** Consists of 4x 1.5 hour sessions. **

Incorporating hypnotic techniques into medical treatments works remarkably well. In fact, hypnotists can be of help with the referral of a medical practitioner. In the future, someone will develop new drugs to attack the mechanisms of chronic pain. But until then, the combination of hypnosis and medical advice is the bedrock to treat your chronic pain.

The power of self-hypnosis

During hypnotic sessions, you learn how to powerfully use your brain to control how your body feels and functions. This skill is known as self-hypnosis. In essence, hypnosis is a calm and relaxed mental state. Thanks to the guidance of a hypnotist, you can learn self-hypnotic techniques to lessen the pain and improve the quality of your life.

The field of hypnosis began in the 18th century with Franz Anton Mesmer. Since then, new techniques and research have led to a better understanding of the hypnotic phenomenon. Today, we define hypnosis as a state of highly focused attention. Even athletes that focus intensely on how they move their bodies during training sessions are practicing hypnosis. In other words, hypnosis is a natural skill that every human can develop.

Many people do not practice self-hypnosis. But it is an easy process that everyone can do at any moment. You can use self-hypnosis every time you have to deal with something unpleasant to ease your mind. Plus, there are many ways to induct a client into a self-hypnotic state. So, we can surely find a technique that works for you.

Your mind works in interesting ways. Your consciousness has layers to allow you to grasp different concepts and meanings. But at its deepest level, the mind is very simple. For example, it prefers the present tense and does not process negative sentences.

When doing self-hypnosis, you use pictures and words. If you can visualize the desired result, you will find hypnosis to be a very beneficial state. In any case, you can use words to let your mind associate positive meanings for change.

Helping your brain to handle the pain with tailored-made hypnotic techniques

As a hypnotist, my task is to help you use your imagination and attention to dissociate the pain from your conscious mind. In simple terms, this means suspending your critical judgment to allow yourself to experience relief from chronic pain. So, you do not judge and evaluate what is happening. You just follow the instructions and feel better.

Besides injuries that never really heal, the causes of chronic pain are not well understood. So, here is an analogy to sum up what we currently know about it. The amount of pain that a person experience is similar to the loudness of an electronic musical instrument.

If you want to turn up the volume of such an instrument, you turn up the amplifier. When you do so, all the keys or strings becomes louder as a result. Well, our brain acts as an amplifier. Yet, for some unknown reason, changing back the setting can be troublesome. So, the pain you experience does not go away.

My goal is to create tailor-made techniques for helping you manage your pain. In this way, you can turn the volume down and alleviate your suffering.

Unlike during stage hypnosis, the hypnotic techniques employed to alleviate chronic pain are gentle and safe. Hypnosis is nothing more than an interaction between the hypnotist and the client. When I give you instructions to enter a self-hypnotic state, you relax and remain fully aware.

Sometimes, clients have doubts about the whole procedure. So, I want to make clear that hypnosis is just about communication. In detail, you learn to communicate with your inner part of yourself. As a result, you can experience a shift in pain even during your first session.

Practicing everyday self-hypnotic techniques is key to get better and better. So, I will teach you how to do hypnosis over time on your own. Incremental change can turn into a profound recovery or reduction.

Hypnosis is not magic. Someday the pain may still hit you hard. But other days, you can be totally fine and pain-free.

The hypnotic framework for restoring the mind-body connection

A lot of chronic pain is not a problem in the area of the body where the person is experiencing pain. In actuality, it is more so a problem with the volume control setting in the brain. When your volume control setting is set too high, the nerves throughout your entire body become more sensitive.

As a result, you feel pain in different areas of your body. Even though there is nothing wrong in those areas of your body. This applies to many pain conditions like headaches. Somehow, the body amplifies a stimulus, thus causing what we could call brain pain.

Some people are pain insensitive. This means that they do not feel any pain even if they have something wrong with a part of their bodies. On the other side of the continuum, we find people who experience chronic pain. Clearly, the label that doctors use changes in the relationship with the area of the body that originates parts of the pain. But the problem still lies in the brain.

You might have experienced more chronic pain conditions over the years. Maybe, you can describe your pain using several labels. But when you use hypnosis, you do not need labels. You can deal with all these chronic overlapping pain conditions at once.

Hypnotists believe that the mind-body connection has a fundamental problem which is in the brain. In other words, the pain in different areas of the body is just a manifestation of the real issue.

A common example of chronic pain

Perhaps, you have a problem with your knee. At the same time, you feel the pain coming from your knee. But you keep feeling pain every day. Even when the knee condition slightly improves. In your brain, your volume control setting is skewed, so you keep suffering.

