Problem? Hypnotherapy promises results in the blink of an eye

Most people go into a trance state similar to mild hypnosis between 50 and 100 times a day, Jon Abbott says.
He's just started his own business, Jon Abbott Hypnotherapy and Personal Development, and uses hypnotism to put people into a deeper therapeutic trance, allowing them to engage their imaginations and solve their problems.
"Usually if a person is really wanting to achieve something they will achieve that in one or two sessions. Phobias can be done in an hour."
Mr Abbott gets clients to fill in a questionnaire before they arrive, and gives them homework afterwards.
He said hypnotherapy was for people who wanted quick results. It bypassed the conscious mind and worked directly with the unconscious.
Hypnotised people were never completely under the therapist's control, he said.
"At no time do they lose the ability to move or talk or open their eyes. There's always a part of their mind that's in full awareness of what's going on."
He got interested in hypnotism as a teenager, learned some tricks from a stage hypnotist and practiced on his friends.
Stage-style hypnotism is not what he does now. He said it was an entertainment and people who volunteered for it were willing participants. Stage hypnotists combined hypnotism with cajoling and bribery to get the volunteers to do entertaining things. About 3 per cent of people are completely resistant to hypnotism, Mr Abbott has been told. The other 97 per cent have to be willing before it can actually happen.
Swinging a pendulum back and forth to hypnotise people was a stage trick. He used words, breathing exercises and eye fixation on his clients.
For some, the trance state only made them feel as if they were sitting in a chair and talking to someone. Others felt relaxed and for still others it was a transcendental experience.
Mr Abbott combines his therapeutic practice with neurolinguistic programming (NLP), a therapy that invites clients to copy the habits of successful people.
It was mainly about communication, he said - using positive self talk and talking positively to others.
Brought up in Wellington, he trained in homeopathy but decided it wasn't the right tool for him. His interest in hypnotherapy reignited when it helped him stop smoking and regain health.
He then trained in hypnotherapy and NLP with Adam Eason in the UK in 2008. The one-year course involved "large amounts of going into a trance yourself, and taking other people into trance".
He's now studying psychology at Massey University and business at Whanganui UCOL, and has just started his own hypnotherapy business.
Wanganui was a good place to study, he said, and he had family there. His new business is in Wanganui's Park Place.
For more information, see www.jonabbotthypnotherapy.com.