Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy

What exactly is hypnosis and how does it work?
Hypnosis is simply an altered state of consciousness that normally occurs just before entering the sleep state. We are in a trance many times during the course of the day without even knowing it. Sometimes while driving when you don't know how you got from point A to point B. That's the trance state. In therapeutic hypnosis that state is prolonged so that the therapist can work within those boundaries. In this deeply relaxed state suggestibility is increased. This is what makes hypnosis so highly beneficial in ending negative habits such as smoking and reinforcing positive performance such as in sports, testing and job performance.

The Human mind is just like a computer in that it is programmed information from the environment constantly. It is highly suggestible to stimuli from the outside and thoughts and ideas from the inside. Past experiences, fears, guilt, shame and impulses are a result of negative thoughts invading one's mind subconsciously and constantly pushing their way to awareness. By adulthood negative messages often result in bad habits or self-sabotaging behavior. What hypnotherapy does is tape over the negative and reprogram the positive information. Hypnotherapy accelerates the process of breakthrough.

What should I expect in a hypnosis session?
A normal session is an hour where the beginning of the session is a relaxation induction and the end which is the positive reinforcement are recorded. You continue to listen to the recording on your own after the session. The average number of sessions are generally 3-5.