In all the years I have been practicing hypnosis in Atlanta, the case of the housebound woman has to be one of the most unusual. “Frances” called me because she had been almost unable to leave her home for three years. The problem was that every time she heard music, she would start to cry uncontrollably. And, even though she did not know it, she gave me the solution to her problem within the first three minutes of the first time we spoke.
So, she was unable to go shopping, because there might be music playing somewhere, especially during the Christmas season. Her husband had to watch TV with the sound off in case there was background music playing on some program. Frances could not even attend a church service because of the singing.
When we first spoke Frances told me that when she heard music she saw a mental image of her childhood home and started crying. And, that gave me the solution.
I guided Frances into hypnosis, and had her imagine a black curtain behind which was the image that made her cry. I then had her push the image away at the speed of light so that it disappeared at the same time she raised the black curtain. After she had practiced this a few times, raising the curtain automatically made the image disappear. At that point, even when she tried to get the image of her childhood home back, it immediately disappeared over the horizon.
You may have noticed that Frances has not revealed any past childhood traumatic experiences, or had to dig for a “root cause” to her problem. And, you may be wondering if she needs to do so.
To find out if there was anything more to do, I had Frances bring herself out of hypnosis. And, then tested the effectiveness of the work we had done in hypnosis by singing Yankee Doodle to her. Her response surprised me.
Frances looked amazed, startled, and overjoyed. It was the first time in years she had listened to music without crying. All it took was a few minutes of hypnosis, and Frances was free to go back to church, the mall and watch TV again.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
There Is No Such Thing as a Powerful Hypnotic Suggestion
One of my hypnosis clients told me to use the most powerful suggestions possible to help him stop smoking. He had been trying to stop smoking for a while, and thought of himself as a difficult case. And, then I broke the bad news to him.
There is no such thing as a powerful hypnotic suggestion.
That is not the common belief about hypnosis, of course. After all, hypnosis can be effective in helping people stop smoking, lose weight, and lessen or eliminate acute or chronic pain. That seems pretty doggone powerful. And, it is. But, the power does not come from the suggestions themselves, with some being more powerful than others.
If hypnotic suggestions had power, with some being extremely powerful and others less so, those of us in the hypnosis business would have put together a power list years ago. The most powerful hypnotist in the world would have made a recording with all the power suggestions, and, hypnotherapists would only use suggestions from the the power list with our clients.
And if the power was in the suggestions, people would respond to a suggestion the same way every time. But, that is not the case. For example the suggestion, “Fresh fruit is much better than candy for satisfying your desire for sweets” may result in one hypnotized person completely eliminating candy from her diet, and another will continue eating just as much candy as before. The reason for this will be clear soon.
All hypnotherapists go through a “magic words” phase early in our training. We want to learn the special words or suggestions that create the most potent effects in clients. I once saw Richard Bandler demonstrate hypnosis at a workshop. He had a woman in deep trance lean to the side, bending at her ankles at an impossible angle. She stayed that way, completely unmoving, for over five minutes. Much to my frustration Richard whispered his suggestions to her, and we could not hear what he said that got her to lean that way.
I thought that if I said the same words as Richard, that I could get someone to do exactly what that woman did. And, I was wrong.
All hypnosis professionals are disappointed when they realize that although words can bring out the magic and power in our clients, it is not the words themselves that are magic or powerful. So, just where does the power come from for someone in hypnosis to turn off long term pain or get rid of a tobacco addiction in an hour?
The power is in the response of the person to the suggestion.
It is the job of the hypnotherapist to present ideas to the unconscious mind of the hypnotized person, in the form of suggestions. To be effective those suggestions must be constructed a way that meets the unique personality and needs of the person. And, putting together those suggestions is the way in which the hypnotherapist takes part in creating the powerful responses of the person.
Although the hypnotherapist's suggestions are a necessary part of the process, the power ultimately comes from the ways in which the person in hypnosis responds. And, each person will respond in ways that are uniquely their own.
There is no such thing as a powerful hypnotic suggestion.
That is not the common belief about hypnosis, of course. After all, hypnosis can be effective in helping people stop smoking, lose weight, and lessen or eliminate acute or chronic pain. That seems pretty doggone powerful. And, it is. But, the power does not come from the suggestions themselves, with some being more powerful than others.
If hypnotic suggestions had power, with some being extremely powerful and others less so, those of us in the hypnosis business would have put together a power list years ago. The most powerful hypnotist in the world would have made a recording with all the power suggestions, and, hypnotherapists would only use suggestions from the the power list with our clients.
And if the power was in the suggestions, people would respond to a suggestion the same way every time. But, that is not the case. For example the suggestion, “Fresh fruit is much better than candy for satisfying your desire for sweets” may result in one hypnotized person completely eliminating candy from her diet, and another will continue eating just as much candy as before. The reason for this will be clear soon.
All hypnotherapists go through a “magic words” phase early in our training. We want to learn the special words or suggestions that create the most potent effects in clients. I once saw Richard Bandler demonstrate hypnosis at a workshop. He had a woman in deep trance lean to the side, bending at her ankles at an impossible angle. She stayed that way, completely unmoving, for over five minutes. Much to my frustration Richard whispered his suggestions to her, and we could not hear what he said that got her to lean that way.
