I once saw a counselor (very briefly) that at the very first appointment she shared that she wanted to have me undergo "ericksonian deep relaxation." She barely knew me, and I had never heard of this. I had done a little with EMDR (and have since then, slowly). EMDR seemed weird to me before I tried it, but it's helped. (I know it doesn't help some. It's not for everyone.) I could hack EMDR because the EMDR therapist I saw was very much about having it be very very client driven. When I went to a second (and close to last) appointment with the T that wanted to do this Ericksonian thing, she brought it up again - only this time, I googled it. I asked if she meant Ericksonian hypnosis. She said yes, but it's really more like you just deeply relax and she asks questions... I had no idea why she wanted to do this and so suddenly. I was very creeped out about the idea of her having any kind of "control" of me - or even talking to me in any kind of different state, even a "deeply relaxed" one. I just met her...

However, I also know that some people have probably been really helped by this technique? I'm wondering if anyone has had a good experience with it?

hi janedoe,

my one experience with hypnosis was a joke. this was back when i had chronic back pain and was desperate for relief.

i went to a "hypnotherapist" and paid $100 to have her sit me down in a chair while she read a VERY poorly written script that was supposed to relax me and take me on some kind of journey that was supposed to change my experience of back pain...and she read it badly.

when it was done, i was like, "yeah, that was great, thanks" and walked out.

that was my only experience with it. i'm sure others may have been helped a lot from it.

Russ

My T tried it, but more from a relaxation standpoint and not a fishing for info point of view. It helped a little as far as relaxing, but that was about it.

quote:

i went to a "hypnotherapist" and paid $100 to have her sit me down in a chair while she read a VERY poorly written script that was supposed to relax me and take me on some kind of journey that was supposed to change my experience of back pain...and she read it badly.

when it was done, i was like, "yeah, that was great, thanks" and walked out.

Ha ha Russ, I had a similar experience, trying to get over some big work blocks I was experiencing. Dude came up to me while I was supposedly 'hypnotised' and lifted up my hand at the wrist to see if I was or not. I was thinking 'why the f are you coming over here and touching me when I've got my eyes closed and you haven't told me you would touch me? So I 'helped' him by lifting up my own hand. He said 'you're not supposed to help me, you're supposed to be unconscious'!

There really are some @&%$* quacks out there.

STRM - i'm glad your t had a good experince in the sense of helping her relax. i think i'd be interesting in hypnosis if it helped me do that.

Russ, Jones - oh I am so sorry you had such awful (and cheesy experiences)! they make me mad and they are kind of sadly funny too. that just sucks.

i went to see a doctor recently and their office was down the hall from the old office of where the t that tried to get me to do hypnosis was... and I remembered how she said hypnosis would help me get past my defenses and find the various parts of me I refused to admit or wasn't aware of. that creeped me out. i wonder if there can be value with hypnosis... or if it is real or not or what. and how to stay FAR away from the screwy stuff. the worst was that this t writes books on trauma, and is a well known trauma expert. i couldn't stand her or keep seeing her after two months. just too sure of her ways were THE way, and the only way i would ever get better.

jd

JD,

It wasn't my T that did it, but I read what I wrote and can see why it would seem that way. She used it with me. I'm sure she has used it herself at some point, but this time that I referred to was for me. I still have the CD that she burned for me of the guided imagery/hypnosis.

My T thinks I would be highly hypnotizable and said so from a few weeks in, but it is not something he does, I don't think. I would feel too vulnerable with that, personally...at least with someone I just met. Maybe with my T there, because I really, really trust him to protect me.

I had light hypno during the ending years of therapy. It helped me stay focused on the session, and get deeper into what was down there in the unconscious. I remembered most of what was discussed during hypno, and the rest, a few days later.