Hypnosis to Help OCD

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a condition that causes the sufferer to frequently worry about something insignificant. Their reaction to this worry is to repetitively perform a small task such as hand-washing or other cleaning activity. Though the cause is unknown, there are various treatments, more recently including hypnosis. Hypnosis works by raising awareness and therefore making the patient more susceptible to suggestion. This can help them to learn to relax and manage their compulsions. But how does one manage obsessive-compulsive disorder through hypnosis?

Thoroughly Understand Hypnosis

• Hypnosis is simply a state of heightened awareness. It has been proven as an aid to anxiety and pain. Hypnosis does not mean that you can be controlled by the person hypnotizing you, but it can help you become more aware of how your mind works. Hypnosis has been considered beneficial since the 1950s when Milton H. Erickson treated patients by hypnotizing them.
  Hypnosis works by relaxing the patient. Once relaxed, the mind is more aware, and it is also more open. This means that a suggestion made when a patient is under hypnosis may actually have more of an effect than if it were made under normal circumstances.
  Hypnosis does not have to be done by someone other than the patient, and self-hypnosis is possible if one understands the basic principles of hypnotism.

Carefully Choose a Professional

• Seek a professional who is trained in both hypnosis and treating obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is far more beneficial to find a psychologist or psychiatrist who can perform hypnosis than to find a hypnotist who claims they can treat obsessive-compulsive disorder. You can find the offices of psychological professionals in your town by searching under counseling or therapy. You must be absolutely comfortable with the professional of your choice. It will be impossible to accept any suggestions made if you are unable to relax around your therapist.

Make a Loose Time Frame

• You need to have some idea of how long it may be before you start noticing an effect. This should not be too strict as there is no set time that hypnotherapy takes to work. Ask your therapist to help you make a plan to calculate roughly how many sessions it will take before you start noticing the benefit of hypnosis. If after that many sessions you cannot see any difference whatsoever in your obsessive-compulsive disorder, then consider finding another therapist. Although rare, there are certain cases in which hypnotherapy may never have an effect on the condition. This will need to be discussed with your therapist, however, as this varies on a case-to-case basis.