It can be done in person with a hypnotherapist or you can do it yourself, called self-hypnosis. Parlor tricks and stage shows aside, a clinical hypnotherapist will not make you quack like a duck or sing like Elvis. The person in a hypnotic trance is always in control, just as someone who is daydreaming can decide to go on or stop at any time. While the practitioner serves as a teacher or guide, the only person who can hypnotize you is you, since trance is a latent potential of your own mind. Therefore, all hypnosis is self-hypnosis.
Some people use it to ease their aching backs.
Others find it relieves eczema. Even one of the hot-air balloonists who broke world records by flying around the globe admits he relied on it to steady his nerves and catch some sleep while at the mercy of the jet stream. Hypnotherapy, or trance work, is a group of techniques that allow practitioners and patients to take advantage of the mind-body connection to foster healing. It's also one of the most common referrals we make for our patients here at the University of Arizona's Integrative Medicine Clinic. I've often recommended it in this newsletter for a wide variety of conditions, and this month I'd like to offer some tips for using it wisely.