Self-hypnosis is useful for a number of reasons. Many articles written about psychological problems ignore hypnosis despite knowing that all psychological problems are faulty pattern matching and that hypnosis is the only way to quickly and successfully access the rapid eye movement (R.E.M) state which is the state of mind that people enter to alter and update patterns in the brain.

Regardless of the therapy, when a client eventually changes and no longer has their problem they went into the R.E.M state and updated their programming. This is the case whether the person was in therapy for one session or twenty five years. That is the advantage of hypnosis, because you can help the client to enter that state in the first session in a controlled way rather than having them enter a trance state in an uncontrolled way. People enter trance every ninety minutes or so continuously both day and night to update patterns in the brain automatically.

Hypnosis has always been controversial and misunderstood. Most people don't realise that everyone is going in and out of trance states continuously. Most therapists don't realise that they continually hypnotise people during therapy sessions whether they mean to or not.

If a therapist asks a client to think back to a specific event, the client has to go into a light trance to do that. Many therapists do 'bad' hypnosis. Not on purpose, they just don't realise the effect they are having on people. Often these therapists would scoff at the idea that they do hypnosis. When a therapist asks clients to think about negative events repeatedly and to talk about these events the client will be entering a light trance and will be strengthening the patterns for the problem.

Many therapists and Doctors inadvertently make clients and patients get worse by giving bad suggestions while the client is in a light trance state. That is why it is useful to learn self-hypnosis. If you know self-hypnosis you can have control of your own brain. If someone then tries to do 'bad' hypnosis on you, you can go into a trance state and reprogram your own mind how you want it. You will also be able to increase the speed with which you can be healed.

With self hypnosis it is possible to train yourself to accelerate healing, reduce pain, undo habits and addictions like smoking and drinking, and many more things.

This article will include self-hypnosis techniques for you to learn. It is useful to practice these techniques or those that you feel most comfortable using often. By using self-hypnosis often you will begin to be able to reduce stress and increase well-being.

Induction's

3 things

• Focus on spot somewhere in front of you perhaps on a wall

• Notice 3 things you can see, hear and feel and say these things to yourself, like saying 'I can see..., I can hear..., I can feel...'

• Then close your eyes and do the same, saying to yourself 3 things you can see, hear and feel

• Then open your eyes and do the same again

• Continue this until it is too much effort to open your eyes

• When it is then let your eyes remain closed and go to a special place in your mind

• From this special place you can imagine what changes you want to occur or what you want to gain from the experience whether it is just relaxation or imagining seeing through your own eyes, hearing what you would hear and feeling what you would feel to be in a position of achieving what you hope to achieve. Remember to make this positive stating what you want not what you don't want.

• Make the experience time-limited by stating to yourself how long you want to be in trance for and that you want your unconscious to make all the necessary and appropriate changes to support you in achieving what it is that you want.

3 things (different)

• Focus on a spot in front of you

• Notice 3 things you can see, hear and feel

• Then notice 3 different things you can see, hear and feel

• Keep noticing different things for each sense until you feel the eyes want to shut by themselves

• When they do continue this in your mind until you are in a pleasant deep trance

• Let your mind wander to somewhere pleasant

• Make the experience time-limited by stating to yourself how long you want to be in trance for and that you want your unconscious to make all the necessary and appropriate changes to support you in achieving what it is that you want.

Tensing Body Parts

• Notice your body parts as you tense and relax them while your eyes are closed as you let your mind wander to a special place

• Start by tensing your feet, then relaxing them, then tensing your calf muscles and relaxing them

• Work up through each body part slowly to your head

• As you work through the body parts breathe slowly and deeply

• Make the experience time-limited by stating to yourself how long you want to be in trance for and that you want your unconscious to make all the necessary and appropriate changes to support you in achieving what it is that you want

Stair case induction

• Imagine walking down a staircase from step 1 to 20

• Time each step with your out breaths

• Breathe in slowly to the count of 7 then as you breathe out to the count of 11 step down a step

• Pause briefly then breathe in again and follow the same process

• Going down the steps one breath at a time

• Imagine at the bottom of the steps is a door to a special place where the change work or relaxation can occur

• Make the experience time-limited by stating to yourself how long you want to be in trance for and that you want your unconscious to make all the necessary and appropriate changes to support you in achieving what it is that you want

Mirror Induction

• Look at yourself in a mirror and hypnotise that mirror you

• Say what you see. Start by saying 'as you sit there looking at me just allow your shoulders to relax'

• Then follow your instructions by relaxing your shoulders

• Then give yourself further suggestions until your eyes just want to shut

• Suggest that you can go deeper with each breath you take and with the spaces between the words

• Then as the eyes begin to want to close suggest that you can go to a special place in your mind where all the necessary changes can occur at an unconscious level

• Make the experience time-limited by stating to yourself how long you want to be in trance for and that you want your unconscious to make all the necessary and appropriate changes to support you in achieving what it is that you want

Open eyes/close eyes

• Count from 1 to 3 then close your eyes

• Then breathe in deeply

• Then count from 3 to 1 then open eyes

• Then take a long breath out

• Continue this counting from 1 to 3 then closing your eyes, then breathing in deeply, then counting from 3 to 1 then opening your eyes, then taking a long breath out, until eyes stay shut

• Then allow your mind to wander and drift and dream to a special place

• Make the experience time-limited by stating to yourself how long you want to be in trance for and that you want your unconscious to make all the necessary and appropriate changes to support you in achieving what it is that you want

Once you have mastered these inductions and can guide yourself comfortably into a hypnotic trance you can begin to offer yourself suggestions for improvement. Self Hypnosis has frequently been used for improving health and wellbeing, for overcoming pain and for stress management among many other things. What is important is that you keep all suggestions positive saying what you want not what you don't want. So you wouldn't say "I don't want to have a headache", or "make my headache go away". Instead you would say something like "I want my head to feel comfortable and relaxed."