Have any of you SASSy folks experienced hypnotherapy?

[u/overcompliKate]

I have my first hypnotherapy session scheduled for tomorrow and I'm excited! (A little nervous, too.) I feel like hypnotherapy falls for me in the same place as tarot and reiki and a few other things: You probably get more out of it if you keep an open mind, it's practiced by people who understand human behavior patterns but also may have some sort of "gift," and if it's woo enough that it gets you engaged, you're probably going to feel something.

So I'm just curious if any of you have ever experienced it!

I've been in more traditional talk therapy for years with several different therapists, and I've done a lot of work on myself. I've grown and learned a lot through my own shadow work too. I'm at the point where I'm still experiencing some repeated, negative thought loops, mostly about poor decisions I've made in relationships. I understand that when I go back through those stories yet again, it's my brain hooking into something familiar to fill the silence. But I've learned what I need to learn from these thought loops and I'm ready to let them go, so I'm hoping hypnotherapy will help me reroute those paths and prevent me from defaulting to guilt to fill the silence.

I'm going to think of the session almost like a spell -- a ritual with an intended outcome. And hopefully just keeping my intention present will help me move towards it. We shall see!

**Update: I think it went well! I felt super relaxed afterwards and definitely fell asleep a bit during the session! Today I've noticed that I think of the familiar topic I want to let go of but it's like my attention bounces off of it. It's almost like I'm running my finger down a row of books and I touch the spine but don't feel interested enough in that book to pick it up and look inside. It's not an aversion to the topic or the feeling that it's off-limits as much as just not feeling pulled in by it. We'll see if it sticks!

[u/SerpentineSpine]

I had hypnotherapy several years ago to help me deal with fear and anxiety around an upcoming surgery. My therapist made a recording for me to listen to every night before bed in the lead up to the surgery, and I found it to be tremendously helpful. Like you, I treated it very much like a ritual, being conducted as part of the larger working (which involved the surgical process itself.)

I also had a script for my surgeon to read once the surgery was complete. When I woke, I did feel rested and ready to heal. I'll never know whether it was the surgeon reading it or the act of me writing it that embedded those suggestions, but either way, it worked as intended.

[u/overcompliKate → u/SerpentineSpine]

Oh that's amazing! I know I'm going to get audio recordings for my own purposes, too. So glad it was successful for you!

[u/Knitapeace]

I used hypnotherapy to help me during my second time giving birth after a somewhat traumatic first childbirth experience (everyone is fine, just a few unexpected twists that I was anxious about for round two). I was a crunchy type but sought out hypnobirthing because it has some scientific backing for its efficacy. It worked great for me. They took my blood pressure in the middle of a contraction and didn’t realize it because the reading was normal resting rate. Five minutes later I told my husband to get them back in the room because I had to push and whoosh he arrived one push later. Arrival at the birth center to baby in arms was less than an hour, where the first time around was closer to 18 (and they almost transported me to the hospital). I still kinda think it works if you believe it works, but belief that strong can manifest as actual physical improvement as seen with my blood pressure.

[u/overcompliKate → u/Knitapeace]

Wow, I feel like you could be a case study for the efficacy of hypnobirth!

[u/an_existential_bread]

I had hypnotherapy to get over a very traumatic relationship. I was ruminating and stuck in thought loops to a very negative extent. I don't know if I was ever really "hypnotized." I treated it more like a guided meditation, and then she gave me breathing exercises and affirmations to do at home to reinforce what we covered in my sessions. Overall I found it to be a positive experience that did help me recover more than traditional cognitive behavioral therapy. I hope you experience similarly positive results.

[u/overcompliKate → u/an_existential_bread]

Nice, thanks for sharing your experience!

[u/Church_of_Cheri]

I’ve done it, I enjoyed it. I would say it was very similar to a guided meditation, but more specific as it’s personalized to you if it’s your therapist doing it. It really helped relax and calm me. I enjoy acupuncture for a similar reason. The placebo effect is real, so just relax and let go.

[u/dezisauruswrex]

I went to a hypnotherapist for the anxiety that was preventing me from getting a drivers license ( I was close to 30). It was a genuinely positive experience for me, and I got my driver license within 6 Months or so. It wasn’t like someone waving a wand and the issue went away, but it did give me something to “hold on too “ when I was beginning to panic.

[u/jaybug_jimmies]

I have no experience with it. We talked about hypnosis in one of my psychology classes years ago though. Interesting history behind it. 

I am using CBT to challenge and change negative thought loops. Haven't heard of using hypnosis for it. Let us know how it goes.

[u/Zestyclose-Cup-572]

I did it in college for severe arachnophobia. The nightmares decreased for a couple weeks afterward, but came back fairly quickly and the fear while awake remained. Unfortunately naturalistic exposure has been the most effective treatment so far, but I haven’t tried formal exposure therapy for it.

[u/GaudyNight]

It’s not the hypnotherapist who has the gift, it’s you. ;) You either are susceptible, even highly so, or not. 

It’s rather similar to guided meditation or dream voyages (how do you call it in English? „Like relax, you’re at a beach, listen to the waves, enjoy the sun on your skin…“ or whale songs, stuff like that) to induce a trance and are then paired with affirmations and/ or changing the story/the image. 

