Hypnotherapy is the use of hypnosis for psychotherapy. According to American Psychological Association↑
...hypnosis is a procedure during which a health professional or researcher suggests while treating someone that he or she experience changes in sensations, perceptions, thoughts, or behavior. Although some hypnosis is used to make people more alert, most hypnosis includes suggestions for relaxation, calmness, and well-being. Instructions to imagine or think about pleasant experiences are also commonly included during hypnosis. People respond to hypnosis in different ways. Some describe hypnosis as a state of focused attention, in which they feel very calm and relaxed. Most people describe the experience as pleasant.
A hypnotherapist must be a physician or a psychiatrist to treat disorders related to depression, anxiety, eating disorders, sleep disorders, and post-traumatic stress.
Treatments for weight loss or to stop smoking can be provided by licensed hypnotherapists who are not necessarily physicians or psychiatrists.
The term hypnosis is derived from Greek "hypnos". In Greek mythology, Hypnos is the god of sleep whose mother was the goddess Nyx or "night".
It is interesting to note that the Roman god of sleep was Somnus, from which the term "somnambulism" (also a trance like state) is derived.
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