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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    Is hypnotherapy any good for a severe depression and anxiety sufferer?

    Related Topics
    Anxiety Depression Mental Health
    My sister has had depression and anxiety for the last 16 years, and she is on the end of her tether! The Doctor has finally told her they are not working for her. She would like to try anything to be normal, and she is considering giving hypnotherapy a go. What are the benefits of this type of therapy and has anybody with anxiety/ depression ever used this type of therapy I would like to know how you found it. Thankyou.
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    Valarie Coventry

    Hypnotherapist, Psychologist

    I am a psychologist and hypnotherapist specialising in regression therapy. Trained with Dr Brian Weiss in America and have a particular interest in assisting clients … View Profile

    Hypnotherapy can be very effective in treating depression when combined with counselling. It works to strengthen the person's own coping resources by encouraging the person to understand that they are more than their depression. A good hypnotherapist will explore with you more positive times in your life (doesn't matter how small or how long ago) and will help you to envision what a future without the depression would look/feel like. Repeated exposure to this new script for your life will help the brain to create a new neural pathway which replaces the old script. It does take daily practice with the CD but a minimum of 21 days is the recommended exposure for new change to occur. Counselling is still an important ajunct to address the triggers for the depression.With this combined approach you are addressing symptoms as well as causes which gives the best chance for success. I wish your sister well in her recovery.

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    Pamela Hoy

    Counsellor, Hypnotherapist

    Offering both Hypnotherapy and Counselling for my clients is a double opportunity to change unwanted feelings, thoughts, behaviours and reactions. Accessing both the conscious and … View Profile

    Clinical Hypnotherapy is a wonderful technique that can assist clients to discover the core of their issues resulting in their feelings of depression.  The client can participate in a dialogue with the therapist even during the hypnosis.  Uncovering important events, thoughts and feelings that they may not be fully aware of consciously. The therapist guides the client in releasing these negative emotions.  The therapist may then encourage the client to go to a time when they felt happy and positive, encouraging the client to experience those  emotions now and to imagine them developing even more into the future.  Skills are taught to reduce stress or anxiety that may surface in the future as a tool to prevent depression. Many Clinical Hypnotherapists are also Counsellors, and it may be very helpful for your sister to seek assistance with a therapist who is both a Clinical Hypnotherapist and Counsellor.  Incorporating both forms of therapy can be advantagious for the client as both the conscious and sub-conscious of the mind are utilized.  Clinical Hypnotherapy is a safe and comfortable form of treatment which gains positive results.  The  above information is a simple guide as to how a Clinical Hypnotherapist may practice, and each therapist works a little differently to the next.  I would suggest your sister phone a couple of therapists and have a brief discussion with them before  making an appointment so she can gain a sense of how she may relate to them.  I wish her  a wonderful future.

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