Dr. Alex Aviv
Psychiatrist, licensed to practice hypnosis
Director of the Advisory Committee to the Minister of Health on Hypnosis. Teaches psychotherapy in the psychotherapy program at the Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University.
Dr. Alex Aviv, this week mentioned the International Mental Health Day, featured even more in light of the corona damage. Clinic you meet many patients and helps them to hypnosis. Before we talk in detail about the situation, Salh certainly has many: every man is a bar hypnosis?
"Principle Yes. Hypnosis is a mental-conscious process in which changes in emotion, cognition and sensation are caused as a result of suggestion, the shah, that is, a suggestion given by verbal means or signs to another person. So that every person can technically be hypnotized to one degree or another, if he agrees to the process. It is important to emphasize that actual and not just formal consent is an important condition for this. However, not every person, even if he really wants to, can produce all the hypnotic effects. It is not possible to hypnotize a person against his will. "
What does hypnosis look like from the patient's point of view?
"It varies between types of treatments. Hypnosis aimed at improving a person's ability to pass a driving test is performed with full vigilance; however, if we want to help a person sleep at night - hypnosis will put him to sleep and not sleep; in dealing with anxiety - we will try to reduce physical signs. .
These are different suggestions. How do they fit into the type of person?
"In cases of someone who is anxious about the examiner in the test, for example, the suggestion will focus on grinning, for example imagine a red bow tie with white dots or Pinocchio's nose. It lowers anxiety. When a person is anxious about a flight situation, It resembled a crib, a pleasant movement in which you can even fall asleep. "
The pleasant movement you describe is part of the unique state of consciousness in hypnosis. How do you get there?
"The use of a pendulum clock is one of the classic methods for creating a hypnotic state. In addition, in the hands of the modern therapist today there are a variety of methods such as relaxation, imagination, signs and movements."
According to the neo-dissociation model, hypnosis acts on the brain's control center and shifts its priorities. For example, it does not eliminate pain but assigns it a lower priority in consciousness. In this way, to what extent do the changes that occur in hypnosis last in the long run?
The change in the 'control center' of the brain in hypnosis is created through the secretion of neurhormonal substances as well as neurotransmitters. "The emotional pain it causes. In these cases, the change caused by hypnosis can be long-term."
Creating long-term change is of course only part of the object of aspiration of hypnosis researchers. What else do new studies in the field of hypnosis teach us?
The most refreshing change in research is the use of hypnosis in a model that is not only related to symptoms, but to improving human well-being. More efficient. "
Athletes are also mentally vulnerable.
Simon Bales // Photo: EP,
The fear of needles is gone
Let’s talk about the stress caused to people during the corona plague. In your clinic you treat many of them through hypnosis. What effects are you having?
"Among other things, we encounter the body-mind effects that the epidemic brought with it, and as is well known, stress can manifest itself in various physical symptoms. Both fieldwork and studies published in the past year indicate an increase in psychosomatic symptoms as a result of the corona epidemic. "They are headaches, backaches, indigestion, dizziness. Hypnosis is a fairly effective tool for treating the cause of these symptoms, ie stress."
The school students were also significantly injured.
"The closures have significantly impaired the learning habits of children and adolescents. Along with the welcome return to school, not enough space has been given to the need for students to gradually adapt.
This causes more students to be absent, and even among those who arrive there are those who are there in the body but their head is not there.
Children and adolescents are naturally highly hypnotic.
Therefore, the use of hypnosis can be most effective in reducing anxiety around returning to school.
In a research paper on boys with 'school refusal' that I published in the past, hypnosis was found to be a very effective tool in treating this problem. "
What is the guiding principle of such treatments?
“Most boys who have a school refusal feel most secure in their room.
What we do in such cases - is to imagine that the room goes with them.
Once they feel the distress return in class, they can close their eyes and imagine they are in the room, in the safe place.
They can smell the room, actually see it and even feel the mattress of the bed. "
What about people who are afraid of needles? They found themselves in trouble in the face of the demand to get vaccinated.
