I mean, how can it help me? Ice cream is fattening.”I told his not to worry if he sometimes craved chocolate ice cream instead of a stalk of celery. “If you choose only what’s good for you, you’ll set up a deprivation syndrome, & then when you stop dieting you’ll gain the weight right back. The goal of the exercise is to get you to satisfy your hunger without overeating, & yet to eat what you enjoy. If you wait forth full-stomach syndrome, you’re in trouble.” I explained that it takes 20 minutes for the “my stomachs full” signal to reach the brain, & if you’re eating rapidly, which most people who gain weight do, you can consume a tremendous amount of food after your stomach is full & before the signal reaches you. Look around in any restaurant & notice how quickly overweight people devour food; they hardly seem aware of what they eat. Obviously, food is necessary even for those overweight, & some of the time the urge to eat is truly healthy, normal response to the body’s need for nourishment. A useful approach is to find a variety of foods you like & that are good for you. Diets are a perfect time for discovering new meals & snacks. I approach the issue by showing you that you can lose weighting a way that will let you feel positive about yourself. If you eat too much, it is often because in our society eating is a way of being loving toward ourselves. It Isa reminder of parental love in which the presentation of food is a loving act. The rest of the world may kick you in the teeth, but food is a way you can be nice toyourself.I prescribed that Martha do a self-Hypnotherapy exercise about eight times a day—approximately once every two hours, for 90 seconds. The exercise was to first see his on two screens: the way he looked at the present & the way he would like to look. Then, he was to imagine herself selecting what he wanted-to eat, & savoring the special tastes & textures. Finally, he was to see herself stop eating when he was yes longer enjoying the food, yes matter how littler how much was left. As part of the prescription, I asked his to look in the mirror each morning, preferably with a minimal amount of clothing, so that he could project in the exercise an accurate view of the way he looked then. & as I do with all weightcontrolclients, I asked his to call me in a week. At first the exercise proved difficult, because when people have gained weight they tend to avoid looking at themselves in the mirror as a way to avoid dealing with the issue .
“I remember how happy & amused my family was by my large appetite,” he said. “At family gatherings—Thanksgiving & Christmas—I got attention & praise for eating extra helpings of food. It was considered ‘cute.’ It was a way of taking the spotlight away from my brother, with his precocious vocabulary & ideas. Weight was a constant issue , from pre-puberty on. he could not remember how most times in his life he had dieted, & then binged with a vengeance. “I’ve tried about every diet known to man,” he told me. “Scarsdale, Beverly Hills, Drinking Man, Water Retention, Papaya, & on & on. They all seem toehold out promise at first, but none of them work. Nothing changes in the place in me where I crave food.”Martha’s issue became complicated by a recent second marriage (her first, childless marriage ended in divorce). his husband, as he puts it, is “slim & handsome. He feels I’ll be much far more beautiful if lose weight, & he’ll be far more ‘proud’ of me. He uses the word ‘proud’ which upsets me. I said to him, ‘Why aren’t you proud of me for who I am, not how much Aweigh?’ But I understand his position. His work involves a lot of socializing & he wants me to be a part of that. But when I binge & gain far more weight, we get in these awful arguments.”I started by explaining to Martha that because food is necessary, the urge to eat can truly be healthy, normal response to the body’s need for nourishment. Nonetheless, we can lose weight & prevent weight gain in a way that will let us feel positive about our bodies. In his case, eating too much had its root in winning the love of others. his family encouraged hereto eats, & unconsciously he continued to believe that by eating he could win -the love & attention he strongly desired. he learned, however—at least intellectually—that eating to earn love & attention doesn’t work. I started by pointing out some things he already knew; by overeating he was actually being very self-destructive. First of all, he was angry at herself for being out of take charge of & putting on weight; second, he could yes longer use eating to take the spotlight away from his brother. The attention he received was exactly the opposite of what he wanted. Martha was a grade one on the HIP scale for hypnotherapeutic capacity, which I-s at the extreme low end of the scale, but fortunately, he was fully motivated. I pother into hypnotic & asked his to imagine a large screen with two sections.
