Hypnotheraphy

Dragon 911

Hey

Was wondering if anyone had good/bad experiences with hypnothraphy?

Thanx

hotspur

What do you wish to get hypnotherapy to help with?

People's anecdotal opinions about their experiences of a treatment ought not to count too much in making a decision as to the efficacy of a treatment modality for a specific problem.

If you say what issue you are interested in then I can let you know about any controlled studies I know of which speak to whether hypnosis is efficacious for that issue. These studies and meta-analyses reported in peer reviewed academic science journals should be guiding your decision or a person's knowledgeable reporting of them.

Pebbles68

I had a very positive experience with a hypnotherapist. I don't know what part of the country you are in, the guy I went to is in Ballsbridge. When I went he was really good at explaining everything to me and clearing up any doubts i had about what to expect.
I agree with Hotspur. You should be careful when choosing a therapist and make sure that your problem can be helped using hypnosis. Another really important thing that I learned is that a hypnotist isn't necessarily a therapist, it's the quality of therapy that helped me.

__plec__

Hey Dragon 911,

i went to a hypnotherapist about 2 1/2 years ago and it changed my life,but i think it depends on your problem,and who you see.I had gone to 2 seperate hypnotherapists over the previous 8 years and never got anything from them.

Where i went was a combination of hypnosis and positive thinking,and because of it i am a different person these days, the person i always wanted to be but never thought i would.

If you are going try and keep an open mind.

Best of luck

karlitob

hey guys,

thanks for starting the thread. I just wanted to get your opinion of a good hypnotherapist/psychotherapist.

As with everyone, we all have our problems - some stemming from childhood, others during the course of our lives. I previously wasn't a big believer in hypnosis but I've become a great believer in the power of therapy. I truly believe that we as people are powerful, we as people can change ourselves, we can change our minds - we just need the help and the tools to do it. Thats why I'm considering hypnosis/psychotherapy.

The main thing at the moment is my powers of concentration. It affects most areas of my life. I seem to want to control everything in my life, to take action, get all riled up and never seem to do it. In terms of my career, I see myself as very average. I have great plans to study more, to take in more but since I want to control everything I seem to want to control the way I take in this information - like I want to funnel it my way and not getting it in because I dont concentrate enough or put into action my plan rather than just taking it in.

I know I have an ability to learn because in other aspects of my life (an interest in politics, history etc I surprise myself how much I know/remember ) its just that stuff is a hobby rather than my career (which I love so its not a career thing)

Blah, what a rant before I even knew. So I guess I'm asking can hypnotherapy help with this.

Your opinion/advice wis appreciated. Names of those who you found good also (if thats allowed by posting rules - pm if you like)

Thanks

RachPie

It's very relaxing, and made me feel happier and more chilled out - I guess that's what makes you more susceptible to what the psychotherapist/hypnotherapist is telling you. If you're thinking of trying it, go for it, it's great, but don't get ripped off.

karlitob

Hi Rach,

Thanks for that. What advice do you have to not get ripped off?

How much is a session? How long does it last - sessions? How long is a piece of string?

RachPie

Well a piece of string is as long as you cut it.

But my sessions lasted about 50mins. You shouldn't be charged any more than €50 per session.. seems a tad steep but it depends on what you want to go there for. Ensure they are fully qualified and all that.

With my problem, it really helped, and I always came out of there feeling lovely, positive and relaxed.

karlitob

Thank you.

I think its another issue about whether they are qualified of not.

I'm hoping Hotspur can help with that also.

RachPie

You're very welcome. Definately check out their credentials!

hotspur

Hi karlitob, I get a general sense from what you are interested in that hypnotherapy may not be what you are looking for.

I'll be blunt, virtually all hypnotherapists have neither the training nor personal development to work effectively with complex issues. In fact they are mostly ineffective with simple issues too, but as long as they stick to simple positive changes like smoking cessation, weight loss, simple phobias etc. they are unlikely to do much harm.

Mostly their success is due to expectancy response (i.e. placebo), in fact noted hypnotherapy researcher and placebo expert Irving Kirsch calls hypnotherapy "non-invasive placebo". Now I am not downplaying how powerful the placebo response is, and hypnosis as an adjunct to therapy can be effective in a variety of ways, but lay hypnotherapists train for very few hours. They are just not worth going to for anything complex, they are not really mental health professionals in any meaningful sense of the term.

And I say this as someone who has trained in hypnotherapy and studies it, but thanks to psychology and psychotherapy training I can contextualise it fairly well.