In this example, where the pain you feel does not come from the knee, standard solutions may not work at all. So, many people give hypnosis a try. The goal is to regain control of the volume control setting in the brain.

About the duration and intensity

Predicting how long pain will last is a controversial topic. In fact, different doctors may have diverging ideas on the same case. That is how difficult it is to make accurate predictions. Even when the specialists have years of experience. Usually, some key factors that can prolong or increase the pain are:

• bad habits like smoking or drinking alcohol
• daily activities and hobbies
• previous conditions
• the activity level or sedentary lifestyle
• your age, weight, and occupation

Trapped emotions in your subconscious

The brain does not only process physical pain. In fact, emotional pain activates many regions of the brain as well. In health, it is not just mind over matter, but it is the mind itself that matters. So, intense emotions like grief can interfere with your well-being.

The shackles of emotional pain can hinder our way through life in several ways. For example, social pain can make us feel bad. But when others reject us or exclude us, the body pays the price as well. Usually, the tendency to suppress negative emotions only makes us feel worse. Until the pain is unbearable and we feel like a failure.

From an evolutionary perspective, our need to connect with a caregiver is absolutely paramount. Of course, we want the caregiver to want to connect with us as well. But sometimes, our parents are not good at parenting. So, we live with emotional scars that never completely heal.

Hypnotism aims to release your emotional pain. Through hypnosis, you can reframe the negative impact that those emotions had on important points in your life. By changing the brain response to emotional pain, your experience will change. Later, that same pain can become a motivation to connect or reconnect with others.

Changing the brain with words

Self-hypnosis allows you to get positive results because words can change the way your brain functions. In short, the change is real. Thanks to your focus and concentration, you can find ways to bypass the critical factor of the conscious mind. After that, affecting the part of your brain that controls the pain response becomes possible.

During a hypnotic session, the hypnotist helps your brain rewire itself. Your awareness expands to let your body relax. As a result, the hypnotist’s words affect the pain response. With each repetition, the pain decreases in intensity.

When you reach a deep state of relaxation, suggestibility increases. This means that the words have the power to influence your behavior and mental state. Your brain can release hormones that carry specific signals to any part of your body. But you can also change your thought patterns and remove bad habits that may cause you additional discomfort.

How hypnosis affects the Autonomic Nervous System

Here is a more detailed explanation of what happens during hypnosis. Of course, more research is necessary to give an exhaustive description of how hypnosis influences many brain mechanisms. But we can grasp the basic concepts by understanding the main factors and tools involved.

First of all, hypnosis has an effect on the autonomic model. Specifically, the Limbic System. This system includes five major regions of the brain:

• Amygdala, which acts as a filter to protect you from immediate danger
• Hypothalamus, which maintains the body’s internal balance
• Hippocampus, which controls memory
• Pituitary, which makes hormones and preserves our bodily functions
• Thalamus, which transmits sensory information from the spinal cord to the cerebral cortex

The goal of hypnotic techniques is to use words for positive change. When we order specific words effectively, we create a positive suggestion. By receiving suggestions, the Limbic System makes the body more comfortable. Mainly, it does so because both the internal and external filters do not get in the way.

Given that each client reacts differently, various approaches are necessary. A proficient hypnotist knows how the brain responds and functions. So, he or she can create appropriate suggestions that suit the client’s issue. Plus, the hypnotist can teach new strategies to eliminate fears and facilitate positive thinking.

Changing thought patterns is the first step towards pain relief. In fact, positive thinking can lead to the release of feel-good hormones and proteins. At the same time, the client learns how to set goals for promoting wellness in their lives.

In the end, the client regains control over his or her behavior. Then again, you can use the self-hypnotic state to maximize the benefits and address both physical and emotional discomfort anytime you need.

The relaxation during the stages of hypnosis

Before the hypnotic session begins, your brain is in a vigilant state. So, the first part of the hypnotic session is all about decreasing brain activity. In detail, the brainwave frequency change from Beta to Delta. This means that you go from waking consciousness to a deeply relaxed state. Gradually, of course.

When you are in Beta, your critical thinking is in full force. In other words, it is almost impossible to address the subconscious beliefs that are causing you pain. Your mind could be filled with questions or doubts about what the hypnotist suggests.

During the first part of the session, your brainwave frequency change to Alpha first. In this state, you can visualize and relax. You remember everything you hear or feel during the session. Also, your mind becomes receptive to the suggestions that the hypnotist gives you.

