Although many — primarily mainstream oriented — people remain skeptical, hypnotherapy and hypnosis can successfully be used to heal many different aspects of the mind and body.
Today, I want to share the interesting case of my husband's now-deceased father-in-law and his chronic back pain. What makes it particularly interesting is that he was a firm non-believer in anything he would refer to as "that invisible psycho-mumbo-jumbo nonsense."
In the 1960's, he was on his way to becoming a Formula-1 race car driver and would tour the world extensively, going to motor races. At one such event, his racing career was abruptly cut short by a horrendous multi-car crash on the track.
Whereas he came away alive and slowly recovered to walk again without a cane, the damage to his spine from breaks and disc compaction led him to live a life with chronic 24/7 back pain. which would range from "a dull roar" to "extreme."
Although he tried a range of painkillers and muscle relaxants to soothe the pain, it helped very little, and there were many nights when he would have to sleep sitting up in his chair, even with enough heavy-duty sleep medications in his system to knock out an elephant.
Doctors suggested that he could be helped by an invasive back operation, but he turned it down due to the 50/50 chance that he would never walk again, even if the pain could be removed.
Following a particularly difficult few months, a golfing buddy of his suggested he see a hypnotist; a practitioner this friend had successfully seen to both help him quit smoking, and to help with nerve pain from an old (healed) war wound that was giving him trouble.
Of course "R" — my husband's stepfather — immediately dismissed the idea as "quackery and nonsense" but the golfing buddy was a trusted friend and quite persuasive and made the point that if nothing happened there would be no loss, but if it did help there would only be an upside.
As the "bad period" kept going for months, he ended up changing his mind, and went to see the hypnosis practitioner in London in the UK... this was mid-1970's; essentially what in today's parlance would be called a hypnotherapist.
At the initial interview, "R" stated quite openly that he did not believe in any of "this nonsense" but he was there anyway out of respect for his friend who had been helped.
The hypnotherapist never missed a beat and replied "That's quite OK, I have faith enough in the process for BOTH of us!"
Whereas the nature of the two-hour session was never really talked about in the family, the results were indisputable: Not only did the back pain subside considerably, but within a week or so, R admitted that he was — for all intents and purposes — pain free, and able to move much more freelyand do things he had not enjoyed in about 12 years!
He even took up playing golf again (consider the nature of back movements involved in a golf swing!) which was one of the activities he missed most, and had almost entirely given up on.
Now, you might wonder whether it lasted.
As misfortune would have it, some eight months R was rear ended in his car while waiting at a traffic light, and the fairly mild whiplash "messed up his back" again.
Unfortunately he did not go back to the hypnotherapist for another treatment, choosing instead — as the "stubborn old bugger" he was — to focus on the fact that his eight months without back pain had merely been "an illusion" rather than "actual healing" and he just wasn't comfortable with someone "messing around and influencing his rational mind."
Regardless, though, this remains one of the most remarkable and effective uses of hypnotherapy to alleviate pain I have encountered.
Thanks for reading, and Bright Blessings to all!
You are not alone!
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