My patient is a Native American dealing with alcoholism. My patience alcoholism started years ago and now is trying to confront his addiction. There many studies in which hypnotherapy has been found to treat alcoholism, and other addictions. When dealing with my patient’s alcoholism, I feel hypnotherapy is proven itself time and time again over the thousands of years of history of its use. Hypnotherapy has been used in the past to serve as an effective means in treating negative behavior patterns (Britannica Encyclopedia, 2008). Hypnotism has been described by many as a type of sedation, without the use of drugs.
Hypnotherapy, is claimed by some, to supposedly speak to your subconscious mind, a part of us all that lays dormant, under our conscious selves. Many hypnotherapists believe that by speaking to the subconscious mind, you are able to change negative behavior patterns, or bring forth events that may have been suppressed from the past. Many patients, under a deep trance, claim hypnotherapy is able to speak to the unconscious mind providing insight and understanding in areas which the conscious mind couldn’t possibly understand. Alcoholism has many faces, and has taken many lives throughout history.
Although alcoholism is dangerous, it is still legal. Alcoholics can the more alcohol than those who do not drink alcohol often in order to feel the effects (Encarta Encyclopedia, 2008). Furthermore, there has been studies conducted in which alcoholism is shown to be genetically linked. Alcoholism is treated in a variety of ways, some treated there alcoholism cold turkey, others use alternative approaches. Hypnotherapy has been proven to help with smoking addiction, which is probably one of the most powerful addictions in the world.
When treating my client, the theoretical approach I have chosen is the psychoanalytic approach. When dealing with my patient, in order to understand what is driving his subconscious mind, exercises such as inducing free associations are necessary. Free association is an exercise in which the therapist ask’s their patient to tell them whatever comes to their mind, based on the responses of the client; you can get a good understanding of what’s going on, unconsciously (Encarta Encyclopedia, 2008).
Furthermore, another intervention method I would use, would be dream analysis. The psychiatrist, Sigmund Freud, believed in the power of dream and the unconscious mind. When using hypnotherapy, the therapist is directly speaking to the unconscious mind. It is up to the therapist that to determine the unconscious conflicts causing the patient’s distress. Sigmund Freud, a Pioneer in understanding his subconscious mind, believed that we as human beings repress memories from the past, which later manifest themselves to negative unconscious behavior patterns.
Concerning addiction, Dr. Carol Denicker has effectively used hypnotherapy for over 20 years and has had many success stories. Dr. Carol has operated a successful therapy practice for many years, and specializes in helping those who are struggling with alcohol, and cigarette addictions (Reinholz, 2005). Kathy NewBerg, a social worker and psychotherapist uses hypnotism in her private practice as well. Kathy describes hypnosis as a way of sedating yourself without the use of drugs, which could be why it helps with alcoholics.
Hypnosis offers a way of relaxation, without the need for any kind of drug or medication. When trying to understand why my client is suffering from alcoholism, it is important to ask questions relating to his past, such as, did you have a mother and father, how was your childhood, any brothers and sisters, etc. it is important that when treating my client’s alcohol addiction, a bond of trust is created between us. Trust can only be created when my client lets down any barriers that he may have put up during our initial meetings.
Case Study When applying the psychoanalytic approach of hypnosis in dealing with my client’s alcoholism, there are many methods of intervention that I can apply to the situation. One important factor is to make sure to ask if the client has a family history of alcohol abuse. Furthermore, I feel is necessary to conduct a few initial opening sessions during which I put my client under hypnotic state of trance, and bring up any past suppressed memories that may be affecting him in a negative way.
When putting my client under a hypnotic trance, I will have the ability to speak directly to my client’s subconscious mind, having the ability to ask his subconscious why my client is suffering for his alcohol addiction. After conducting a few sessions, and getting a feel of why my client is suffering from his alcoholism, it is then time to change the archetypical structures of the unconscious mind through a series of hypnotic suggestions, that will be done not only in my office, but recorded to an MP3 player for my client to listen to three times a day, once in the morning, once in the evening, and once at night.
Studies have shown that hypnotic suggestion, when played often, will begin to have effects on behavior within about two to three weeks of continuous use (Britannica Encyclopedia, 2008). The reason I will conduct the first two initial sessions will be to ask the subconscious mind, what steps must be taken in order to heal my client of his addiction. I will ask the subconscious mind first before I begin to do any kind of therapy work with the client, primarily because it is never good to change the archetypical structures of the unconscious mind without its consent (Miller, 2003).
