https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2017/06/03/lhypnose-pour-traiter-les-pedophiles
Translated by Google Translation
Already used to quit smoking or treat bulimia, hypnosis could now be used to treat sex offenders, according to Belgian researchers.
Being hypnotized is neither sleeping nor meditating. It is rather an “altered state of consciousness” in which a patient is voluntarily immersed.
The hypnotherapist can thus enter into direct contact with the subject’s unconscious through speech.
Demonstrating a certain letting go, patients are more sensitive to the therapist’s suggestions than they would normally be. And this would also be true for sex offenders.
“Everyone is capable of entering hypnosis, but some are more gifted than others. “Those who say they can’t do it simply don’t want to do it,” explains Pierre Collart, a doctor of psychological sciences at the Vincent Van Gogh Hospital in Belgium.
The man who has worked with sex offenders for over 20 years recently became interested in the contribution of hypnosis in the treatment of his patients.
He and his colleague Bettina Delmoitiez presented their preliminary research at the International Francophone Congress on Sexual Assault (CIFAS), which is being held this week in Montreal.
180-degree turns
According to their studies, hypnosis could make it possible to operate “180-degree turns” in the thoughts of certain offenders, as has already been done with people suffering from bulimia, in particular (see examples).
For example, it would be possible to induce a feeling of protection, disgust, or even fear in the mind of a pedophile confronted with the sight of a child.
Instead of being attracted to the child, the pedophile would seek to distance himself from him.
The hypnotherapist could also use his knowledge to develop positive aspects of the patient, such as self-esteem.
“There is no magic trick that cures the world,” insists Dr. Collart. “For some, it works, for others, less so. Hypnosis is not a therapy, it is a tool in the overall strategy.”
The treatment can be used in the clinic to try to prevent the sex offender from committing the crime or after the crime, to reduce the risk of reoffending.
Not like Mesmer
For the process to succeed, it is essential that the patient be motivated and open-minded, notes Pierre Collart. In this regard, the researcher believes that “hypnosis-show, as Messmer does, can do a lot of damage. »
No one will be forced to act like a dog or eat a plate of earthworms in a hypnotherapist’s office, assures Dr. Collart.
« Therapeutic or medical hypnosis is not at all what we see on TV. We can never impose something on someone. There is no risk and no manipulation, » he specifies.
SEXUAL DELINQUENCY SCENARIO
Even if he does not want to, an engineer is invariably attracted to young girls as soon as he sees one. It is automatic, he would like to be their age all of a sudden.
The patient – who does not have an incest problem – was suggested to see these young girls as if they were his own daughter. Not being attracted to his own daughter, this calmed his urges.
BULIMIC SCENARIO
A bulimic woman very often passes by a street where there is a bakery with the most beautiful cake stand. She can’t help it, she goes in and buys some.
The hypnotherapist suggested to the patient to associate this stand with a feeling of satiety – instead of lack – when she passes by it again. Believing she has already eaten when she sees the cake, she no longer goes into the store.