        Performance anxiety
• ·        Addictions
• ·        Weight Release
• ·        Stress and anxiety
• ·        Grief
• ·        Insomnia

This is What Happens During the Session

Your hypnotherapist will likely give you some tips about what to expect in your first session. He or she may even go over some of the things they will want you to do to prepare for it. Make sure you listen to their suggestions!

The Introduction

Most clinical hypnotherapists agree that you, the client, are in control. Not the hypnotist or the therapist. You are! Remember, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. You are the one that is there to accept what you hear and do as instructed. Let’s liken it to going to a doctor? You are paying the doctor money for their experience and expertise, so would you go through all that time and money and then not listen to what they are telling you to do? I hope not. It’s not any different with a hypnotherapist.

The session will start with the hypnotherapist asking what you want to do. As the hypnotherapist asks you questions about what you are wanting to accomplish in your session, they will be observing you while you give the answers.

It is important that you be honest with your hypnotherapist about your issue(s) that has brought you to them in the first place. They need to know what they are working with to help before the hypnosis session can begin.  Many hypnotherapists may explain what happens to your brain in while in hypnotic trance. They may ask what your boundaries are. They will explain suggestibility and assess your level of suggestibility.

The Induction

The induction is the part of the process that relaxes you into the hypnotic trance state. You will be aware of everything around you and will hear everything the hypnotherapist is saying.

What type of induction and the methods that they hypnotherapist uses are going to vary widely from each hypnotherapist. It is important to remember that if you see more than one hypnotherapist, not only will their inductions likely vary, so too will their methods and techniques as they work with you in resolving your issue. 

The hypnotherapist will use techniques that are safe but may entail many different types of linguistics. They are trying to find what works best for you, so it may take a few minutes. The induction to get a client into trance can happen fast or take up to 20 minutes. No one session will ever be the same between clients, as every client has different needs and just like every hypnotherapist has different techniques or methods that they use or prefer.

After the induction is complete, the hypnotherapist will ask a series of questions to determine the state of hypnosis the client is in. The work that then follows takes place during the therapeutic session. Led by your answers and responses that the client has given in the beginning, your hypnotherapist will begin with the changes that you want to make. The language used will be specific to the change you described before the session. This is important as the therapist is doing their best to use the client’s own terminology and phrasing to help their subconscious accept what the desired changes are, by rephrasing it in the client’s own words again.

The Session

The work that then follows takes place during the therapeutic session. Led by your answers and responses that the client has given in the beginning, your hypnotherapist will begin with the changes that you want to make. The language used will be specific to the change you described before the session. This is important as the therapist is doing their best to use the client’s own terminology and phrasing to help their subconscious accept what the desired changes are, by rephrasing it in the client’s own words again.

Some of the myths and misconceptions that people have about hypnosis is one I have already mentioned, that hypnosis is mind control. That is not true, as all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. If you would not do something that a stranger told you to do, hypnosis is no more effective at making you do that something you would not do. So, for example, you would not start licking the ground or strip all your clothes off go running down the street screaming at the top of your lungs, because the hypnotist said so. Again, if you were given a suggestion that you would not do in everyday life, you would not do it in hypnosis session either. The client chooses to accept or deny the suggestions, they are in control of what they decide.

Other misconceptions are that you are asleep. It is true, many people often appear as they are sleeping, and may in fact, actually fall asleep during the session because they are so relaxed and comfortable, however, the difference, is that their subconscious is what is listening to everything going on, and that is what they hypnotherapist is communicating with. It is rare when people fall asleep, but it is easily resolved when interaction is needed. Another misconception is that the person hypnotized will tell all their secrets or private thoughts. Nope, this is also not true. This is so untrue, that a hypnotized person can still lie to the hypnotherapist if desired. However, that is not helpful to them or the hypnotist if they cannot be honest about what is really going on. Also, if a client does lie during the session, because they are unwilling to be honest or divulge the truth of what is going on, the hypnotherapist is less able to give the client a successful outcome if they do not fully know what is going on in order to be able to address the real issues.

Those are some common myths and misconceptions people have about hypnosis. The truth is, your hypnotherapist is a caring individual who is guiding you through your specific change process in your subconscious mind. With your permission only, some hypnotherapists will give you a post-hypnotic suggestion (PHS) that is a trigger that specifies an action after you leave. PHS is a benefit to you for when your session ends or to use between sessions. Again, it won’t trigger you into robbing a bank or giving up on animal products (unless that’s what you want it to do). If the hypnotherapist included it as part of the session, it is important to do as instructed and use the PHS as directed for it to really cement into the client’s subconscious mind.

Transitioning back

When your hypnotherapist feels that the subconscious mind has been explored enough to complete the client’s desired change, they will start to bring you out of trance. It is usually a gentle and slow process.  The hypnotherapist will keep a close on you as you come out of trance to make sure there are no issues during the process. Do not worry, the issue that a hypnotherapist may encounter is that their clients are so relaxed in a pleasant state that they do not want to come back! If this happens to you, they will gently help you with your process until you are fully out of trance.

After the Session

They will assess your mood and ask you some more questions. You will still feel very relaxed and the change work that you did while under hypnosis will start to manifest!  Your hypnotherapist may also suggest you schedule another session or provide you with more tools to use at home, depending on what occurred during the session. They may explain what they did and the techniques they used so you feel safe and comfortable and are able to understand what happened. 

It is important to do any post-session work that they ask you to do or schedule another session if you are not confident your hypnotherapy session went the way you liked. Feel free to try another hypnotherapist as well if you did not feel a good connection with them. Remember, each and every hypnotherapist has a different background, different training styles, different views, and different approaches to how they treat their client’s issues. And what one technique can do for someone, might not do the same for someone else. Remember, you are in control!

Now that you know what to expect in your hypnotherapy session, Amber Light invites you to learn more!

Amber Light Invites You Into Her World of Hypnosis!

Amber Light is a clinical hypnotherapist certified by the A.C.H.E., specializing in smoking cessation and- past life regression. She has written several eBooks and has several larger books in progress. Call 208-718-2340 to schedule your very own hypnotherapy session or learn more about Amber and what she offers clients on her website at https://www.amberlighthypnosis.com/