Hypnotherapy is a form of therapy in which the use of hypnotism constitutes the core of the treatment, it uses the power of the mind to help heal physical as well as emotional problems. It helps the patient discover the underlying emotional and psychological causes to their ailments.
Hypnotherapy is particularly useful in helping people to deal with stress and anxiety related conditions such as panic attacks, phobias, insomnia and other emotional problems like depression, lack of confidence and self esteem, etc.
Hypnotherapy can also help you change unwelcome habits such as smoking and nail-biting, and deal with problems relating to food and body image. This is achieved by finding out what the real problem is and finding better, more positive ways to meet your needs
Hypnosis is not a state of sleep but a state of relaxation varying from light to deep. Tests have shown that a person is neither unconscious, nor asleep. Tests have shown that a person in deep hypnosis is in a state of deep relaxation and engaged in normal mental activity..
The initial task of the therapist is to establish rapport with the client. This involves encouraging the client to talk about his or her concerns. The therapist would spend time with the client first to take a clinical history. As well as establishing a clinical record, the discussion contributes to building trust and confidence between the therapist and the client. Feeling safe, comfortable and secure with the therapist helps the induction of a hypnotic trance
The length of treatments depends on the problem or symptom and the individual's circumstances. With some people a problem like nail biting can be successfully treated in one session. Other problems such as panic attacks can take up to 5 or 6 sessions.
In the course of the therapy clients are usually taught self hypnosis as part of a number of therapeutic homework tasks.
The first session usually lasts one and a half hours with subsequent sessions between an hour and an hour and a half.

History of Hypnotherapy
The roots of medicine by therapy lie in ancient societies even earlier than the Ancient Egyptians and Ancient Indians. Religious rituals were characterized by dancing, music, and masked peoples assuming new identities.

In the nineteenth century, healers like Abbe Faria and practitioners like Franz Anton Mesmer, Scottish neurosurgeon James Braid, James Esdaile, John Elliotson, Ambroise-Auguste Liébault, Emile Coue, Jean-Martin Charcot and more recently Andrew Salter with his conditioned reflex therapy, began experimenting with the principles of what we now understand as hypnosis.

Mesmer's research into the prevalent ailment of 'hysteria' led to the theory of animal magnetism. This is comparable to modern-day stress, or in hysteria's most extreme examples, appears to bear similarity to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A contemporary of Mesmer had claimed to have discovered a physical force in all living things (people, trees, plants and animals) through which humans would reach the hysteria state instantly on contact with a specially "magnetised" tree or bush. Following an elaborate ceremony 'magnetising' trees, sufferers of hysteria or hysterical nature would touch the tree and experience something akin to a fit, after which the hysteria would usually not recur.

Mesmer staged an animal magnetism without having 'magnetised' the trees to illustrate that the ceremony was a sham. However, all of the volunteers for Mesmer's event had the same effect from the non-prepared trees. That is, the very suggestion of animal magnetism being at work was enough to create the bodily response.

Mesmer then wrote various theses on this previously unheard-of psychological effect, later termed [mermerism] as shorthand for the effect. In common parlance, we have since retermed this the Placebo Effect. (reference outstanding)

James Braid was next to develop modern hypnosis a step further. In his scientific studies of brain workings, he became driven to understand the nature and logistics of sleep, and specifically dreaming, in the brain. In his writings and studies later published on these findings, Braid referred to the Greek god of sleep, Hypnos. As such, the new branch of learning became known as "neur-hypnology". (reference outstanding)

Sigmund Freud for the first 15 or so years of his own psychological treatment in the late 1930s employed something similar to hypnosis with his own hysteria clients, upper-class Viennese women. This took the form of the svengali-esque [swinging watch] technique, to defocus the eyes before a fully authoritarian and overt induction.

Presumably not all Freud's clients found this effective, as he later abandoned the procedure in favor of his newly developed free association technique. This is often viewed as the beginning of modern [psychotherapy], in that the patient would be asked ongoing questions to 'keep them talking' from which Freud would then deduce an explanation and treatment based on his own theories and frameworks. During such procedures, various props were used to allude to the patient's own psychology and preferences... including inkspots of undetermined shape Rorschach test (pronounced 'raw-shock') and [lucid dreaming] similar to waking hypnotherapy of the modern day.

Although he showed a preference for his own home-made procedures, the principles of conscious, unconscious, dream utilisation and refinement of attention are ongoing themes throughout the majority of his work. They also predate what we nowadays refer to as hypnotherapy, although the chasm between the schools of psychotherapy and hypnotherapy has deepened as these elements of Freud's format are left aside in favour of a more [counselling]-based approach.

Milton H. Erickson, M.D. is considered one of the most successful modern hypnotherapists. He has written many books, journals, and articles, on the subject, and his accomplishments are well documented and of divine interest to those desiring to learn this profession.

During the 1970s, Erickson saw unprecedented success treating his medical patients with hypnotic procedures. He was responsible for an entirely new branch of hypnotherapy as we now call it, Ericksonian hypnotherapy. This was the use of covert suggestion in normal conversation, without the formal "you are feeling sleepy" authoritarian induction rigamorole used by Freud. ( with thanks to Wikipedia)

Hypnotherapy Techniques
Age Regression - by returning to an earlier ego-state the patient can regain qualities they once had, but have lost. Remembering an earlier, healthier, ego-state can increase the patients strength and confidence.

Revivification - remembering past experiences can contribute to therapy. For example; the hypnotist may ask "have you ever been in trance?" and then find it easier to revive the previous experience than attempt inducing a new state.
Guided Imagery - a method by which the subject is given a new relaxing and beneficial experience.

Parts Therapy - a method to identify conflicting parts that are damaging the well being of clients, then helps those parts negotiate with each other through the therapist to bring about a resolution.

Confusion - a method developed by Milton Erickson in which the subject becomes receptive to ideas because confused.

Repetition - the more an idea is repeated the more likely it is to be accepted and acted upon by the patient.

Direct Suggestion - suggesting directly. "You feel safe and secure".

Indirect Suggestion - using "interspersal" technique and other means to cause effect.

Mental State - people are more receptive while relaxed, sleeping, or in a trance.

Hypnoanalysis - the client recalls moments from his past, confronting them and releasing associated emotions, similar to psychoanalysis.

Post Hypnotic Suggestion - a suggestion that will be carried out after the trance has ended. "When you re-awaken you will feel refreshed."

Binds or Double binds - tension on a bind causes trance. This is like "the centipede who when asked which comes first, the left foot or the right, lost his concentration, stumbled, then rolled into the ditch". Binds are very common in hypnosis and it is essential to know the capacity of the subject and to ensure they will concentrate on the leg that will carry them through their journey. The duty of the hypnotist is to concentrate the subject on their desired goal.

Visualization - being told to imagine or visualize a desired outcome seems to make it more likely to actually occur.