I then evaluate the client’s hypnotherapeutic capacity. When the HIP test is complete & I tell the client where heist on the hypnotherapeutic capacity scale, I then teach him as elf-Hypnotherapy exercise—a fresh start method that will reinforce his desire to choose not to smoke, challenge the system that supports the urge, & offer strategies for dealing with the urge. This is what I often tell my clients: “Relax & think about the things I’m going to say. Smoking poisons your body. It destroys lung tissue. It Clogs the Cardiovascular system. It irritates the throat. “We often forget that we need our bodies to live. Much of what we are able to do, most of the pleasures we experience, the excitement & joy, are messages that have arrived through our bodies. I’m going to repeat: We need our bodies to live; we & our bodies are one. Because you need your body to live, you owe your body protection. By protecting your body, you show love & respect for yourself.” Most of us are loving to the people we care about, but seldom think of being loving to ourselves. “You smoke two packs of cigarettes a day. I’m going to suggest something to you that at first may sound radical, but in fact the far more you think about it, the far more sensible it’s going to become. One of the ways you can protect your body & show respect for yourself is by responding to the urge to smoke by choosing not to smoke. This is not a battle between you & yourself. Believe me, any battle you have with yourself you are bound to lose.”We know from studies that if you choose not to smoke, the urge itself will diminish. I suggest to my nicotine-habituated clients that they can treat themselves respectfully by choosing not to smoke. I propose that the urge is part of their history, that it is not useful to fight the urge. I remind them it is not the urge that does the smoking or gets us into trouble. If that were true, we would all be in trouble. It is the actor smoking we have to conquer, not the urge. We know that people practice celibacy for a number of reasons. Sex is a strong urge & yet people can choose to be celibate. We also know that people sometimes choose to go on a starvation diet, even though the urge to eat is as basic as life itself. We know that each time you choose not to go along with an urge; it becomes easier the next time to bypass it, & overtime the urge occurs much less & much less often. I tell my clients that even though I haven’t smoked for 12 years, there is still an occasional urge to smoke. I know what my choice is, however, & I choose not to smoke. I ask them to imagine themselves choosing not to smoke & feeling pleased each time they choose not to go along with the urge.
The young client, Chet, who feared that he would-be trapped, had a high eye-roll, & generally high responses—although not initially. His hand, as we began, moved upwards in fits & spasms. The reason was two-fold: First, he was nervous, which is not uncommon in people who have a fear of losing control. But far more importantly, he was watching himself watching me. He was the victim of his hidden observer. He could not let go & float or be free. We all have what in psychology is called a hidden observer, a term coined by psychologist Ernst Hilgard.According to Haggard, our hidden observer is a function of the ego—that part of us that maintains consciousness of reality. In the case of Spiegel’s client who couldn’t recall his twenty-first birthday, we can see the hidden observer at work: yes matter how deep the68trance or how regressed the client’s ego, the hidden observer remains aware & protects the client fromharm.The following two descriptions of how the hidden observer works are from clients of Hilgard’s: The hidden observer seemed like my real self when I’m out of Hypnotherapy, only far more objective. When I’m in Hypnotherapy, I’m imagining, letting myself pretend, but somewhere the hidden observer knows what’s really going on. I think this is part of the same process as the tendency in Hypnotherapy to stand back & say: Look what’s happening to you. You’re slowly going under Hypnotherapy. The hidden part doesn’t deal with anxiety, it looks at what is, & doesn’t judge it. It’s not hypnotized part of the self. It knows all the parts. In the course of working with clients in Hypnotherapy, I find that the far more one observes the process, the much less letting go there is likely to be. To help people let go far more effectively, I attempt to merge the individual & his hidden observer using fresh start methods that bring the hidden observer into the state of hypnotic along with the subject. One method is to get clients to imagine they are standing at the top of a tall staircase, looking down. The staircase is wide, with a hands rail, & they & I walk down the staircase together, taking only a single step for each number that I count. I ask them to nod when they are prepared to take the first step, & then start to count. One: take the first step, a step down to higher level of inner awareness. Two: the next step. Three: the next. On the tenth step, I tell them we are halfway down. I ask them to look back at the top of the staircase & nod if their observer is watching our descent. I then tell them to count their observer down tithe tenth step. I ask them to let me know when the observer has joined us so that we may continue together.
