Types of Hypnosis

In general there are three types of hypnosis that are used by hypnotherapists. Some people respond better to a particular type of hypnosis, or a therapist might specialize in one type of hypnosis. If you start seeing a hypnotherapist and you don’t get the kind of results that you wanted it could be that you need to try treatment with a therapist that does a different kind of hypnosis and uses different hypnotic techniques in order to get results.  The three types of hypnosis are:

Traditional Suggestion Hypnosis 

In the Traditional Suggestion Hypnosis method a therapist puts you into a deeply relaxed state and then puts hypnotic suggestions directly into your subconscious mind to achieve the results that you desire. This is the easiest type of hypnosis for a therapist to perform and doesn’t require a lot of training which is why it’s so commonly used.  If you are the kind of person that is very analytic and very logical this type of hypnosis may not work as well for you as one of the other two types of hypnosis. Studies have shown that Traditional hypnosis is less effective on highly analytical people than it is on critical types of people.

Ericksonian Hypnosis

In this type of hypnosis instead of placing direct suggestions or commands into your subconscious mind while you are in a relaxed state the hypnotherapist uses metaphors to get the desired result.  The principle of this method is the subconscious brain will instantly make the connection between the metaphor and the desired behavior but the metaphor itself will act as a distraction to the conscious brain. So while your conscious brain is trying to figure out the metaphor the meaning of the metaphor goes directly into your subconscious.

Ericksonian hypnosis is particularly effective on people that are highly logical or critical and are resistant to the idea of hypnosis because usually people with a resistance to hypnosis tend to have trouble reaching a deep enough state of relaxation to really absorb the hypnotic suggestions that are being made.  Ericksonian hypnosis cuts through the objections and skepticism of the conscious mind to reach the subconscious mind where it can take effect.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)

NLP is the most advanced type of hypnosis and should only be performed by a well trained hypnotherapist.  NLP is used to treat severe problems or severe addictions by reprogramming the brain. So for example, if you always have a cigarette with your morning cup of coffee your mind will be begin to pair the two activities and every time that you have a cup of coffee you will want to have a cigarette.  A therapist that is trained to use NLP will use hypnosis to disassociate those two activities so that you can have a cup of coffee without thinking about a having a cigarette. 

Or, if you want to lose weight, a therapist trained in NLP can help you create an image of yourself at the weight that you want to be and can plant that image directly into your subconscious. Then the therapist will use NLP techniques to flip the script in your brain so that every time you think about how unhappy you are with the way you look instead of seeing yourself as being overweight you’ll see yourself as thin and beautiful the way you want to be.