When you relax a little bit more, your mind might wander off. That is when you start dropping down to Theta. At this point, you are still aware. But your focus might wander from one thought to the next. Or you might just sink deeper into a state that reminds you of the moments before falling asleep. Nonetheless, you remain awake.

You do not need to concentrate on everything that the hypnotist is saying for it to effective. From here on, you are in Delta. In this final stage, you are so relaxed that your mind could not register everything going on in the session. But even in this heightened state of suggestibility, you retain your willpower. The hypnotist cannot make you think or believe things that you are not willing to accept.

The point of reaching a deeper state is to increase the effectiveness of the suggestions. In brief, the deeper the state, the more receptive you are to the positive suggestions.

Disengaging the overreaction to perceived pain

Sometimes, the intensity of your chronic pain depends on a constant sense of danger. For example, you might be worried about moving your aching joint. So, you visualize or think about the pain before you move. In this case, the amygdala reacts to your worries like they were real.

Whether you are imagining, experiencing a real event, or just reliving a memory, your brain cannot tell the difference. Just like when you are watching a horror movie, your body reacts to the perceived danger.

With this in mind, hypnosis works well because the suggestions can help you focus on the fact that you are safe. When your brain relaxes, it receives a signal that it is not in danger. The over-active amygdala can subside and relieve you from pain.

Eliminating perceived pain by eliminating fears and apprehensions

Fears, worry, and concern can stop you from moving forward. In other words, they are the fuel that keeps the pain going. Here are common fears and concerns that people experiencing chronic pain have:

• being afraid of doing tasks they cannot do anymore
• concerns about specific movements or actions
• fear of the pain occurring at the worst moment
• inability to indulge in hobbies or physical exercise
• not being able to walk long distances

Usually, people with chronic pain avoid their fears. But this choice does not prevent them from experiencing stress and tension. Sadly, avoiding your fears only makes them stronger. Hypnosis weakens the negative response in your brain by tackling the avoidance itself.

You can choose to engage in behaviors and activities that you typically avoid. Mainly because there is no true danger. But first, you need to overcome the feeling of fear. That is, the flight response is caused by the amygdala.

During hypnosis, we can teach your brain that it is safe to go back to doing the movements or actions that you stopped doing. Because in this case, your chronic pain relies on a false alarm.

Through regression techniques, you can go back to a time before the problem occurred. Thanks to your mind and imagination, we can make the very cells in your body remember how it felt to be normal and pain-free.

Using your memories to end reflex conditions

Some clients have triggers that initiate the pain almost on command. In a sense, those triggers are hurtful expectations. Like self-fulfilling prophecies, the negative scenarios repeat in their mind causing the body to tense up and increase the pain.

A reflex is something that happens after a substantial number of repetitions. When you learn something new, your level of attention changes with the amount of practice. After a while, the necessary actions become second nature. Mainly because you do not have to think about performing each separate movement.

Negative self-talk and scenarios work the same way. So, you might induce pain just by constantly thinking about it. Or by expecting it to hinder you the next day when you wake up. The more you think about your headache, the stronger it gets. But if you think about it, even when it is gone, you favor its return.

In hypnosis, the hypnotist uses positive suggestions and repetition to reinforce and heal your memory. That is, the part of your brain where the reflex is stored. As a result, the Limbic System decreases the pain response.

Protect your brain from physical changes

Chronic pain affects the Hippocampus. In detail, it can lead to a reduction of gray matter in several areas of the brain.

Long-lasting chronic pain can negatively affect your memory. Which in turn can weaken your reasoning skills. Not to mention the effect on your concentration skills.

The sooner you take action, the quicker you can reduce pain and reverse any negative change that may have occurred in your brain. When dealing with negative, painful memories, achieving positive results may take hard work and patience. But changing for the better is possible and worth pursuing.

Today, we live in such a demanding society that if you suffer from chronic pain, protecting your brain is critical. After all, we are constantly bombarded by information. So, if your pain interferes with your memory, new problems arise and create stress.

As chronic pain is one of the ultimate stresses, your mind then starts to perceive other potential threats. Thus creating a negative loop that makes you sad and vulnerable.

Thanks to hypnosis, you calm your mind and relax your body. You learn to lower your stress level. Plus, you can count on the hypnotist to teach you ways to use your imagination to deal with daily stresses and tensions. Later, you can repeat the same techniques at any moment by entering a self-hypnotic state. You will reinforce the positive suggestions and regain emotional balance and control.

