Pairing CBT-I and Hypnotherapy for Insomnia Relief
Let’s start with the basics! First, what is hypnosis? Hypnosis is a state of physical relaxation combined with heightened awareness and a narrow focus of attention. Hypnotherapy utilizes hypnosis for positive change. When a person is guided into hypnosis, their subconscious mind is more accessible and open to change, less resistant. Since habits and unhelpful thought patterns and beliefs live in the subconscious mind it is important to be able to connect with them in this highly concentrated way. Once entering hypnosis, the subconscious mind can be explored and ‘reprogrammed’ with more beneficial messaging with the help of a hypnotherapist.
Hypnotherapy has been known to reduce, and in some cases even eliminate, anxiety, phobias/fears, grief, sleep disorders/insomnia, unhealthy habits (like smoking or overeating), stress, depression…the list goes on.
Now, let’s talk about CBT-I. CBT-I stands for ‘cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia’. CBT-I connects the dots between our thinking patterns, our habits, and how we sleep. Our most frequent thoughts, feelings and behaviors directly correlate with the quality of our sleep. This treatment combines several approaches to create breakthroughs for clients.
Cognitive interventions: Restructuring or changing inaccurate or unhelpful thoughts, or cognitions, about sleep.
Behavioral interventions: Relaxation training, stimulus control, and sleep restriction promote relaxation and help to establish healthy sleep habits.
Psychoeducational interventions: Providing information about the connection between thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and sleep is central to CBT-I.
A recent study from the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology showed that “the average client receiving cognitive behavioral hypnotherapy benefited more than at least 70% of clients receiving the same treatment without hypnosis.” Essentially, CBT is 70% more effective when combined with hypnosis.
The success-rate of the pairing is due to the profound healing that can take place when the subconscious mind is reprogrammed to reinforce positive thinking.
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