Why hypnotherapy?
When I finished my acupuncture degree, I never expected to study hypnotherapy – a discipline that seemed unrelated to Chinese medicine. In fact, I didn’t enrol formally in the course until I had completed a few modules. I was attending those classes out of interest. There was no master plan! It just felt right to be there… Back then, I was unaware that hypnotherapy would be an amazing therapy to practise alongside acupuncture.
What I learnt in college
As acupuncture students, we learn that the lifestyle changes occurring in between sessions can be a fundamental part of the treatment. These changes could target a patient’s level of physical activity, sleep patterns, dietary advice, etc…
In fact, in my course, it was common to discuss the Chinese energetics of food. The reason is that acupuncturists may ask patients to stop or to start eating certain ingredients. A simple example is an eczema patient. In Chinese medicine, the diagnosis for this condition would include heat. This means that the body carries a dryness causing symptoms like itching, skin redness, swelling, etc… An acupuncturist may thus ask an eczema patient to diminish their intake of food causing dryness, like hot and spicy food.
Food for thought
However, is food the only nourishment that has an impact on our wellness? While food has the capacity to nourish our body, thoughts nourish our minds. For instance, a patient may have digestive issues or physical pains, which are related to recurrent stressful thoughts.
Could a change in our thoughts or in our perception help us manage life situations so that they are experienced as less stressful? And would a reduction in stress then have a positive impact on the manifesting conditions?
Change your thoughts, change your health…
It is those questions that first attracted me to hypnotherapy. Acupuncture is a Qi based medicine. Between sessions, patients will have millions of thoughts, most of which being repetitive thoughts. As mind, body and spirit are interrelated, those thoughts may affect negatively the energetic balance of their health.
Hypnotherapy could help patients gain a greater understanding of the underlying reasons their mind is participating in either maintaining or aggravating their condition. It can also help them overcome this by creating a change in thought, perception, attitude, etc… This fine tuning that occurs during hypnotherapy may have a significant effect both on a patient’s life and health.
Hypnotherapy and acupuncture
Hypnotherapy may seem like a treatment modality that is unrelated to acupuncture. However, the moment we participate in an energy based treatment, everything is perceived as Qi. Qi is the basis of the diagnosis, the treatment plan and the treatment itself. To me, hypnotherapy and acupuncture create a powerful combination of therapies. It allows me to treat patients on a multilevel of factors contributing to their condition. I am happy to practise both and I invite patients to discover the great changes awaiting them when they allow those treatments to help them.
Related blog posts
