Hypnotherapy, hypnosis and
trance; what is the difference?
Most people would visit a hypnotherapist to give up smoking, because of a phobia, or to lose weight. Most hypnotherapy clients expect to go into trance.
To most beginners about to embark upon hypnotherapy, trance is often described as a state of being unconscious. In this unconscious state, control is then handed over to someone trusted to effect a change into a different, better person.
To others, hypnotherapy worked for their friend and so has come highly recommended. How it works does not matter.
It surprises most people that trance is a state of remaining conscious and in control. After all, how can someone do self-hypnosis if they become unconscious and therefore unable to wake themselves from
trance? Interestingly, trance is somewhere between awake and asleep. How close to awake or asleep depends upon the circumstances, which are usually controlled by the therapist. Trance is perfectly natural. We experience it every time we daydream.
Most people would distinguish hypnosis from hypnotherapy by the therapeutic element. Having said that, many therapists call themselves hypnotist or hypnotherapists depending upon the normal nomenclature in their country or area. Of course, nobody would call an entertainment stage hypnotist a hypnotherapist. There, the difference is clear.
Your hypnotherapist may use many therapeutic techniques, using NLP, EFT, Ericksonian therapy, TFT, and other tried and tested techniques. This may be before, during, after, or instead of
trance, depending on what is right for you. Regardless of method, what every hypnotherapist can do is help you achieve a solution more quickly than more conventional methods, and as comfortably as possible.