Hypnotherapy can be very useful if performed by an experienced and certified practicioner. Many people read books and think they can perform hypnotherapy. Wrong. They may be able to perform hypnosis but hypnotherapy addresses certain problems. A good hypnotherapist will research the subjects problem to come up with a very specific suggestion to their problem. I generally do six different sessions when for any problem. I don't do five and I won't do more than six. People need to learn how to do self-hypnosis after that to help them handle any problems that hypnosis may help them with. Hypnosis is not a cure all but some of the advantages are great. It will give your sub-conscious power to overcome urges, feelings or some emotions. Further in-depth study has shown that hypnosis has even been effective as a anesthesia in surgery but generally it is used for smoking cessation, phobias (pick any), weight loss, sleeping problems, sexual problems, etc...nearly limitless. There is also Regression which is performed for people to see past lives. This is an interesting subject; one which has hundreds of books by itself. I've used it on a few subjects who had interesting experiences but it can also be dangerous in untrained hands. There are no real disadvantages to hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy is safe in the hands of an experienced certified hypnotherapist. Unlike popular stereotypes, you can't fall asleep and never wake up. Even if your hypnotherapist died while you were in a deep level, you would probably just fall asleep and wake up later. I've done that to myself on occasion. I've recorded tapes for myself and I was so bored with my routine that I actually fell asleep a few times and woke up the next morning feeling very rested. I guess the only disadvantage is paying some inexperienced quack who bought a book one time!

There actually is a disadvantage to hypnotherapy. One wants to be more aware, more alert, more self-determined, and more in control and attentive to the environment and life. There is joy in that. There are only two directions one can take in life when it comes to awareness. One can strive towards more awareness or towards less awareness. With human beings this "awareness" is a very noticable quality -- they are aware and aware of being aware. Kind of like looking, and knowing that one is looking and what one is looking at. One could go in the direction of more knowing, more in-control, more alertness, more in-tune, more "enlightened", more awareness, etc. Or one could go towards the other direction and have less awareness, less awareness of one's own control, less in-tune, more other-determined, less enlightened, less alert, less knowing, etc. The less aware an individual is, the less able they are; the less they themselves can control their environment knowingly, the less responsible or willing to cause things, the weaker they are. It is unfortunate that some people prefer others to be weaker and less able and less aware and less knowing. You can notice this when some people invalidate you verbally or try to make you feel less for your accomplishments or good intentions. It is also a "contagious aberration". It contains an attitude of "I am right, they are wrong", "what can I use to dominate others and avoid domination", "how can I be stronger and they weaker". Invalidation or dominant evaluation of others is the most used current social method. It is contagious. You probably notice that if you hang out with someone who tends to be always antagonistic, you pick up that trait. Hang out with people who tend to always invalidate or give dominant evaluations of others, and this trait will start to rub off. (You may also feel weaker or less competent by being around those type of people.) Sadly the underlying intention is to see that another or others are weaker or less able. Hypnotism is not unlike a "dominant evaluation". It forces an idea upon another and all the while tries to make the individual less aware, less in-control of that idea. Things of which a person is not aware can adversely affect the person. A person can be influenced by things in the mind of which he is not aware. A person's thoughts, attitudes, emotions, sensations, physical being are all adversely affected by those "commands" or things held in the mind of which the person is not aware. There are enough "unknown" influences on an individual without adding to the problem by trying to create more "unknown" influences through hypnotherapy. An example: You ever say or do something and later have this thought: "Oh! Why in the heck did I have to go and do that! Agh! I really didn't want to do (or say) that!" You just did...on impulse from an influence in the mind of which you weren't aware. It is a mental reaction, much like a hypnotic command, that made you act a way that wasn't under your volitional control. In order to better demonstrate, here is an example in the extreme which was employed by our government in the late 40's and 50's. You take a person, give them a lot of drugs so they are much, much less aware and alert. Start in-graining a command or commands like "kill communists" and put some pain with it. Much like Pavlov's dogs. The only thing...human beings are not dogs. Of course a person would not voluntarily consent to this type of in-grained command. Non-the-less, hypnosis is just so many shades of gray from this. It is instilling commands within an individual of which they are not aware of. The real source of most problems of the individual are in the fact that there are a myriad of commands already instilled in the mind. If one was aware of them and how they came to be, one wouldn't be influenced by them. A person is actually already under "hypnotic controls", but of course is not aware that he is being influenced by something. In other words, the undesirable and unwanted attitudes, emotions, thoughts, behaviors are all caused by "instilled commands" hidden in the mind. A person is not aware how he or she is influenced by these hidden areas of the mind. The answer to changing unwanted behaviors does not lie with the solution of further "instilling" commands and lowering a person's awareness of these influences as hypnotherapy does. An individual unknowingly is already "hypnotized" which causes a problem... ...and then gets more hypnosis to try to patch it... ...this doesn't work as a full solution. It is trying to patch an aberration with another aberration. It is like trying to "forcibly make a person be a certain way with hidden influences held in the mind", when there are already hidden influences in the person's mind "that forcibly make him be a certain (undesirable) way". A simple experiment to which most people can relate: With some people, certain subjects or words really "set off the fireworks". The person could be in very calm, aesthetic surroundings and suddenly have the mood changed just because a subject was mentioned. It is like a hidden charge in the mind struck the individual and starts bringing up thoughts or attitudes or emotions or physical reactions. One sees this when a person loses their temper. Another example is when a person can not on his own self-determinism get a line of thought out of his mind... ...you know, like lying in bed and you just can't stop thinking about something. These are aspects of the mind not under one's own volitional control or awareness of source. Sure, one is aware of the effects, but one does not recognize the source of the charge that affects one. When one actually does recognize a true source of charge, one is no longer influenced by it. That is the test and the relief. The proper intention is to see a person regain awareness of hidden influences. Anyway, there is a big liability to hypnotherapy. One finds more joy the more "awake" one is. The problem which a person wants to solve from hypnotherapy can better be solved on a route towards becoming more aware, more alert and more self-determined.

Hypnotherapy does not require a therapist. Self-hypnosis is a form of hypnotherapy. Self-hypnosis has no disadvantages, except that you may sometimes fall asleep when you don't want to. It can be relaxing, refreshing, and invigorating, and can bring a wanted respite from stress. It doesn't cure your problems, assuming you have some, but it does help with day to day living.

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