by Bridget Webber

Created on: December 16, 2007

Hypnosis can relieve depression, but it depends on the experience and strength of knowledge of the hypnotist and the patients willingness to participate fully. In-order to be hypnotized you have to want to be so. You also need to trust your hypnotherapist so that you can reach into your subconscious where healing can take place.

I am a hypnotherapist and wouldn't dream of taking a patient back to relieve a painful memory unless thats what they want to do and I can see a benefit coming from doing so. I would also need to feel that they can cope with the experience without being hurt or damaged.

This may relate to depression if the depression stems from a known cause which could be a painful event. In such a case the most positive way to begin to overcome such depression is not usually to keep going over the problem like a stuck record and reliving the anxiety which was produced by the event.

It is possible, instead, to help a patient tap into their own healing properties caused by chemical reactions in their brain. During certain happy memories good and helpful chemicals are released into the patients system which can help to aid their recovery.

A patient can then be taught to gain back their own personal strength and personal power by learning how to access positive emotions when they most need to, rather than negative ones.

Working in this way empowers individuals and lets them be in charge of what happens to them. This is useful as many people who are depressed have sought help from others who have meant well but who have come out as being the 'expert' while the patient ended up as the victim who needed their help.

When used wisely hypnotherapy can become a powerful tool for people who wish to reach positive emotions and to rid themselves of the pain of depression or unwanted negative thoughts.

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