Tips for hypnotic suggestions
When making suggestions during self-hypnosis in step 3, follow these tips:
Say it with conviction: Imagine the words being said gently but with conviction and ensure the tone is reassuring, confident and positive.
Phrase suggestions in the present tense: The suggestion, ‘I am confident’ will be more effective than, ‘I will be confident’ as the word ‘am’ is in the present tense and is more certain.
Make suggestions positive: For example, ‘I am at peace’ is better than ‘I am not stressed’ ; talk to yourself about what you do want, not what you don’t want.
Make suggestions realistic: Avoid over-ambitious suggestions such as, ‘I will lose a lot of weight quickly’. Instead focus on smaller and more specific goals such as, ‘I will eat more vegetables, and exercise more’.
Repeat the suggestions: State the suggestions many times during the hypnosis. Repetition of an idea can help drive home the point.
Using imagery and action in self-hypnosis
Adding imagery to the post-hypnotic suggestions can improve the hypnosis. You may also engage your sense of taste, touch and smell. For example, to help overcome anxiety you could imagine:
Sitting in a place that brings you feelings of calm, such as beach on a warm day
Seeing a hot air balloon and placing your worries into the basket, watching them float away
Clearing an overgrown path of brambles, and feeling stronger, more in control as you go.
Adding in action steps – what you’ll actually do differently to improve things – is also very helpful to successful self-hypnosis.
Self-hypnosis or in-person hypnotherapy?
There are many advantages to self-hypnosis. It is entirely portable and with practice you may be able to quickly bring yourself to a state of focused relaxation very quickly.
It can, however, be challenging to learn, especially the ability to relax and focus the mind while giving oneself instructions. For this reason, many people choose to use in-person hypnotherapy.
Hypnotherapy is simply the act of applying hypnosis as a therapeutic, such as to relieve pain, anxiety or sleeplessness. A trained hypnotherapist will take you through a similar process to the above, giving you positive suggestions to help improve your specific concern.
A third option is to use hypnotherapy apps. These apps combine the best of both worlds - they are lower in cost than in-person hypnotherapy, can be done on demand (anywhere, anytime), but are created by real hypnotherapists and based on real clinical studies.
Self-hypnosis in medicine
There are remarkable examples that showcase how effective self-hypnosis can be. Take the documented case of Victor Rausch (1980), a dental surgeon who was experienced with hypnotic procedures. When required surgery to remove his gallbladder, Rausch used self-hypnosis as his only anaesthesia.
More recently, science has shown training in self-hypnosis may help patients overcome a range of clinical conditions. These include:
Anxiety: Patients who had undergone heart surgery showed lower levels of depress and fatigue after learning self-hypnosis techniques. A study in children with cancer showed less and surgery-related anxiety and behavioural distress after learning self-hypnosis.
Pain: Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) reported lower levels of chronic pain after learning self-hypnosis techniques than those who did not. Further, a study in children showed functional abdominal pain resolved in three weeks following a single session of self-hypnosis.
Tension headaches: In children and adolescents, self-hypnosis training reduced the frequency of tension headaches. Another study in adults showed long-term headache pain reduction from self-hypnosis.
Chronic dyspnea: In adults with breathing difficulty at rest, a single training in self-hypnosis resolved symptoms in 13 of 16 patients within one month.
Irritable bowel syndrome: Patients with IBS have been shown to be able to improve IBS symptoms as much as the gold standard Low FODMAP elimination diet.
Tips for improving self-hypnosis
Have a goal in mind: Before starting self-hypnosis ensure to have a goal in mind, such as lowering stress. This will ensure each session is focused and productive.
Schedule time for self-hypnosis: The hardest part of self-hypnosis can be getting started. It may work best to set aside a time each day for self-hypnosis and write it in your schedule. Self-hypnosis can be performed during the day, or at night before you sleep.
Keep up the practice: Like riding a bike, it takes time to learn self-hypnosis. With practice and instruction, you will learn to more quickly enter a state of trance. You will also learn a broader range of hypnotic suggestions to improve the outcome.
Use a mobile app: Mobile apps such as Evia (for hot flashes), Nerva (for IBS) and Finito (for smoking cessation) can be a great way to get the best of both self-hypnosis and hypnosis with a hypnotherapist.
The Wrap Up
Self-hypnosis is a powerful tool to improve your mind. It is a highly safe technique that can bring increased self-esteem and confidence, assertiveness, and relaxation. Self-hypnosis can also be used during difficult times to help improve symptoms of medical conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety, pain and headaches.
References
1. Fromm, E., Brown, D.P., Hurt, S.W., Oberlander, J.Z., Boxer, A.M. and Pfeifer, G., 1981. The phenomena and characteristics of self-hypnosis. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 29(3), pp.189-246. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00207148108409158
2. Yeates, L.B., 2016. Emile Coue and his method (II): hypnotism, suggestion, ego-strengthening, and autosuggestion. Australian Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Hypnosis, 38(1), pp.28-54. http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/fapi/datastream/unsworks:47760/bin73f48d52-f4cb-443f-a9c2-a5c23331c372?view=true
3. Soskis, D.A., Orne, E.C., Orne, M.T. and Dinges, D.F., 1989. Self-hypnosis and meditation for stress management: a brief communication. International journal of clinical and experimental hypnosis, 37(4), pp.285-289. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00207148908414483
4. Rausch, V., 1980. Cholecystectomy with self-hypnosis. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 22(3), pp.124-129. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00029157.1980.10403216
5. Ashton Jr, R.C., Whitworth, G.C., Seldomridge, J.A., Shapiro, P.A., Michler, R.E., Smith, C.R., Rose, E.A., Fisher, S. and Oz, M.C., 1995. The effects of self-hypnosis on quality of life following coronary artery bypass surgery: preliminary results of a prospective, randomized trial. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 1(3), pp.285-290. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/acm.1995.1.285
6. Liossi, C., White, P. and Hatira, P., 2006. Randomized clinical trial of local anesthetic versus a combination of local anesthetic with self-hypnosis in the management of pediatric procedure-related pain. Health Psychology, 25(3), p.307. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-05891-007
7. Jensen, M.P., Barber, J., Romano, J.M., Molton, I.R., Raichle, K.A., Osborne, T.L., Engel, J.M., Stoelb, B.L., Kraft, G.H. and Patterson, D.R., 2009. A comparison of self-hypnosis versus progressive muscle relaxation in patients with multiple sclerosis and chronic pain. Intl. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 57(2), pp.198-221. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00207140802665476
8. Anbar, R.D., 2001. Self-hypnosis for the treatment of functional abdominal pain in childhood. Clinical Pediatrics, 40(8), pp.447-451. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/000992280104000804
9. Spinhoven, P., Linssen, A.C.G., Van Dyck, R. and Zitman, F.G., 1992. Autogenic training and self-hypnosis in the control of tension headache. General Hospital Psychiatry, 14(6), pp.408-415. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science /article/abs/pii/016383439290008X
10. Kohen, D.P. and Zajac, R., 2007. Self-hypnosis training for headaches in children and adolescents. The Journal of pediatrics, 150(6), pp.635-639. https://europepmc.org/article/med/17517250
11. Anbar, R.D., 2001. Self-hypnosis for management of chronic dyspnea in pediatric patients. Pediatrics, 107(2), pp.e21-e21. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11158495
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