Depression is a debilitating human condition and a common cause of suffering worldwide. This elicits a sense of urgency for mental health professionals to meet this challenge of the treatment of depression.

In 1999, The World Health Organisation (WHO), issued a proclamation regarding the prevalence of depression. Depression is currently the world’s fourth most debilitating human condition, after heart disease, cancer and traffic accidents. The WHO predicted that by the year 2020, less than two decades hence, depression will have risen to become the second most common cause of human suffering worldwide.

This may be a surprise to many as this is a disorder well known to healthcare professionals across the globe. There are many so called ‘miracle drugs’ often in the news, and so shouldn’t the rate of depression be on the decrease? Well, unfortunately according latest statistics in the UK and USA, it is actually on the rise in every age group.

In his excellent book ‘Treating Depression With Hypnosis’, Doctor Michael Yapko PhD, says “Hypnosis is not a type of therapy like psychoanalysis or behaviour therapy. Instead, it is a procedure that can be used to facilitate therapy. Because it is not a treatment in and of itself, training in hypnosis is not sufficient for the conduct of therapy”. Hypnosis is, in my opinion the vital procedure that allows my clients to focus fully and without distraction upon the therapeutic strategies I apply in treatment sessions. This, of course, requires thorough training and experience in hypnoanalysis and psychotherapeutic techniques.

Dr Yapko reached two powerful and empowering conclusions in his work. Firstly that people suffering with depression need to be taught to accept and work with ambiguous circumstances in life, and secondly to search for and focus on a meaning for their life.

This is such sage advice. I find continually that clients presenting with depression at any level are struggling with the vagueness of life and its meaning for them. Life is ambiguous in that we don’t really have the answers for most of life’s most challenging questions and this can leave anyone a little dizzy thinking about it, let alone looking for answers to give meaning to their existence. In the masterful work of the late Dr Victor E. Frankle, this need for a meaning in life is made very clear. More than this it is shown how the how, is very less important than the why in life.

In his book, ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ Victor Frankle says “Life does not mean something vague, but something very real and very concrete, just as life’s tasks are very real and concrete. They form man’s destiny, which is different and unique for each individual”. Having survived the Nazi Concentration camps of world war two, Victor Frankle is well qualified to make such profound statements. If you are suffering from any level of depression, I recommend a reading of this short but empowering book.

Modern Clinical Hypnotherapy is producing good results for many individuals suffering with depression. This is not an easy or instant fix, but fairly early progress can be made with the individual who is truly wanting to overcome this life restricting condition.

I’m optimistic about the results we will continue to see from treating depression with clinical hypnotherapy as a part of a balanced treatment regime.

By: Alan Crisp DHP MASC MBIH LNCP GHR Reg

For an initial consultation and assessment, whatever the problem you desire help with, please contact Alan Crisp DHP on 020 8658 4290, or email him at alancrisp@hypnoseek.com. His web addresses are: http://www.hypnoseek.com and http://www.yourtruth.co.uk

Text only about the author:

There is a particular mantra (word or phrase used during meditation) of which I am very fond: Baba Nam Kevalam. It is written in the sanskrit language and I have heard it translated into English many ways over the years. “God’s name only” is a very simple, direct and useful one, but I tend to translate it differently for my yoga students. “Everything is an expression of God” or “Everything is an expression of the supreme consciousness.” Whether that is the best translation or not, I can not say, but it works for me, and I believe the statement to be the truth and furthermore that the realization of that truth by a person will result in a dramatic transformation in him/her. A transformation from the “normal” to the sublime, from the tortured to the blissful, from the ignorant to the wise, from the harmful to the benevolent, from the unconscious to the conscious.

Sometimes when I simply reflect on the word “conscious,” I become euphoric. It is so simple, yet so liberating to be truly conscious of something, anything. No big mystery. To be “aware” of something is another way of saying it. If I notify my kids that it is snowing outside, they will immediately run to the window to verify the story, and assuming I have told the truth, they will soon become “conscious” of the snow. They run to the window, not because they don’t trust me, but because they are hungry for that experience of awareness of the snow. Snow is something they have seen before but only rarely in the rainy area we live in. Yet, it is something they love for many reasons. Snow gives them great joy and they drink in the “vision” from the window. What a blessing it is that holds their attention (another word for consciousness I believe) so firmly. The snow is so white and pure, and it floats so gracefully to the Earth seemingly from Heaven. Ten minutes ago they might have been bickering over a toy they don’t even want to play with, but now they are sharing a window as they both witness snow. Their minds are focused, joyful, one with the snow. For my kids, snow is fulfilling the purpose of art, lifting their minds up from their normal existence to a more lofty state.

But what is consciousness? It is something we all have to some extent, some people seem to have more of it than others, and if we get hit on the head too hard, we lose if for a while. But is it something we can cultivate and grow? Can we expand or somehow strengthen our consciousness? I am not talking about the intellect. That is something completely different. That is the computer, the information manipulator, the little puzzle solver. I am talking about consciousness. The consciousness that tells us “I am breathing”, “I am cold”, “The sun just came up”, “I am hungry”, “I exist” “You exist” “I have a blissful feeling in my heart.”