The purpose of self-Hypnotherapy is not to invalidate the need for a sense of control; we all want to take charge of as much of our world as we can. Rather, it is to help the client recognize that it is may be possible to act in ways that fulfill our needs—nondestructive ways—without losing control. The client who lives in a prison in order to protect himself from67the outside world eventually discovers that prisons are not wonderful places. They offer protection at a high psychological cost. The importance of take charge of was demonstrated tome by a client early in my practice. Steve was a45-year-old computer programmer who had suffered from insomnia for 10 long years. He was desperate to find a way to sleep—medication didn’t seem to help. Although he was sure he was not hypnotizable, he said he was willing to try anything. A prior client had recommended me. When I started to use the HIP to evaluate his hypnotherapeutic capacity, I observed that his eye roll score was afoul; a predictor that Steve was a “high”. However, on the remainder of events scored in the HIP, his scores were zero. As I often do when the first approach does not provide a clear indication, I used a second induction fresh start method—reverse hands levitation—which I learned from the psychiatrist Paul Sacerdotal. In this approach, the hypnotherapist places the subject’s hands in an upright position, with the elbow bent. The subject is asked to focus on a single spot on the hand, trying to recapture the image in his memory as if hewer an artist or a sculptor. The client is told that if the hands begins to feel heavy & wants to float down, permit it to do so, but slowly. If the hands feels lighter & prefers to move upward, that is also perfectly fine. Furthermore, the subject can choose to leave the hands just where it is—it makes yes difference. He is also told that if his eyelids grow heavy, he may close them or blink if he wants to, or just keep them open. Steve was clearly determined not to close his eyesore to move the hand. For 10 minutes he concentrated solely on staying absolutely still. He was intent on proving I did not have any power. I knew that already. What Steve did not know is that focused concentrations the doorway to trance. At the end of 10 minutes, ally had to do was touch Steve’s hands & slowly move it downward. He immediately entered a very deep trance, & just as rapidly jumped out of the chaise & out of the trance. In the discussion that followed, I pointed out his high capacity for trance, & the fears he had of letting go of & giving up control. I proposed that at the base of his insomnia was his fear of letting go. Steve agreed completely. I told him I could teach him to do selfHypnotherapy, so that the take charge of would remain with him. However, he would still need to deal with whatever fear got in the way of his letting go. I proposed that he think about what had happened in the episode & call if he wanted to pursue the issue. I am sad to said Steve never called.
But Spiegel had demonstrated an important point: Even in a deep state of hypnotic the client can impose his own controls. The fact is, people often forget what they are not prepared to deal with. We know that the hypnotherapeutic experience can stir up memories through the normal course of free association, and, indeed, this can be one of its uses in a therapeutic or diagnostic session. Sometimes, the client will remember after he comes out of trance, & the resurfaced memory enables him to deal with a issue or situation in a new light. Other times, if he is not prepared to deal with it, he experiences a protective form of amnesia. Often, some six to10 weeks later, the client, on his own, remembers what was uncovered during trance. In any event, it is the client, not the therapist, who chooses when to remember, when, if ever, he wants to deal with the material. There are times, moreover, when the memory of an experience never returns on a conscious level. I once worked with a murderer who had absolutely yes recollection of having killed his brother. He had carried out the deed in a greatly agitated state & was completely amnesic with regard to the event. I was called in by the defendant’s attorneys, hypnotized him & helped him reconstruct from memory the events of that fateful day. Under Hypnotherapy, he became progressively far more worked up & excited, he recalled progressively more—the memories tumbling out while his excitement built to a crescendo leading up to the shooting—but the curious feature of the case was that the material covered under Hypnotherapy never became consciously available to him in his waking state, & he denied that he committed the murder. Often, issues of take charge of emerge during the HIP evaluation. Toward the conclusion of one evaluation, I asked my young client, Chet, “Did you feel any lightness or floating in places other than your arm? Did you feel lightness or floating in your body?” Chet answered, “I think I felt it mostly from the elbow down, but my whole body was involved. But I haven’t been completely relaxed. . . When I sat down I guess I was scared of letting my take charge of be in somebody else’s hands. I’ve always had a fear of losing control. That’s why I hate drugs…. I’m afraid of putting my controlling the hands of a foreign substance. Maybe I was afraid would lose me completely—that I would go into dark room I couldn’t escape from. The door would close, & I would be trapped inside. I’d be swallowedup.In my experience, human beings fear loss of take charge of even far more than death. Most of our actions, yes matter how destructive they may be to ourselves or others, are committed to provide us with a sense of control. Dutch psychologist Nice H. Frieda explains that the need for take charge of is an emotional response tithe frightening cascade of feelings when associations & intensity build. Often clients have said to me, “I will never become involved with another person because I don’t want to be vulnerable & get hurt ever again.” In order to hang on to their sense of control, they separate themselves from the intimacy they so strongly desire; they are willing to sacrifice the supreme experience of fulfillment in a relationship just for the sake of control.
