Hypnosis has been around since 1770, when Franz Mesmer (1734–1815), a physician from Austria, began investigating an effect he called "animal magnetism", or mesmerism.
The traditional approach
In truth, the old, traditional method of hypnotherapy hasn't changed a great deal since then. When a hypnotherapist lays you down on a sofa or fold-up bed, puts headphones on you, and uses phrases like "you will feel completely relaxed and go deeper and deeper", that's traditional hypnosis. It tends to be directive, and despite being largely unchanged, it remains fairly effective — the majority of therapists still use this method. It relies on hypnosis scripts and structured, generic phrases designed to fit common issues rather than the individual client, so it works more as general symptom removal than a tailored approach.
As anyone who has worked with us knows, we don't use a set process for everyone. Because everyone is different, we tailor our therapy to the individual.
The modern approach
This is part of what's known as the Ericksonian approach — a different way of working with hypnotherapy. Each session is tailored to the individual's needs and, as a result, tends to achieve a higher success rate in general, with longer-lasting results. In modern hypnotherapy, you're helped to change how you perceive a situation, building on your own awareness rather than being told what to think. It's non-directive: instead of stating things to the client's mind, it offers possibilities for the client to discover, use and build on themselves.
Traditional hypnotherapy grew out of a more directive, socially-driven era. These days, simply telling people what to do (consciously or otherwise) doesn't tend to land the same way. People are far more likely to resist being told what to do than they are to respond when they're given the tools to work out what they actually want for themselves.
Think of it like the difference between how parents raised children in the 1950s and 60s, and how they raise them today. The approach has evolved with the times — and, as they say, change is worth embracing rather than being left behind by.
For us, that's why we work with the tailored, individual approach rather than the traditional, scripted one.
