Can You Receive Good Hypnotherapy Online?

By Vicki Rebecca

Can You Receive Hypnotherapy Online? There is strong evidence that psychological therapy can be effectively delivered online to treat a range of mental health difficulties. Does that also include hypnotherapy?
At first glance the proposition seems counter intuitive. We tend to think of hypnosis as a “special state” that comes about in ambient circumstances with a good sprinkling of the mystic about it. However, the fact is that hypnosis or trance is far more every day and ordinary than we usually give it credit for.

“I drove all the way home and I couldn’t even remember the journey”. We tend to walk round the weekly shopping and somehow get through the humungous pile of ironing in a similar “trance”. In fact, research shows that we spend HALF of our lives like this: simply not present.

So is hypnosis is not so special it follows that most of the objections to online hypnosis can be answered by addressing fear of hypnosis in general, so let’s have a look at the-

MYTH & MAGIC

It is not possible to get “stuck” permanently in hypnosis. As with sleep or any other state of mind, people emerge naturally from hypnosis, especially when there is a need to do so.
Nor are you under the power of the hypnotist, where your mind can be read, and your deepest feelings exposed. This is false. A hypnotherapist cannot make you do anything that is against your will or expose feelings that you do not want to share.

Although you are in a state of deep relaxation where powerful suggestions can be made, beautiful and magic insights can be found, YOU are in control of your inner journey. While in a hypnotic state you will be able to tap the power of your unconscious mind and unlock the way for change. In the end, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis; so you go only as deep as you are willing and able to go, so you won’t bark like a dog unless of course you want to and you certainly will not be unconscious.

The fact is that hypnosis only works when the person is ready to make it work. The client’s willingness to change plays a significant role in hypnotherapy. While there are various degrees of susceptibility for each person, only a motivated person can benefit from hypnotherapy.

That said, there are a couple of points specific to online hypnotherapy –

• What if the connection breaks?
• Can you really be in a trance?

What if the connection breaks?

Of course, the connection can break. It happens. If I am working somewhere new I always double check the connections and make sure my hotel room is not too far from the reutter. Precautions or not we cannot go through life without expecting the unexpected. There was the time when I was doing a Skype session in Turkey when there was an earthquake! Who could have seen that coming? Just like the next-door office going on fire, the neighbour’s dog going bananas, or an insistent salesman oblivious to the: “DO NOT DISTURB” sign on the door. Your therapist has to deal with these things as and when they arise, and it is exactly the same online. If it results in you being left “hanging” you will emerge naturally in your own time, sooner than you think probably, and resume according to the therapist’s instructions.

Global internet connections are pretty good these days and the internet crashing will soon be as rare as a power cut, just one of those things we have to occasionally live with. Your therapist in their preamble will tell you what to do if the signal goes down.

Can you really be in a trance?

Trance, as I explained above is where we can spend as much as half our lives. Being on an online device is also the new normal and we are used to “trancing out” in it. Just think of all the online addictions.

In fact, your session will be exactly the “same” as a “live” one-to-one situation. Your therapist will explain to you how to set up so you can both see and hear each other well including your body language. The two of you will build rapport, discuss possibilities, and put things in context on the spot.

The major difference is that on this occasion you will be the one responsible for finding the comfy chair, switching off the doorbell and creating the ambient lighting, again your therapist will help you with this.

Add to that all the pluses of total privacy, time saving, accessibility, it’s often cheaper since the therapist has no overheads.

So in the end the question is – why not?

Vicki Rebecca