If my client listens to my hypnotic suggestion audio files, three time’s a day as prescribed, he should begin to notice a dramatic change within about a month. What’s so great about working with the subconscious mind is that when somebody changes, they barely even notice that they’re changing until the full change has already taken place. When critiquing certain research, and evaluating various methods concerning major theories and methods a practice of psychotherapy, two predominate psychologist come to mind, Sigmund Freud, and Carl Young.
Both Sigmund Freud, and Carl Jung, believed in the power of the unconscious mind, and believed it was responsible for many of the negative behavior patterns that people exhibited throughout the lives (Encarta Encyclopedia, 2008). Carl Jung mapped out the unconscious through his client’s dreams. Carl Jung spent many years, detailing the dreams of clients, and begin to notice something that he dubbed, synchronicities. Carl Jung claimed that there were unconscious patterns taking place on a daily basis, and that we rarely notice them, when we did he called them synchronicity’s.
For example, you could be driving in your car, and all of the sudden what you are thinking is said on the radio, this is what you would call a synchronicity’s. Dr. Jung also began to notice that the dreams his patients were having shared similar qualities. Dreams, Jung theorized, is a time when we all slip into unconsciousness and into dream states, witnessing the archetypes of our unconscious minds. The unconscious mind is the part of us that regulates our heartbeat, nervous system, and blood flow, responsible for the function of our internal organs, parts of ourselves we don’t consciously recognize.
People associate there Fears and thoughts through dreams, and ironically, according to Dr. Jung, use universal images to relate to those thoughts or feelings. Dr. Jung worked with the subconscious through dreams; on the other hand, Sigmund Freud worked with the subconscious mind in a different way. Sigmund Freud worked with the subconscious mind using a variety of techniques, primarily concerning his patient blurting out whatever comes to their mind when prompted.
Concerning multicultural perspectives related to the hypnotherapy process, the psychoanalytic approach of hypnosis is considered outrages by some cultures and a miracle producer by others. In India hypnosis has been used for centuries, not just to combat addiction problems, but also to delve in the past life regression, and produce memories from the past of an individual, that may have been suppressed. When comparing its uses in India to that of its uses in the West, hypnotherapy has been effectively use not only to treat alcoholism, drug addiction, but also to treat other types of negative behavior patterns.
I feel in the East, hypnosis is used on more spiritual basis, and in the West, with a more medicinal approach (Boodman, 2005). In facilitating the process of developing a personal philosophy and serious counseling, I feel at the ground level of such therapy should be a fundamental understanding of the subconscious mind. Furthermore, a fundamental understanding of hypnosis, and induction techniques is also necessary in order become an effective hypnotherapist. Using hypnosis has proven to be an effective means in treating addiction, with both smoking, and alcoholism.
My personal philosophy when developing a theory of counseling is to be open to the needs of the client, understand not only his cultural background, and family history, but also any negative past experiences that may be affecting them. If used properly, hypnosis can be extremely effective treatment, and can change the negative behavior cycles the patient could be experiencing. Conclusion In summary, hypnosis has been used for centuries in order to treat various ailments. When dealing with my client, Native American who suffers from alcoholism, I will use hypnosis in order to treat his addiction problems.
As stated earlier, the first steps I would say, would be to have a couple of sessions with my client asking questions like, has alcoholism running your family, or, is there any past experiences that you may think are negatively influencing this? You know therapy has been used in treating addiction, and I feel that in this case it will help tremendously. References Hypnosis. (2008). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved May 9, 2008, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online: http://www. britannica. com/eb/article-9041814 Alcoholism (2008) In Encarta Encyclopedia Retrieved May 9, 2008, from Encarta Encyclopedia Online: http://encarta.
msn. com/encyclopedia_761552168_3/Alcoholism. html#howtocite Miller, S (2003) Hypnotherapy Los Angeles Times retrieved on May 9, 2008, from: http://www. latimes. com/classified/jobs/counselor/2003/la-counselor-072003,0,6019063. htmlstory Reinholz, M (2005) Hypnotherapy: Mind Over Matter The New York Times retrieved on May 10, 2008 from http://query. nytimes. com/gst/fullpage. html? res=9800E7DD1738F935A25752C0A9639C8B63 Pope, P (2008) Herbas, Hypnosis May Ease Common Bowel Pain The New York Times retrieved on May 10, 2008 from http://well. blogs. nytimes. com/2008/02/18/herbs-hypnosis-may-ease-common-bowel-pain