The ‘Utilisation Approach’ to Symptoms in Hypnotherapy

“Of all the things we know (but maybe used not to know), one stands out clearly: we are never disconnected at the neck” – Marlene Hunter, from Using Hypnosis to Treat Trauma and Stress.

Much of the practice of hypnotherapy relies on the acknowledgement of the mind-body connection, and yet what we do is so much more than a simple case of ‘mind over matter’. These days, as our growing understanding of what it is to be a human expands, we may not even make the distinction between mind and body, but rather see these as somewhat metaphorical concepts … in any case, most people know that good physical health facilitates emotional and mental health, and vice versa.

We know the importance of symptoms as signals of the state of a person’s health, and as such we are careful not to mask or attempt to remove undiagnosed (or medically un-investigated) symptoms. Nonetheless, it is usually a symptom of some form (physical, mental, emotional) that will bring a client to your door. Symptoms are conscious signifiers of some form of imbalance in the body-mind. While we as hypnotherapists aim to help resolve the cause of such symptoms – to perhaps go little deeper than just what is presented consciously – to ignore the symptoms your client presents entirely is to do them a disservice.

Join us on Thursday 4th March where we will be discussing:

• The wisdom of the body
• Suitable approaches to symptom resolution
• An introduction to The Exploratory Trance