Everything We Say Out Loud is Programming

Did you know that most heart attacks occur on Mondays? And that lifestyle choices such as what you eat and your exercise patterns are not the first indicators of your potential for a heart attack? Did you know that it is whether you think you are happy or not, and whether you are satisfied with your job or not?? Anyway, that's what Depak Chopra said on a wonderful CD called the New Physics of Healing.

Speaking of the physics of healing, I had an epiphany about self-talk while I was vacuuming this morning. I always teach my clients that everything we say out loud and to ourselves is programming. But I don't think it's the words so much as the feelings that we are having when we are saying those words. For example, I've noticed that my New Yorker friends chastise themselves a lot. They're always saying stuff like "I'm such an idiot," and sometimes it's more like "I'm such a f*ing idiot." But one friend, in particular, laughs when she says it, so I don't think it harms her self-image. In fact, she has a very healthy self-image! When we laugh, we release lovely chemicals. When we laugh, we relax. When we laugh, we stimulate our immune system. And I also think, that when we laugh, and when we feel good, we are also creating delightful neural pathways that impact our beliefs about ourselves and the world.

So as always, it seems to go back to feelings. It's nothing more than feelings. Hmm, sounds like there might be a song in there somewhere.

p.s. I think I should vacuum more often.

A great marketing idea!

Dear Stephanie:

Please post the following to your groups. Their posts have helped me so much over the years, I hope mine will help some of them:

Hi everybody, I used to be on these lists and I miss them, but I got too busy in my practice to read so much e-mail!

I wanted to share with you that one of my favorite marketing tools is placing Steph’s book, “Everyday Miracles of Hypnotherapy” in doctor’s offices. I put a sticker on the book that says “Do Not Remove – Office Copy”. I put a tab at the top pointing to my own story because having someone see your name in print gives you great credibility. I also paper clip a bunch of my cards inside the front cover. But you don't have to have a story in the book! Just clip your cards in there!

I have gotten a few calls so now I’m broadening my marketing base. Even if folks don’t call me, they are still learning about how wonderful hypnosis really is, and maybe someday they WILL call me or recommend hypnosis to their sister who lives where you are. Right now, I have Steph’s book in six doctor’s offices, and I just ordered twenty more for doctors, acupuncturists, dentists and anyone else I can think of. I think I’ll bring one to my hairdresser. I just ask the doctor if it’s okay if I leave the book in their waiting room. No one has yet said no. One chiropractor said that he was grateful to have it because he felt that his was a healing office, and he really didn’t want people reading “People.”

They are also good for a door-prize when you give a talk! It’s much more reasonable to give a book that costs you $12 or less than to give away a session! And then I tell them to give the book away once they have read it. The more people that read it, the better!

Miss you guys! Hope to see some of you at the NGH.

Love, Lynda


Lynda Malerstein, C. Ht.
Power Journeys Hypnosis
2211 Corinth Ave., #309
Los Angeles, CA 90064
<http://www.powerjourneys.com>www.powerjourneys.com
(310) 228-3160
Feel the Freedom of Letting Go!

Fear of Flying or being kicked?

Hi all - How about this little tidbit to shift someone's paradigm. I've heard that you are more likely to be kicked to death by a donkey than to die in a airplane crash. Hmm. Food for thought. I hopeit's true! Love, Steph

An affirmation for you today

Dear groups, thanks to a some wonderful friends (you know who you are), I am back. What I mean by that is that for a short while I forgot who I was, and now I'm fully present to who I am and wha's up!

I came up with an affirmation in the middle of the night and wanted to share it. Please try it on, and tell me how it works out for you. I alsothink it's going to be the title of my next book.

It is:

Everything I need or want, I have. Right here. Right now.

Isn't that powerful? I thought so, too! ; - )

Love, Steph

Why we do what we do.

Here's a wonderful (unsolicited) testimonial from one of my clients. I wanted to share.

Today was my first big (motorcycle) ride since the hypnosis....and I have to tell you, it was the most wonderful, relaxed, ENJOYABLE ride I've had! We rode over 100 miles - Niles Canyon, hopped on 680 for about 1/8 mile then got on the Livermore Vallecitos (84), then we hit Vasco Road which used to scare me spitless. We were with my mom's fiance and he was heading home and George said "I want to go with you" and the next thing I knew, I was coming too!

I think what happened, and I felt it, I went into trance during the ride itself. It was not unlike my 'geek mode' trance, only this one was all about riding. It was awesome. I was so relaxed, I kind of leaned back and just enjoyed the ride. I was going freeway speeds and not freaking out(!) We got on Vasco road and were doing 60-65 most of the way and I was just fine. My mom's fiance pointed us to a country road we had ridden before that looped back to Concord so we hopped on that, then went over Kirker Pass road (great road) and I hit 70 on that road and didn't even know it. I was just hummin' along, Thor purring nicely underneath me. We rode along this road that used to be the way you got to Concord and that area before 680 went in (I'm dating myself now) and that was great. Then we went into Pleasanton and had brunch but that was difficult; everything at the buffet was what I now refer to as "bloat food" and I ordered a single item off the menu instead, one that involved lean chicken breast. Then we got back on the road again, and that was the road that is the road I envision in trance - where each mile I am leaner. Speaking of that, this was the first time I donned my chaps since I got ride of some poundage and they were flopping around, so I need to get them altered, as they are a little bit dangerously large.

We flew through Niles Canyon, comfortably. We picked up a couple on a Harley so they were riding in staggered formation behind me. Just where I like to be, in the middle of a formation. And here we are! We did about 115 miles; I have to go check my trip-meter. It was at 93 when I filled in Pleasanton. But I found that I really didn't need to fill up. I averaged over 60mpg!!!! (Take that OPEC!)

Well I just wanted you to know what a difference the hypnosis has made on my riding as well as my lifestyle. (sigh) I can't say enough!

-M

(Note from Steph)- I also taught her how to put herself into trance for work, and she told me that she sat down to a project that she thought would take four hours, and it took her forty-five minutes. Yay! Of course I did not tell her I thought that motorcycle riding is CRAZY! :) You've gotta give the client what they want!!

Doctor's Orders

Talk about a PET PEEVE of mine! My mother was in the hospital, on a ventilator, 82 pounds soaking wet, very ill from Emphysema (which is why I went into the business, by the way!) and her stupid, unconscious doctor told me that she would die in the hospital and that I should start making arrangements. One of my mother's final wishes was that she die in her own bed at home. She did not like hospitals. It's not only vital to phrase things the way Melissa suggested - to the patient. But it's also imperative that any dialogs they have with the family be equally encouraging. Or at the very least, not discouraging.

Well, fortunately, that idiot doctor was WRONG!!! My mother not only got off the ventilator, but was able to come home and die in her own bed.

As far as I'm concerned, telling patients and their family members something no doctor can possibly know (that they are going to die!), is UNETHICAL. I didn't realize that Melissa taught doctors and nurses how to deliver the news better when she gave her workshops in hospitals. But wow, Dis, Bravo! Just something else to add to my list of reasons why I love and admire you! That is totally wonderful. So necessary. So needed.

I choose to believe that times are changin', too!

How Woo Woo Are You?

I got this from a friend of mine (who's a life coach), and I just HAD to pass it on. It's too great. It's a quiz on how to determine how woo-woo you really are ; - ) I won't tell you how high I scored! But I really want to find a doggie yoga studio for Pooky! ; - )

How Woo Woo Are You?

Take this simple quiz to find out…

* You know how to clean your chakras.
* Prayer flags adorn your backyard.
* Your voicemail greeting says Namaste.
* You talk to your plants and they answer you.
* You use the words resonate or vibration in your daily speech.
* You own a deck of animal/spirit/angel/tarot cards (any or all).
* You know what a backjack is.
* You’ve consulted a pet psychic.
* You live in Marin, Boulder, Amherst, Sedona, or possibly Los Angeles.
* You own more than 10 different kinds of herbal tea.
* You have an altar in your office.
* Your cell phone ring is Ram Ram Sita Ram.
* You’ve done a Vision Quest.
* You know the word Ho means more than just a hooker on the street.
* You know who you’ve been in past lives, and who you’ll be in future ones.
* You won’t date someone based on what sign they are.
* You have embraced your inner child.
* All your vacation time is spent on retreat.
* You own property in an Intentional Community.
* You own several crystals and believe they wield special healing powers.
* Your dog goes to Doggie Yoga.
* You know tantra isn’t something a 2 year old throws.
* You have used a pendulum to determine the sex of your child when pregnant.
* You wear different aromatherapy scents on different days to alter your moods.
* You have legally re-named yourself with a one-word name. (for example, Tree)
* You have been to see a psychic, palm reader, clairvoyant, or channeler.
* You are a psychic, palm reader, clairvoyant, or channeler.
* You have become a kabbahlist and wear the required red yarn bracelet to keep evil spirits away. (Be warned, if you follow this trend to imitate Madonna (see#25), you might actually be in another category called wanna be woo-woo, also known as ‘L.A. pretend spirituality’. You probably also have a bumper sticker that says ‘Save Tibet’ even though you know nothing of the true politics behind it.)
* You own a pair of reflexology slippers.
* You saw “What the Bleep” more than twice.
* You are intimately involved with your shadow material (the one in your psyche, not the one on the sidewalk when it’s sunny).
* Your Pavlovian response to a bell is to bow.
* You have been re-birthed.
* You regularly sage your house/car/workspace.
* You have feng shui’d your house/car/workspace.
* You have both solstices and equinoxes marked in your Palm Pilot and
throw ritual celebrations marking their passing.
* You will or won’t move into a new home based on how the address adds up in numerology.
* You regularly consult your dead ancestors and live by their advice.
* You know what dowsing is.
* You spend more time talking to your spirit guides than your real friends.
* You know what color your aura is.
* You base life decisions on whether or not mercury is in retrograde.
* You’ve been through The Landmark Series, A Course in Miracles, Eckankar, or EST.
* You have your massage therapist, reiki practitioner, acupuncturist, and chiropractor in your cell phone.
* You know your number on the Enneagram, your soul type, and your Ayurvedic type.
* You have a spiritual guru and you travel across the earth to see them.
* When the officer asks you what happened? You respond, “I manifested an accident.”
* You have a “Clean 10 Get 1 Free” Frequent Colonic card at the Light as Feather Colonic Parlor.
* Life without mantras/prayers has no meaning at all.
* You are, or you employ, a Life Coach.

1-12 You Haven’t Drunk the Woo Juice Yet
13-25 On the Road to Wooville
26-39 Woo Hoo!
40-50 One With the Wooniverse

Keeping A Promise

Long ago, in a galaxy far, far, away - 1992 in San Diego- a fair maiden, whose heart was pure and idealistic, learned that her mother was soon to die. Her mother, a fun, outgoing, lovely woman of face and spirit, was very, very ill with the debilitating disease of emphysema. Shortly before her early death at the young age of 64, weighing a mere 92 pounds, the disease having ravaged her poor, frail body, this mother asked her daughter for a promise -- that her daughter would quit smoking. Her daughter not only made that promise to her mother and kept it (before she died), but she also promised her mother that she would find a way to help others to quit smoking.

Let’s go back even further now to another galaxy, even further away: Los Angeles, California, when our fair maiden was about nineteen years old (the year would probably be around 1852) and she took a self-hypnosis course from the famed stage hypnotist Pat Collins (The Hip Hypnotist). Now lest you judge stage hypnotists unfairly, please let me say that if the stage hypnotist is of a strong moral and ethical bent, the stage hypnotist will educate people on the fact that hypnosis can be used for many herapeutic interventions, and not just to make people cluck like chickens or bark like dogs. And most stage hypnotists will do just that. Pat Collins was one of them. Because of that self-hypnosis course, our fair maiden’s imagination for the possibilities of hypnosis was inexorably, irrevocably, and forever excited. And one of the things that excited our fair maiden the most was the possibility that one could help people quit smoking with hypnosis! How glorious, how magical, how grand and lofty a goal it seemed to her since she, herself, was a committed smoker, smoking two packs of Marlboro 100s per day.

Fast forward about thirteen years, back to our galaxy of San Diego, and our fair maiden remembered that long ago (and far away) class. And even though she had had all the best intentions of using the skills that she had learned in that class, she hadn’t in all those years, young people believing that they are invincible, as they will. But all was not lost! She decided to get honest with herself. After all, she was not getting any younger (by this time our fair maiden was thirty-two). She decided she must quit. She wiped the cobwebs from her mind, brushing up on those skills, and on April 27, 1992 at 10:30 am, our fair maiden, to honor her mother’s wish and to save her own life, quit smoking using those long ago learned skills of self-hypnosis. Did our fair maiden succeed? She most certainly did! And then after the sad, unnecessary death of her beautiful mother, she began her journey to help others to quit smoking.

