Dermatology
As with any other medical condition the client must have first consulted a medical practitioner for a formal diagnosis, before any treatment can happen . (I obviously recommend using complimentary therapies to relieve aliments and conditions but in conjunction with traditional medicine, not in place of.)
Hypnosis and EFT are highly effective in the treatment of skin disorders, whether it be Eczema or Psoriasis (both very painful and obvious conditions) as well as Acne and Warts (less painful but still very obvious conditions). Although there are other contributing factors in the development and exacerbation of skin conditions (allergens, climate, hormones, genetic and environmental factors) it is commonly agreed by doctors and dermatologists alike, that skin disorders are predominantly caused through stress. Therefore it is no wonder that hypnosis can have great results with such conditions seeing as the basis of hypnotherapy is teaching and allowing a person to truly relax.
Very often, I find it important for a sufferer to understand a little bit about the skin before embarking on therapy. Often sufferers have knowledge of their skin condition, seeing as they will have seen their GP before coming to hypnotherapy, but they often won’t have as much understanding of the skin itself. I think the most important factor here for a sufferer to know, is that the skin shares the same neurological development as the central nervous system during embryonic development. Therefore it is not surprising that the skin mirrors the emotions of the inner self. Our emotions can show on our skin if we are predisposed to skin disorders.
When a client comes to therapy with a skin condition it is usually a last resort to alleviate the condition. However it is not just the condition itself that we need to treat - skin problems are very obvious to everyone. A person can become so self -conscious of their appearance that they may limit their social activities and even if they do still enjoy social occasions, they may experience anxiety when doing so because of their appearance. Therefore, in therapy we need to take time to boost the self-esteem of the individual so that they feel better about themselves generally and this is the basis of any hypnosis session plan.
When dealing with any kind of skin condition, it is important to include all aspects of a person’s life, as anyone suffering with a skin complaint will also be having an emotional reaction to it, and that can often be a good place to start in therapy.
I will use suggestion therapy to instruct the unconscious mind on relieving and healing the physical aspects of the condition and use EFT – emotional freedom technique – to deal with the underlying, unresolved emotional content that may well be contributing to, if not causing the condition. We need to look at the person’s underlying beliefs about themselves and their condition and work with those using this simple tapping technique.
As with most conditions in therapy, finding the root cause of the condition often leads to the extinction of the problem and EFT seems to be key to effectively bringing the root issue to the surface. Then it can be easily tapped away.
We’ll look at all the ways the condition affects you and deal with them. Perhaps there are things that you use or things that you do, that you do gain relief from - we’ll utilise those too in trance. The therapy will be very individual to you.
Seeing as skin conditions are so often stress related, I will place a large emphasis on strengthening the ego of the client and fundamentally raising self-esteem. We’ll use a lot of visualisation work whilst relaxed in trance and this can be incorporated in the client’s own tapping and trance work in their own time. Most people are happy to find a technique as simple as EFT that they can start using on themselves as soon as they leave the session, as it brings back a sense of control to the client and they begin to feel that they really can live without the condition, possibly for the first time, and that is an empowering moment.