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Archive for the ‘Psychotherapy’ Category

Hypnotism and hypnotherapy have been recognized for centuries for benefits they can bring. In just the past one hundred years, there have been numerous clinical studies and tests, and the methods have been increasingly refined. Today millions of people can claim it’s benefits.

For as long as people have existed, they have looked for different means to alleviate suffering and improve themselves. The fields of psychology, medicine, and psychology developed in order to try to understand and improve the human condition.

Since the beginning of medicine, people have looked for means of “alternative” healing and self-improvement. This category includes hypnosis and hypnotherapy.

As far as alternative methods go, there is plenty of good science behind it. The basic idea is to tap a persons subconscious in order to change behaviors. Since our subconscious mind is the key to action, motivation, and resistance, this is often the best way to achieve goals that have eluded us. If we can tap into this resource, we unlock the “secrets” to changing behaviors and alleviating stumbling blocks such as our fears.

People have many different reasons for trying hypnotherapy or hypnosis. These include relief from both emotional and physical problems, as well as wanting to reach one’s potential and improve one’s self.

Hypnotism can can be used to overcome low self-esteem and low self-confidence, and anger, as well as physical problems like over-eating and weight loss.

Hypnosis can also be very effective in overcoming various negative habits and addictions like cigarette smoking, drug and alcohol abuse, and gambling.

Hypnosis has successfully been used in the treatment for symptoms of severe medical problems like cancer and diabetes. Surgical recovery times are reduced, and there have even been cases of patients undergoing surgery with minimal anesthesia.

Hypnotism and hypnotherapy certainly aren’t a “cure-all”, or even always the best alternative. However it is becoming increasingly clear that there are real, tangible, and lasting benefits to this type of therapy and self-help.

The author is currently working through her Red Cross CNA Class.

Depression is usually difficult to deal with. Pinpointing the reasons behind your sadness is not easy. In traditional psychotherapy you can spend several years dealing with a seemingly endless array of issues. However there is a much faster way to resolve mental suffering.

We begin our lives being intuitive, happy and playful. Challenging circumstances of relationships and events in our youth frequently cause us to stop the flow of our intuition. When this happens many times, the blocking of intuition becomes a habit. With our intuition blocked we don’t feel alive any more.

It is simply impossible to be happy without the power, the joy and the guidance that intuition brings to your life. It is impossible to know who you are, what you like and what you truly want.

Why would a person block his intuition? If, as a baby, you intuitively feel that you need the support of a parent and it is not given, you suffer greatly. This hunger for support is mental torture. In order to avoid it you teach yourself to not trust what you feel. As you keep avoiding listening to your true self you lose the connection to who you are, what you want, what you like

The less connected we are to intuition the less we know what we want and what we like and the harder it becomes for us to be happy. Life becomes meaningless to us, and who wants to live a meaningless life? This is a big part of what depression is.

The use of art in therapy can be a powerful tool in the hands of those who truly understand it. Its ideal for the unblocking of intuition. You don’t need to be an artist at all. You simply use the tools of art. Once your intuition is freed, it becomes your guide to happiness. With the help of a good therapist you will know what your intuition is saying to you. Then, step by step, you will dissolve everything that stands in the way of your happiness. This process is much more direct and therefore faster than most other modes of therapy.

Blocked intuition brings about many secondary issues. For example: You may start to believe that you don’t deserve to be who you are and do what you want. You may believe that you are a bad person.

Some people respond to this early frustration with anger that turns outwards toward other people. Others, usually women, learn to turn their aggression inward and to punish themselves in different ways. All of this is another aspect of depression, which is a secondary effect. Even if you succeed in resolving this secondary outer or inner aggression, there will still be problems because the underlying lack of intuition will create new ones. So it is crucial to dissolve the habitual pattern of blocking intuition.

This use of intuition in therapy makes it possible to find the nature of the initial blockage very quickly. By disentangling this basic interference, all the secondary issues you might otherwise spend years dealing with in standard therapy simply drop off by themselves. This makes intuitive art therapy rapid, deep and truly effective in dealing with depression.

Group psychotherapy, unlike individual therapy, has one or more therapists that treat a number of people at the same time as a group.  This is often more productive and usually more cost effective than one-on-one psychotherapy.  Along with ‘talk’ therapy, group psychotherapy may include psychodrama, expressive therapy, and other therapeutic forms.  The interactions experienced in a group psychotherapy session, between the therapists and group members, becomes the therapy material, along with outside and past experiences.  Group psychotherapy encourages personal development and often focuses on solving relationship problems, emotional difficulties and interpersonal interactions.

Some of the numerous benefits of group psychotherapy include working through problems and personal issues in a confidential, supportive environment, while helping other group members work through their personal problems.  It provides group members with an opportunity to reflect on and observe each other’s social skills receive and give immediate feedback about problems, issues, and concerns affecting group member’s lives.  Group psychotherapy deals with a variety of difficulties and emotional problems such as depression, anxiety and helps group members develop better interpersonal skills.  There are specific therapy support groups, such as groups for sexually abused women and bereaved parents, but psychotherapists usually recommend diversified groups, which represent a wide range of emotional problems.  Group participants benefit in many areas such as sexual relations, working, self-esteem, trust, intimacy, and social areas and helps participants to get feedback, identify, and change the patterns undermining the relations.

In the group psychotherapy field, there are a variety of groups and techniques used such as psycho dramatic, expressive, and verbal with approaches that vary from behavioral to psychoanalytic, encounter, or gestalt groups.  These groups vary from psycho-educational that is similar to a class to classic psychotherapy groups, which emphasize process.  Look for an ethical, reliable, reputable, well-trained professional when selecting a group psychotherapist that belong to professional associations and find out about their degree of expertise.

Group psychotherapy participants must be present for each session and arrive on time.  Some groups require a specific length of time commitment which is usually anywhere from three to six months.  Participants do not have to reveal intimate issues or even talk if they choose not to in therapy but the more a person participates, discusses their thoughts and feelings, and discuss their problems and issues, the more the participant gains from group therapy.  Most groups have anywhere from six to twelve members, can last anywhere from one and a half hours to three or more, and can be from a three months to a few years in length.  Marathon groups and workshops often last even longer.