As far as accreditation goes, it's really not much of an assurance. Accreditation in the complimentary therapy field is mostly a joke. One of the 2 main accrediting bodies in this country (the ICHP) calls its little qualification a hypnotherapy and psychotherapy diploma. A person is about as qualified in psychotherapy after their course as they are in medicine having watched scrubs.

The other main accrediting body is the IHA. At least their members don't tend to engage in the anachronistic hypnoanalysis method of the ICHP crowd and don't pretend to be trained in psychotherapy.

It sounds to me like you might benefit most from going to see a cognitive behavioural therapist or a psychotherapist / life coach. You will get far more value and worth for your money going to a cognitive therapist than a hypnotherapist for what you are talking about.

RachPie's suggestion that a hypnotherapist should not charge more than €50 for a session is way off the mark too. It's usually a good bit more. They charge more than psychotherapists do because they usually only provide a few sessions, and often only one.

If you are interested in CBT check out centres such as these:
<links removed, p.pete>

Spend your money wisely, you are worth a real professional with years of study and strong regulatory accrediting bodies attached to their profession and specific membership of them.

Gibs

hotspur wrote: »

If you are interested in CBT check out centres such as these:
<links removed, p.pete>

Not wanting to question the quality of the services being suggested above but as both of these websites appear to be run by the same person, might one reasonably suspect that this is an ad?

hotspur

Gibs wrote: »

Not wanting to question the quality of the services being suggested above but as both of these websites appear to be run by the same person, might one reasonably suspect that this is an ad?

There are few quality CBT centres in Ireland, and it's possible to go wrong in choosing them. Both of those centres have <snip> attached to them. As anyone who knows anything about therapy in Ireland will know he is the biggest advocate of CBT in Ireland.

I am not recommending him or any individual as a therapist but going via either of those centres will likely give you a good chance of getting a quality cognitive therapist as opposed to some yahoo who claims they do CBT after a correspondence course (they are out there) or some of the questionable people from the <snip> organisation which I'm not even going to name.

Odysseus

I have to agree with Hotspur, everyone here knows I respect experienced CBT therapists, but I also note I have little time for it personally. <snip>

p.pete

Sorry guys, it does amount to an advert (and an endorsement to the advert, backed up with a lot of common sense), which isn't allowed in the charter. I think we all agree people should be careful when seeking help - and for anyone reading this that wants to know details of the removed links they can PM hotspur,
p.pete

JuliusCaesar

for the nth time, if you want a properly qualified and accredited CBT therapist, go to the accrediting organisations. ICP and BABCP. Links in the how to find a therapist sticky.

Those who speak the loudest are always the most knowledgeable.

karlitob

Lads - mad confusing.

Hotspur, I'm not sure what I want or need!!

My mind is a muddle. I can only feel on top of things when my mind/house/laptop/iTunes/iPhoto is organised. Mad, I know.

Its like I have a filing cabinet in my head and I can't seem to funnel information that I learn daily into that cabinet under the right heading. I seem to have very poor concentration levels. I feel I can be unstoppable - I just need to stop and stick to something for a period of time to get it into my head.

As for differing professional bodies - I know all about them. We need huge regulation in Ireland in all professions. So do I go with the IACP or the ICP. Who's who?

Thanks anyone for their help.

hotspur

For a psychotherapist it doesn't matter greatly which of IACP or ICP they are accredited with. There is also the possibility that you may wish for a psychologist if you think you could do with an assessment of your ability to function etc. The Psychological Society of Ireland is the accrediting body for them. Or if you just Google for therapy centres in your county and look through the therapists you can find them and then check that they are accredited.

JuliusCaesar

karlitob wrote: »

As for differing professional bodies - I know all about them. We need huge regulation in Ireland in all professions. So do I go with the IACP or the ICP. Who's who?

Statutory registration is on the way. See the sticky. As for who is who - google is your friend. The sticky on 'finding a therapist/counsellor' should also help.

Sherro

hotspur wrote: »

RachPie's suggestion that a hypnotherapist should not charge more than €50 for a session is way off the mark too. It's usually a good bit more. They charge more than psychotherapists do because they usually only provide a few sessions, and often only one.

Members of ICHP do tend to charge more than €50 per hour but it is not because they do less sessions of therapy. Normally for giving up smoking or losing weight you are talking 1 sessions with some back ups if needed but for "Therapy" then you are talking between 10 to 12 sessions.