Hypnosis is "the bypass of the critical factor and the establishment of acceptable selective thinking" (The United States Government, Department of Education, Human Services Division).

"The bypass of the critical factor" - The critical factor is your limiting belief that tells you that you cannot do something. Essentially disarming the Critical Factor which then allows emotional or behavioral hypnotic suggestions to pass through the Conscious Mind and into the Subconscious Mind.

"The establishment of acceptable selective thinking" - This means a directed focus of your mind to a particular thought. The process of guiding someone into hypnosis by using a hypnotic induction. The establishment of selective thinking creates a favorable mental environment that facilitates the rejection of limiting beliefs so that new, more empowering beliefs can replace them. The hypnotic state is an optimal condition for successfully making life changes for this very reason.

The key word is "Acceptable". A person in hypnosis will only do what is acceptable to them. Any suggestions given to them that are not acceptable to their values, beliefs and moral will be discarded.

Medical professionals have determined that when a person is truly in a deep state of trance, they have greater control of their minds and bodies than they do in a state of "normal" or non-hypnotic consciousness. The conscious mind works more effectively during hypnosis. The senses are hyper-alert.

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Hypnosis has now become accepted and is practised by some doctors and dentists as well as specially trained hypnotherapists who use it to treat phobias, addictions, anxiety, insomnia, and so on.

Modern hypnosis and the new hypnotherapy are no longer about swinging watches, which is the influence of television programmes. Neither does it make anyone tell away secrets nor do anything against their values, religious or moral beliefs, UNLESS they themselves want to.

Hypnosis is geared to safe, rapid results and may be used either stand alone or in conjunction with other therapies. Hypnosis is now being used to treat adults, children and seniors, and those who are unable to use or are opposed to drug therapies. And yes, it is safe and effective for weight issues and giving up negative habit.

Hypnosis is accepted in the medical field and has been used for centuries. In clinical and psychological aspect, the mind can heal or promote the healing of many psychological conditions and physical illnesses. It is not a religion, voodoo, witchcraft or devilish act. Hypnosis proves to have the highest success rate in person change and recovery rates. There are some people who are afraid of hypnosis due to fear and the wrong information has been formed. Very often but not always, quickly they will learn and understand that hypnosis is not what they were told or believed.

Since hypnosis and hypnotherapy were accepted by the American Medical Society as a legitimate therapeutic agent in 1958, a great deal of research has been conducted on the efficiency and effectiveness of hypnosis. Several investigators during the 1970's and 1980's provided clinical and experimental evidence about the effectiveness of hypnosis for smoking cessation, substance abuse, weight loss, phobias, depression, and anxiety.

Legitimate counselors and therapists never advertise a numerical success rate for any kind of therapeutic process. When scientists publish success rates and percentage results about methods of tobacco cessation, they are subject to very rigid experimental controls, long term follow-up reporting and clinical accountability measures (such as nicotine testing) to verify claims of abstinence. If a hypnosis-related business advertises a 90% success rate, you can be sure they have not conducted an FDA-approved scientific study! Most likely they are saying something like, "We don't receive complaints from 90% of our customers". That does not mean 100% success rate of all the 90% customers. It simply does mean nothing about success but only "No complaints". Success with any therapeutic process is an individual collaborative outcome between the client and the therapist, it can not be attributed to a particular technique or to the therapist alone.

In clinical and psychological aspect, the mind can heal or promote the healing of many psychological conditions and physical illnesses.

Various studies have shown that hypnosis can affect relaxation and can have a beneficial effect on a range of conditions, including irritable bowel syn- drome (IBS), asthma, headache, pain, and so on.

Hypnotherapy is medically accepted to benefit the following and more:

• Behaviour modification
• Rid unwanted habits(e.g. smoking, stuttering, nail biting, bed wetting, substance misuse)
• Weight management
• Stress management
• Sports performance
• Study and exam performance
• Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder
• Sleep problems
• Fear and phobia, anxiety/anxieties, guilt, inhibitions, jealousy
• Dyslexia
• Cerebral palsy
• Allergy/Allergies
• Cancer
• Some skin problems and nervous rashes
• Painless childbirth
• Pain control, phantom pain, irritable bowel syndrome
• Countless other practical applications