Our fair maiden went to school to become a hypnotherapist and learned many things that surprised and delighted her and that she could not wait to tell her future clients and that she knew would make them feel very comfortable and happy about hypnosis and hypnotherapy, indeed. And if they listened very, very carefully, they would learn and remember -

• That hypnosis is a normal and natural state which we all go in and out of every day.
• That you would never be made to do anything you did not want to do, or anything outside of your moral code or value system.
• That posthypnotic amnesia does not occur spontaneously. So in most circumstances, you would remember everything that happened in trance.
• That you would always remain in complete control of yourselves, and in fact, would be the most in control of your minds than you have ever been.
• That you could not stay stuck in hypnosis, ever.
• That hypnosis is not asleep or unconscious
• That you would be hyper-aware while in the state of hypnosis, your other senses becoming much more acute (just as they are right now).
• That hypnosis is a very real phenomenon where the subconscious mind is much more open and suggestible as proven by CAT scan and numerous scientific validations.
• That you could learn to make changes easily, effortlessly, and permanently.
• That in most cases our fair maiden would only be seeing you for three to six sessions for most issues.
• That hypnosis feels wonderful.
• And last but not least, that any change your mind could conceive of (within the realm of physiological and psychological possibility), you could achieve, together.

And then, when our fair maiden graduated hypnotherapy school after two hundred hours of training, she did not stop there. Beginning her practice immediately, she has had over one thousand hours of training in Neurolinguistic Programming, Reiki, Emotional Freedom Techniques, Be Set Free Fast, and Tapas Acupressure Techniques. Since becoming a ertitifed hypnotherapist, our fair maiden has had her own radio show, been on local television in San Diego, created and taught her own healing techniques on both the west and east coasts, written a manual “3-in-1 Positive Solutions in Energy Therapy,” co-authored a book of scripts and inductions, edited a book of hypnotherapy case histories, written and produced dozens of hypnotherapy and energy therapy cds, is the moderator and director of a worldwide hypnotherapist list on the internet with over 450 members, and continues, to this day, to increase her knowledge and proficiency every single day.

Our fair maiden (now an old, married woman) is very, very lucky indeed because she has found her true calling. She has learned that she can help so many people, and has, with so many different issues and changes that they wanted to make – not just smoking cessation. And although it could have been a story with a tragic ending, the death of one woman has meant the changes, healing, and hope of many others. And when our fair maiden comes to the end of her life, and she once again meets her mother, she will be able to tell her, with pride, and a gleam in her eye: “Mom, I kept my promise. Your wish has come true.” And her mom will take her into her strong, loving arms, and whisper in our fair maiden’s ear: “I already knew, honey, I already knew.”

The End – Or is it just the beginning?

Humoring the Hypnotist

In a recent post, somebody talked about being the subject during a learning session where the teacher tried to get her into somnambulism, pinched her to prove that she was there, and because Irene is a good sport, humored that teacher, not telling them that the pain was excruciating!!! Something similar happened to me (or did I happen to it?) at a convention (fortunately, minus the excruciating pain). And I'm not the only one! Always interested in free therapy, I very commonly will volunteer whenever hypnotists want to do a demonstration on me. I still have one thing left (therapy-wise that I've been working on for a long time, so any help is welcome)! The hypnotist (who shall remain nameless) told me he was going to do an Ericsonian induction, but what he really did was the NLP 5-minute phobia cure. I didn't feel any different after the work, but because he was in a large group, and because I didn't want to be difficult, I didn't tell him. "Oh yes, I feel much better,!" said I, in retrospect realizing that maybe no good was served by my lack of honesty. And then later on, I met one of the other volunteers for this hypnotist, and we compared notes. She said she didn't feel any different either, but lied so the hyp could save face. I'm not sure there's a moral here because I can't say what I would do under certain circumstances. I wouldn't want the hyp to be embarrassed. Perhaps I would tell the hyp later on what I really experienced (one-on-one) at the very least, so they would have knowledge.

I have no doubt this happens in our practices, too. But I think there are ways to avoid it, because being humored will not help anyone, most of all our clients! I know that even if we set these parameters, some people will still not tell us the truth, but we can create a safe-space for it to occur. I'll give you an example of how I do it. When I'm about to do my version of EFT on a client, I tell them that based on the information they have given me, I'm going to tap on them using different phrasing. I tell them that a lot of this phrasing will come from my intuition (besides the information that they have given me), and sometimes I might be WRONG. I tell them to please CHANGE the phrasing themselves to something that resonates. I tell them that I don't want them to humor me!

I think some variation of this can be done during intake, as well. And so along with all of Irene's superb suggestions for understanding the parameters of responsibility in the therapist-client relationship, some words about never, ever humoring us. That since our relationship depends on honesty (both ways), it's imperative that they tell us when something doesn't resonate or is not working for them. Will they do it? Maybe. Maybe not. But at least we've opened the door to the possibility of honesty. And that's a good thing.

Music to enhance learning / spirals

I sent this information to my client (who is about to take her finals), but I knew that it would be valuable for you, too! All of the following music has been proven to enhance learning. One can take the added step of tape recording one's studies into a tape recorder and then listening back, thus satisfying the auditory learners. I have added a couple of spirals, too. For this client, I hypnotized her deeply, then gave her a trigger whereby should would take three deep breaths, and repeat her key phrase during each breath, while watching the spiral. This would take her into hypnosis - the best place to learn anything! When she goes to take her finals, she can then once again hypnotize herself (and nobody will know), but it is best to take a test in the same state you were in when you studied (hypnotized!) And the best place to be in, too, for recall and focus.

Have fun!!

Here are some hypnoticspirals (If you want to look for more, just do a search on "free hypnosis spiral"):

• http://www.hypnotictapes.com
• http://www.diviniti.demon.co.uk

Here's the music to listen to.... (watch the spiral, three deep breaths along with your key words and you will be there).

Active Concerts:

• Beethoven - Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major for Piano and Orchestra, op. 73 ("Emperor")
• Brahms - Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D Major, op. 77
• Haydn - Concerto No. 1 in C Major for Violin and Orchestra and Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra, No. 1 in C Major and No. 2 in G Major,
• Symphony No. 67 in F Major and No. 69 in B Major
• Mozart - Concerto for Violin and Orchestra; Concerto No. 7 in D Major,
• Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, No. 18 in B flat Major
• Tchaikovsky - Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor for Piano and Orchestra

Passive Concerts:

• Bach - Choral Prelude in A Major and Prelude and Fugue in G
• Minor, Fantasy in G Major, Fantasy in C Minor, and Trio in D Minor,
• Cononic Variations and toccata, Symphony No. 2 for String Orchestra, Symphony in C Major, Symphony in D Major
• Corelli - Concerti Grossi, op.6, no. 2, 8, 5, 9, Concerti Grossi, op. 4, 10, 11, 12, Concerto for Organ and Orchestra
• Vivaldi - The Four Seasons, Five Concertos for Flute and Chamber Orchestra (water music, whatever that means ; -)

The Problem With Leading Your Clients!

Yesterday, I went for a hypnotherapy session with a hyp in my area who sought me out for a trade. If you have heard it said that all hypnotherapists are perfect, with no problems or challenges or issues of their own, don't believe them! So that was cool, I still have one thing I've been working on for a while.

I knew that she was planning on doing regression to cause with an affect bridge (it's what she does for every issue), and although that has been tried several times before on me with this particular issue, I had never had success. But I think I went in with the right mental attitude - that I was going to still my hypnotherapist's mind and let go! There is always the danger of going to another hypnotherapist and wanting to listen for techniques instead of surrendering, which is what is necessary for a good hypnotic trance.

This hyp was very effective with me (or was it me being effective with her?; - ) I felt like I let go really nicely (being fairly anal and controlling this was a lovely surprise to me). Then came the affect bridge... She really built that bad feeling up in me very effectively - the feeling of being out of control - and then I seem to have regressed to age four where my father was giving me a spanking for something I could not understand I was being spanked for. She asked me, "What was the feeling that I had about that spanking?" I told her that I felt like "It's not fair." Then she did it. She lost me (hypnotherapeutically speaking). She suggested to me (the caps are because she was yelling with great emotion) "YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET OUT ALIVE, DON'T YOU?!!" Um, no, not really. "YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE WORTHLESS AND HE DOESN'T LOVE YOU, DON'T YOU?" Uh, not really. In my now fully aware and awake hypnotherapist's mind, I'm thinking "uh oh, this is not good! What kind of crazy ideas are you implanting in my sensitive four-year old's mind? I told her, I don't believe in leading. She countered "who is in charge here, you or me?" I felt that I had let go very nicely, remember? Tears, blubbering, real panic, etc. She told me that I wasn't really in trance, and that I was holding back the whole time. Hmm, gee, I felt like I had the deepest trance I had had in a long time. Anyway, the real problem for me was the fact that she was leading.

You all know that I rant and rave about this from time to time. Do no harm. Do not lead your clients. This is how false memory syndrome happens. Ask them, "What emotion are you feeling right now?" "How does that make you feel?" You can then intensify that feeling, if you wish, by saying "Really allow yourself to feel those feelings." "What does that remind you of?" And so on. But please, never ever, ever assume you know what that person is feeling. You can create a sad/bad/non-serving feeling that never even existed. And that's a bad thing.

She then said "do you want to stop this right now?" I tried to talk to her about my feelings, but she insisted that she was in charge, that that was her training, and she would not budge. So what happened? She left me open. I had to give myself suggestions for closing myself and healing. And all last night and today, I've had this somewhat nauseas feeling, like bile rising in my throat. I think I need to do a little more healing on myself.

First hypnotherapist: Do no harm.

Hypnotherapist Coerced Sex

Based on the alleged rape case against a hypnotist in Florida, Wendi Freisen posted this poll on her group HypnoMasterMind@yahoogroups.com

Question: Under what cirumstances is it possible to coerce a client to have sex with a Hypnotherpist in a professional setting?

Responses

Choices	Votes	%
It is never possible.	1	2
Only possible if the client has a desire to engage in sex	15	30
The hypnotist has full control to override the clients value system and make her have sex	3	6
A hypnotist must have established a personal relationship that includes intimacy and creates a romantic interest from the client.	10	20
A client is always aware of the events during the session and has free will at all times to emerge from the trance at any time.	20	40

So far the results of Wendi's poll is very interesting! I want to encourage all of the people who believe that "A client is always aware of the events during the session and has free will at all times to emerge from the trance at any time" to read "Secret: Don't Tell: The Encyclopedia of Hypnotism." The oft quoted misconception that "we never do anything outside of our moral code or value system in hypnosis" just ain't so. Marylou's recent experience proves that.

In Europe in the early 1900's there were well documented cases of covert hypnosis resulting in great bodily harm and/or sex (with the hypnotist and the people he ordered his subject to engage with) plus great monetary harm. And we recently read about people being hypnotized out of their money - where was that - in Europe? Remember the story Alan Barsky told about his thoughtful, intelligent girlfriend who was hypnotized out of her dough? Hullo!

While the percentage of natural somnambulists is small (some say about 10-20%), the potential for influencing individuals hypnotically without their knowledge exists. It exists, people. I think it does require a natural somnambulist to submit to this kind of mind control. Unless! Unless we're talking about brain washing. Brain washing exists only under the most extreme cases (i.e. wartime, when people can be deprived of sleep, food, humanity, and can systematically be rendered incapable of resisting their captors wishes). This can happen to strong willed people. They can, of course, use drugs to help the process along. I believe our very own government has dabbled in mind control. A lot.

For the most part, while in a hypnotherapist's office, I think it would be rare that someone could let go to the extent that they would engage in sex they didn't want to. But I totally believe it can happen. And it is VERY easy to instill amnesia.

I think we should worry more about priests and their ability to do mind control over young boys than we do hypnotists, but that's just my take.

Is Hypnosis Addictive?

Yes! Lovers of hypnosis will often report that they are hypnojunkies! Why do folks become addicted to trance? It's physiological!

This is a direct quote from the book Secret: Don't Tell: The Encyclopedia of Hypnotism:

When you go into an altered state, you transfer into right brain, which results in the internal release of the body's own opiates, enkaphalins and Beta-endorphins, chemically almost identical to opium. (Transcript, Valley of the Sun Publishing Lecture Tape, Malibu, CA 1984, p. 6)

After trance, you also may feel:

...unlocalized feelings of exhilaration and well-being... There are, therefore, two main direct effects of hypnotic trances: first, the suggestibility during the trance phase itself; and second, the general, mildly euphoric sense of well-being immediately following the hypnotic trance. (Verdier, p. 69)

The rush of pleasurable cortical excitation, as you enter trance, tends to bring you back for more. So does the generalized feeling of relaxation and well-being that follows.

Marshall Sylver - Blech 2!!!

Oh my God. I just listened to Marshall Sylver on Howard Stern. Blech. Puke. Argh. I get a call from my husband on the way to his new job to tell me that Marshall will be on Howard. Out of morbid curiosity, I decide to listen. It was worse than I expected.

