For those of you that have tried to look for therapy and then feel bombarded with an array of various types of therapy, you are not alone. The word therapy is attached to nearly everything these days even for something like breathing. So finding the right therapy that’s for you would be ideal but then again there’s no way to actually know until you try it or accumulate relatable stories from people that have tried it.

I’ll cover with you the lowdown on the most common therapies for mental health. Hypnotherapy comes more from a practical-based background whereas psychotherapy comes from a research background. It’s not to say one is better than the other but each is better for certain things. Psychotherapy deals with a lifestyle that is attached to the problem. A lot of work is carried out by the client and this also proves to be a way for the client to understand their personal method of self-healing in case they require it in the future.

Hypnotherapy is essentially bypassing conscious thoughts and changing matters on a sub-conscious level. The deeper you can access the subconscious the more of an impact it’ll have. My personal opinion would be that hypnotherapy is the most powerful when you’re dealing with something related directly to you but comes with many dependencies, e.g. ability to access a subconscious state. Knowing the line of thought to change and whether you’re able to generate clarity using your imagination, the therapist will help you through that. Often you hear about people getting hypnotherapy but snapping out of the change after three weeks or so… This is where we say they should have gone for psychotherapy.

Psychotherapy is a line of question that gets you to consider the situations around the thoughts taking place. In many cases, if you make situational changes a lot of the negative thoughts that come attached to them get resolved. However, it is also recommended to go for psychotherapy if you are in a good state but have unresolved issues from the past. Having scars from the past is a huge thing and most therapies we come across try to address this.

So it comes down to this: understand whether you are seeking help with your past, present or future. If there are situational factors affecting you. then ideally go for psychotherapy otherwise hypnotherapy is likely to be the best option as doing deep work will bring you a deeper impact.

An example can be:  if due to your past you picked up self-esteem issues or a smoking issue then hypnosis is a good way to change the pattern of thinking. If you are still around people, places or situations that spark those thoughts into you then even after hypnotherapy you’ll be in a war with your mind.

In my experience as a therapist, I always go for the psychotherapy model until we establish what the person is looking for so either a healing experience or a change in their pattern of thought. Then we will use hypnosis. However, in most cases, psychotherapy leaves the person empowered to structurally realign their approach to life because it’s likely the client knows the resolution but just needs the clarity and empowerment to pursue it.  

If you have further questions or thoughts on the topic do reach out. Understandably, every therapist will have their own view on this topic because you build a passion for your school of thought when you start seeing the results it brings to people.

Feel free to send ideas for my next mental health blog.

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