Is a Hypnotherapist Just a Quack?

The Kings Speech has recently won rather a lot of awards, and deservedly so. Colin Firth's performance as the King who stuttered was absolutely brilliant. The movie’s screenwriter, David Seidler, was is an unusually good position to add deeper layers empathy to the script as he too had suffered from this same affliction in his younger years.

Lionel Logue, the King’s speech therapist, who stood by his side during every one of his wartime speeches, did not possess official medical or therapeutic qualifications. He was in fact what many would term a "quack".

Quack or not, he got the job done, and that is what counts. The stutterer seeking help just wants to be helped; he or she wants to be able to perform the supposedly simple act of speaking ones mind and enunciating words clearly.

When we have a physical problem we naturally look for physical help. And in this wonderful movie we see this tendency in action as the King and his Queen keep looking for assistance with the mechanics of speaking, instead of looking deeper beneath the surface.

Logue knew from experience that speech difficulties such as stammering are not caused mechanically. Rather, he adhered to the principle of cause and effect. Stutters are not born with a stutter. Stuttering has psychological roots; most often a result of suppressed sobbing and suppressed anger in one's earlier years.

You see in this movie the struggle which the King has in allowing himself to place his trust in a "quack", even though by the time he realized that Logue had no relevant official qualifications he also knew that he was the only person who had managed to help him. You see this same struggle within almost every person who considers visiting a hypnotherapist.

A hypnotherapist, like Logue, has to find ways in which to assist his or her clients in overcoming these initial barriers. Almost every potential client has to get to grips with their own and society's assumptions about what is orthodox treatment or what constitutes visiting some type of quack. And then there is the next deep fear that the treatment simply won't work for them.

The fear of being unable to be hypnotized or lack of trust and understanding in how hypnosis can work are huge barriers to those considering treatment. There are also the myths that deep and hidden secrets will be explored and revealed and that one's mind will be taken over and controlled. These erroneous beliefs also have to be overcome before treatment can begin.

A good experienced hypnotherapist is no more a quack than Lionel Logue, the experienced and superb speech therapist who was the only person who successfully treated the King's stutter. There are also many instances where hypnotherapy has assisted a client when medical treatment (which is perceived as more orthodox) has not managed to provide relief, which is why I have drawn this comparison.

A motivated person who really wants to be cured of something or other will find ways in which to overcome these internal mental barriers of assumption and perception. In fact, just a little reading and research into the topic of hypnosis and approaching treatment with an open mind is all that is required.

Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnosis mp3 downloads for health, happiness and well-being.

P.S. Discover how you can focus your mind with hypnosis. Grab a free hypnosis download from my website now.