Howard Stern has a huge audience. Whatever good we've done dispelling the tragic myths and misconceptions of hypnosis has just been crippled by this show. What were the messages that people got from this show?:

• You will do or say anything in hypnosis
• You can be made to do things outside of your moral code or value system
• You are completely out of control in hypnosis

Marshall had one of Howard's new employees pretend that he was in Howard's apartment talking about things at the studio. Howard asked him that if he were in a boat with him and his wife who would he save. He said that he would save Howard over his wife. "There's only one you, but there's plenty of women out there." Howard asked him, if I asked you to "touch me" would you do it? The guy said yes, he'd do anything as a favor to Howard. Then, I don't know if this really happened, but it seemed to have judging from the reactions of the staff (a lot of screeching, laughing, and uncomfortable "oh my God's!," ) Howard asked him if he would put him in his mouth. And he supposedly did it. Howard also had this guy confess how he felt about every one of the staff, including Robin, who he basically said was useless.

Need I say more? Please don't make me say anymore. I had to turn it off because I was literally getting nauseous (tap. tap. tap.)

This kind of crap is no good for hypnosis. This is EXACTLY what I was talking about in my inflammatory post "Let's Be Careful."

(She said tongue firmly planted in cheek): But at least Marshall got to sell his new product "Subconscious Seduction," or some such B.S. (which isprobably the ABCs of NLP)

Another black day for hypnosis thanks to Marshall Sylver (and Howard Stern).

Steph

EFT - A Healer's Super Tool

I have helped people in planes, parking lots, restaurants, and cars. There is nowhere that I would feel uncomfortable helping people. The tools that I have at my disposal are so fabulous that I feel like everybody needs to know them and use them.

One of the most powerful tools that I have at my disposal is EFT.

The other day I went to a mini NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) seminar, and watched with great frustration while the seminar leader used NLP on this gal for love pain. I wanted to just jump in there and use EFT on her, because I knew that what took him one hour, would have taken me twenty minutes (max) using EFT. I'm not saying that there are not some really neat tools in NLP, but I've got to say that some things are simply more amenable to EFT.

If you're not familiar with EFT, it stands for Emotional Freedom Techniques. Created by a Stanford engineer named Gary Craig, it is like emotional acupuncture, without the needles. It is good for getting rid of negative emotions, non-serving beliefs, and many physical pains (that have an emotional component). The theory behind it is that all negative emotions are the result of an imbalance in the body's energy system. I have a tendency to believe that it is the other way around. I think that negative emotions create imbalances. Nevertheless, it doesn't really matter what the theories are, or why it works. Because by golly, it really works. It's amazing. It's one of those things that shocks you every time it does work because it is so easy. And yet it works so consistently well, you are surprised if you don't get a miracle every time! Gary Craig says "try it on everything." I agree. Utilizing the technique takes about two minutes. Instantly, you would feel a sense of calm and peace, no matter what the issue. But to get to the "bottom of the issue," you would have to get to the underlying reasons for the issue, and that's where the talents and skills of the therapist come in.

EFT is a very odd technique. It requires one to tap on various end-points of the meridian system ('a la acupuncture). Of course, nobody ever cut somebody open and found a "meridian system," but the theories seem to bear out under scientific scrutiny in double-bind tests that it does work. Then to get REALLY WEIRD, there is something called the nine-gamut procedure which requires you to roll your eyes around in your head, count, and hum. All in the name of healing! I won't explain the reasons behind these unusual gyrations, because I don't want this article to be too long, but you can do some of your own research on Gary Craig's massive website: www.emofree.com.

One of the great things about this tool is that it is easily and readily taught to someone. And although looking from the outside in, it looks so weird, if you can get over how you look doing it, you would have a super tool that would help you for the rest of your life. You could help others with it, too. In about two minutes you could take someone from serious overwhelm, or anxiety, or anger, or frustration, to calm. Of course, I utilize breath in conjunction with EFT, and that is wonderfully complimentary and helps the effectiveness of the technique, but it is not necessary.

I have been using EFT since 1997. I was one of Gary Craig's directors on his original email list when there were only about two hundred members. Since then, his list no longer has directors, but it does have contributing authors, and it's numbers are in the tens of thousands. Why? Because the stuff works.

Try it, you'll like it! And maybe I'll see you tapping on someone in a public place, or maybe I'll just see you tapping yourself! I envision a world where folks are tapping themselves on the freeway. Why? It's great for road rage! I envision a world where mothers are tapping their crying and whining children in public. Why? I don't like to hear crying and whining children in public! And why cry and whine when you can feel peaceful and comfortable? Not a bad idea, eh?

Hypnotizing Children in the Movies

My husband and I just went to see XXX: State of the Union. This is an exceedingly violent movie, with language and other ugly stuff. Why, in God's name would a parent bring a child to see this movie? I kid you not. There was a five-year-old sitting behind me! Now, I'm the worst. I believe that kid's undeveloped brains will take in this ugly stuff, make it okay, desensitize the child to real violence, and perhaps with enough input like this (especially the more violent video games), you end up with a Columbine, or the recent situation in Minnesota. What are parents thinking? Do they honestly think their children will not be affected by this stuff? Okay, maybe it will just be a few weeks of nightmares, or a general sense of uneasiness, and a feeling of a lack of safety. But maybe, just maybe, if the time is right, and the stars are in alignment, and there is enough of this type of input, and the child grows up feeling disenfranchised and unconnected anyway, they'll end up shooting a few police officers, teachers, and students. They allowing their children to be hypnotized into believing that all that violence is okay. Don't they get it?

What THE HELL are parents thinking? Sometimes I feel like turning around and asking them just that: "What THE HELL are you thinking?!!! Are you aware that your child is being hypnotized by all of this violence?!!!" But of course, that would not go over very well. So I bite my tongue, and pray that the parent will realize, just maybe, when the kid crawls into their bed tonight crying, and they ask their child what's the matter, they'll remember that their child saw forty-three people getting blown up, bridges collapsing, and the President of the United States about to get assassinated. Maybe something will click.

Now, the next thing I have to ask myself is: "what the hell was *I* thinking going to see that movie? Well, that one was pretty bad (although my hubby did like it), but I do recommend Sahara. But damn it, take some advice from a hypnotist: don't take your kids!!!

Is stress good for you?

What an odd notion to think that stress might be good for you. But just think about it. If you were too relaxed, peaceful, and serene you'd never get anything done! "Oh, I'll just get to that tomorrow. So what if I promised my customer it would be done in three days. They'll understand." No way! So a little bit of stress, and a lot of good focus and concentration is what you need to succeed. It is when the stress begins to paralyze you, or cause you to feel too overwhelmed, that you need to take notice, and you need to do something about it.

It’s not news that stress causes disease, and that stress can kill, so what can you do about it besides sit on a psychoanalyst’s couch for an hour every week? Well, the first tip I want to give you is this: Breathe! When we are stressed, or anxious, one of the things we naturally do is hold our breath, or breathe shallowly. This is precisely the opposite of what we need to do to combat stress. Try this now: from the belly, and all the way up into the throat, take a long deep, slow breath, inhaling through the nose. When you get to the top of the breath, sloooowly release the breath out of your mouth until there is absolutely no breath left. You might have to "catch your breath" at the end, because you would have completely emptied your body of the breath. Do three of these in a row, making sure to drop your shoulders with each exhalation. Do these wonderful breaths, as needed. Now get back to work!

What Are Sessions Like?

If you already know about my philosophy on healing, you know that I believe that healing does not have to be painful. Yes, sometimes we will visit "charged" memories, but my ultimate agenda is to have you walk out feeling peaceful and somehow freer than when you walked in.

Your agenda is my agenda. I will do my utmost to give you exactly what you want. Sometimes I may suggest what I think an underlying issue might be, but if you tell me, no, Stephanie, I don't want to work on that, we won't work on it. Until you are ready.

Sessions with me are casual and comfortable. My treatment room with attached bathroom are decorated in soft-soothing colors of pink, blue, lavender, and purple. If you enjoy them, I will light candles (I have many) and fountains, of which I have three. We are planning a waterfall in the back eventually, perhaps in about a month (of this writing April, 21, 2005).

My dog likes to visit during sessions. She will typically lie down behind my chair and not make a peep. She is a big dog - a 75 pound lab mix, but she's very intuitive as to what is going on the session, I believe she is a great healer, herself. Even though she is pretty shy, she loves it when people have just been hypnotized and she will come up to you after I bring you out of trance to kiss you on the hand. If you are uncomfortable with dogs, just tell me. We can do one of two things about that: 1) I will help you get over your discomfort, or 2) I will put her in another room.

Having filled out your intake form, I will read it and ask you any questions that I might have about it. You will get to know me, and I will get to know you. I will ask you questions, and do a thorough intake. Typically in a first session, I will want to teach you EFT (www.emofree.com). This technique is like emotional acupuncture, without the needles. It is a way for you to learn how to help yourself! It is good for all negative emotions, non-serving beliefs, and many physical pains that have an emotional component. I will hypnotize you so that you begin to learn what the hypnotic process is all about. Typically we won't do any deep work, because you need to get used to being hypnotized, this is why I will give you a cd or tape to listen to in the coming week. This cd or tape is me doing hypnotic relaxation. It is designed to help you get used to relaxing to the sound of my voice. Sometimes, if you are a great trance subject, we might do deep healing work, but only if you are a natural somnambulist. About 20% of the population falls into this category. The other exception is if you have done a lot of hypnosis (then you are used to the process). But again, I am very flexible, and I want you to have your agenda fulfilled, so I will endeavor to help you fulfill it! Typically, I will see you once a week, until you feel you are done with your issues or inspiration. It is very common, however, for folks to want to come back and see me perhaps once a month or once every two months for refreshers. Hypnosis feels great, and it is nice to be listened to. Folks love coming to see me! And I love seeing my clients!

Each session that you come and see me, you will tell me what you wish to work on that day, we will go over the preceding time period to see how you are doing, and to see if you need a refresher in any area. What is interesting is that as you go along, you might discover things you would like to work on. Typically, I will see folks anywhere from three to twelve sessions depending on the issues you are trying to resolve, your willingness to be a part of the healing process, and how good of a trance subject you are. There are a LOT of variables. At some point, if you would like me to, I would like to teach you how to hypnotize yourself, too! This is another way that you can learn to help yourself.

I am more than happy to talk to you with absolutely no strings attached. I am here to serve you... you are the boss.

Do As I Say, Not As I Do

So I am in a line at the supermarket (again) and I'm in the 15-item-or-less-line (which should move rather quickly, right? Wrong!) Being the friendly, outgoing sort I am, I turn around and say something to this older lady who is clearly the grandmother of this (oh, I'd say) eight-year-old-child, to the effect of "this is supposed tobe the fast lane." Something pretty inane like that, but sure to create rapport since we're both wondering why things are moving soooo slooooowly. So she says to me: "no shit!" I say to the little girl (as inane as I possibly can be, and knowing I'm about to get myself into trouble): "you didn't hear that (wink wink)." And so the grandmother says to me, "oh she doesn't repeat it." And I say (uh oh, let's take it up a notch): "She will." Talk about breaking rapport! The grandmother says "she hears it on television, too, and she never says it, we tell her not to." Time to get the heck out of there! But of course, I can't. I'm stuck in the line. My cheeks are burning, small rivulets of perspiration running down my armpits. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but I can tell my deodorant is working for me. I know, without a shadow of a doubt that one day, this child is going to blurt out "NO SHIT" and be in deep Kim Chee. The very same thing happened to me.

I was probably the same age as that child, playing outside in our backyard, hanging upside down on a Jungle Jim we had in our backyard. I know my father was there. I don't remember anybody else being there. What I DO remember is blurting out the phrase (which, by the way, I had no idea what it meant) GODDAMN IT! Boy, did I get a spanking for that! I had NO IDEA why my father was so upset with me. Talk about pattern-interrupt, negative anchoring, and post-hypnotic suggestion!! It doesn't matter if you tell your children not to do a thing, when you are doing it yourself. The message is that if YOU are doing it (oh, all-powerful, all-knowing adult), your child will think it's okay. The message is much, much louder than your words. It's like smoking cigarettes. Don't you DARE do as I do, do as I say! Naw. 'Fraid that's not how it works. The post-hypnotic suggestion is much stronger in the doing than in the saying.

I wonder when this little girl is going to blurt out "No Shit." The grandma is going to be so surprised. But maybe she will remember the lady in the market who warned her that her grandchild would say it. Maybe the child won't get a spanking, then. But she probably will ; - (

Finding YOUR Voice

Somebody reported that they are taking a hypnotherapy training program, their practice partners tell her they love her voice, she loves her voice, she is often told she loves her voice, but the instructor wants her to change.

