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With most physical habits, the underlying causes may be quite varied, and at different psychological levels. While hypnotherapy has a wide range of applications, the ailments that are most directly related to physical habits are usually the ones that can be treated with hypnotherapy most directly and easily. Hypnosis for smoking cessation is the most commonly recognized of these, and is among the most effective and least invasive techniques for reaching its goal. Another popular area for hypnotherapy treatment is for weight control. Similarly, hypnotherapy is also the most effective technique for conquering a nail biting habit. The nail biting habit has much in common with smoking. Both are physical, ritualistic habits. Either can be caused by the mechanics of a physical routine, or may be symptomatic of deeper psychological issues. And in either case the habit itself can be very effectively halted with hypnotherapy. Discovering and treating underlying psychological problems, which are exhibited in nail biting and smoking can be a process that necessitates multiple sessions with a knowledgeable hypnotherapist. However, not all hypnotists and hypnotherapists are capable of working at the deep psychological level. Fortunately, for the purposes of ending a nail biting or a smoking habit, they are not required to work below the most direct physical level. The immediate goal of curing nail biting is much more straightforward. Many of our deeper psychological and emotional states are influenced by our physical state, so in treating physical conditions directly, we can also have an indirect impact on deeper issues. Additionally, not all negative physical habits have an underlying cause; sometimes it is truly just a physical habit; and it "feels" good for the individual to take part in them. In my experience, the relaxed and focused state of hypnosis can achieve extraordinary results when it comes to achieving simple physical state changes. Whenever I relieve severe burn pain, alleviate nausea, and solve other physical problems for a client in mere seconds, it still amazes and surprises me, even though I'm supposedly the one with the "power" (although as we know, the real power lies in the client's unconscious mind). Our minds have the capacity to block out severe pain and nausea; so helping to prevent one from nail biting is a modest goal in comparison. I've found three of the most powerful hypnotherapy techniques to be association, substitution and anchoring. With association, one can link the undesirable behavior to something very unpleasant; with substitution, one may replace the bad habit with a harmless one; with anchoring, one may link physical movement triggers with alternative feelings and behaviors. With association, just like the simple hypnosis trick can make a piece of white bread taste like a delicious slice of New York Cheesecake to a subject, one can make the taste and feeling of nail biting to be very distasteful. If your subject is repeatedly conditioned to believe that the taste and feel of nail biting is very unpleasant, it will help the habit to disappear. There are chemical products that achieve this goal via unpleasant tasting nail polish. However, with a mental association it is easy to stop nail biting without relying on applying a chemical product. This "aversion" type of therapy generally isn't very helpful. But it is reliable only when used as an adjunct to eliminating stress that causes one to bite their nails, as well as extinguishing conditioned responses (unconscious associations), which triggers one to bite their nails. Substitution can be used to replace the nail-biting habit with a more benign habit. For example, it is quite effective to make the suggestion that whenever one feels the urges that lead them towards nail biting, they will take a deep breath instead, and exhale slowly, experiencing all the satisfaction and resolution that nail biting used to bring. I have found the deep breathing substitute to be effective for a wide range of ailments. Similarly, anchoring can be used to subvert one action into another, and works well with association and substitution techniques. It is useful in creating the suggestion that every time subjects see their fingers approach their mouth, they vividly remember the bad taste association, and they take a deep breath instead to resolve the tension. Hypnotherapy has long been established as one of the most effective techniques for negative habit modification. Just as with smoking cessation, the techniques and concepts discussed here prove to be very effective as a long-term nail-biting cure.
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Alan B. Densky, CH has been helping clients with stress related afflictions since 1978. He offers a comprehensive 7-session self-hypnosis stop nail-biting CD based on NLP and Ericksonian Hypnotherapy. Visit his hypnosis site for free hypnosis videos, and advice. www.neuro-vision.us/Products/AudioNailBitingHypnosisTapes.htm www.neuro-vision.us/ www.neuro-vision.us/self-hypnosis_videos.html
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