The New Year is a time of promise, a chance to set new goals and look at the world afresh. And World Hypnotism Day, which is today, offers a unique opportunity to usher in resolutions for a healthier, happier, more emotionally robust 2022.
Hypnosis is a state of relaxation that leaves a person feeling refreshed and re-energised, with an overall sense of improved mental and physical wellbeing. It is something humans can experience naturally, and is often described as similar to a pleasant daydream.
Clinical hypnotherapy combines different techniques with a state of profound relaxation. The result is a form of drug-free treatment that can be effective for depression, anxiety disorders, chronic and acute pain management, insomnia, anger management, irritable bowel disorders, and childhood anxieties.
The list is extensive, and World Hypnotism Day was established to create better awareness of this cost-effective and gentle option.
Many people have shared how much they have enjoyed and benefited from clinical hypnosis during the dark days of 2021. Research shows that self-hypnosis reduces stress responses, improves emotional resilience, restores personal confidence, and enhances mental and physical wellbeing.
Meanwhile, learning, even through virtual platforms, creates social engagement and friendship.
Additionally, when you engage in experiences that are designed to help people feel better, it enhances feelings of compassion, which wards off despondency, melancholia and loneliness.
Self-hypnosis in action
Self-hypnosis is a powerful way to destress. It’s easy to learn, fun to use, and can help you relax in just a couple of minutes.
Going into a state of hypnosis helps focus your attention and activates the attention centres in the midbrain. You can concentrate on a suggestion or desire so it becomes absorbed into your unconscious or experiential memory. This is the science behind the law of attraction, and is a good way to reinforce your New Year resolutions.
Another skill you will acquire is how to manage your own inner critical voice, which can often creep in and sabotage personal confidence and positive wellbeing.
After all, the human mind can get preoccupied by the negative things in life. Clinical hypnotherapy will gently help you refocus your thoughts on positive outcomes.
Clinical hypnotherapy works in any language. The first multilingual hypnotherapy pain clinic was established by University Malaya and LCCH Asia over 10 years ago, and results have shown that it is effective regardless of whether the instruction is in Malay, English, Mandarin, Tamil, or a composite of languages.
The most important factor is whether the therapist establishes rapport, listens to the client’s story, and engages them in suggestion.
Kindness and care
Many people have turned to clinical hypnotherapy to help them recover from the anxiety and depression that set in last year. The Malaysian Society of Clinical Hypnosis has over 270 registered therapists, many of whom have worked throughout the pandemic to offer kindness and care to people who cannot afford therapy.
New challenges likely await in 2022. But clinical hypnotherapy is a flexible tool that motivates, manages personal mental health, and restores emotional resilience.
It also fits well with corporate mental wellbeing, and is an easy technique to share with children as they prepare to return to the classroom.
LCCH Asia is organising a New Year-World Hypnotism Day virtual workshop on Saturday, Jan 15. Discover more about hypnosis, experience what it feels like to be hypnotised, and learn how to use these skills for yourselves. FMT readers are invited to register using the code FMT2022 by clicking here.
LSCCH Therapy Centre is also offering FREE self-hypnosis sessions from today until Jan 31. For more information, click here.
Sheila Menon is the principal of LCCH in Asia and Australia, and the CEO of the LSCCH Therapy Centre.