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Hypnosis: A Therapeutic Analysis

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By many people, hypnosis is thought of to be just a magic act or trick. However, hypnosis is a type of therapy used by doctors of psychology. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), hypnosis is “a therapeutic technique in which clinicians make suggestions to individuals who have undergone a procedure designed to relax them and focus their mind” (American Psychological Association). the American Psychological Association also says that this technique can be a very useful and powerful technique, despite that it has been a very controversial in the past. It is said that it is able to help with pain, anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders (American Psychological Association). Hypnosis is still a developing technique of …show more content…
Garcia-Vega, Catherine E. Hart, Alan A. Zavala-Norzagaray, and Cesar P. Ley-Quinonez. Their study aimed to test how well Hypnosis and Gestalt therapy affected people with a long term depression. They intended to apply this study to people with depression because it is a very common disorder that can branch off to others disorders. It has major effects on someone’s life such has hindering work activity, school, and family relationships (Gonzalez-Ramirez, et al). According to Gonzalez-Ramirez and colleagues, it is estimated that depression affects 350 million people and can turn into a serious health problem” (Gonzalez-Ramirez, et al). Hypnosis therapy is included in cognitive-behavioral therapy which is used to treat people with anxiety and depression. Most studies that used hypnosis therapy found a major use of it and found positive results. The authors mention that “Patients who received CBT (cognitive-behavioral therapy) with hypnosis fared better that 75% of patients of patients who received therapy without hypnosis” (Gonzalez- Ramirez et al). This shows that hypnosis therapy is significantly effective when applied to patients, rather than going through therapy without it. For this experiment, the conductors chose a sample size of 300 people with some level of depression. After the participants were selected, their level of depression was measured by a self-survey test call Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). the Test is scored in points from 0 to 63. Once the participants were assigned to their groups in regards to their level of depression, the methods of therapy were applied. In the cognitive-behavioral therapy with hypnotic conditions, the patients were informed about hypnosis to reduce confusion and prejudice about the therapy (Gonzalez-Ramirez et al). The patients were administered the “handshake and the pendulum tests in order to inform the

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