It’s quick. It’s painless. And like an arrow that flies straight to its target, hypnosis is meant to zero in on the source of a problem.
From losing weight to improving a golf swing to reducing surgical pain and accelerating postoperative healing, hypnosis is recognized by many health care practitioners in the southwest suburban area as an integral element in traditional therapy.
“More people are seeing the need for alternative healing approaches as well as approaches to modulate stress,” said Ricardo Hicks of Hicks Professional Counseling Services in Orland Park. Hicks estimates his practice has seen a 15 to 35 percent increase in the use of hypnotherapy in counseling over the last 8 to 10 years.
Clinical psychologist Chrisann Schiro-Geist, a psychologist at the Center for Personal and Family Life in Matteson and psychology professor at the University of Illinois, agreed with his estimates.
“I am seeing more movement in literature, conferences and training programs on clinical hypnotherapy. Interest in hypnotherapy in psychology is definitely on the rise,” Schiro-Geist said.
Like many hypnotherapists, Schiro-Geist’s interest in hypnosis began as a tool for personal use. She was so pleased with the results, she went for certification through psychotherapy instructor Mary Beth Prosapio of Oak Lawn.
“I realized hypnosis would be a tremendous adjunct to both my practice and teaching,” she said.
Schiro-Geist cautioned that hypnosis is not all-inclusive. She said, “A total cure usually comes about as a result of a combination of traditional talk therapy, hypnotherapy and sometimes medication, depending on the level of the problem.”
Sometimes only one or two sessions are needed to correct a particular problem, but even when hypnotherapy must be used for an extended period of time, therapists claim goals are accomplished in considerably less time than through traditional therapy alone.
“You can get to things inside yourself with hypnotherapy you can’t get to on your own,” said Schiro-Geist. “And you can accomplish in 10 to 12 sessions what would take years without.”
Hypnotherapists claim hypnosis is most effective in treating anxiety disorders, stress disorders, headaches, phobias and fears. It is also effective for managing pain and increasing athletic and academic abilities.
Andrew Stefik, a hypnotherapist and president and owner of Stress Stoppers Inc. in Palos Hills, specializes in helping clients manage the high levels of stress in their lives.
“It doesn’t take much to trigger a hostile reaction from someone today. People are a lot tighter in their winding,” he said.
Keeping that level of stress under control is crucial to one’s physical well-being, Stefik said. If left unattended, it manifests itself in physical ailments. “We are becoming more aware of that mind/body relation. People come here not necessarily to cure the stress load but to lessen its impact.”
The visualization techniques used during hypnosis are also very effective in improving athletic performance. Stefik refers to hypnosis used in this manner as sports imaging. and has taught it at sport camps such as those run by retired major aleague baseball player Eric Soderholm and to other professional athletes. He said the conversation the athlete carries on in his head can influence his performance. “The difference between a good athlete and a superior one is mental,” said Stefik. Soderholm who played with the Twins, White Sox and Yankees and now owns a ticket business in Hinsdale called Looks like the Front Row, used hypnotherapy throughout his baseball career and recommends other athletes learn self-hypnosos. “I think hypnosis is the best thing an athlete can do to enhance performance. Visualization was a big part of my career. It’s one of the greatest ways to train.”
And therapists said the most successful treatment for any problem is to identify and then de-fuse the source rather than to mask the symptoms. When certified hypnotherapist Pat Hanus treated an Oak Forest woman for an eating disorder, Hanus used hypnotherapy to reveal and eliminate the reason she overate rather than simply moderating the habit.
Through hypnotherapy, the woman found she had not completed grieving over the deaths of two close relatives more than a year before. After identifying this as the source of the problem, Hanus helped her come to terms with her loss and move forward.
“I hadn’t realized how much this bothered me,” said Terry, who did not want her last name used. “My eating was out of control. I was constantly hungry and had never been like that before.”
Between the hypnotherapy, a new diet and an exercise program, Terry had lost nine pounds within two months and continues to lose. “The hypnosis put me in control. It made me feel I could do something for myself,” she said.
Hypnosis is successful in dealing with habit control, depression, anxieties and fears because they are rooted in the subconscious, said Darrell Brewer, a hypnotherapist for the Hypnosis Guidance Center in Oak Lawn. “The subconscious does not reason or analyze. It is programmed like a computer,” he said.
But just because the habit might be resumed in time doesn’t mean the hypnosis was ineffective, said Oak Forest resident Peggy Shanahan. She received hypnotherapy for smoking on three separate occasions from the Palmer Smoking Clinic in Palos Hills-once going smokeless for as long as three years.
“Even the next day (after treatment), people can smoke around you and it won’t bother you. I was just stupid to pick up that cigarette again. Just because I faltered doesn’t mean hypnotherapy isn’t a good system. If I faltered again, I would go back to Paul (Palmer, founder of the clinic),” Shanahan said.
All hypnosis is self-hypnosis, say the hypnotists, and the therapist merely guides people in the proper direction. Many therapists teach their clients how to reinforce their therapy at home, for a therapy program, by hypnotizing themselves and repeating the affirmations needed to reach their subconscious.
Clinical hypnotherapist Daniel Hansen teaches the correct format for self-hypnosis in workshops throughout the Southwest Side and at Sanctuary Crystals, a metaphysical shop in Alsip. While working on a class project in nursing school 13 years ago, Hansen said he became hooked on hypnotherapy when he saw how people controlled their destiny by their thoughts. He teaches his students the technique of hypnosis and the importance of writing the perfect “script” to concentrate on while under hypnosis.
“You are the programmer. The trick is in writing the right message because your subconscious will do exactly what you program it to do,” he said.
But clinical psychologist Mario M. Gallo of Evergreen Park recommended hypnosis not be used on people suffering from severe emotional disorders such as psychosis. “These patients have enough problems maintaining reality. We try to keep them in the now. An altered state would not work here,” he said.
Only Florida and California regulate the practice of hypnosis. Consumers elsewhere must decide for themselves what credentials are necessary.
Prosapio has been certified by a number of organizations and continues to take courses in her field. She said the combination of continuing experience, education and teaching-many of her students are health care professionals-is vital. “I don’t believe a weekend wonder course is sufficient. There is always more to learn.”
Certification for practicing hypnosis may be obtained from a number of private organizations after completion of a designated course. But most often, hypnosis is not administered alone. Additional therapy is recommended to totally relieve the problem as well as the symptoms.