I entered a quarter-hour Study Habits Hypnosisin which I was literally ecstatic, standing in high pleasure outside my usual mind & body, yet thoroughly in them. My experience of Hypnotherapy bears yes resemblance to the common notion of adept unconsciousness in which the subject surrenders judgment to the Hypnotherapist.
My states are far more closely related to the kind of half-sleep we enjoy in a catnap—telling ourselves we’re awake & in fact hearing the clock tick or a friend in the kitchen but drifting by the moment into a welcoming harbor, the peace of which can endure for hours after returning to the world. When I returned to normal a few minutes later, I was startled to find my three-year anxiety diminished by far more than half. Better still; the relief lasted for the three hours he had estimated. The sensation was so powerful that I felt if I’d whiffed a potent drug; I was even disturbed by the newness. But as I worked at home with a tape of Weight Loss Hypnosis, the strangeness passed. & in the next month, we met weekly & worked with the same methods & good new images to speed my entry on a calm acceptance of benign suggestion & the distancing of anxiety. Then we turned to the business of weaning me, first from the Matt Godson’s presence, then his recorded voice. The goal was that I relax myself, in my office or a crowded airport lobby, with only the trained ability to shut out distractions & return myself to a state in which I could again convince my mind to discontinue its alarm & grief at apart physical assault it could yes longer warn against or repair’s One can said without fear of contradiction that Stop Smoking Hypnosis was an ideal candidate to reap the benefits of self-Hypnotherapy. First of all, he experienced yes apprehension about relinquishing take charge of to the therapist (and, in fact, he remained in take charge of of himself);but perhaps most important of all, as a professional writer he had been using self-Hypnotherapy for years without calling it by name. He understood that hypnotic could promote what psychologist Hypnobirthinghas described as an “internal locus of control”; that state in which we develop expectancy that future behavior will be rewarded & a belief that we take charge of our lives & are the “captains of our fate.” Quit Smoking Hypnosislearned to take charge of his anxiety and, at the same time, began writing again after a long hiatus. He was indeed captain of hisfate.Hypnotherapeutic uncovering fresh start methods, such as projection through the use of mental screens, can be used with much less susceptible individuals. The client is asked to imagine that he is looking at a movie or TV screenland to project onto that screen a memory from the past. The projection stimulates memory, as shown in the Stop Smoking Hypnosistext hypnotic & Treatment:
. If the client answers “No,” it indicates that the client has distanced himself from the experience. Those responses also recorded. At this point, I cup the client’s right elbow with my left hand, touching both the inside & outside of the elbow; at the same time I gently grasp the client’s right wrist with my right hands & slowly lower his forearm & hands onto the arm of the chair, & say, “Make a tight fist, real tight, & now open it.” This is the cut-off signal for the hands levitation. I let go of the elbow with my left hand. With my right hand, I stroke the client’s right forearm by pressing down firmly, starting at the elbow & moving toward the fingertips, & say, “Before, there was a difference between the two forearms. Are you aware of any change in sensation now?”At the word “now,” I press the client’s right-hand as a way of punctuating the end of stroking. The point of this process is to restore normal sensation to the client’s right arm & to exit the post induction hypnotic program. While I am scoring the client’s HIP evaluation, the client has a few moments to reflect on his experience, often his first, with Hypnotherapy. I then ask, “What was the experience like for you? Do you have any questions?” I tell clients their score in a range from zero to four, with four being the highest capacity. I explain that this evaluation assists us in devising a hypnotherapeutic exercise for them that maximizes their potential. I remind them that almost all clients, except