Getting well again through hypnosis

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sun, 07/02/2006 4:32 PM  |  Life

Lie Hua, Contributor, Jakarta

A middle-aged lady entered a clinic, restless and worried. She had consulted many doctors and had taken various tests. All the physical examinations and tests, conducted with the latest state-of-the-art medical equipment indicated that she was in good physical health. She hoped that this time she could be helped to rid herself of anxiety.

The therapist, a 30-year-old general practitioner, asked her to sit down and relax. After a few minutes, she had entered the induction phase and felt really calm and relaxed. Then the therapist went further into the deepening phase. The lady seemed to be sleepy, however in fact, she was concentrating on the therapist's words. The therapist was working on the lady's sub-conscious mind. At this point the lady told the therapist all the problems that had been burdening her. Then the therapist gave her positive suggestions so that she could cope with these problems. This was the lady's second session. In the first session, usually called pre-talk, the therapist asked her questions to gain a preliminary understanding of the patient.

Each session, except for the first, lasted for about three hours but every time the lady emerged from the hypnotic state, she felt as if it had lasted only 10 to 15 minutes. After a few sessions like this, the lady regained her confidence and felt all right again.

That is an illustration of how hypnotherapy can help people. There is no magic involved in hypnotherapy. It is simply a therapeutic tool using hypnosis as the medium. Briefly put, hypnotherapy is a way to cure a patient by changing his perception of a particular problem or by changing his outlook on life. Some of the problems that a hypnotherapist can help solve are those related to obesity, smoking, a lack of motivation, a lack of self-confidence, a lack of productivity, phobia, as well as family problems.

In reality, a hypnotic state is sometimes experienced in our daily lives. Supposing you are absorbed in a TV program while chopping vegetables to cook. By accident you cut your finger but you are so engrossed in the film you don't realize it. Only when a commercial comes on the TV do you realize there is blood on your finger. Only then did you feel the pain. All the while you felt nothing because you were concentrating all your attention on the film.

The same is true of someone under hypnosis. The therapist will use a certain technique to take his patient into a state of hypnosis so that the patient can fully concentrate on his words. Then he works on the patient's subconscious mind to change a wrong perception or a negative thought pattern or give positive suggestions. Why the subconscious mind? This is because the subconscious mind stores permanent memories of a person's experiences over his entire life. These experiences shape his personality. So what a patient manifests now can be traced back to his past through his subconscious mind. Once the hypnotherapist can trace back the root cause of a patient's problem, he can offer a solution, also through the subconscious mind of the patient.

According to Dr. Zein Renaldy, a hypnotherapist at Mangga Dua Clinic at Ruko Mall Mangga Dua No. 46, hypnotherapy is perfectly safe because it is based on science. Hypnotherapy, he added, does not go against any religion and will does not make a person lose his self-control.

Curiosity led to hypnotherapy

Born in 1976, Dr. Zein Renaldy, a graduate of the School of Medicine of Jakarta's Atma Jaya Catholic University, once saw a film about hypnotherapy. Intrigued by the way the hypnotherapist helped the patient, Renaldy read everything he could about hypnotherapy and later decided to learn this method of therapy at the Authentic School for Hypnotherapy run by Authentic Leadership for a Sustainable Indonesia (Alesi) and earned a diploma from this institution as a Master Hypnotist.

""There is a mistaken belief that hypnotherapy is something related to black magic. In fact, I don't use any supernatural or magical powers in my therapy. Hypnotherapy works on a patient's subconscious mind and seeks to change a wrong perception or a bad habit or give positive suggestions,"" said Renaldy, who spent one and a half years in Germany working as an assistant physician at a Diabetes Center in Nordhein-Westfalen.

As a general practitioner, Renaldy said, he can benefit from hypnotherapy when dealing with a difficult illness because during a session he can find the root cause of a patient's problem. Once the cause is uncovered, he said, he can prescribe the right medication. Of course, he added, the most important thing for hypnotherapy to be successful is that the patient should really be willing to accept the therapy and trust the therapist fully.

Renaldy, who sees patients at the Mangga Dua Clinic, is giving a course on self-hypnosis. ""If a patient acquires the ability to hypnotize himself, he can use it any time he needs it. The result will be permanent because it comes from the patient himself,"" he said, adding that, however, self-hypnosis cannot be used to treat other people.

If you think you could benefit from hypnotherapy or want to learn self-hypnosis to treat yourself, contact Renaldy at the above address. A prior appointment is essential.

""Unlike the usual consultation with a doctor, which lasts from only 15 minutes to half an hour, a session of hypnotherapy may last two or three hours or even more,"" he said.

Dr. Zein Renaldy, Mangga Dua Clinic, Ruko Mall Mangga Dua No. 46, Tel.: (021) 62301473.

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