Does Hypnotherapy Work For Everyone?

A friend asked me the other day what happens when hypnosis fails for clients. I was taken aback, as I never use the word fail or failure, as I see both as feedback, and lessons we must learn from. When I first trained in hypnotherapy many moons ago, I made a firm commitment to myself to ensure that clients understood what hypnosis was by explaining the process and what to expect from the session, and I also explain ant myths and conceptions, just so that we all singing from the same hymn sheet, as it is important that we are all on the same page. To this day I still do the exact same thing with my clients and my students are trained the exact same way.

So, can hypnosis fail, yes it can, and it can be for many reasons. The first being that the client is resisting and instead of letting go to enjoy the experience, they’re fighting against it. It could be that the client doesn’t believe in hypnotherapy, then nothing you say or do is going to make an impact, (I always spot resistance during the free-consultation, and I will explain the whole process to the client, and if there is still resistance, I will ask the client to come back when they are more open and receptive to hypnotherapy). The client may be trying too hard or too little. It could be what we’re saying contradicts the clients reality, but this shouldn’t happen, as we should use active listening skills and paraphrase back to the client, using the clients language. Finally, analytical can be difficult to hypnotise, purely because the analytical mind is very difficult to relax. It enjoys keeping itself busy. By using relaxation techniques the client will become bored or restless and in most cases will not react favourably to deep relaxation.

As for misconceptions, there is so much negativity regarding hypnosis in the entertainment industries that has led to a wide misunderstanding of the true nature of hypnosis. Some people think they will lose consciousness, this can be attributed directly to stage hypnosis, and how hypnosis is portrayed in films and on TV, where as if people realised that hypnosis is hard wired into us, they would understand better. Clients may worry about revealing secrets whilst in hypnosis, which just isn’t the case. They may fear they are surrendering their will, again this is because of stage hypnotists, many people believe that hypnosis is somehow a surrender of will, however nothing could be further from the truth. It is important that the clients understands that they are always capable of making decisions.

Hypnosis really can work and promote our health and well-being. A Study by Dr Alfred Barrios determined that Hypnosis is successful in 93% of the cases after an average of 6 sessions. Behavioural therapy today known as CBT, 72% increased after 22 sessions. Psycho analysis worked 38% of the cases after an average of 600 sessions.

So, the answer is a big fat YES that hypnosis may not work, but I personally feel that if it’s explained correctly and the clients worry’s and fears are squelched by understanding the process, it will work perfectly fine.