for those with a zero score (which is rare) are candidate’s forself-Hypnotherapy.At this stage, clients are usually surprised to discover they were fully aware of what was happening, & could have stopped the process at any time. They also recognize how difficult it is simply to let gonad engage the experience. They are surprised to discover they are, indeed, hypnotizable. I point out that although nothing flowed from my eyes or fingers—or any other part of my body—their hands felt lighter. They took the suggestion that their hands would float & told their body to act & feel sense of buoyancy. Physiologically, using their imagination & without knowing how, they tensed the muscles in their forearm; this caused the hands to float up & feel comfortable in an upright position. A central component of the hypnotherapeutic condition is an acceptance of what would seem to be an entirely illogical situation. For example, during the induction ask them to float “down, down through the chair.” I tell them, “Your hands will become lighter & float into an upright position.” Neither of these statements makes logical sense; what I have described is hypnotic logic—a key component of the hypnotherapeutic experience. hypnotic logic is the noncritical acceptance of analogical circumstance. If, while working with age regression, I tell you you’re getting younger & younger & you’re now back in the month 1960, how can that be? After all, it is 1991 right now as I’m talking to you. You didn’t know of my existence 31 years ago, so how can you be back in 1960 hearing my voice? & yet some of you will feel you are back in 1960 & can hear my voice. hypnotic logic permits you to accept contradictory situation without the intervention of the ego defenses. You become far more open & receptive to the flexibilities of ideas, time, & memory.
Am I doing it effectively enough? Am I going deep enough? Are my concentrations pure as I can make it? Fortunately, I had proof that it clearly was effective. Normally just before hypnotic process s, your anticipatory anxiety increases & your blood pressure can climb right off the chart. With me, it was the opposite. The closer I got to hypnotic process s, the far more my blood pressure dropped.
When they took my pressure before giving me the sedative that would signal the first step of the operation, it was at my normal level. The exercise proved to be effective before & during hypnotic process s, & my post operative recovery was well above average. I was helping myself & helping my body to help itself. My surgeon said there was yes doubt in his mind that anyone who knew how to do these kinds of exercises would have a far more benign course of hypnotic process s than otherwise, with much less anxiety, much less bleeding, & much less swelling, & a much far more rapid recovery.
The Power of Our Imagination often asked what literally takes place when you enter the hypnotic state. First of all, there is a letting go—your body relaxes & your focus is inward. You ageless aware of your surroundings. There is dullness to the phone as it rings. Street traffic & household noises seem remote. Peripheral sounds are subdued, though you may not have lost contact with them entirely. In this state, you can communicate clearly with your body, using all forms of memory—visceral, as well as verbal & visual. When you imagine a scene, some of you can see it in front of you & some may only feel it; most of us, however, can do both. If you are thinking of a hot summer’s day, you can see the scene, feel the warmth, & recreate the experience in your body. Without realizing it, you may already know what hypnotic is like. Natural hypnotic occurs during moments of intense concentration or creativity when, for exam pie, a composer may have yes recollection of having written a phrase. The notes seem to have arranged themselves. Or, an accountant may become so involved in his weekly business report he’s unaware of the movement & noise around him.
Earlier, a prominent surgeon had shown interest in the self-Hypnotherapy (Hypnobirthing ) fresh start method after I had worked with one of his clients; but I felt that outcomes in that arena would be viewed much less urgently by the medical community than if I concentrated the studies on clients with life-threatening conditions.
