 |
It's All About the Subject, Not Your Own Belief System
|
|
|
|
It's All About the Subject, Not Your Own Belief System
There are several levels to this aspect of hypnosis. Every client who comes to you is the sum total of their experiences, beliefs and behaviors.
They carry with them an internal map of the way the world is supposed to be and they project that onto the exterior reality we all share. As a hypnotist it is NOT your job to decide whether a certain change is right or wrong for another human being.
It is your job to help them get the change that they came to you for. Example...
I have had clients come to me in order to get over the guilt of cheating on a spouse. Not to STOP Cheating on their spouse. But to literally remove the guilt they were feeling about doing it.
While the social repercussions of this issue are huge...
Your job is NOT to pass judgment on the wants and needs of the client - nor on their beliefs.
Your job is to give them the resources to evaluate if the change they are seeking is right for them and to Help Them Get the Change after they have made the decision to move forward with it. 12
12 The other aspect of this issue pertains not to ethics but to the fastest and most practical way to gain a high level of therapeutic rapport with the client and that is to work within their socio-cultural! belief systems and use the inherent metaphors and symbology already installed in them to effect change.
The Ethics of Hypnotic Change-work
First and Foremost, ...
It is vitally important to remember that, all other credentials aside the vast majority of states do NOT license hypnosis as a profession. While someday that may change we, as a profession are still very much in the " wild west" days where pretty much anything can be done.
However, it is vitally important to remember that even though we as a profession are not licensed we should always conduct ourselves with the same attention to Ethics as any medical doctor, Psychotherapist, Acupuncturist or Chiropractor.
Consequently, the first thing that you have understand and abide by in order to safely interact within the established health care community is " Scope of Practice"
Scope of Practice...
As far as the medical community at large is concerned you are a LAYMAN. With regard to how the established medical community views hypnotherapy and Hypnotherapist, we are NOT qualified to render a medical opinion9 nor diagnose any form of illness.
One should steadfastly avoid situations where you are forced or asked to do so.
Regardless of that fact, people will approach you with what they have been 'diagnosed" as a medical or psychological pathology.
When that happens it is VITAL that you seek a referral from their medical doctor or therapist stating that it is okay for you to work with that particular individual for that particular issue.
What the Doctor Says Goes...
|
|
|
Never under any circumstances instruct a client/subject to stop taking prescribed medication or cease to follow the instructions of licensed medical professional. Doing so will open you up to tremendous liability.
For example, ...
Your client has been coming to you for a problem with chronic pain and has been taking pain medications. The client is having less and less pain and wants to lower his or her dosage of pain meds and asks you if it's okay to do that.
You should immediately have that patient contact his or her prescribing physician. Do not take it upon yourself to say yes or no.
A similar scenario might be...
A client comes to you for stress. During the sessions it's revealed that the man or woman is unhappy in their marriage. They ask you if they should leave their spouse.
Giving them ANY opinion whatsoever makes you liable for the results of that advice.
As a hypnotist we are duty bound to give the client all the help they need to access their own inner resources in order to make the decision that is most appropriate for them. It is not your job to make that decision for them.
We are Trainers, Not Doctors or Therapists
Avoid using the term therapist or therapy unless you have some form of licensed therapeutic credential i. e. MD, LMT; LAC, RN. Rev. Etc.
While it is not an explicit law that we, as a profession can't use the term hypnotherapy. There are many states and many professional organizations (with lots of money and lawyers) that take a very proprietary stance with regard to the term " therapy" and feel it should be reserved only to those disciplines or modalities that are regulated and licensed by the state or federal government.
A great way to use the full spectrum of hypnotherapeutic technology without tripping over the issue of whether or not you are doing therapy is to simply call everything you do
In essence that is really what we do as a hypnotist anyway.
We simply guide the client through a process that teaches them things about how their own mind works any way, and then we teach them how they can take more control of an aspect of their lives that up until that time was really controlling them or outside of their control.
Work with referring professionals for diagnosed medical or psychological problems (See appendix for Referral form)
Hypnosis Terminology:
ABREACTION
Emotional purging that is expressed or vented by talking or acting out repressed, or partially repressed, negative emotional events or information.
AGE REGRESSION
The phenomenon of returning in one's mind, as well as in one's behavior, to some earlier period or supposed life. Age regression can be classified as partial, or full.
AMNESIA, (HYPNOTIC)
The inabilities to recall past experiences that occurred during a hypnotic process Hypnotic Amnesia can refer to the natural tendency (after reaching a certain level of trance) for the individual not to carry back to the conscious mind the experiences of the trance state.
In certain hypnotic applications, the hypnotist can also intentionally induce hypnoticamnesia. However, regardless of how it the amnesic state was achieved, during trance the individual always knows what is happening while they are in this state and all protections apply.
|
|
|
AMNESIA, (POST - HYPNOTIC)
The subconscious mind will not allow the client to remember experiences in the hypnotic state that it feels would cause him or her, the inability to function in normal life.
Suggestions for amnesia given by the hypnotist concerning something against the clients' moral or religious character, if accepted, generally will become ineffective in approximately 72 hours.
AMNESIA, SPONTANEOUS
A naturally cocooning form of amnesia, Spontaneous amnesia can manifest in a subject without the subject having received any suggestion to create this effect. Spontaneous amnesia is an often a natural simple psychological defense mechanism.
ANIMAL MAGNETISM
The term coined by Dr. Franz Anton Mesmer for the phenomenon of hypnotism. Mesmer believed that the hypnotic state was brought about though a form of magnetism very like ordinary magnetism but specific to living creatures.
ARM LEVITATION
Arm levitation is an idea-motor technique that causes the subject to lift his arm without any conscious effort on his part.
AUTOHYPNOSIS
(See self-hypnosis. )
|
|
|