"The corona has indeed exposed people who are anxious about blood tests and injections to situations of high stress, and hypnosis is an excellent tool for overcoming fear of needles. A girl came to me before enlistment in the IDF who was anxious about the vaccine injections she would receive at the recruitment bureau. Every time she saw a syringe or needle of a syringe, she went into high anxiety. At the end of a small session, during the hypnotic process, she lightly stabbed her hand with a tiny syringe needle, and after a few more sessions she reached a point where she agreed to receive vaccinations and even a blood test she needed. Needless to say, the recruitment day was a great success. "
In your clinic you also treat athletes. Sports fans around the world are still recovering from Simon Bailes' "mental collapse" at the Tokyo Olympics.
"The case of Simone Biles raised the collective consciousness of the fact that, despite the fact that the athletes gifted physically - mentally they are vulnerable to all of us. As a result, there is a greater willingness of athletes to get mental help. Hypnosis is one of the most effective anxiolytic making many athletes experience.
" In the past I have treated an athlete who has repeatedly failed in competitions, even though he excelled in training. Performance anxiety caused extreme unconscious stiffening of his muscles, which severely impaired his performance. In the self-hypnosis I taught him, he managed to relax his muscles before each fight, and in the first year after the treatment, he dramatically increased the percentage of victories. "
Great athletes like Mark Spitz and Muhammad Ali used self-hypnosis to achieve and break records. Is it relevant to the general public as well?
"Self-hypnosis is an excellent therapeutic tool, and we use it a lot in the treatment of anxiety - for example exam anxiety; the student does self-hypnosis before the test, which aims on the one hand to reduce anxiety, and on the other hand, increase concentration and ability to retrieve knowledge during the exam."
"Anyone can be hypnotized."
A painting by R.
Berg, 1887,
The Tangled Cruise
Let's talk about the law of hypnosis. We are in fact the only country in the world where stage artists are not allowed to use hypnosis by law. Does this indicate progress or rather archaism?
"Many countries see Israel's hypnosis law as a sign of progress, and the only reason they do not enact such laws is the strong lobby that stage artists have. There are also mentalists and stage artists in Israel who try to influence legislators to repeal the hypnosis law. I am happy to belong to the public health group. "Concern for the livelihood of those stage artists is a candle to their feet."
Some will say that in fact denying the possibility of hypnotizing stage coaches, you are taking care of a small clique of professionals.
"I am aware that some readers may think so, but I am pleased to announce that we are working to propose a new hypnosis law that will allow therapists from other professions, such as social workers and midwives, to study hypnosis and obtain permission to practice it."
There are also complaints from stage artists that they use stage hypnosis and are invited to police investigations or receive complaints from the Hypnosis Advisory Committee due to its use. Are you doing them an injustice?
"Instead of talking theoretically about the risk, I will describe a case I dealt with: a young man went on a cruise with his girlfriend. One evening he went on stage with a mentalist who did a show that included hypnosis. Long - that only through intensive treatment that included 'restorative' hypnosis, was it cured.
"In another case, a man came to an alternative therapist, who in Israel could not have a license for hypnosis, after having difficulty overcoming separation from his girlfriend. To the hospital in vague consciousness.
The director of the emergency room called me and through intensive hypnotic intervention he got out of the situation. "
These are extreme situations. Routinely, how do therapists who are not licensed for hypnosis or artists know when they are crossing the line?
"Among therapists, the use of a count or pendulum is common as a kind of hypnotic suggestion and they can put people into hypnosis. Artists, for example, know well when they cross the line. All the sites that teach them how to do great shows are hypnosis. The issue also includes inquiries from the public. "
The cases you mentioned reminded me of Yaffa Suissa, who in the 1970s went into a vague state of consciousness after the hypnosis of another therapist. Is this a situation that should worry people who go into hypnosis?
"Hypnosis cannot cause a person to do things against his will, belief and choice. A person is not 'stuck' in a hypnotic state, but if during hypnosis an emotional conflict arises, even if the hypnotist did not mean it, the hypnotist may choose to remain in the hypnotic state.
" Learn in detail how to get a person out of hypnosis safely, despite his desire to stay in it.
"Mentalists and charlatans who engage in illegal hypnosis have not been trained to deal with such situations, so hypnosis performed by unlicensed people carries a risk."
For suggestions and comments: Ranp@israelhayom.co.il
