Hypnosis was accepted by the AMA in 1958 as an effective method for treating stress, and stress related symptoms. But does it really work, and what should a person look for when seeking a therapist, or purchasing hypnosis tapes & CDs?

There are many different hypnotic methods that are used to reach the unconscious mind to invoke change. Each method has it's strengths, and it's weaknesses. Every person is different, so it stands to reason that the best results will be obtained by utilizing the methods that each person will respond to.

Most hypnosis tape venders offer programs that consist of standard traditional hypnosis techniques. A few vendors offer much more modern and effective Ericksonian hypnosis techniques. And fewer still offer NLP or Neuro-Linguistic Programming techniques. The newest and possibly most effective technique available is video hypnosis. Video hypnosis utilizes the latest NLP mind patterns to produce instant change in an individual. Video hypnosis methods are not subliminal in nature.

With "Traditional Hypnosis," we simply make direct suggestions to the unconscious mind. In case you are wondering, as far as I'm concerned, the term unconscious, and subconscious are interchangeable - they refer to the same part of the mind. This type of hypnosis works well for someone who generally accepts what they are told without a lot of questions.

Most hypnosis tapes sold today are based on "Traditional Hypnosis" techniques. The reason for this is that it really doesn't take much training or experience to write a script and just tell someone what to do. Unfortunately Traditional Hypnosis is not very effective for people who are critical or analytical in their thinking processes.

By contrast, "Ericksonian Hypnosis" and "NLP" techniques work far better for most members of today's generation! This is because today people are taught to analyze and question everything, rather than just follow the flock. So these methods do work very well on people who are critical or analytical in their thinking processes.

While its true that these methods are much more effective at reaching and influencing the unconscious, it's also true that it can take years of training, study, and most of all experience to learn how to apply these techniques effectively. So this is a challenge that is only accepted by the truly dedicated hypno-therapists.

With "Ericksonian Hypnosis," we use little stories, called metaphors, to present suggestions and ideas to the unconscious mind. This is a powerful and effective method, because it usually eliminates the blockage of and resistance to suggestions that is often caused by the conscious mind. There are two types of metaphors, "Isomorphic," and those of the imbedded command or "interspersal" nature.

Isomorphic metaphors offer direction to the unconscious by telling a story that offers up a moral. The unconscious draws a one-to-one relationship between elements of the story and elements of a problem situation or behavior. For example, if a child is telling a lot of lies, the parent might tell the child the story about the "Boy who cried wolf." The unconscious would draw a parallel between the boy in the story and the child, and realize that telling lies could lead to disaster, so the child would probably stop lying.

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