Self Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy for Depression

Hypnosis is a state of mind that allows you to become even more open-minded than you usually are. There are many reasons why people become depressed, but in most cases, amongst other things, it is because you develop thoughts that are unhelpful. That is, you feel down, so your thoughts tend to reflect that down feeling – so these thoughts are more negative than they should be. But that is not the problem, because a thought cannot cause you problems unless you believe it. One of the biggest problems is that people with depression believe such thoughts. It is good to be open to what comes into your mind, but the downside is that you are taking on thoughts that can damage the quality of your life.

This is exactly why hypnotherapy can be so effective – because that same open-mindedness will enable you to take on ideas that are more helpful. All you need to do is allow yourself to accept the ideas – not because they fit in with the ideas that you have now. If you were to approach it like that, then nothing would change and improve. But rather, you can allow your mind to take on newer, better ideas, simply because they are the ways of thinking that people who don’t suffer from depression have. In other words, you can accept ideas because you know they are more positive – believing will come later. You will believe it because self hypnosis will help you bit-by-bit to feel happier.

In the past, psychological treatments for depression were relatively ineffective, and hypnotherapy tended to use a very limited number of approaches. Our particular approach to hypnotherapy is to combine it with the best elements of other methodologies, such as CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy), to significantly enhance your chances of success. By gaining control over your thoughts you can make extraordinary changes to the quality of your life.

7 Steps to Overcoming Depression has been developed for those who are suffering from depression, either self- or clinically-diagnosed. It is intended for what we might call ‘ordinary’ depression, where symptoms can include; difficulty sleeping, waking early, poor appetite, poor libidic drive, continual tiredness, tearfulness, anxious feelings, fear of death, poor concentration, weight problems, and general feelings of doom. There are of course many more symptoms, but these are the most common.

Whether you have mild depression or suffer from debilitating negative feelings, 7 Steps to Overcoming Depression can give you tremendous support. Although, if you have strong feelings of depression then we do recommend you first discuss using the course with your medical consultant so that he or she is aware of it and gives you additional support.

7 Steps to Overcoming Depression is also suitable for those who do not suffer from clinical depression, but are simply fed up or bored with the way that that life currently is.

No, sorry. They are not suitable for those who suffer from bi-polar disorder, which is characterized by extreme mood swings from euphoric highs to the depths of despair and may be related to psychosis. Although this is often misdiagnosed by medical practitioners, if you suffer from true bi-polar disorder then hypnotherapy is, in our opinion, unsuitable and medication would have a better chance of success.

Absolutely. Please remember that hypnotherapy is a complementary therapy and works alongside other approaches. Hypnotherapy is not an alternative therapy and does not replace conventional medicine. We therefore support the use of anti-depressants (and other such medications) where a medical practitioner feels they are appropriate, while doing what we can to help so that such treatment is no longer needed. If you are using medication, then it is vital that you do NOT alter your medication in any way, unless instructed to do so by your medical professional.

Yes, of course. As mentioned above, hypnotherapy is a complementary therapy and as such our course is not intended as a substitute for any other treatment. If you are using other methods, it can add to their effectiveness. You may also wish to complement the course with some of our other self hypnosis CDs and MP3 downloads, where appropriate.

The time frame for change is different for everyone, so there is no simple answer to this. Using self hypnosis and hypnotherapy for treating depression should be viewed similarly to eating healthily – you shouldn’t be looking for a dramatic improvement in your health as soon as you eat a lettuce leaf, but you can eat it in the certain knowledge that such food is better for you than a bag of chips! In the same way, you are making changes in yourself that should make sense to you.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches. If you have access to one on one therapy then that's great and the obvious advantage is the ability to work on specific issues related to your life. However, do not underestimate the value of using high quality self hypnosis recordings.

7 Steps to Overcoming Depression was developed by our team of hypnotherapy educators, who have over 75 years of combined experience in the field of hypnotherapy. It's fair to say that we know a thing or two about successfully treating depression. Also, please remember that when you use hypnotherapy recordings, you can repeatedly ‘program’ your mind in the convenience of your own home, so that bit-by-bit you get back to living a more happy and satisfying life.

The truth is, hypnotherapy is ideally suited to treating most forms of depression. Although this has not always been the case. In the past hypnotherapists had concerns about treating depression, but these concerns are no longer valid.

The classic hypnotherapy textbook, Waxman’s Medical and Dental Hypnosis was published in the 1970s. It argued that hypnotherapy should not be used to treat depression. However, the understanding of the condition was quite poor at the time (we would urge caution with any book about depression that is more than ten years old). This has changed dramatically, and depression is now perhaps one of the best understood of the nervous disorders.

Furthermore, the book was written at a time when psychological treatments were relatively ineffective, and hypnotherapy tended to use a very limited number of approaches. Thus the advice that Waxman gave was probably appropriate for the time, but with the massive steps taken in understanding and in treatment approaches, there needed to be a re-evaluation.

Since those days, many experts have made convincing arguments that hypnotherapy was not only a possible treatment approach - it was also a powerful complement to other treatments. In fact, the most successful therapy for depression, CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy), according to research, was enhanced significantly when used in conjunction with hypnotherapy. And now that these approaches have been combined, it is possible for us to provide CBT approaches and hypnotherapy in a way that gives you a high chance of success.