This situation is truly a metaphor for life, isn't it? You KNOW something is good, something is right, something is actually perfectly wonderful. You like your own voice, for goodness sake! Most people can not say that at all. If you took a survey of ten people, most likely nine of them would tell you they don't like their voice, or that they are uncomfortable hearing it. But YOU like yours!!! Other people like yours. But you question yourself because one "authority source" tells you that you are doing it wrong.

Please ask the instructor to pass your test, then go on to rediscover your own beautiful voice. Besides, if you speak softly, people will listen more closely to be able TO HEAR you!

Sometimes, however, it doesn't make sense to speak softly or slowly - for example when you are trying to motivate someone, or to excite them, or create feelings of pleasure and happiness - then you should take it up a notch. Your voice should always be congruent with the message you are delivering.

But the point I really wanted to make is this: trust yourself, trust your truths, believe in yourself and your voice. Find your own voice. That's the REAL lesson here. Hear?!

Vacations with Hypnosis

I want to talk about the idea of hypnosis just for fun, pleasure, and relaxation. I want to talk about the idea of giving our clients a hypnotic vacation. We have all heard it. Stress kills. I have read somewhere that 70% of all diseases are stress related or exacerbated. Most people have an agenda when they call us to book an appointment, but not all. Some people just want to be hypnotized. Some people want a vacation from their everyday lives. What could be less expensive than a trip to your friendly, neighborhood hypnotherapist for an hour of unwinding? With suggestions like, "You will feel as though you had a week-long vacation after this session," and "all of your cares, worries, and concerns will simply fall away, and you will feel renewed." we CAN give folks a vacation! A REAL vacation.

Just think! Your clients would not have to pack any bags (or forget their sunscreen), bring the kids (and forget their sunscreen, too), no hectic trips to the airport or to the dock, no frantic calls to baby sitters or loving friends (who might not feel so loving after baby sitting your children), no using up valuable accrued vacation time, no spending exorbitant amounts of money on silly touristy nick-knacks. No difficulties with speaking the language of the region. No problems with squeaky beds, or noisy neighbors in the next room frolicking like bunnies (you know what I mean - sly wink). No shots. No dysentery. No passports. No cranky kids with sticky hands asking repeatedly "are we there yet!?" None of that! Just one hour of pure pleasure - and none of the pain. And with the suggestion that the hour will seem like a week (time expansion), their vacation is complete. Of course, they won't have the nice tan, but they won't get skin cancer, either!

As therapists, it could seem weird to not have a therapeutic agenda like weight loss or smoking cessation. But (I feel this with all my heart), hypnosis in and of itself, can be the means to the end. We are stunningly blessed to be able to give people the gift of a vacation! Think about it, if you gave all of your clients a session with simple, uncomplicated, non-abreactive, comfortable, lovely hypnosis so they would feel as though they had been on a vacation, what an amazing, amazing treat.

And ultimately, who knows, you *could* be saving their lives by diverting the possibility of a stress-induced illness.

Come outside of your box and play! You'll help your clients save a lot of money on cruises.

Marshall - Blech!

This is a man who gives weekend certifications to become a hypnotherapist. If I was guessing, I would say the man does not care about our profession and how we appear in the public eye. Yes, he's a great showman, but as Richard pointed out, so was that band and their pyrotechnics. And what if there was a loud noise, and the gal came out of hypnosis while Marshall was standing on her, and her arch was no longer right for supporting him.

Look, I probably sound like a worrywart, but I'm thinking the less we do to create public disfavor, the better.

I just think you can not control every environment like you think you can. And there's lots of other things you can do to excite a human being's imagination besides standing on them. Your basic Elman induction is pretty darn amazing!

All the World's a Stage

Somebody asked
Can I ask you stage-y types for recommendations in developing a stage show? I see that Don Mottin is doing a training that I can probably afford that is supposed to be comprehensive, but I don't know that much about him.

I LOVE Don Mottin!!! LOVE HIM! I have been to about four of hisworkshops. GO! He is a dynamic presenter, funny, a little goofy, and very knowledgeable. Plus he's a really good guy. Go sign up at http://www.ngh.net/training.shtml

Love, Steph

Intangibility of Trances

Somebody commented

In my own personal interpretation the word trance is generally used to describe an "altered" state that we use during hypnotherapy. But when we start talking about anytime we are caught up in our own thoughts as being "trance", I don't consider that to be an altered state.

I think they did a great job of pinpointing why they felt a need to comment about it. The word "trance" has a special meaning for them. They should keep their own meaning. Because really, when you come right down to it, we are talking about intangibles. In fact, nothing could be less tangible! ; - ) So I'd say trance on in the way you feel good about trancing (yourself or others), and I'll define it my own way. Ain't that what makes the world go around?

Wanting to Help So Bad!

I was in the market checking out. I turned around to see this sweet little girl crying silent tears of agony. Her mom(?) was rubbing her back. Eavesdropping, I heard that she had slipped on something that was left lying on the floor in the store and hurt her knee terribly. And I was thinking to myself that I wanted, wanted, wanted to talk to that little girl who was already deeply in trance. Then, I thought, no, with all the crap going on nowadays, whispering in the ear of a child might not go over too well. Then I thought, I could coach her mother to take her child out of her pain and into a pleasant experience - just for the moment (I mean, everybody involved is in trance, right?!) . When she needed to feel the pain later on, she could. She had a choice. Then it came my turn to check out. All of a sudden, a glass bottle crashes behind me right next to my sandal-clad feet. I scream (I'm very responsive to loud, sudden sounds). Everybody (most importantly, the little girl comes right out of her pain trance to focus on me). Her tears stop, her eyes go wide, and her pain is gone (I know). I wish, wish, wish, I could have just taken it from there. But there was no way. The mother walked out with the child once again crying silent tears of terrible pain.

There's no moral here, or clever ending. Just a wish. I wish that every child and every parent could learn to use these natural trance states for the good of the children.

Maybe some day...

Wendi Who?

She doesn't see clients anymore. Who? Wendi the Goddess of marketing hypnosis. I envy this success, but I don't think I'll ever want to stop seeing clients. NOTHING beats that!

One of our biggest challenges as hypnotherapists is marketing ourselves. We have such great services, yet so many people don't know about us! Quite frankly, although I am a great networker (a member of a business networking group - BNI and an ambassador for the Fremont Chamber of Commerce) I still have some challenges marketing myself (but I'm getting better and better)!

It occurs to me that nowadays if a hypnotherapist wants to make good money, she or he will have to sell some products, too. Who comes to mind when you think about marketing hypnosis products? Does the name Wendi mean anything to you? Wendi, hmmm, Wendi, Wendi who? Why Wendi Friesen, of course! Even her website is www.wendi.com! Go take a look and see for yourself. Wendi is the Goddess of marketing hypnosis products. I bow before her. My self-hyponotic dream is that I'm going to catch up! Maybe I'll even surpass her. That's my goal.

But I will always see clients, nothing beats that!

Deconstructing Reality

I had a long talk with Wolinsky yesterday (interrupting my wonderful phone call with my great friend Melissa - sorry, Dis!, but he's very slippery and you never know if you're going to reach him).

He told me all kinds of things that were very disturbing (to my happy little reality) such as:

1) There is no such thing as choice. We've already done what we were going to do by the time we perceive we are doing it. He said the "proof" will be coming out of studies they have done in Germany.

2) NLP is a load of crap. He thinks it is the most poisonous of systems that ever was created! He ranted about how the whole thing was created on cocaine and that Bandler was not only an addict but a dealer. He asked me pointedly if any of the results last. I could not answer that question. Can anybody out there? Please post.

But there's something about Wolinsky that Wolinsky hasn't figured out. He's prejudiced as hell. If you go about making money from anything, you can't be trusted. He's a minimalist. Someone who lived in India studying meditation and seeking relief from his pain for six years. But this is a man who retired at 50. He's 55 now. I haven't asked him *How* he retired, but I'm curious. So if you don't have to be concerned with money, it's much easier to dis those that do, I think.

He also says that we take in billions of bits of infomation per second, yet we can only process a few thousand (different than what they said in "What the Bleep" which was around 200, and in NLP they say +/- 7 (or something like that)!

Anyway, if we can't process those billions of bits of information, how the hell can we "KNOW" anything!

So many trances, so little time.

Somebody asked
Isn't it a bit unfair to call anytime we are thinking about something, a "trance state"?

Unfair is an unusual word. But no, I don't think it's unfair. I think it's true that anytime you're not in the present and mindful in the now, you're in trance. I think we're in trance most of the time. So what? Some trance states that Wolinsky mentions in his book are: Age Regression/Age Progression: Pseudo-Orientation in Time, Dissociation, Posthypnotic Suggestion, Amnesia, Negative/Positive Hallucinations, Confusion, Time Distortion, Hypnotic Dreaming, and Sensory Distortion. So when are we in the now? Rarely! Too many great trance states for us to be experiencing. That makes me think of a good line for a t-shirt: "So many trances, so little time." ; - )

What is disturbing may be the idea that the word "trance" is being overly used, thus disempowered somehow. But really, the purpose of my missive was to point to the idea that almost all problems are the result of frozen trance states. And not just one trance state, but many. And the more aware one is of their trance states, the more able they are to heal, or to help others heal from those frozen trance states. In essence, dehypnotizing them.

Wolinsky's Work

Hi everybody, I'm a little disillusioned about Wolinsky. I still love his work "Trances People Live," and I recommend this book highly. But "Trances" was just the beginning of the story. And, I'm not so sure about the rest (I've been listening to his tape series "Waking From the Trance"). There's a part of me that resonates to it, and then there's another (much bigger part) that feels like there's something missing. I'll tell you why. His beliefs:

1) Everything is once substance (okay, I can buy that)
2) Since everything is basically space, that means that everything is nothing (just energy or consciousness with no intelligence)
3) There is no such thing as purpose and meaning
4) There is no such thing as a person's "path," or that they are "divinely guided."
5) No such things as Healing Resources (angels, spiritual guides, masters)
6) No such things as Reincarnation or Karma
7) No such things as synchronicity, "Meant to be," or that "We create our own reality."

Why, because everything is nothing. And we have no ability to change it. It all just is what it is.

What else he says is to "Question Everything." Aha! That is something I have always done. And I question his beliefs.

I think people need and deserve purpose and meaning (which means hope). And hope creates a will to live. And people are born with a real common denominator: the will to survive. Otherwise, you may as well crawl into a hole and wait for death. And we don't do that. So where does the intelligence come from to not do that? Otherwise life is really just a great, big cosmic joke. And I can't believe that.

I believe the universe contains an intelligence that we can not be aware of by checking it under a microscope, or by meditating or by reaching the space between space. There's something else to life that we just don't know about yet, and may never.

How else do you explain how thoughts and prayers influence matter. Even words influence matter (i.e. Messages from Water). How people who gather with one thought can lower crime rates. Nope. There's something more..

I choose to believe that I have a purpose and a path, and that each one of us do. It helps me get out of bed in the morning. How about you?

And when I look at an exquisite flower, everything in me says that an intelligent being created that. Not just a speck of dust doing it's thing.

So maybe I'm in a trance of denial, but I think it's a trance I'll stay in for a while. It makes me happy.

Let's tread lightly with hypnosis opinions

Musings:

As hypnotists we must tread lightly (no pun intended). In this blog, my tag line talks about the fact that we, as hypnotists really don't know a thing about the work we do. Truly, it is all conjecture based on empirical evidence, which of course, varies from individul to individual.

One of my rants when I attend a hypnosis conference is that any of us talk about our work as if we really know the answers. We can have strong opinions (you know I do), but we really don't know. That is one of the things that creates discomfort for people relative to hypnosis.

People are looking for answers. This is nothing new. And when someone states something as if it were aboslute truth, people like that. It feels good to believe that someone knows (maybe that someone can help them). But then, when they think about it in quieter, non-emotional times, they wonder if they have been duped.

I think this is why hypnosis' popularity has waxed and waned over the years. Because people fall out of love with us when we try to tell them that we have all the answers. We should tell the truth about hypnosis. What's the truth? The truth is that hypnosis seems to help a lot of the people a lot of the time. The truth is that we don't really know how it works. The truth is that although they have proven through scientific discovery that *something* happens to the brain during hypnosis, we don't really know what or how. The truth is that hypnotists are fallible human beings who want to help people help themselves. But some of us can't even help ourselves.

We don't have all the answers. Humbleness, humility, with a big dose of wonder. Three concepts we need to be practicing regularly when it comes to our work. There I go stating absolutes again. But I'm pretty sure I'm right.... ; - )

Helping Correct Involuntary Hypnosis

Regarding my statement that I was wrong, that All Hypnosis IS Self-Hypnosis, somebody took it to mean the following

If a person knows what the intention is, he/she can resist.

I don't think my declaration means what they wanted it to. I still believe you can hypnotize someone against their will, and that trance can be induced in a million different ways from the outside. But the INSIDE EXPERIENCE that you ultimately have is created by you. And USUALLY the experience that you have is not on purpose.

So really, I'm probably saying something even worse!

