Have you ever wanted to do hypnosis but find it hard to make the time to get away? Or perhaps you would like to do it from the comfort of your own home? Maybe there is a practitioner you would like to see but they live too far away from you? If so, maybe you are wondering if online hypnotherapy is as good as in person sessions. Let’s look at the pros and cons.
The Pros of Online Hypnotherapy
The best way to assess this is by briefly looking at a recent online clients that I helped. Let’s look at a client who employed me to help him stop drinking.
Online Hypnotherapy to Stop Drinking
Charles was in a pickle. His wife was about to walk out on him, with the kids. From the moment he woke up in the morning, he was planning his day around alcohol. This meant that he rarely put in a full day at work, an the days were getting shorter. He spent around $300 per week on alcohol. He needed to stop.
When I met Charles, online, the first session was centred on determining the underlying motive for his drinking, and then working on that underlying cause. There was no difference between anything that I did online compared to what I would do face-to-face. There were no limitations in doing online hypnotherapy.
The second session was more hypnosis based (as opposed to NLP), and in fact, the hypnosis was actually more effective online because Charles could really relax on his own sofa, wearing his own headphones, controlling his own space. The effectiveness of the NLP techniques we also did in this session were on par with an in-clinic treatment.
The third session was competed with the same level of success. How do I know? Because Charles stopped drinking. He was quite vigilant in sending me updates via text through our sessions, and afterwards. I felt that the sessions were a lot like coaching as the communication was increased, due to the format. This is because I have found that online clients tend to use media more often, at least through the therapy process, and so keeping me in the loop and seeking feedback formed part of this ‘conversation’.
The Cons of Online Hypnotherapy
With Charles, he actually dozed off during the hypnosis in the second session. This shows how very relaxed he was (and no, he was not hung over or drunk). I have had this happen with a few online clients. The solution is to stage the hypnosis as the end of the session, just in case I cannot wake them up.
With Charles, he did respond when I clapped my hands loudly, and told him to wake. In the past I have had to call the client on the phone which luckily worked because they had forgotten to put it on silent. But staging the hypnosis work at the end is actually a lovely way to finish a session as the client will awaken, when they are ready. And yes, the suggestion does sink in.
In some ways this demonstrates the intensified state of relaxation clients have when working with me online, although I have had a few snorers in the clinic too!
Another ‘con’ is mainly from my perspective, rather than the client, in that, there are techniques I need to alter or replace that I cannot do online. This means that I use alternative techniques to effect the same approach. It is not a disadvantage for the client because they are still getting the same result. It’s me who misses out here because I enjoy certain in-person NLP processes that I cannot do online.
The most difficult challenge with online work is the equipment. If the internet is interrupted, we switch to a phone session. Though this has only ever happened a few times and it is not as difficult to manage as uncontrollable environmental noise which sometimes crops up in face-to-face work. People do love their chainsaws!
So, is Online Hypnotherapy As Good?
Even when I worked out of shared clinic suites there was always something to contend with. There were loud talkers at reception, smoke alarms, noise from the adjacent business. There is always something that can and does happen to interrupt your session. I always give the suggestion that noise is a deepening experience to carry the client further into trance, and usually, it works. With noise on the client’s end in an online hypnotherapy session, earphones usually do the trick. I also use headphones in my clinic.
All in all, I believe that, having performed many online sessions, that they are equal to face-to-face sessions in terms of effectiveness. For some people, even more so, due to the increased comfort level they experience.
If you would like to book an online hypnotherapy session with me, get in touch. Horizons Clinical Hypnotherapy Sunshine Coast