Is Hypnotherapy Real Or A Scam?

In 1952, a young British physician, Dr Albert Mason made a mistake that was to bring him short-lived scientific glory. Mason and other doctors had used Hypnosis successfully to get rid of warts.

But this case, a 15 year old boy was particularly severe. His skin looked more like an Elephant's hide and with the exception of his chest, covered most of his young body.

Mason's first Hypnosis session with the boy, focused on one arm. In Trance the boy was told by Mason that the skin on that arm would heal and turn into healthy pink skin.

One week later, when the boy returned for the second session, Mason was happy to see the arm looked healthy, so he continued with the Hypnotherapy until all the boy's skin was healthy and normal.

But when Mason brought the boy to the referring surgeon, who had unsuccessfully treated the boy with skin grafts, he discovered his mistake.

The boy didn't have warts as Mason believed but had been diagnosed as having a lethal, incurable genetic disease called Congenital Ichthyosis.

Sadly, Mason was unable to replicate this stunning success. He put this down to the fact that, as soon as he discovered this was an “incurable disease” his medical background overcame his “cocky attitude”.

(British Medical Journal 1952.Mason 1952)

Biology and Belief

The above case is covered in detail in Dr Bruce Lipton's book

“The Biology of Belief”

Lipton suggests the reason for Mason's failure was, he had absolute belief in his ability to cure warts because warts was a “curable” condition, unlike Congenital Ichthyosis which was “incurable”.

This unique power of Human beings to affect their outcomes based on their ability to accept unshakeable beliefs, has been known to medical science for hundreds, if not thousands of years as... Placebo.

Also known as "The Self-fulfilling Prophesy" to Psychology.

Although inconvenient because it flies in the face of “The Scientific Method” never the less, it cannot be ignored as it is an inescapable fact.

In more recent years serious scientific research has been carried out to determine the effect, if any this phenomenon has on healing.

Dr Alan Branthwaite published a paper in British Medical Journal 282 (Branthwaite A & Cooper P (1981) “Analgesic Effects of Branding in Treatments of Headaches”

Their results demonstrated that Trusted Brand pills were more effective than unknown brands in curing headaches by a factor of 20%.

This result was the same even when a Sugar Pill, in the Trusted Brand package was given to a control group.

In other words, as long a the patient believed they were being given a Trusted Brand pill, that pill whether real or not, was 20% more effective in curing headaches than a real pill.

A research paper published by Cambridge University Press in 2002 shows how the presence of an authority figure, in the form of a medical Doctor, exuding warmth and confidence can dramatically increase the Placebo Effect.

Moreman D.E. (2002) “Meaning, Medicine and The Placebo Effect”

“The presence of a doctor also increases expectancy, which in turn increases therapeutic outcomes, especially if the doctor is warm and enthusiastic about the treatment.”

In one study, the response increased from 44% to 62% when the doctor treated them (patients) with warmth, attention and confidence.

(see: Kaptchuk TJ, British Medical Journal 2008 “ Components of Placebo Effect...Ramdomised controlled trial in patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome”

The Law of Belief and Expectation is no longer in the fringes of New Ageism. Scientific research shows conclusively that whatever we believe to be True...becomes so.

And pharmaceutical companies, who are the major funders of Placebo Effect research, use these results in the production and marketing of their products. (Cracked...Dr James Davies PhD)

What does this mean for You?

The bottom line is...whatever you believe to be true, whether that belief is based on fact or fiction, makes no difference; it becomes so.

My own introduction to this fact of life was when a close friend was mis-diagnosed. His condition was thought to be cancer and by the time doctors realised their error, it was too late; he died.

His postmortem revealed there was no tumour or hint of sickness, he died because he BELIEVED he had a killer tumour.

From my experience as a practitioner, I have seen how False Beliefs are at the root of many 'Phobias' & self-destructive behaviours such as drug and alcohol abuse; abusive relationships, depression and failure.

I have also seen the liberating and healing effect when someone sees, often for the first time, how a False Belief has been the cause of so much misery pain and sickness and how that same life changes almost instantly when the light of Truth shines brightly into their life.

If you would like to discover how you can find and eliminate the False Beliefs lurking within you...call me. I offer a Free Initial Consultation.