A group of young doctors were once fascinated by the presentation a hypnotherapist was giving them. At question time, one of them asked the therapist to show how the subjects were hypnotised. The hypnotherapist broke their trance by making them aware of their focused attention to what he was saying. The doctors had become oblivious of their surroundings, sounds and smells, as they were listening to him. Unknown to themselves, they were hypnotised by the words of the hypnotherapist.

Hypnosis, meaning sleep, is a state of wakefulness with focused attention and relaxation. We are in this condition of focused attention many times a day. When fully relaxed, one is fully aware of and in control of all the faculties. In other words, what the person wants to happen, happens.

This tool, when used in therapy, enables a person to heal himself or herself, the therapist acting as a facilitator.It becomes easy to understand then, that with hypnotherapy a person can learn to heal oneself, having more control over ones life. Even the best hypnotherapist can not help an uncooperative subject, as, all hypnosis is self hypnosis.

Stress in present day life is the cause of many of the physical, psychosexual and psychological problems. Our upbringing and childhood experiences leave indelible imprints on our personalities. Without our realisation, we behave, think, make crucial decisions under the influence of such experiences. If our experiences in childhood are pleasant and secure, our behaviour, thought processes and decisions take us forward in life. Many times, unhappy, insecure upbringing and experiences, especially, in our childhood, continue to hold us back from moving ahead in life. Sometimes, adverse life experiences that would cause anger, frustration, jealousy, anxiety, hatred that remain suppressed, start affecting our quality of life. Unknowingly, people start taking wrong decisions leading to a deterioration in their life quality. People with such experiences can get addicted to drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex or anything else that they fancy. Many times, people with such difficulties are referred to the psychiatric services. But many of them can also be helped with hypnotherapy.

Sometimes people develop stress and high blood pressure as a result of one or many adverse life experiences. Such people are rarely seen by psychiatrists or therapists, as, they do not exhibit clear cut psychiatric symptoms. These people may continue to get antihypertensive medication for the rest of their lives. On other occasions some people develop Irritable Bowel Syndrome without knowing that their strict upbringing might be playing a role in their illnesses. They may continue to attend medical services for a long, long time. These cases benefit more from hypnotherapy than medication. Other conditions that benefit from hypnotherapy are skin disorders, asthma, migraine, nocturnal enuresis, anxiety, panic & phobic disorders of all kinds, post traumatic stress disorder, bereavement, some depressive conditions, alcohol and drug abuse, habit disorders, sleep disorders, sexual disorders, relationship difficulties, stammering and stuttering.

Hypnotherapy got approval from American Psychiatric Association 40 years ago. There are more than 10,000 practising hypnotherapist in the US. In Europe, at this moment, there is limited control over the quality of service hypnotherapists are providing. One of the reasons is that very few of the practitioners come from the field of medicine. Medical practitioners, who use hypnosis, have seen a reduction in their drug bill; with an improvement in the self esteem of their patients. These doctors do realise that some medical solutions are available without prescribing medication.