Applications of hypnosis for pain relief

Let’s see how the practical applications of hypnosis can improve the quality of your life. As you know, pain can affect several areas of your life. It is not just how your body feels because your suffering changes:

• what you do
• how you spend your time
• how you sleep
• your romantic relationship and social life
• work

While the hypnotic process still remains the same at its core, the goal changes. In that relaxed state called hypnosis, you can change your behavior, thoughts, emotions, and/or perceptions. The results can be incredibly powerful with pain.

1 – Pain control & altering the quality of discomfort

Hypnotism is the skillful use of the imagination to feel less pain. Sometimes, you might want to ignore the pain. But hypnotism is not just a set of mental tricks to fool your mind. Through hypnosis, you learn the effective use of the brain to control pain.

After I teach you how to self-hypnotize yourself, you can control pain whenever you need to. Depending on the issue and the quality of discomfort, I will design a technique to help you manage the pain.

These strategies filter the hurt out of the pain. Along with positive suggestions, you create a compassionate connection to your body. All the while, you might be imagining being somewhere you would rather be.

Suggestions harmonize the suffering into helpful ideas and strategies to control pain. As briefly mentioned, the approach adjusts to achieve a desirable result.

For example, the hypnotist uses creative solutions to inculcate positive thinking. In this way, the brain can release feel-good hormones for pain relief.

Learning to manage pain makes it easier on your body.

A lot of chronic pain has to do with frustration at the body for making you so uncomfortable. But this attitude only gets you to pay more attention to the pain. Even worse, it amplifies your sensations and strengthens your fears.

Learning to manage your pain in some way makes it less painful and difficult for you. Plus, self-hypnosis is an interactive process. This means that you can learn ways to deal with pain by using many techniques. You can move your pain from an area to another, thus lessening the impact on your body.

When you experience pain taking input from you, hypnosis gives you a choice. Hypnosis is not only convenient but also easy on your stressed mind. So, deeper relaxation is a restorative pause you can take any time.

One of the great myths about hypnosis is that it takes away control from people. But in reality, it is just the opposite. As a hypnotist, all I can do is teach you how to enhance your ability to control your body. So that you can restore a gentler, compassionate relationship with it as it goes through such troubles.

2 – Alleviating persistent pain

Positive reinforcement can alleviate persistent pain. The easiest way to do this is to repeat positive suggestions while in a deep state of hypnosis. But suggestions can also take the form of instructions. In other words, it is possible to make you respond to specific suggestions for making positive changes.

For example, I could suggest that you feel very relaxed and comfortable. Then, I might add that this comfort will stay with you all day. Even when the session is over.

The basic idea behind hypnosis is simple. Besides, a hypnotic induction followed by suggestions makes you feel better. But a chain of positive suggestions is a powerful technique that can give you surprising results. What we need to add for alleviating persistent pain is flexibility. That is, flexible use of suggestions for pain relief.

The ultimate goal remains to decrease the activity in the area of the brain that processes the suffering component of your pain. But at the same time, calming the mind is helpful. Mainly to give you more reassuring and realistic expectations for your future.

Hypno-analgesia

Hypnosis can be a very specific and targeted solution to reduce daily pain. Plus, the effects occur above and beyond any expectancy as long as you are willing to put minimal effort into using self-hypnosis on your own.

You can use hypnosis to address problems such as:

• a sensation of internal pressure
• backache
• chronic facial pain
• emotional and mental distress
• headache
• widespread pain

When an area of the body is damaged, the brain releases chemicals to the damaged areas. So, that area becomes more sensitive. A similar process happens with sunburn.

But the information about pain does not become pain until it reaches the brain through the spinal cord and the Thalamus. So, the goal is to use hypnotic techniques to modulate the information, thus achieving Hypno-analgesia.

Hypnotic analgesia is a detachment from chronic pain. Above all, you can use these techniques to lower the intensity of pain. As well as alleviating the sensory components of your suffering.

3 – Reactivating pain-free memories

The intensity of hurtful memories has a great impact on our lives. For one thing, bad memories are somehow easier to remember. We react viscerally to the most aberrant episodes of our past.

But as we saw, part of how we think goes through the Autonomic Nervous System. All the connections between the different organs in our body generate feelings. And that feedback influences our behavior and thoughts.

Some clients are not aware of how much time they spend paying attention to these unhappy past experiences. Unfortunately, if you spend many hours a day thinking about bad memories, your health will pay the price as well.

But if you were to add up all the time you spend thinking about them in the next ten years, that would be an enormous amount of time. Reactivating pain-free memories is all about reclaiming your time and well-being.

