Clients of the Clinic often ask to be taught self hypnosis, and in general we are able to accommodate them. Self hypnosis has a number of advantages; in addition, it is really useful as a method of reinforcement of therapy at the Clinic.

Self hypnosis is useful because you feel that you are more in control and this takes away some of the natural anxiety that you feel initially. Because you are able to hypnotise yourself, you can carry out therapy much more often than you can visit the Clinic.

The main disadvantage with self hypnosis is that you have much less guidance. The guidance of a well trained Hypno-Psychotherapist ensures that your therapy is accurate and evolves as you change. Obviously when using self hypnosis, should you experience powerful emotions, there may not be anyone at hand to talk you through the outburst.

There are various ways that self hypnosis can be taught. You may favour visualizing a therapy session, this has the advantage of knowing what will happen and the suggestions are ready for you. Some clients prefer to have a recording of the therapy session so that they can replay it many times.

If you favour more direct involvement, you may wish to use a post hypnotic suggestion given during a therapy session. This gives you the ability to go into a hypnotic trance when you wish to do so but retain enough conscious control to direct it. This can be quite difficult; the deeper you go into a trance state, the less you are able to control the session.

A good alternative is to produce your own tape, using the post hypnotic suggestion generated in therapy. This means that you can create your own suggestions, put them on tape and play them when you need to do so.

In all self hypnosis, it is important to establish some controls in case of emergency. You need to set the rules regarding what will happen if you hear a strange noise, the doorbell sounds or the telephone rings. In addition, there may be an emergency such as a fire. You must also assure yourself that you are not open to suggestions from other people, unless you intend them to be able influence you.