Well all I can say is that hypnotherapy can be a wonderful tool in helping people who have been through severe trauma to learn to accept, cope and recover. I've never really liked the hypnotherapy stage acts, as in a way I feel they make light of a therapy that can be invaluable in medical terms and put people off using this therapy for serious problems. I have had hypnotherapy on several occasions while in the safe hands of medically trained professionals. The first time I had hypnotherapy it was to help me through an extremely painful trial medical therapy for bone cancer. The second time was only a few years later after I lost my son to brain cancer three days before his 21st birthday. I reluctantly went on the advice of my friend, who is a doctor and who felt there was no way I was going to cope with this loss without help. She was right and I am so grateful to her for seeing this. I always knew what was going on while under hypnosis and never felt I was being led to do anything against my own will. It allowed me to release the pent up pain and thoughts of watching my son die in my arms and with the hypnotist's help I learned to cope with what life had thrown at me. I don't know how it actually works but I have been told it doesn't work on everyone. Despite being reluctant at first, hypnotherapy did work for me and did me a lot more good than antidepressants would have.