It doesn't feel like you are giving up control at all if done well. My therapist trusts my "process" and doesn't push me past what is comfortable. There have been very few sessions where I didn't feel better afterwards, even if during the session it was very difficult or painful. It DEFINATELY helps to facilitate work around inner child issues (although I have a lot of resistance to that in hypnotherapy... refusal to save him from my older parts who hate him, think he brought it on himself, deserved it, etc.) One thing I can definately say is that you find out a whole lot about the inner belief system that drives you on a daily basis, what the "parts" think of each other, etc.
I have also used it for recall, and that is much more painful, because it freaks me out to see with total clarity things like patterns on curtains, wallpaper, the smell of a room, etc. You realize how much your brain stores even if you can't consciously recall these details for all the money in the world. My T is very good, and has never pushed me to remember more than my subconscious could bring up. There is never any sort of suggestion... just "what do you see now" type questions. Sometimes you can verbalize, sometimes you can't. But you always know what is going on. There is a lot that you can do with finding new ways to convince parts of yourself to react instead of the ways they have always known. (I did a lot of work around having to control everything in my relationships. Talked to the "parts" of myself that had no control when I was little and how they were trying to control things now but that wasn't working in my adult life. Worked wonders.)
I know this all sounds foreign probably to people who haven't done it. Or like you suddenly feel crazy by talking to all these "parts."
But, in actuality, you are sorting out all of the clamor that goes on. You are allowing "parts" to talk that never get the chance.
Sorry this is such a long description. Just wanted you to know my experience... hopefully it will help you going into it.
-Sean