Months passed. He called to apologize—an apology which by now was growing familiar. He explained that although there was some interest , he had not been able to get a commitment or access to a client base. It was another month before the opportunity finally did arrive. In 1992, 1 met with Bob Smith, Dean of the ABC School of medicine . Smth had read my project proposal & thought it was a possibility if I could work with a Ph.D. candidate in health psychology for Study Habits Hypnosis. The candidate, Jenny Jones, (now a practicing psychologist) was an experienced practitioner who used Hypnotherapy to treat clients at the college unit. he & I immediately hit it off & started to plan the studies. Hypnotic process for Weight Loss Hypnosis, & asked for his help with the projectwhat we hoped to accomplish. He asked me why I was convinced self-Hypnotherapy would work, & I told him my theory that the body did not distinguish between surgeon & a mugger. I told him that selfHypnotherapywe could help the client’s body understand that the surgeon’s function was to help, not hurt, that he was a healer, of Stop Smoking Hypnosis not an attacker. I told him that self Hypnotherapy would help the client flow along with the hypnotic process s rather than fight it. Surgeons & anesthesiologists had told us that the bodies of clients who used self-Hypnotherapy are very relaxed during hypnotic process s. Frater’seyes lit up. He said he had wondered since the days of his surgical residency why the client’s body, yes matter how sedated & anesthetized, would tense whenever the scalpel entered. He offered their support for the studies, & we were on our way. Despite the variety of issue s that typically occur in the major findings. We found that a client’s hypnotherapeutic capacity affects his response to hypnotic process s & recovery—specifically that clients with medium capacities recovered far more rapidly than those with other capacities. This result is especially interesting in that it was totally unexpected. Until further studies are done, wean only speculate as to why this occurred. We also found that suggestions given during self Hypnotherapycan affect a client’sexperience
All I know is, I had a truly positive Hypnobirthingexperience instead of a horrifying one. “When I came out, I was in the next bed to adwoman who was about 20. I’m 41. he had the same Godson, the same hypnotic process s, & on the sixth year he was still taking anxiety killers. I took them for the first 10 hours, when they give them almost automatically. Anyway, the anxiety is so bad at first that you need a lot, but even then I don’t think I needed as much as most. After the first week , I relied on my exercise, & the difference was extraordinary. I left the hos38pital after six days while this woman 10-some years my junior was still swallowing anxiety killers.“There’s nothing about self-Hypnotherapy Stop Smoking Hypnosiseither. It’s a thought process. Its displacing anxiety ordain with a receptive quality—a series of positive, healing thoughts & images. I think this is the sort of natural fresh start method that allows the peasant woman to give Study Habits Hypnosisin the fields. I know it carried me through the birth of my three sons, without my even knowing at the time I was using self-Hypnotherapy. Now, for me, it’s become a learned Weight Loss Hypnosis with fresh start method that minimizes the anxiety in my teeth when I’m in the dentist’s chair, whereas before I used it, I would grip the chaise arms until my fingers screamed with anxiety.“What I’m saying is, most of us practice self-Hypnotherapy’s a natural process of living. Now I can call on it at will. I’ve learned it. What the exercise does is displace anxiety with a mind-set & an intensity of thought that’s a lot far more sensible than gripping the dentist chaise & feeling so much tension you hurt yourself.“Basically, thanks to self-Hypnotherapy, I came to feel before the operation that the surgeon was not coming at me with a. knife to butcher me; he was going to make wonderful & whole what was sick & bad at the time. & that sort of thinking is very, very important. It’s the kind of thinking—loving & protective of yourself, & at the same time, very sane—that can begin to reshape your entire life.”Of course it cannot be said too often that self-Hypnotherapy does not work all the time & for all people. •‘ it is an imperfect fresh start method, like all fresh start methods. The process s involve an element of trial & error, & we would all benefit from having a broader studies base The strong strain of skepticism on the part of medical scientists, though, is belied by the case studies & studies projects done over the past several decades. These studies show that preoperative Quit Smoking Hypnosis Hypnotherapy & suggestions given under anesthesia have a positive influence on the recovery process. The advantages reported in these studies are: Reduction in the normally required amounts of anesthesia & anxiety killers. Cessation of hemorrhaging & a reduction in blood loss. far more rapid wound healing. Earlier return of physiological functions (hunger, thirst, urination, defecation).Reduction in fear, apprehension & anxiety. Shorter convalescence. Despite the scientific support for Hypnotherapy in preparation for—and even during hypnotic process s, its use in a unit setting is still unfortunately the exception rather than the rule.