Turning your mind into an ally

We can soothe the memories that bully and nag you by involving the part of your brain behind its activity. Often, we call this part creativity.

Emotionally charged memories are similar to bad habits. Even though you may despise them, your attitude may reinforce them. So, we appeal to your creative mind as an ally instead of a foe.

What we find is that the combination of imagination and specific techniques can reduce the emotional pain. After a while, you will be free to move on with your life.

4 – Reinterpreting pain as protection

Reframing pain can help you deal with both acute and chronic pain. In fact, the original function of pain is to protect you from harm. When your hand touches something really hot, you should feel a sharp sensation. Almost immediately, you remove your hand from the source that is burning your skin.

In hypnosis, you can use plenty of strategies devoted to helping you cope with pain. For example, you can restore the protective mechanism of pain by:

• associating pleasant sensations to the cause of your discomfort
• using guided imagery to motivate you to maintain daily activities
• practicing relaxation exercises to gain control over your thoughts
• learning self-help techniques that improve your personal skills and attitude
• integrating energy-conservation techniques to breathe easy and restore energy or facilitating sleep

You can reinterpret pain as a protector to regain range of movement. As a result, you avoid developing the fear of making simple movements. If you suffer from low back pain, you might be afraid of bending forward. Perhaps, the movement is part of the mechanism of injury. But during hypnosis, you can overcome the negative self-talk that blocks you from taking safe actions.

To specify, the goal is to put an end to the protective pain response. That is, the pain you can elicit by thinking that a movement or activity is dangerous and threatening. If you recently suffered an injury, avoiding a provocative movement is all right. But after a while, no internal alarm should go off. Especially when you safely change the position of your body or move a part of it.

5 – Preoperative hypnosis

Learning how to relax your mind can make distressing medical procedures less severe. You can feel more confident as you arrive at the operating room. By entering a self-hypnotic state, you can reduce the need for additional medications.

You can use preoperative hypnosis for needle insertion, short or long procedures. Usually, you can minimize bleeding during surgery. Mainly because your heart beats slower during a deeply relaxed state.

Hypnosis for anesthesia, or Hypno-anesthesia, works at all ages. Besides, it is a safer option for minor surgery. Of course, you can use hypnosis in synergy with conventional anesthesia.

I can teach you self-hypnotic techniques to deal with:

• childbirth and related emotional or physical stress
• chronic pain that causes you to take toxic levels of medications
• digestive discomfort following the intake of specific drugs
• dental pain, or to deal with the fear of undergoing a dental procedure
• teeth grinding and tightness in the jaw resulting from inflammation or injury

Since surgery can make a lot of people nervous, taking the time to practice self-hypnosis beforehand is recommended. In this way, you can take full advantage of the positive post-hypnotic suggestions.

No matter what the procedure is, you can also use preoperative hypnosis on short notice. In that case, contact me as soon as possible to discuss how I can help.

In brief, the hypnotic process lets your thoughts settle down. You direct the attention and scan your body to notice any shift. Pre-surgery sessions might focus on making the operating room a safe place. By contrast, post-surgery sessions might aim to turn the pain volume down. We will set and select a goal that works for you.

6 – Postoperative hypnosis to facilitate healing

Self-hypnosis is helpful to boost your healing after a medical procedure. Generally speaking, postoperative hypnosis is not limited to recovery. In fact, we can improve your sleep quality and promote well-being. For example, by visualizing a lively resumption of daily activities you love.

If you already know self-hypnosis, you can use it as soon as you wake up after the procedure is over. Also, you can manage and control any pain that might radiate to the front or the back of your body. In this way, you can calmly respond to the pain as you wait for a nurse to assist you.

In summary, the benefits of postoperative hypnosis include:

• a small medication-sparing effect
• an optimistic attitude
• chronic pain control
• faster recovery time
• lower fatigue

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During hypnotic sessions, you learn how to powerfully use your brain to control how your body feels and functions. This skill is known as self-hypnosis. In essence, hypnosis is a calm and relaxed mental state. Thanks to the guidance of a hypnotist, you can learn self-hypnotic techniques to lessen the pain and improve the quality of your life.

Legal Disclaimer

As a consulting hypnotist, Luis’ role is help you resolve ordinary, everyday problems using hypnosis. He is not a medically trained doctor or a licensed mental health practitioner that can diagnose, prescribe, treat, cure, or heal any physical, mental, or emotional illness. The hypnosis services rendered are not to be considered in any way, a form of health care, psychotherapy, or counseling.