Hypnotherapy And How It Can Help You During COVID-19

Hypnotherapy and the CoronaVirus. It’s not a connection you would naturally make, though, during these difficult times, hypnosis might be able to help you more than you realise.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, you might have picked up some unhealthy habits. This is perfectly understandable; it’s been a stressful time whether you were working on the frontlines or stuck in isolation. 

With this added stress, it’s no doubt been easy to adopt unhealthy habits or worsen existing ones. As the world attempts to return to normal, you might be looking to offload these habits, prioritise your health and take back a sense of control. This is where hypnotherapy can help. 

What is Hypnotherapy and How Can it Help?

Hypnotherapy is a therapeutic practice and form of alternative therapy that uses hypnosis to change habits and treat a variety of conditions. 

It has been known to help with weight loss, stress management, smoking and alcohol addiction, as well as several mental health issues. It is a long-term solution that looks to unlock the potential of the person, rather than a quick fix.

You might think of it as reprogramming your brain so that you perceive your habits differently, loosening their control over your actions. Hypnotherapy attempts to solve problems at their source rather than fighting them with willpower.

This is done by bringing you into a deeply relaxed state in which your mind is more open to suggestion. Your therapist then plants suggestions into your mind that serve to dislodge unwanted habits.

It is important to note that while under hypnosis, you are still in control and can reject or accept suggestions as you see fit. You can also bring yourself out of a hypnotic state at any time you choose.   

Hypnotherapy and Stress Management

Whether it’s something you’ve always struggled with or something you’re finding difficult during COVID-19, stress management is vital to maintaining our mental health. As such, it’s something that we should take seriously. It’s also something that can be improved with hypnotherapy. 

During a session, your therapist will suggest to your subconscious different ways of reacting to stressful events or triggers. These will be personal to you as different people have different triggers. Through hypnosis, you can reprogram how you respond to those triggers, stopping stress in its tracks. 

Hypnotherapy and Addiction

Hypnotherapy for addiction is all about changing perspectives, as stated here by Very Well Mind:

This relaxed and suggestible state can help people to get a different perspective on their addictive behaviours. What normally seems impossible—quitting a substance or behaviour that is central to one’s existence—can seem achievable and desirable.

This is again achieved through suggestions made by the therapist when the patient is in a deeply relaxed state of mind. Hypnosis works well for both smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. The stats on smoking are particularly impressive.

This article from Inspiring Change has collated some key statistics on the effect of hypnosis on smoking. One of the stand out stats is a ‘90.6% success rate for smoking cessation using hypnosis. 

Hypnotherapy and Weight Loss

Weight loss cannot be improved through hypnotherapy alone. The actual weight loss comes from improving your diet and exercising regularly. What hypnosis treatment can do is convince your subconscious that eating healthy foods and exercising is enjoyable and rewarding.

That’s not to say that you’ll never have cravings, but you will react differently to those cravings. Clinical Hypnosis Practitioner, Valerie Wells, explains it well in this interview with Rachael Schultz for Women’s Health:

Hypnosis isn’t teaching you to never have cravings, but it’s training your brain to hear, “Man, I’d love something sweet,” and follow with, “No, I probably don’t really want that.” It’s about recognizing that while we feel like doing something, we don’t have to act that out.

Breaking that habitual behaviour and gaining control of our often reactionary being are ways hypnotherapy will help with weight loss.

Why is Hypnotherapy Important Now? 

Hypnotherapy has always been a valuable practice, but it’s arguably more relevant now than it has ever been. Not just because you may have picked up a bad habit or two lately, but because of the unique and dangerous circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

A study done by The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, articulated in the July edition of the Australian Hypnotherapy Journal, states that people who already have existing health conditions are more likely to need hospital care for COVID-19. 

This means conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease or chronic kidney disease could put you more at risk when it comes to COVID-19.

So taking care of our health has never been more important. With hypnotherapy being an effective treatment for overeating, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, perhaps now is the time to give it a try.

If you are interested in booking a hypnotherapy session, please contact Skye for a free 15-minute consultation – call now on 0402 006 985.