I propose that we consider consciousness a valuable commodity that can be expanded/developed, and something that can be used to an extent we would never have dreamed possible. Furthermore, I am going to go very far out on a limb now and tell you I believe we can use this “super-consciousness” to revolutionize our personal existence and give us undreamed of powers. Next, I would like to introduce the concept of “intuition”. Here is a word we are all familiar with, but not generally in terms of religion. Sadly intuition is thought of as not much more than a lucky hunch here and there, but I think it is a natural albeit undeveloped personal ability, which is both reliable and nothing more than an extension of that day to day “consciousness” that I mentioned above.

So what’s the problem? Why aren’t we all brimming over with the power of intuition? Because:
A. We are drowning in a sea of mental noise
B. There is no “B”

OK, hold on to your hat; this is the way I see it…. Our primary existence is consciousness. Essentially, we are nothing more or less than a pinpoint of pure consciousness. That pinpoint is surrounded by the rest of the cosmos, which I will call “reality.” We are the subject, “reality” is the object (signal) we are trying to be “conscious” of, but (for better or worse) in between we have a layer of noise, which I will call the “ego”, a fictitious sense of self, a misunderstanding of who we are, and that persistent belief that we are this absurd dream identity is the only thing preventing us from experiencing heaven right here on Earth.

So, how do we get rid of the noise and attain this super consciousness? For want of a better word, let’s call it “yoga.” Yoga directly translated means “union,” similar to the translation of the word “religion” by the way. Yoga promises to unite us with our true nature known in yoga circles as “the Self.” The full nature of yoga practice goes way beyond the scope of this short essay, but for the benefit of the novice who may hold the misunderstanding that yoga is merely a set of stretching exercises, I will briefly run over the 8 “limbs” of yoga as originally presented by the great yogi Pantanjali:

1. Yama (a group of 5 morel rules of the road)
2. Niyama; some additional guidelines for day to day behavior (study, helping others etc)
3. Asanas; the physical exercises that have become popular in the West
4. Pranayama; best known as breathing exercises
5. Pratyahara; withdrawal from the senses (preliminary to mediation)
6. Dharana; concentration exercises (meditation)
7. Dhyana; Attention to spiritual phenomena (contemplation)
8. Samadhii; Complete absorption in spiritual experience

I highly encourage anyone interested to seek instruction from a qualified instructor. For more information on yoga and the Baba Nam Kevalam mantra, please visit http://www.babanam.com.

Baba Nam Kevalam

In a Hypnotist practicing Therapeutic use of Hypnosis, important qualities required are: Imagination, Concentration and Motivation. These are also the qualities desirable for a subject.

Hypnosis is sleep of the nervous system. So there is a decrease in the rate of respiration, decrease in blood circulation thus sluggish brain waves. Under the normal consciousness, the brain waves are at Beta wave level. However, with hypnosis, brain waves slow down to alpha waves than to theta waves. Delta waves are brain waves possible in children, & generally no adult can experience the slowing down to delta wave level.

Hypnosis can be practiced one to one i.e. one Hypnotist & one subject, or it can be one to many. This is the case of group when persons has gathered with the main motive of experiencing Hypnosis.

Hypnosis has excellent power of releasing subconscious mind. It is time taking learning process & requires regular practice. After learning it can useful to advance many facets of your life.

Different Levels of Hypnosis

Everybody can not practice Therapeutic hypnosis as it requires highest state of concentration. However, the basic or medium state of concentration also brings benefits of relaxation and peace. While lighter level hypnosis gives feelings of relaxation and calmness as level goes higher individual can experience physical effects such as tingling sensations in the fingers, blinking eyelids, a sensation of heaviness in some parts of the body. The intensity of these feelings boost up after few weeks of practice.

In initial phase hypnosis most people do not have good perception of time with more experience they can have better awareness of the passing time.

In the medium level physical perceptions becomes more enhanced. The subject has pronounced tingling sensations in the fingers, blinking eyelids, a sensation of heaviness in some parts of the body. Some subjects even experience floating sensations. These feelings appear as being very existent by the subject. In medium stage the Hypnotist has better access to subjects mind. In this stage Hypnotist can bring more benefits of hypnosis to the subject.

As the level gets higher further the conscious awareness grows fainter leading to top level i.e. the somnambulistic (sleep awareness) levels of hypnosis. This level leads to the best mental and physical responses. In this level several physiologic responses associated with deep sleep, such as the Rapid Eye Movement, can be observed.

In this stage the subject experiences complete conscious forgetfulness. It makes the subject virtually absent from the real surrounding. This level brings hallucination. The effect of the illusion remains even after the hypnosis.
Hypnosis is most often used for the following purposes:

– Weight Loss and Maintenance
– Health eating
– To cease bad habits like smoking and drug abuse
– To overcome phobias & anxieties
– To suppress pain during medical procedures

In short, hypnosis comes to your help in case some normal point of view or logical thinking becomes barrier in solving any problem of yours. It frees you from problems you want to while in conscious or subconscious state.

Learn more about how Easy Hypnosis can help you and your loved ones, friends and others improve the quality of your lives. And share the news with others, too.