Recently I came across an article describing the widening use of Hypnosis and hypnotherapy in our culture. It turns out, some parts of the world are introducing this powerful, life changing tool into public schools, hospitals and churches. It's absolutely incredible, in my opinion, that this burgeoning science, and this phenomena, is gaining the respect it deserves.

Being a child, preteen or teenager can be tough on its own. Pressure from friends, family and strangers often hang over the heads of many who walk through the halls of the majority of public and private schools across the world. Anxiety, mood disorders, learning "disabilities" (more like different learning styles), and the thoughts of the future are prevalent issues that plague many young people today.

Hypnosis addresses all these issues, at their core levels, and helps people to understand, cope and deal with problems and situations that in ordinary waking consciousness is difficult to do. Young minds are especially adept at bringing forth change with hypnosis and hypnotherapy, as they are just learning about the world, more and more everyday, and are very receptive even in their waking world.

Therefore, wouldn't it make sense to present hypnosis programs, "mind awareness", hypnotherapists in more schools across the world? I believe that the awareness is growing, as more and more parents, teachers, school administrators and even students are discovering for themselves, even more than ever, the possibilities of the mind. It is growing slowly, but I do dream of a day where most schools employ, or at least know of hypnotherapists to refer to students and teachers.

The article I mentioned above concerns using hypnosis in a Medical setting, and I can't think of a better way for doctors to incorporate a holistic complementary medicine into their practice. Hypnosis and hypnotherapy has been shown, time and time again, to decrease pain, inflammation, aide in childbearing and decrease anxiety before surgery.

In the Journal of Patient Safety, it was shown that pain after surgery expereicend by patients decreased by up to 50%. These were relaxation and mind-body therapies that elicted the response. Because hypnosis provides a way to reach a very deep relaxed state, can one imagine how much pain would be relieved through a hypnotic trance and also guided imagery, words, language patterns, etc., compared to mere meditation?

According to The British Medical Journal, a researcher found that he was successful in treating 9 out of 10 patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) with hypnosis. With his research, he found that those that used hypnosis for IBS can ease symptoms dramatically, and in some cases completely clear the symptoms.

Another study conducted on children who were about to undergo a medical procedure showed that hypnosis made a significant decrease in anxiety compared to using non-hypnotic techniques. Not only does hypnosis work for anxiety before surgery, some people have even used it as a sedative rather than taking gas or a pill.*

Thank you to Seth Deborah Roth for providing me with some fantastic studies on medical hypnosis. Check out her blog at Hypnotherapy For Health.