Hi everyone. I have been thinking a lot lately about whether or not hypnosis is available for SA as it is for smoking etc...on the one hand it feels a bit like "cheating" on the other hand that's a bit like saying a warrior wearing armor is cheating. 

Can anyone give me real empirical information about this or point me to high quality sources or contacts? I want to seriously examine this and likely go for it if it is actually available and effective. 

Thanks!

I am trained in Guided Imagery, a system similar to hypnosis. It will DEFENITELY help you stop acting out with lust.... But it will DEFINITELY NOT solve your problem.           I am under the impression that hypnosis will have a similar benefit, it will help you EASILY stay clean (which is great), but it won't....
Keep you out of [other] trouble when you are board
Help you accept all of life's challenges
Solve all financial worried
Can anyone copy-paste the "promises" of the 12 step program over here.?  

Addictions are merely where people will alot of emotional "baggage", blow their steam.     For us, lust also serve as an emotional outlet. Hypnosis won't give you an ALTERNATIVE to acting out. I have found a real benefit in using BOTH (hypnosis/therapy+program)!!

The same goes for the "torah approach". In addition to keeping us away from "shmutz" and "shpritzing", it needs to serve as a full fledged alternative to all the side benefits of the program. Maybe it doensn't need to have every last מעלה of a high-quality of 'recovery', but without MOST of those benefits It "won't be pleasant" not acting out.      


When lust can be defined as a fleeting pleasure that makes me forget all my sorrows, responsibilities, worries, debts, pains, suffering. An age-old pastime, always in 'hands reach', available on both sidewalks of every street (except in NewSquare). The 'drug of choice' when I am bored, hungry angry lonely tired or depressed.
Any alternative "system" or תורה needs to enable us to....  Stop white knuckling the natural urge, breaking a life-long habit, facing all our fears, living up to my responsibilities, resolving my worries, paying my debts and bills on time, calmly relaxing in my free time, closing my eyes everywhere but my own home.

FYI, i will admit that I first wanted to stop because of the איסור.  But in order to successfully do that, I needed the right מראה מקומות, and only after many years in the program, did I learn to understand WHAT the program is, and thereby understand WHAT i needed from my yiddishkeit. I continue to turn tot he program to know what I need to do, and I try finding how-where-what in the torah can do that for me. 

 in short- the torah approach, or any other theraputic system, needs to be implemented in a manner simmilar to the 12 steps. It's not merely about "stopping to act out"......       recovery!!

I agree with that completely. Im just wondering if this could be additionally helpful. If so, do you know where I could look to do so? I have no idea where to even begin!

You could try, for example, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Hypnosis" by Roberta Temes.  I have read through this book, and she describes the process very well-- what hypnosis is, what it isn't.  I have never myself experienced hypnosis, but my wife has been very involved in hypnosis (on the receiving end).

From what I understand, hypnosis is a technique to get your mind to be more receptive to suggestions.  The author gives a lot of examples of how she works with clients, how she develops treatment plans with her clients.  She also talks about the history of hypnosis, and she makes a very clear distinction between stage hypnosis which is entertainment (and, depending on the hypnotist, may have ethical problems) and clinical hypnosis, which is like a doctor-patient relationship with both parties working together to address the client's concerns.

I hope this helps!