What is so neat is that we, as hypnotherapists, have the ability to help people out of these unconsciously created self-induced trances. And we have the ability to teach them to choose trance states from now on. We can really empower people.

That's the thing to get excited about!

Love, Steph

Monsters and Magical Sticks

Monsters and Magical Sticks is one of my favorite books. I just wish he'd change the title (and the cover) to reflect what it really is. Fortunately folks like you are talking about it so you can get the word out. That's a good thing.

Steph

Dealing with Challenging Clients

Hi everybody - this post is taken from another list. The hypnotherapist is dealing with a challenging client: boundary issues plus confusion about whether to continue seeing her. I have responded at length, and I wanted to share it with you because I felt that this is an issue that we, as caregivers, face at one time or another. You are all welcome to pipe in! Love, Steph p.s. I begin with her post and end with mine.

This is a situation I'm dealing with right now. This client is not "creepy," but I've decided that I need to fire her, and am refunding her money for her prepaid sessions. Over the course of working with her for about six months doing various things ranging from pain management for the arthritis in her back to better sleep and learning self-hypnosis (all of which were successful) she wanted to tackle her weight problem.

I do my weight program in 6-session increments. I get that with this lady it's all about the emotional components, and we already have a good rapport in terms of getting her into quite deep trances, so I dived in at the logical starting place and asked to speak with the part that's causing the weight situation. After the usual spiel I asked the part what it's trying to do for her, if it would be willing to work with me to find another way to meet that need, etc., and the answer was "no." Several different times I tried to find an inroad and each time the response was no. And you had to see the look on her face; not no, maybe later. Not no, I'm afraid to tell you. Just. Plain. No. The "go jump in the lake" sort of no.

When I emerged her she didn't remember anything, but when I described to her the tone of voice and facial expression she used she identified that as a childhood pattern of hers. This was when I should have told her that I would not be able to help her with this, refunded her the rest of the sessions and cut my losses.

I should have done a lot of things differently with this client. Over the course of time this woman has slowly but surely manipulated me until she's in control of the relationship.

For example, after the first session in my office she grimaced and howled about how my chair was so uncomfortable and was killing her arthritis (mind you, this is a very expensive, IMHO very comfortable chair, and people usually sit down and go, wow, great chair) so could we do the sessions at her home instead? This was the first deadly mistake. It seems like a reasonable request: an older lady with an arthritic back who needs a certain type of chair.

In hindsight I see what a load of BS that was. She gets into her favorite chair with her favorite banky over her feet and goes into these really deep trances where she may or may not answer my questions and may or may not respond to my instructions. Sometimes I think she's asleep, but then she responds to an ideomotor. One time when she wasn't following my instructions I got fed up, emerged her and asked her what's the dilly-o. You just had to see how angry she was as she started emerging from the trance. She was furious with me, because she was having fun doing whatever she was doing, and as usual my agenda does not hold her interest. She said that she just enjoys being in the trance because it's really relaxing and it's the only relaxation she gets. She said she just wanted to enjoy the trance, so even though it was a weight management session and she had no intentions of following my agenda for weight management, I foolishly re-inducted her and just did a feel good relaxology blah blah session. Then, magically, she didn't lose weight.

The last time I went to her house for a session, I got there at the appointed time and soon realized she had not blocked off the time for us to work together. Someone else would be dropping by to pick up a dog in a while. Before I had time to wrap my head around that, she started telling me that she had gone to the doctor and has gained weight. It was kind of a one-two punch -- she surprised me by changing the arrangement without telling me, then launched into details about her problem. Before I realized what she was driving at, I responded with several ideas for homework type things that she could do, and avenues we could try to make inroads to the part of her that doesn't want to change. I reminded her that when I spoke with the subconscious part it told me it was unwilling to make the change, and that's the stumbling block we still have. She responded to that by saying that WE are not doing such a good job. Please understand that here in the south, that means YOU are not doing a good job. Mind you, I walked in one time and next to her chair was an empty GALLON of ice cream with a spoon in it. No shame in the game, she didn't even try to throw it away before I got there or anything. She doesn't even try to BS herself by taking a bowl and filling it and going back to get more. The audacity of
this woman stuns me.

This is where I am really realizing my issue and how it stands in the way of my practice. This woman's little headgame is identical to my mother's (I am estranged from her with very good reason). When I stepped outside I realized how seriously she had manipulated me, and that she has managed to place the responsibility for her change on me. I responded to her the same way I historically responded to my mother, by trying to work harder to please her. This is absolutely my problem, and I'm open to suggestions. At this point the boundaries are so jacked up with her that I don't see a way to fix it. I'm done with her manipulative crap, taking up huge amounts of my time and her refusal to be accountable for her life. I'm not looking forward to firing her (or refunding her money, ouch) but it's what must be done. Maybe just the experience of having me drop it back in her lap and walk away will provoke enough of a crisis for her to get over herself, but I wouldn't bet the mortgage money.

So my questions for the group are, what methods do you use for determining a client's willingness to do the work and be accountable for the results? What red flags do you look for? Given that each person thinks and responds differently, how much variation in response do you allow when giving instructions? What would you have done with a pain management client who said your chair was too uncomfortable and could you see them in their home?


My response to her:

It sounds like you have done some amazing work with your client. My hat is off to you. I also see this situation as a potential for serious growth for you in several ways:

1) You learn to create better boundaries (in work and in your personal life).
2) You learn to adjust your agenda to meet the needs of your client (and so you end up having a very happy life, indeed; - )
3) You get to keep helping your client, keep the money, and not burn any bridges.
4) You can release some of your mother stuff (wouldn't that be great!)

1) I don't think there's anything wrong with going to a client as long as a) you consider your time and make sure you take care of yourself on that, b) you are VERY CLEAR with your client as to your boundaries, and c) you are VERY CLEAR with your client as to your boundaries. Yes, I meant to write that twice. I should write it hundred times, because I can't stress the importance of it. You must take care of your needs, but you also must communicate how things have to go, and then don't deviate from that (or explain why you're deviating from it). In other words, don't keep your needs a secret, and make sure you know what they are (so that you're both happy). And make sure your client understands about personal responsibility, but if she's not following through, kindly ask her why, and what you can do to help her with that. Remember, about your time, kindly explain that if she chooses to make changes regarding your agreed treatment time, you will have to charge her, regardless of what goes on in the session (or not). She's testing her boundaries with you, and so I come back to "b" and "c" a hundred times: Be clear with your boundaries.

2) I have a client who enjoys hypnosis just for hypnosis' sake. Sometimes we deal with issues and sometimes we just do hypnosis for relaxation and stress relief. Here's the thing, stress causes multiple problems for people, one of which is a need to satisfy the stress with food. You would be a much happier camper if you got yourself (and your own agenda) out of the way, and found out what your client's agenda is, and followed that. Give a directive to her subconscious mind (since she is such a wonderful deep trance subject) that her subconscious mind will give her the best course of treatment and that you will both follow it. If she doesn't want to work on the weight stuff that day, so what? Go with the flow. If she's testing you by leaving empty cartons of ice cream around, ask yourself what is the message she is trying to send. I understand your frustration, I do. But you must ask yourself why you are so charged by her actions, and why she is allowed to push your buttons so readily. You know EFT, yes? Tap on yourself for your frustration. Understand that you're just experiencing a trance in the form of age regression of your own.... she reminds you of your mother.... but she's not. And remember, no one can manipulate you unless you choose to be manipulated.

3) You went into this business to help people. This is a person who needs help. If you don't think you can help her, you should give her her money back. But if you still think you can help her (if you could get out of your way), then by all means, do it. Then everybody wins. Of course, sometimes folks are impossible, and you will never be able to please (or help) them. This could be one of those cases (but it doesn't seem like it is, as evidenced by all the help you HAVE given her. Don't go into a negative hallucination trance FORGETTING TO REMEMBER all the help you have given her). But if you go it with an exploratory attitude, looking to learn about your client and yourself, you could have a lot of fun! But sometimes, yes, you do need to fire your clients. But ask yourself this: What am I here to learn, and is there a possibility that I could help, and is it worth it? Then you'll have your answer.

4) You obviously have a lot of mother stuff going on. Hey! I know a lot of great hypnotherapists that could help you with that; - ) As I said before, go with an open, learning mind. A zen mind. Step aside and WATCH what's going on in this dynamic between your client and yourself, and then ask yourself: what can I learn about myself from this?

Love, Steph

Proof of Hypnosis

Hi folks: there is a common misperception that hypnosis doesn't exist. But when hypnotized, people have distinctly different MRI patterns than when they are not. So although hypnosis is not tangible (it's kind of like electricity), it does exist. This article, written by researchers at the University of Iowa, proves that hypnotized people's perception of pain is much lessened. It's a little barbaric how the proved it, but hey, anything in the name of science ;-)

Hypnosis Rocks!

Love, Steph


Brain Imaging Studies Investigate Pain Reduction By Hypnosis

Although hypnosis has been shown to reduce pain perception, it is not clear how the technique works. Identifying a sound, scientific explanation for hypnosis' effect might increase acceptance and use of this safe pain-reduction option in clinical settings.

Researchers at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and the Technical University of Aachen, Germany, used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to find out if hypnosis alters brain activity in a way that might explain pain reduction. The results are reported in the November-December 2004 issue of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine.

The researchers found that volunteers under hypnosis experienced significant pain reduction in response to painful heat. They also had a distinctly different pattern of brain activity compared to when they were not hypnotized and experienced the painful heat. The changes in brain activity suggest that hypnosis somehow blocks the pain signal from getting to the parts of the brain that perceive pain.

"The major finding from our study, which used fMRI for the first time to investigate brain activity under hypnosis for pain suppression, is that we see reduced activity in areas of the pain network and increased activity in other areas of the brain under hypnosis," said Sebastian Schulz-Stubner, M.D., Ph.D., UI assistant professor (clinical) of anesthesia and first author of the study. "The increased activity might be specific for hypnosis or might be non-specific, but it definitely does something to reduce the pain signal input into the cortical structure."

The pain network functions like a relay system with an input pain signal from a peripheral nerve going to the spinal cord where the information is processed and passed on to the brain stem. From there the signal goes to the mid-brain region and finally into the cortical brain region that deals with conscious perception of external stimuli like pain.

Processing of the pain signal through the lower parts of the pain network looked the same in the brain images for both hypnotized and non-hypnotized trials, but activity in the top level of the network, which would be responsible for "feeling" the pain, was reduced under hypnosis.

Initially, 12 volunteers at the Technical University of Aachen had a heating device placed on their skin to determine the temperature that each volunteer considered painful (8 out of 10 on a 0 to 10 pain scale). The volunteers were then split into two groups. One group was hypnotized, placed in the fMRI machine and their brain activity scanned while the painful thermal stimuli was applied. Then the hypnotic state was broken and a second fMRI scan was performed without hypnosis while the same painful heat was again applied to the volunteer's skin. The second group underwent their first fMRI scan without hypnosis followed by a second scan under hypnosis.

Hypnosis was successful in reducing pain perception for all 12 participants. Hypnotized volunteers reported either no pain or significantly reduced pain (less than 3 on the 0-10 pain scale) in response to the painful heat.

Under hypnosis, fMRI showed that brain activity was reduced in areas of the pain network, including the primary sensory cortex, which is responsible for pain perception.

The imaging studies also showed increased activation in two other brain structures -- the left anterior cingulate cortex and the basal ganglia. The researchers speculate that increased activity in these two regions may be part of an inhibition pathway that blocks the pain signal from reaching the higher cortical structures responsible for pain perception. However, Schulz-Stubner noted that more detailed fMRI images are needed to definitively identify the exact areas involved in hypnosis-induced pain reduction, and he hoped that the newer generation of fMRI machines would be capable of providing more answers.

"Imaging studies like this one improve our understanding of what might be going on and help researchers ask even more specific questions aimed at identifying the underlying mechanism," Schulz-Stubner said. "It is one piece of the puzzle that moves us a little closer to a final answer for how hypnosis really works.

"More practically, for clinical use, it helps to dispel prejudice about hypnosis as a technique to manage pain because we can show an objective, measurable change in brain activity linked to a reduced perception of pain," he added.

In addition to Schulz-Stubner, the research team included Timo Krings, M.D., Ingo Meister, M.D., Stefen Rex, M.D., Armin Thron, M.D., Ph.D. and Rolf Rossaint, M.D., Ph.D., from the Technical University of Aachen, Germany.

University of Iowa Health Care describes the partnership between the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and UI Hospitals and Clinics and the patient care, medical education and research programs and services they provide. Visit UI Health Care online at www.uihealthcare.com.

