One of the wonderful natural side effects
of Hypnotherapy is it naturally reduces the need for antidepressant
medications. Even when working with people for non related therapies,
they have found that their mood and outlook greatly improves. The
simple fact is that antidepressants simply cause chemical changes in
the brain that Hypnosis can and often does
produce naturally. It all depends on the therapy. When the Hypnotherapy
is directed to this, it will produce the feel good chemicals called
endorphins.
It seems too easy for a Doctor or Psychiatrist to just hand you a prescription and send you off to your new little vanilla world. It's not hard to understand why with drug company representatives at your Doctors office almost every day. My last visit to my Doctors office there were advertisements in the waiting room, the hallways, and even the examination rooms. After a while this becomes very suggestive to the Doctors to prescribe the drugs. And I am sure you have heard the story about kick backs that some Doctors may get from drug companies. And some of the drugs that they may prescribe are very scary like Prozac.
Ultimately there are people that
do
require the need to be medicated, but not the vast number that are now.
Everyone
has up and down days in life myself included. But because I have an
occasional off day, that does not mean I need to be living my life with
a bottle of
Zoloft as my best friend. If you listen to the Zoloft advertisements
you
will hear the words "The problem may
be
related to...." but many people miss that. There is no
mention that you may just be having a particular difficult time in your
life for a
few weeks or few months. And as soon at that difficult time passes you
bounce
back to your old self. Examples may be loss
or illness of a family member, or
changes
in relationships, or even just some
temporary
financial problems. However the problem for
some
people is getting off the antidepressants. It can cause emotional up's
and
downs. This is simply cause by your brain expecting the medications,
and
suddenly there are less or none. This is just a withdrawal symptom.
Hypnotherapy
is helpful in eliminating the downs and enhancing the ups.
The reason that this page was created is several people that have seen me for Hypnotherapy and even people who have called me have asked if I could help them get off the antidepressants. Well the answer to this question is YES. First you must understand a few thing on how this Hypnotherapy works. First there needs to be 3 way communication between the person that is prescribing your medications, you, and myself. Although it is your body and you can choose to take or not take medications, there are some side effects to withdrawal that are best dealt with by stepping down your dosages. Some examples may be chills, headaches, or even irregular bowel movements. Nothing too severe, and as long as you know you may get them it makes it easier on you. Your Doctor can set you up with a withdrawal dosage program. Mentally You could do cold turkey with Hypnotherapy, but it is not advised because of the physical withdrawal symptoms. Another thing is your Doctor may not know that Hypnotherapy can do this very quickly, and he or she should only worry about the physical symptoms.
Getting a
written referral from your Doctor is necessary. The referral should
read "Hypnotherapy for the
treatment of withdrawal symptoms from antidepressant medications."
Also the medical
diagnosis code. This will be helpful when you submit your bills to
insurance.
They probably would deny the claim without it. You need to see if your
insurance
covers this, some may and others may not. Don't assume that they will.
Also
this tells me in writing that your Doctor agrees to this.
The Therapy
Step 1: Step
down to zero dosage.
The amount of time this takes depends on how well you can deal with the
Physical symptoms. If you are starting with a high dosage then you can
expect a longer therapy. Learning self Hypnosis is part of the therapy.
Sessions are 1 week apart for duration of step 1.
Step 2:
Mental adjustment.
This part of the therapy is about 3 or 4 sessions. It is designed to
help you learn to cope with stress that may pop up from time to time.
Session 1 & 2 are 1 a week. The others can be 1 or 2 weeks
apart as needed.
Step 3:
Maintenance.
This involves a custom CD that you should use as prescribed. Also 1 or
2 follow up visits are suggested spaced 4 to 6 weeks apart for fine
tuning.
I
would suggest that you print this page and take it with you to your
Doctor if you are considering this. Have him or her call me if they
have any questions.
Please contact me to discuss your situation. Confidential phone consultation is free.
Too far away? Consider using Skype for this form of hypnotherapy.