I thought that if I said the same words as Richard, that I could get someone to do exactly what that woman did. And, I was wrong.
All hypnosis professionals are disappointed when they realize that although words can bring out the magic and power in our clients, it is not the words themselves that are magic or powerful. So, just where does the power come from for someone in hypnosis to turn off long term pain or get rid of a tobacco addiction in an hour?
The power is in the response of the person to the suggestion.
It is the job of the hypnotherapist to present ideas to the unconscious mind of the hypnotized person, in the form of suggestions. To be effective those suggestions must be constructed a way that meets the unique personality and needs of the person. And, putting together those suggestions is the way in which the hypnotherapist takes part in creating the powerful responses of the person.
Although the hypnotherapist's suggestions are a necessary part of the process, the power ultimately comes from the ways in which the person in hypnosis responds. And, each person will respond in ways that are uniquely their own.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Smoking Causes Weight Gain, Hypnosis Helps Quitters Stay Thin
One of the big fears of my stop smoking clients is that they will gain weight when the stop smoking. It turns out, the opposite is true. Based on a four year study at the University of Navarra in Spain, continued smoking could lead to greater weight gain.
According to the research, the idea that smoking helps people lose weight by suppressing appetites is a myth. The research showed that smoking could cause people to put on more weight than people who have never smoked.
Over 7,500 people were followed for four years. Researchers found that people who continued to smoke gained more weight than their non-smoking counterparts.
Using hypnosis to stop smoking can eliminate any weight gain afterwards. At least that has been my experience after practicing hypnosis in Atlanta since 1988.
Hypnosis can be used to make sure that people do not simply switch from the habit of putting cigarettes in their mouths to eating. I promise all of my clients that if they gain weight after they stop smoking, that I will give them free weight control sessions until their eating and weight are back in control.
According to the research, the idea that smoking helps people lose weight by suppressing appetites is a myth. The research showed that smoking could cause people to put on more weight than people who have never smoked.
Over 7,500 people were followed for four years. Researchers found that people who continued to smoke gained more weight than their non-smoking counterparts.
Using hypnosis to stop smoking can eliminate any weight gain afterwards. At least that has been my experience after practicing hypnosis in Atlanta since 1988.
Hypnosis can be used to make sure that people do not simply switch from the habit of putting cigarettes in their mouths to eating. I promise all of my clients that if they gain weight after they stop smoking, that I will give them free weight control sessions until their eating and weight are back in control.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Hypnosis Can Eliminate Special Occasion Overeating, Thanksgiving Included!
Maybe there is just a lot of bad eating self hypnosis in Atlanta. Almost all my weight loss clients seem to have a special little program in the unconscious mind that tells them that since it is a special occasion or a holiday like Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July, or Arbor day, that it is fine, just this time, to overeat.
The regrets arrive later, special delivery from the same unconscious mind that got them to overeat in the first place. It hardly seems fair...or controllable.
My client “Roger” was losing weight. He would eat until full, and regularly took half his sandwich home from lunch, something he had never done before starting his hypnosis weight loss program. He used to eat it all, because “it still tasted good”.
However, on special occasions Roger was still finding himself eating the second half of the sandwich, event though he was physically satisfied. He would tell himself that it tasted good, it was a special occasion, and that he really did not care about his weight at that moment. And before bed that night he felt guilty, and regretted his overeating. The next “special” day he did the same thing all over again.
While he was in hypnosis, Roger was given the suggestion that as soon as he started to tell himself that it was a special occasion and he did not care about his weight, he was to vividly feel all the feeling and thoughts of regret and guilt that follow overeating. Hypnosis amplifies the imagination and feelings, so the idea of overeating on special occasions became suddenly and permanently unattractive.
Now on special occasions Roger eats until he is physically satisfied and stops. The suggestions in hypnosis actually helped him get more satisfaction and pleasure from eating less. After he finishes, his stomach feels comfortably full. He has energy for the rest of the day, because there is no more of that sluggish, overfull sensation. And, he feels happy about the amount of food he has eaten before bed at night.
The regrets arrive later, special delivery from the same unconscious mind that got them to overeat in the first place. It hardly seems fair...or controllable.
My client “Roger” was losing weight. He would eat until full, and regularly took half his sandwich home from lunch, something he had never done before starting his hypnosis weight loss program. He used to eat it all, because “it still tasted good”.
However, on special occasions Roger was still finding himself eating the second half of the sandwich, event though he was physically satisfied. He would tell himself that it tasted good, it was a special occasion, and that he really did not care about his weight at that moment. And before bed that night he felt guilty, and regretted his overeating. The next “special” day he did the same thing all over again.
While he was in hypnosis, Roger was given the suggestion that as soon as he started to tell himself that it was a special occasion and he did not care about his weight, he was to vividly feel all the feeling and thoughts of regret and guilt that follow overeating. Hypnosis amplifies the imagination and feelings, so the idea of overeating on special occasions became suddenly and permanently unattractive.
Now on special occasions Roger eats until he is physically satisfied and stops. The suggestions in hypnosis actually helped him get more satisfaction and pleasure from eating less. After he finishes, his stomach feels comfortably full. He has energy for the rest of the day, because there is no more of that sluggish, overfull sensation. And, he feels happy about the amount of food he has eaten before bed at night.
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