STORY SOURCE: University of Iowa Health Science Relations, 5135 Westlawn, Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1178

MEDIA CONTACT: Jennifer Brown, (319) 335-9917 jennifer-l-brown@uiowa.edu

PHOTOS/GRAPHICS: A photo of Dr. Schulz-Stubner is available at http://uianesthesia.com/cv.asp?ID=540

I was WRONG - All Hypnosis IS Self-Hypnosis

Okay, okay, before you proponents of AHISH get too excited, know that there is a codicil to my declaration. The codicil is that all hypnosis IS self-hypnosis even though we are not aware that we are creating most of those trance states. In other words, all hypnosis may be self-hypnosis, but that doesn't mean we're doing it on purpose. I have a new guru - Dr. Stephen Wolinsky, who wrote "Trances People Live" (GET THAT BOOK NOW! www.amazon.com) among other books (I have been very busy buying his stuff on Amazon today). He discusses his theory that all problems are merely frozen trance states. This resonates for me on such a deep level I can not begin to tell you. You know when you get that feeling that you have found the holy grail? This is kind of one of those moments for me.

In his exceeding original seminal work, Dr. Stephen Wolinsky, a student of Erickson's, says "In my breakthrough moment, those puzzle pieces came together in an entirely new pattern: I saw that although trance states can be used to evoke resources and change on an unconscious level, they can also be - and are used - to create the symptomatology with which we all struggle. I saw that the person who brings his or her problems and symptoms to me is already in a trance state, and that it is this very trance state that is interrupting his or her experience of the present moment, blocking unconscious potentials and resources, and creating problems and symptoms. The therapeutic intervention then involves working with the trance state the person has already created (which de-hypnotizes him/her), rather than inducing or facilitating another kind of trance that may or may not be pivotal to the patient's symptom structure."

It is not a new idea that it is our job to de-hypnotize people, but I'm going to make it my business to explore this idea in serious depth. Based on Dr. Wolinsky's work, I am already formulating a system (watch out, I'm in a creative phase!) I also had another aha moment, and I believe I have come up with an induction that anybody can use on everybody. I will call it "The Rothman No-Brainer: A de-hypnotic hypnotic induction." Catchy, eh?

Now go get his book! I swear it will change your life.

Love, Steph

p.s. so if you want to still tell folks that all hypnosis is self hypnosis, you can. But you should probably include the notion that most hypnotic trance states are not knowingly created, if you want to be completely honest about it.

p.s.s I'm beginning to think that's how EFT works, too. But more on that idea later...

Past Life Regression as an Agenda

Today I received a call: "Hey, do you do Past Life Regression?" "Sure." "Sure?" She did not sound convinced. "Well, yes, but not as an agenda in and of itself. Here's what happens. You come into see me with an issue, and if I feel the situation warrants it, I may regress you to the first time you experienced that problem. If you spontaneously go into another life, then that's where your healing needs to happen. And that's just perfect. As far as I'm concerned, as long as no harm is done, it doesn't matter HOW the healing happens. But you're not going to hear me say: Okay, now were going to go into another life. It just doesn't work that way with me."

But since Past Life Regression was HER agenda, she asked if I could refer her to someone else. I said sure. I told her to email me with her requirements and I would send them to my hypnotherapy group. I know a few people that are specialists (I told her about Michael Pollack, but the idea of going all the way to San Francisco was a little far since she's in the East Bay - but he may hear from her yet since I told her he was an expert).

I guess I could have regressed her as an agenda, but that just isn't the way I do things. Maybe I should, but it's just not who I am.

Maybe I get it from a past life, or something.

Love, Steph

A helluva great hypnosis book (besides mine; - )

I can not say enough good things about Zali Segal's "Hypnotize This!" He (and several other big name contributors) have really put together a hypnotherapy manual for the ages. Everything is in there! If you read this book, you could probably skip every hypnotherapy conference you were planning on attending in the future. I'm not saying do that (it was not a hypnotic suggestion; - ), but I'm saying if you are good at learning from a book, this one has it all!

Love, Steph

p.s. now, if we could just get him to change the title and the cover.... the book would be PERFECT! ; - )

Is your child in trance?

According to "The Brain & the Mind." Psychology Volume 1. 2002: 117, Theta waves occur mainly in children ages 2 - 5 years old. Alpha waves occur in adults who have their eyes closed or who are relaxed. Theta waves are even slower (more open and receptive) than alpha waves which is the common brain wave pattern for hypnosis. So what does this mean? Children ages 2-5 are constantly in trance! If hypnosis is trance and trance is hypnosis, what an awesome responsibility for parents and society at large to protect the minds of our children.

If a child is told that they are no good, that they won't amount to anything, that they are failures who should not even try, those are some serious post-hypnotic suggestions that will effect those children and then they will have to come and see us hypnotherapists for us to dehypnotize them!

Children are walking hypnosis subjects, always deep in trance. Let's make sure that we are always cognizant of that in our dealings with our and other's children. All communication with children (especially from authority sources) MUST be monitored. We must act as their critical faculties, which have not been put into place yet. Realize that all communication with these fragile, impressionable minds could very well be taken completely and irrevocably literally. Especially if repeated often enough.

They say it takes a village to raise a child. Let's make sure that we, as villagers, protect the minds, hearts, and souls of these children by approaching every communication as though it were a hypnotic suggestion. Which of course, it could very easily be. And while we're at it, maybe we could do that for each other, as adults, too. Not a bad idea.

Love, Steph

What Is It About Weight Control?

It amazes me that in this day and age, I still get calls asking me if I will help someone "stop eating." Sheesh! Folks still have it in their consciousness to be skinny. Remember that Jewish Mother that I told you about? The one who told me that the only purpose in life (or at least the most important one) was to be happy? Well, that same Jewish Mother also asked me "Do you really want to eat that?" Who heard of such a thing? Aren't Jewish Mothers supposed to tell you to eat? It will make you feel better? And believe it or not, my own father, who was a physician, GAVE me diet pills to lose weight. Which I promptly became addicted to. Although I did lose 30 pounds in one month! Now mind you, at the time I was NOT overweight. I'm 5'9" and after losing all that weight I was down to 125. TOO THIN!!! But smoking helped keep me thin (after I lost all that weight to please my father) and I kicked my addiction to diet pills (was THAT gnarly!) But hey, I was skinny. Wasn't that all that mattered?

There came a point in my life when I decided some very serious and real stuff. That it isn't about being skinny. And it isn't about just looking good on the outside. I wanted it to be about health. The first thing I knew I had to do was to quit smoking. How to do that? Hmm. Believe it or not, at the time, I was a poker dealer! Okay, that didn't fit my new vision of myself. I'd better quit that job first because I knew I would not be able to quit smoking and sustain a healthy lifestyle if I were breathing in clouds of cigarette smoke. I remembered that I had taken a self-hypnosis course from Pat Collins "The Hip Hypnotist" when I was nineteen. Okay. I'll quit that way. Self-hypnosis. So I did. On April 27, 1992 at 10:30am I had my last cigarette. My mom died of emphysema, so I decided in honor of her life, to go to school to become a hypnotherapist to help people quit smoking. And remember folks, I was skinny - too, too skinny. So without thinking too much about how I was hypnotizing myself for that, I told myself that I had to gain some weight. I could and that would be just fine. But I forgot to tell myself how much! Okay, so forty pounds later, (now 165), I gained all the weight I want to gain (okay, and maybe a little more). But I don't care! As long as I am healthy, and I have healthy habits, I don't care! Now I'm wonderfully zaftig!

What it has to be about, must be about, can only be about is healthy habits - for life! I'm involved in a weight management mastermind group, and I brought up the point that maybe, just maybe someday, it won't be about weight management or weight control or weight loss or being skinny anymore. It will be about health. I believe that any hypnotherapist with any ethics whatsoever, will want to help their clients reach their healthy goals and habits - for life. And they will help those clients shift their paradigms from the need to be skinny, to the desire for health and well-being. Oy vey, I can only wish!

Love, Steph

All self-hypnosis is auto-hypnosis

To me, we are doing the public a great disservice by lying to them. We can do a greater service by encouraging people to recognize their trance states/hypnosis and to choose whether being in them is healthy or not. They can also learn to USE their naturally occurring trance states/hypnosis to reprogram themselves! One might, for example, take themselves out of hypnosis when deciding not to deal with a unhealthy relationship anymore.

While I do understand concerns if we, as a profession, were to tell the truth about hypnosis (that it is not always self-induced), I think you must have missed my point about the reality that while in the hands of a skilled and ethical hypnotherapist, you are THE MOST IN CONTROL OF YOUR MIND ever! So while the word "hypnosis" might end up having some negative connotations, it could be rather empowering for people to believe that they can learn to utilize the power of hypnosis for good - whether with guidance or self-induced. Or, as someone else suggested, we could change the name of hypnosis (whose origins give a completely false impression of what it really is, anyway - SLEEP).

Here's one thing that troubles me. Most hypnotherapists, when describing what hypnotherapy is, use the examples of "driving down the highway, getting lost in a book, a movie, or a tv program, etc." These are all natural functions that occur without conscious consideration. So while we are choosing to drive down a long highway with the monotonous drone of the tires eating up miles and miles of yellow lines, lulling our minds and bodies into comfort, the sameness of the scenery flowing past our peripheral awareness, we do not choose to go into trance/hypnosis. It just happens. As it probably did for you when you just read my description. So how can we be so inconsistent? How can we say we naturally go into and out of trance (hypnosis) all day long, and then, in the same breath, tell folks that we only go into hypnosis because we choose to?

"All hypnosis is self-hypnosis" (to me), implies conscious consensus and agreement. Most trance states occur organically and without conscious volition. Or they are induced by another (for good or evil purposes). In order to determine whether all hypnosis is self-hypnosis (or not) we have to define hypnosis. I will set forth several definitions as defined by reputable sources. Please notice that in no definition is there ANY reference to "a state which is self-induced." The hypnosis that is created by oneself is "auto-hypnosis." So if you wanted to be accurate with the public, you could state that some hypnosis is self-hypnosis, but it is really called "auto-hypnosis." The definitions for auto-hypnosis are beneath the definitions for hypnosis.

hypnosis
* An artificially induced altered state of consciousness, characterized by heightened suggestibility and receptivity to direction.
* Hypnotism.
* A sleeplike condition.

hypnosis
* A trancelike state resembling somnambulism, usually induced by another person, in which the subject may experience forgotten or suppressed memories, hallucinations, and heightened suggestibility.
* A sleeplike state or condition.
* Hypnotism.

hypnosis
1 : a state that resembles sleep but is induced by a person whose suggestions are readily accepted by the subject
2 : any of various conditions that resemble sleep
3 :HYPNOTISM

hypnosis
a state that resembles sleep but that is induced by suggestion

hypnosis
A state of heightened awareness and focused concentration that can be used to manipulate the perception of pain.

autohypnosis
n. In both senses also called self-hypnosis.
* The act or process of hypnotizing oneself.
* A self-induced hypnotic state.

autohypnosis
self-induced and usually automatic hypnosis

autohypnosis
Self-induced hypnosis, accomplished by concentrating on self-absorbing thought or on the idea of being hypnotised.
Synonym:
autohypnotism,
idiohypnotism,
statuvolence.


So folks, if you have made it this far, thanks for reading! Maybe we SHOULD come up with a new word to describe what we do. It could be the only way.... if we're worried about telling people the literal (as several dictionaries define it) truth of what hypnosis is.

Love, Steph

The most powerful and prevalent hypnosis of all

Probably the most powerful and prevalent (and some would say the most damaging) unconscious trance producer (hypnosis) is religion. You can not tell me that a six-year-old sitting in church, being told that if they sin, they are going to hell, is self-hypnosis. And yet, isn't religion, with it's rituals and hypnotic language one of the most long lasting trance producers of them all!? How many of us have learned our self-talk, our beliefs, and our values through the indoctrination of the church?

The reason why I'm harping on this so much, folks, is because I really want people to stop saying that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. People with thinking, reasoning minds will question this belief (as well they should), and as a result, be wary of hypnotherapists and the rest of what they have to say.

The good news is that the *safest* hypnosis is in the hands of a hypnotherapist who understands the values and benefits of the right type of languaging and positive visualizations. Plus of course, folks in the hands of a skilled hypnotherapist are AWARE of the incoming suggestions and can filter at will. Not so with the church and when it is already too late for a child in their most formative years, learning and BELIEVING (in their passive, trusting, open, relaxed state) that if they sin, they are in deep Kim Chee.

Food for thought.

Love, Steph

Dual Inductions

This idea came from a client of mine. He enjoys dual inductions, and thinks they are very effective. They can really be great for resistant clients because of the overload on the conscious mind. You could play a cd of yours or someone else's on one side of their head (or best case scenario, directly in one ear) while you simultaneously speak into the other ear. You could even record yourself in one session and use it for a double induction in the next.

Remember to vary the rate, and tone of your voice depending on what you want their subconscious to hear! Be a little Milton.

That's hot.

The following is directly from my client. He makes some very good points about how the double induction might go to be the most effective. This is a man who LOVES his hypnosis! And he understands a lot about it, yet he is incredibly good at letting go. I told him I wished I could bottle his ability to go. And then I wished I could drink from the bottle.
p.s. His was a double induction with two live people!

