Hypnosis and the Limbic System

I was discussing pain and hypnosis with a colleague today and the subject of the Limbic System came up.


I thought it might be interesting to review what is meant by the term Limbic System. There is the hypothalamus [which (1)deals with hunger, thirst, responses to pain, anger and aggressive behavior, pleasure and more (2)regulates the parasympathetic nervous system(relaxing system) and sympathetic nervous system (on guard system) ], the pituitary gland [the master gland of all our glands], the amygdala [which can be remembered by one word FEAR (1)(what it perceives creates the response from the perception real or unreal) (2)(It is in control of the stress response of fight or flight (3)It is involved with the conscious and emotional response to an event, and the hippocampus which is involved with memory.

So ... why is the hypnotherapist interested in the Limbic System at all? This is where we create change. This is where our highly charged emotional memories are stored. This is where events of our lives are labeled internallyimportant to us. This part of the brain is both primitive and thinking, it evaluates the situation and triggers very primitive reactions related to eating, pain, emotion, and fear. Confusion here can lead to a life messed up at levels below our normal awarness. Fortunately this part of the brain does think, it has to to evaluate its reaction, but its thinking is not always clear. This is the part of our brain that responds so well to metaphors. It is the emotional seat of our mind. This is where we create the change, where we can change the labels or change the emotional and physical associations. This is why some things that seem like no-brainers to the higher intellect can be so effective when delivered properly


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