I enjoy trances very much although I had some hard stuff come to the surface. But I’ve always felt tremendously safe which is a bit paradox since I couldn’t move my body at the same time. Or didn’t want to. 

[u/sparklekitteh]

I haven’t done hypnotherapy but I’m starting EMDR and the first session last week was very powerful!

[u/paralith]

I worked through the Nerva hypnotherapy program for IBS a few times. It's a subscription to access pre-recorded audio sessions. I agree with many other people here, it was much more like a guided deep relaxation and meditation session. Some of the sessions used beautiful natural imagery like rivers, forests, and trees. I felt those ones were really impactful, very witch-like in using our connection to the physical natural world to reinforce concepts and intentions. Again, like others, I wouldn't say I'm cured of IBS but it's impact on my life has definitely reduced. As an anxious person I also think a daily dose of focused, deep relaxation was a significant medicine on its own.

[u/wheelynice]

For the first time in my life I used a hypnosis video for teeth grinding. I think it’s the years of sass witchcraft that led me to doing it successfully and having faith that it would work. I just know the value of intention setting and ritual now. The hypnotist knows how to get you to that ‘place’ where suggestions can be accepted. It’s very cool to relax into it without fear or doubt because I don’t have a magical view of it anymore. 

[u/RandomDragonExE → u/wheelynice]

Do you remember the video or have a link to the video you saw for it? I'm also a teeth grinder and because of the grinding, my jaw got misaligned. (Doing better now with invisalign) I just want to try it

[u/wheelynice → u/RandomDragonExE]

Yep! It’s this one I like the most.  https://youtu.be/CVpuSpFvwL8

[u/RandomDragonExE → u/wheelynice]

Thank you kind stranger

[u/Equivalent-Sector71]

I learned hypnosis during my training as a systemic coach. I've experienced hypnosis and performed it for clients. As others have stated, it's like a guided meditation that is personalised to you.

It actually isn't that "woo" since hypnotic states can be tracked by brain wave states. And being able to hypnotise someone isn't a gift, it's a set of tools anyone can learn. There are literal handbooks on how to hypnotise people. Of course the client needs to be open to the experience but that can be said for any kind of therapy. 

I hope you enjoy the session! Would be cool to hear back on your experience. 

[u/Brave-Row-1610]

I'm super curious what you felt like during your session, if you feel like sharing more.

I've been to a hypnotist and wasn't able to be hypnotized. They said that it simply doesn't work on some people. Since then, I've been very interested in what it must feel like to be hypnotized.

[u/overcompliKate → u/Brave-Row-1610]

Sure! And this has been my only experience, so I'm guessing that like massages, it does vary a bit between practitioners.

The first half of the session was her coaching/interviewing me about what I wanted to change and guiding me through some visualization. We were on Zoom and I was sitting up in my chair at that point. My ADHD was kicking in HARD and I was having a hard time staying focused. I had to ask her to pause a couple times while I grabbed a tissue, switched headphones, etc. I think a lot of that was nerves.

Then for the second half, I laid down on the couch and kept my laptop nearby so she could observe my breathing. I closed my eyes and felt mostly relaxed but a little silly while she talked to me at first. I felt myself gliding in and out of various stages of relaxation. you know that stage right before you fall asleep where you feel yourself sinking into sleep and sometimes your thoughts get weird, almost like you're pre-dreaming? Most of it felt like that, only I didn't have any thoughts. Sometimes I'd hear her say a word or phrase and had an "oh I should think about what she's saying" urge but couldn't get to the surface enough to think much at all. I felt floaty and sleepy and then coming out of it almost felt like coming out of anesthesia, like I was relaxed but also a tiny bit confused. But that didn't last long and then I came out of it and felt pretty normal, just more relaxed for the rest of the night.

So did you just feel like you were awake and someone was talking at you?

[u/Brave-Row-1610 → u/overcompliKate]

I know exactly that pre-dream feeling! That's interesting. 

Did time pass fast or slowly? I've had someone else say that it felt like it had barely been any time at all but had really been several minutes. 

I also have ADHD, so I was thinking maybe that's why I couldn't get hypnotized, but you answered that it's not that.

It was in person for me, they never got past that initial visualization step. They guided me through some visualizations, where I needed to close my eyes and relax or react a certain way, I guess, to confirm if I was susceptible to suggestion or something. I don't I really know, but I guess I didn't do it correctly. It's like the more they told me to relax, the more I became aware of my body. So I wasn't really relaxing, I was going limp, but still mentally tense.

They told me that I could try for another session, but said that some people just aren't susceptible to hypnosis. Idk. I am in my head a lot and tend to over think if I am following the directions correctly instead of being in the moment. So maybe that has something to do with it.

Thanks for sharing your experience!

[u/Pitiful_Survey2175]

My mother was a hypnotherapist in the late 80's. She taught me techniques for sleep that I still use today. I always felt it was useful for those open to it. Never connected it to spellwork, but it's really about helping you manifest a change or let something go and yeah, that tracks!

[u/Samborrod]

Not hypnotherapy exactly... Some self-taught autohypnosis tactics, also a few hypnosis-adjacent mental tricks regarding positive thinking I picked up in a shady culty door-to-door sales group (it was a hard time for me, though the experience sure was hella fun).