Double Induction Feedback
Wow, that technique is *GOOD*. The two talking threads take a lot of attention and there just is not mental capacity to think about what is happening. I'd be mostly focused on H but now and then something S said would toggle me over to there. Most of what was said did not get into my conscious awareness - some of it I was not aware of at the time (but I was hearing her voice), some of it I was aware of but quickly lost by being distracted by H and the rush of events. At times the themes from both of you converged on asking for the same thing at the same time and these convergences were very effective.

On the not so good side, one of the inductions was not one that worked well with a dual induction because it was a guided imagery that would become non-sensible if parts were missed. Guided imagery is a series of connected small steps, but when the attention is on the other induction some of those steps get missed. A hypothetical garbled sequence might be "You are on a beach" ... missed stuff ... "now taste that wonderful chocolate cake”. There might have been some connection in the original script between the beach and the cake, but that connection was lost when the part was missed. In a double induction both inductions should be ones that are still effective if parts are missed, or at least missed by the conscious mind

Based on personal experience, I'd suggest a few things for double inductions:

• Be sure that each induction uses only lines that stand alone. For example, take an induction and delete 1 to 5 lines every so often and see if it is still meaningful.
• Make sure that each line is compelling all by itself.
• Plan ahead on core points and cause there to be moments where the seemingly independent inductions converge on those points. This can also make a beat effect where the inductions cycle between converging and separating but where they converge they deliver a repeated core theme.
• Each induction should be spoken in a way to demand attention (even if delivered very softly) because part of the core trick of the double induction is to split the attention and confuse it so that what is said goes in unchallenged and unfiltered. Lines and tones that command attention are good in that they both compete for attention, and they are simple enough to slip into the mind if the attention is on the other induction.
• Make almost each line in either induction be something that you want incorporated into their mind or mental state. Statements like “relax deeper than ever before” or “you feel loved” have an effect you want if they slip in. Something like “imagine the water” does nothing if it manages to slip in.

If you were solo you could always try playing in one ear a recorded induction made for or chosen to be appropriate for the client while delivering a live induction in the other ear. Have the recorded one demand any conscious attention. (If you have clients that listen to tapes you make, you might use the induction part of that tape for one ear.)

Must one heal the past?

I was wondering, as I have done my whole healing career, if one must heal the past in order to have a healthy future. And I guess what we came up with was this: If you have a compelling future for yourself, you don't have to heal every last hurt that you lived through.

While I agree that a person's past informs their future, I also believe that history is not destiny.

Our past is meant to educate us as to how we WANT our future to be. And the reality is that most people's perception of their past ain't so hot. So your comment "If they aren't happy with their past then how can they be happy with themselves???" would mean that the vast majority of humanity would walk around sad, despondent, and depressed. And that is just not the case.

Our past is meant to teach us about how we want our future to be. If we can wrap our minds around that idea, a lot of freedom can come from that. And happiness, too.

Thinking good thoughts, Stephanie

Hypnosis with ADHD or ADD

Kids with ADHD or ADD wiggle around a lot, but they can still be hypnotized. And of course, from my recent posts, you'll know that I believe he's hypnotized practically all the time, as are all kids. I would definitely not try to do a classic relaxation with this child. Instead, I would have him describe his favorite book, tv show, or movie and then go into his world with him. He will instantaneously be deeply hypnotized (although he might not look relaxed, and he still might fidget around). That's cool. Make sure your voice reflects the idea that anything he does is just perfect. Then take him into his "magic mind" (not my idea), and have him rewire his brain so that the wires that caused him to pee his bed, are now fixed permanently. Metaphorically help him to rewire his brain. It will be very empowering for him. Then, after he has accomplished his own rewiring, tell him to listen very carefully with all of his ears, heart, and mind. Tell him it is not his fault that his mother left. Tell him that no matter what, he is a wonderful child with all kinds of gifts and skills and great stuff. Tell him he is perfect just the way he is, and getting better every day. But no matter what you say, speak his language. Go into his world. Of course this holds true for all of your clients, but more so for a child. That's where you will gain his trust. But it can't look phony, so it's a fine dance. If you're childish like me, it works great ; - )

Then give him all kinds of tools for self empowerment. You already know several. But give him his own force field (a la Star Wars) to shut out the negativity and b.s. that goes on at home. And give him key words to engage the force field. But only do this (of course) if you know it resonates for him.

Lots of ego strenghtening, of course, too!!!

Testimonial for Del Morrill's books

I'd like to say that you can't go wrong with ordering Del Morrill's books for working with kids. She's the master. Or is it "mistress?" ; - )

Find her at http://www.hypnocenter.com

Semantics of Hypnosis

I understand that you feel disempowered to believe that we are being hypnotized against our will from birth. But for the most part, the hypnosis is innocuous. I am a very literal person. When I gave the definition of hypnosis (according to a reputable dictionary as well as my own definition), I did that to show you that *literally* we are hypnotized a lot! Remember, my definition of hypnosis is the process of the suspension of analysis. We are in the state of suspension of analysis quite a bit throughout the day. Would you not agree? So therefore, yes, I would agree with you, if that were the case, perhaps our profession could use a better word. Or we could stand to redefine it. Because according to the semantic interpretation of the word "hypnosis," (and I am nothing if not Ms. Semantics), covert hypnosis happens all the time. Here's a great article which brings this concept to light. I did not write it, but maybe someone else's words will bring more clarity.

One last thing from me: as I said, most covert hypnosis is innocuous, and no evil comes from it. And sometimes, lots of goodies come from it, as in the case of the sex or love trance ; - )

Here's the article: http://www.geoffrey.knight.net/topic.html#CovertHypnosis

Wake up and smell the suggestions!

Here is MY new definition (you can use it if you wish; - ):

Hypnosis is the process of the suspension of analysis wherein the subconscious mind (the seat of all habits, emotions, memories, dreams, and beliefs) readily accepts incoming information and suggestions.

You can easily hypnotize someone against their will. It happens ALL the time. The names Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, and Jim Jones come to mind instantaneously. If this is not mass hypnosis, I don't know what is. We are daily, hourly, minute-by-minute being hypnotized by the media. Wake up and smell the suggestions, people! Hey, when was the last time you fell in love with someone only to "wake up" and realize that your dream lover was really a putz? I call that a love trance.

However, hypnotherapy is an entirely different subject. I tell my clients (and anybody else that will listen), that they are THE MOST in control of their minds EVER when they are in a hypnotherapist's office, because they are (to use Jerome's word) AWARE of all of the incoming information.

All hypnosis is NOT self-hypnosis now, nor has it ever been. It's a harsh reality (and one we really would rather not hear because it could give hypnosis a bad name), but a true one nonetheless. There's nothing wrong with the truth. And you don't have to be afraid of it. It will set you free.

Why Folks Fear Hypnotists

Hi all who are wondering about folks response to hypnosis demonstrations... I wonder if we could ask these folks that turn us down what their true concerns are (you know, without being defensive), with a real and true desire to figure things out.

I know that in my new community, I don't get the response that I'm used to when I tell folks what I do for a living. The usual (when I lived in San Diego and Maryland) was either "Wow, how neat! Does that stuff work? If I feel like I've created enough rapport, I tell them (with a smile and a wink) "No, my whole life is a lie!" ; - ) Or the other was, "Oh, that's so cool. I know somebody who quit smoking using hypnosis (or something equally wonderful)!" But for the most part (95% of the time, I'd say), people had a favorable response. Here, in Fremont, California, I get more of a response such as, "Oh, that's interesting" (but you can tell the person is really not very interested at all. The only things I can come up with are that either folks are more conservative here, or as one gal from the Chamber of Commerce said, they've heard it all before" and are not very impressed.

I'm going to make it my business to find out by being sincerely interested. I wonder if you could do that same with your turn downs in your various states. When we really know what we're dealing with, we can deal with it. And hopefully World Hypnotism Day will help, too.

Going into Trance

Going into trance is not a do-ing, it is a let-ting.

Trite, and short, but true.

And quite frankly, I do not think trance has anything to do with the technique. In this case, the old saying IS true - hypnosis is self-hypnosis. You have made your experience of going into trance about the technician when it is everything about you. You were looking for the hypnotist to do something wrong - not create rapport, etc., and by jove, you were not disappointed. I must say, it is rather shocking that a hypnotist would not do exactly as you asked. That's the first rule of rapport creating, and absolutely necessary for any good therapeutic relationship. However, your not going into trance rests squarely in your lap, my friend.

Why I Am Thankful for My Work

One of the pieces of my workshop was to ask folks to write down why what they do is so great, and how they would be doing the world a great disservice by NOT marketing themselves. I thought it would be fun if as many people that wanted to do this, would write to the network why they think what they do is so great, and in this week why they are so grateful for their work. Doing this will provide a double benefit. The person that writes it and sends it into the Universe will be reminding themselves. And they will be reminding the readers of why what THEY do is so great, too, and why they are thankful about it. I'll start.

Before I became a hypnotherapist in 1993 (in my early 30s), I was lost. I had done every job one can do without having formal education. I was always too squirmy to sit still for college for any length of time, although when I did go, I had a 4.0 average. I always found fault with every job, with every educational opportunity (I even went to court reporting school! - yikes, can you see me sitting still in a courtroom not saying anything!!?; - ) For five years, I was even a poker dealer - which was the most fun I ever had at a job, but after I quit smoking in 1992, that job did not fit my new self-image! All my life until that point, I searched and searched and searched for my calling, but I ALWAYS knew that it had to be something helping people and the world. My wonderful, funny, adorable mother died of emphysema. I had taken a self-hypnosis course from Pat Collins (The Hip Hypnotist) when I was 19 and remembered how cool I thought hypnosis was. After my mom died, I FINALLY decided what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to go to school and become a hypnotherapist and help people quit smoking. I had found my calling. Thank God.

Today I honor my mother by helping to save a life, where hers was lost. I feel as though I have helped to save many people's lives in many different ways, I feel as though I have helped people to gain insight into themselves, I have given them tools to help themselves (whether they choose to use these tools or not). What could be a better job than that? I have been told that my purpose on this planet is to serve mankind. I believe that. And there is NOTHING that gives me greater joy than witnessing that shift in someone I am working with. What a rush to be able to facilitate that.

Sometimes I doubt myself and what I do. When folks don't get the benefits that they have come to see me for, I am pretty hard on myself (even though I counsel everybody to be gentle with themselves, and to be their own best friend). That has been the case lately, to tell you the truth. Then I have to remind myself that I have taught them tools, that it's possible that we just simply haven't hit on the right thing yet, and to persist. I have to remind myself of my past successes, and of the powerful healing that is possible. Maybe it's just because I moved across the country twice in two years that put me off my stride. Yesterday, I got my FIRST call from my website since I've been living here in Fremont! Coincidence? I think not. Talk about The Laws of Attraction in action!

I'm SO EXCITED AND GRATEFUL to tell you that I have my stride back. Dr. Bryan Knight suggested that the workshop might be the thing to get me back on track. And I really feel it has. So many people got so many benefits. There was so much love, so much powerful healing, so much connection, you could feel it if you walked into the room. And it will never, ever, end.

SWEET article on Hypnosis

Hi everybody, our very own Erick Kand (and my student) got the cover of the Reader Magazine in San Diego (BTW, how did you manage that?)!!! Yay, Erick! Did that writer say you were personable??? ; - ) It's a good, long article. Very, very interesting, with an original slant.

FYI, as the article says, Erick is now in Florida. Shoot Erick, the timing's a little off. Oh well. It was a great article. One to show your grandchildren.

Interfering with one's path

I believe that if you set your intention before the healing that "all is for the highest good of the individual," you will never interfere with their path. I believe it is that simple. I believe that it was no coincidence that you are in their lives and vice versa, and it could very well be that you are meant to help them. You can not interfere at all if you set your intention for their highest good. And what is meant to be for them, will be. And what is not, won't.

Success Rates?

When folks ask me about my success rates, I very honestly tell them I have no idea. And I tell them that if I did, that would mean I had way too much time on my hands. I also tell them to ask any hypnotherapist who does give them success rates: "how do they know?" When do they follow up? My last follow up is at a year, and since I have been doing this for twelve years, I really have NO idea what my success rate is.

On that Jane Pauley show, the good doctor said that according to many published reports, hypnosis has a 50% success rate for some time, and 25% for permanent change. About the same as cold turkey. But boy, if I had to choose between cold turkey and hypnosis, guess which I would choose?

Eyes Wide Open

Eyes open is not a problem at all! In fact, with a client that I had who would regularly fall asleep, we decided that keeping his eyes open was the answer. And it was. I know it can be disconcerting - especially if they are looking at you!! So have them stare at something blank or something hypnotic, and it can even help the process. Then, if they feel like it, and when they feel like it, they can close their eyes. But if they don't, it doesn't matter one bit. You can still get the job done.

Porn Actors are People, Too

Hi fellow practitioner, for some reason, the fact that this gal is in porn movies is distasteful to you. I think what's worse for you is that you felt betrayed that she lied to you. I'm sure, as a feeling healer you can understand how she might not have trusted you to tell you the truth about her "automobile" injuries. Well, then she did learn to trust you as she got to know you. And then she tells you the truth. Don't betray *her* trust by not teaching her because you are upset that she protected herself by not telling the whole truth. As Melissa said, would you not teach someone who didn't share your political views? The only people I wouldn't treat or teach is somebody who I know knowingly hurts another. And yet, and yet, what if that someone wants help to learn how to help themselves?

Once I helped a gentleman quit smoking, who, it turns out (he told me this after getting to know me and trust me), was a convicted child porn collector. My first instinct was shock and outrage. I wanted to tell him that he was sick, and he needed to leave. And then my higher self took over. I learned where is aberrant behavior came from, and that he was working very hard to get over his sick desires. And I came to the conclusion that he deserved to quit smoking and to try to get healthy in every way I could possibly assist him. And I'm not saying that somebody in the porn industry is sick! As Dahlia said, I wish they would legalize prostitution, and I wish that Americans would get over their puritanical disgust toward sex (they'd rather show a person's eyes getting gouged out than a naked body on t.v.). I think this society would be a lot healthier. But I digress.

This gal and her friends deserve healing as much as anybody else. And you are just the person to help them. So treat yourself for your feelings of negativity toward her and what she does for a living (and her friends), your feelings that she betrayed you, and go do some good! It will look good on your life-review.

How Will I Know I'm Hypnotized?

First of all, I don't even wait for people to ask the question. The question has to be answered along with all the other questions folks *might* have in your pre-talk. Here's what I tell folks (and I've said it so many times I could say it in my sleep - and sometimes I do!; - )"

Hypnosis feels very much like that gray area between awake and asleep, where you are so relaxed that you could just float away, yet you are aware enough that you could respond to anything going on around you if you had to. You are not asleep or unconscious when you are hypnotized. Hypnosis is profound relaxation accompanied by heightened awareness (I usually say this twice). So you will hear everything that goes on, in fact, your hearing will be enhanced. All of your senses will be enhanced. It is not a very dramatic sensation - to be hypnotized. But it does feel nice – nice and relaxed. You may even question whether you *were* hypnotized at all! But we will perform some tests that will prove to you that you are. (I don't always do tests - some people would tell you that is a big no-no!) But when you have your results, you will know that you were!"

I usually change it a little here and there to keep it interesting for myself, but the basic premise is the same. And I always say the phrase "hypnosis is profound relaxation accompanied by heightened awareness."

I should tell you that even with the pre-talk, and even with tests, and even with everything I might do to educate folks ahead of time, and even when they get the results that they came to get, they may still insist they were never hypnotized. Maybe they weren't. Maybe it was all intention. Who really knows.

I believe that as practicing hypnotists we have a duty to ed-u-mi-cate the public on what hypnosis is and what it isn't. We have got to be the dispellers of myth and misconception where hypnosis is concerned. Of course, the reality is that we do not know what hypnosis is or how it works - truly - but maybe someday we will. But we have got to inform the public, as best we can, of the realities of hypnosis (as we know them), since the media (movies in particular) do such a sad job portraying it.

Labeling People

I'm so glad to hear that they are teaching budding psychologists not to label people. That is very hopeful to me. I can't think of a bigger disservice to do anyone than to label them. People live up (or down, or sideways) to the labels we apply to them. Folks want nothing more than to put a name to what is challenging them in life because it has been an anathema to them for so long. Naming it seems to take some of the mystery and fear out of it. However, naming it can make it stick. And having a person label *themselves* does nothing to help them feel better about themselves, and everything to insure that the label might remain much longer than we (or they) ever wanted it to.I say, let's teach people to NOT label themselves, unless the label serves them.

Criteria for not working with a person

What criterion do you use to determine if the person you are working with is beyond your capabilities to help? I saw a gal recently, and when the gestalt hypnosis I did worked, but did not hold, and she came in a week later, very close to tears, with extreme anxiety, I gently told her I did not think I could help her. I told her that I could not diagnose her condition, but is sure looked like depression with anxiety to me. She has made an appointment with a psychiatrist so hopefully she can get some help. That is good. But I was wondering. Do you decide over the phone if the problem is too big? When do you decide? Do you have a diagnostic criterion to help you determine the severity of the individual's issues and your capability to help. What??? I had met this gal in one of my classes when I taught (my unusual version of) EFT for phobias. It helped her, but she would not tap on her own to save her life! Also, each time I did hypnosis, she did achieve a great state of calm, but it would not hold. That's when I knew I was over my head.... A tough call.... What do you do?

The Pleasure Principal of Healing

I'd like to talk to you about an idea that I have been playing with for years. It is the pleasure principal of healing. I have felt that healing should not have to be painful. I have believed that our subconscious minds know the origins and aspects of our problems and if we word it correctly, our subconscious minds will take care of the problem for us without us having to know the origins or the aspects. Sadly, I have not been able to prove that. I have created some nice healing techniques combining hypnosis and energy therapies that are very relaxing. In fact, they are most definitely hypnotic inductions all their own. I know they shift subtle energies and good things happen, but the bigger "problem" remains. So, then my belief became that curing our problems so easily does not serve us. I feel pretty certain that in life we are meant to learn about ourselves, and to *get* our live lessons. Sometimes we have to regress to events to see the bigger picture and to have new realizations. Realizations that teach us patience, tolerance, love, understanding and other enlightened ways of being. I think that is what this healing stuff is all about. It's about learning the "core" lessons of what it means to be human so that we can advance in our enlightenment. And so even though my technique didn't work, I still haven't given up on the idea that learning our lessons in a more "positive" way (without having to return to the pain of the beginning events) is possible. I still could be wrong, but that is okay. I'm willing to find out. Are you?

One exalted state of enlightenment is the state of love. I believe that someone who is in the "state of love" is vibrating at the very highest frequency. In this frequency, of course, is where manifestation happens. I have been experimenting on my clients and taking them through an exercise that I created to help them to manifest neat things of all kinds. Those great episodes of synchronicity where things just seem to "fall into place," desirous situations and circumstances are presented, and life becomes very fun. You know, where we seem to be creating our own lives! We have all had them. Where the manifestation seems to break down is when we get into negativity - doubt, sadness, anger (and all of those lower vibration emotions). But hey! That seems pretty human to get into those states. So we have to be vigilant and we have to be mindful and we have to work on our vibrations every day. Like a top that we spin, we can manipulate our vibrations - through love and pleasure. I'm not talking about sexual love and pleasure here, folks. Not that there is anything wrong with those! I'm talking about pure love - the unconditional love that you feel for a pet or a child or life. The kind of love that doesn't have parameters and seems to fill you up. You may have that for a lover. Yes, indeed! But sometimes romantic love is muddied with disappointments and expectations, you know what I mean? And the kind of pleasure I'm talking about is the unadulterated feel good stuff of a massage by somebody who knows exactly how to rub you the right way (and they don't have an agenda of sex!) or the feeling of sliding into a bath at the perfect temperature with the perfect scent and you know that you will have 20 minutes of uninterrupted time to pamper yourself. I bet just reading that sentence made you feel good! ; - )

I want to do an experiment, but I need someone to help me organize it before I put it out there, and I need some volunteers to do the experiment. I want the experiment to be very structured, very clean (as clean as it can be when dealing with human beings!) The experiment will either be about manifesting $ or healing phobias or maybe I will have two groups. See what I mean about needing help organizing?!

Do you think it is possible to make changes this way or do you think I'm off my rocker? I'd love to hear your thoughts and I'd love to hear from you if you would like to participate in the Pleasure Principal of Healing experiment (as an organizer or a participant).

Working with Kids

There is nothing more gratifying and EASY than working with kids. I just had no idea. Don't be afraid of it. I was for a while, but I'm glad I ventured forth. It is just the best thing. I mean think about it; kids are like 100% subconscious, so if they trust you and you do some convincers whatever you say to them will be instantly recorded and acted upon. And you can give them tools that they can use for the rest of their lives.

Our own Del Morril has a stupendous collection of scripts and ideas for kids and teenagers, and I recommend that everybody on this list has it in their library. This is an unsolicited testimonial. (Oh, I got it yesterday, Del, right in time for working with an adorable 6 year old with an Italian accent - you could die and go to heaven she is so cute!) Call Del right now! (888) 663-5757 (toll free)

DO tell the dentist you're a hyp!

You should tell EVERYBODY what you do! Especially if they have the opportunity to see you in action! What great advertising THAT is! And what a great potential source of referrals for you! So Linda - tell everybody. Just don't tell them when your mouth is full

Is Hypnosis Dangerous?

I have heard it said countless times by our people (hypnotherapists) that hypnosis is not dangerous and there has never been any reported cases of hypnosis doing actual harm. That is SO not true. Hypnosis practiced by hands that are unethical and/or those that have their own dark agenda can be incredibly dangerous.

I took a class from a hypnotherapist who lost his practice and paid megabucks to a lady who he insisted was possessed with dark energies that needed to be exorcised. This woman was severely disturbed (had to be institutionalized for a time) as a DIRECT result of working with this hypno who had his own agenda. I personally do not believe that people can lose their souls. They would have no essence (life-force, mojo, whatever you wish to call it). Their soul might be disturbed but they can not lose it. Guess what, though? It really doesn't matter what "I" think or believe at all. It matters what the client thinks and believes! The only time the concept of soul retrieval should be brought up is when the client brings it up FIRST. Same with possession and things of that nature. Otherwise you are practicing dangerous hypnosis, my friend. And, in my book, unethical hypnosis.

Don't forget, your client has all the answers - they always have. It's your job to return them to authenticity, and never to take them for a ride on your own agenda.

Is all Hypnosis Really Self-Hypnosis?

It is very common for hypnotherapists to say all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. I think Charles Tebbets originated the idea, and he has been widely quoted. The idea is meant to allay the common fear, of so manypeople who are unfamiliar with hypnosis, that they are going to lose control.

Here is my bass-ackward proposition: That the oft-quoted idea that we are "de-hypnotizing" people is much closer to the mark. We are hypnotized all day, every day by tv, newspapers, magazines, radio, billboards, authority sources, friends, loved-ones, etc., etc., etc., aren't we? So here is what I propose, and this will allay the fear of control of loss better than ever (the #1 fear of people regarding hypnosis, I think): That folks are NEVER IN MORE CONTROL than when they are being hypnotized by a reputable hypnotist or when they are hypnotizing themselves! It is at those times that we are actually present - that we are actually PAYING ATTENTION to the incoming information. If you don't think your overweight clients have been hypnotized by the media's representation of the ideal woman, or that your smoking clients have not been hypnotized by glamorous ads depicting Mr. Studly riding off into the sunset...well. And I GUARANTEE YOU, these people DID NOT hypnotize themselves. In fact, had they had any idea whatsoever what was going on, they would be outraged, and want to do something about it. That's where we come in.

Using What Works For Your Client

I have always found - for everything - that the client's images are those that are the most powerful - for them. So I ask them - what does that look like? If they don't know, and they need to know, we find out. Otherwise, I don't think it really matters - as long as your client doesn't think itmatters - and they can see it "healed."Truly, my feeling is whatever works for the client is what truly works.

Is Intention Enough?

I wonder whether intention is all that really matters. Don't you think non-energy therapists seriously INTEND that a screaming baby quiet down? And, don't healers INTEND that their clients/patients get the benefits they are coming for? And I am sure the client/patient INTENDS that they get well - otherwise why would they be sitting in your office? There's your extra "power" on the issue - (where two or more are gathered...). But... (and I'm really just playing Devil's advocate, here)... there's another piece to the puzzle besides intention. So I'm wondering what people think it is.

My Reasons for Writing a Case History Book

I have struggled, at times (and very recently, in fact), with feeling my purpose. It is professional groups and other hypnotherapists' stories that have brought me back to center. Compiling this book is a labor of growth and purpose, and love for me. I, more than anybody else, look forward to reading and savoring these stories to remind me, and the people that I touch, why we do this work.

Another reason for this book is that there is a serious dearth of information available to the general public about hypnosis - at least that they are likely to read. It seems to me that most hypnotherapy books are written with the hypnotherapist in mind as the reader. If I had a book I could point to that I could feel good about saying - read this if you are questioning whether hypnosis is for you, this book I am proposing would be that book. It is meant to be educational as well as inspirational.

The truth is, for me, unless there is some kind of true benefit to mankind, I can not see doing it. That is why I'm doing this book. Because I believe in it. And because other hypnotherapists NEED to be inspired. And because folks NEED to learn about what is possible in and with hypnosis. But mostly because I believe in it.