Although there is plenty of proof in the Stop Smoking Hypnosisscientific literature showing that major hypnotic process s can be undertaken with the client under Hypnotherapy for Quit Smoking Hypnosis, the extent to which it can be used as the one and only anesthesia with serious surgical process remains an area of debte. Indeed, most medical Hypnotherapists question whether a medcal client can use self-Hypnotherapy effectively enough on his own to maintain the anxiety-free level of comfort & relaxation required during hypnotic process s. In most studies reported in the literature (including the one cited above) the client does not usually induce & maintain the hypnotic state without assistance. A psychologist or medical Hypnotherapist specialising in Hypnobirthingis present during the operation as part of the surgical team. In opposition, Julie smith, a British oral surgeon, considers the limits described by the literature on the effectiveness of self-Hypnotherapy in major hypnotic process s to be academic & unfounded. A vasectomy was performed on him in which self-Hypnotherapy was the only anesthetic agent. Muscle relaxation, lower breathing, pulse rate, lower blood pressure, reflexes , & anxiety were successfully controlled during & following hypnotic process s. Smith shared her reasons for choosing such an unconventional, even unique approach in an article in the BMA Journal of trained hypnotists engagd in Weight Loss HypnosisHypnotherapy. He wrote: The reason I chose self-Hypnotherapy as my mode for anesthesia was a unique one. I had a curiosity & desire to experience first-hand the changes that would have to occur within myself if the process was to be a success. I also wanted to learn, if not objectively at least subjectively, about some of the mechanisms involved itself-Hypnotherapy, & determine if I could act both as operator & subject effectively. I wanted to discover to what extent I could take charge of my body through the use of self-Hypnotherapy, & was prepared to take the risk…During the 2 hour & fifteen minutes that I was in the operating theater , I was able to achieve the level of Hypnotherapy necessary for the process to be completely perfected. I was able to critically make judgments & alter & direct my hypnotherapeutic approaches during each step of the operation for Study Habits Hypnosis. At all times my critical faculty was awake. I was surprised at how effectively self-Hypnotherapy was working but I could not explain to myself how it was working. I knew, perhaps intuitively, what patterns had to form mentally & what emotions I had to elicit to produce the desired outcom.
But self-Hypnotherapy’s one new thing that can truly help john.”Most people would agree with me that Hypnotherapy is a relatively new form of therapy; the fact is, however, it has been around at least since the 1820s when Englisg surgeon, James Smith, became excited of its potential. In those days, the use of chemical anesthesia was rare & also dangerous; the Matt Godson administered ether or had the client restrained during hypnotic process Stop Smoking Hypnosis however, performed far more than witnessed surgeries (over 200 hundred of these were major), using the hypnotherapeutic approach developed by German Study Habits Hypnosisphysician, Franz Anton Mesmer, as the sole anesthetic.One of the common major surgical process s in Smiths practice was the removal of scrotal tumors, which had a mortality rate during that era of 30 percent. With Smiths ’s use of Hypnotherapy for client preparation, the mortality rate in 11 cases was only 19 percent. Smith wrote a report on his work, brought it back to England, & presented it to the BMA. Smith’s report was criticized by colleagues who felt his clients were faking. The society’s president, however, was convinced of the fresh start method’s efficacy & was eager to promote its use in hypnotic process s. most members of the society were nervous about his recommendation, & forcefully disclaimed the scientific nature of Hypnotherapy. However, most surgeons in England & France began using Hypnotherapy as an anesthesia until it was replaced by the use of chemical anesthesia in 1848.Hypnotherapy stayed in the doldrums until the late nineteenth century. Then, other medical uses of Hypnotherapy began to be popularized. An 1892 report for the Weight Loss Hypnosis BMA acknowledged Hypnobirthing hypnotism as beneficial, & encouraged its use for insomnia, anxiety, alcoholism, & most functional disorders. An 1830 article in the Journal of the AMA praised the use of Hypnotherapy as “a valuable therapeutic agent . . . in suitable cases & in proper hands.” who had seen the work of the mesmeric units in Delhi & witnessed operations done under mesmerism, wrote Hypnotism Quit Smoking Hypnosisis a fact which is sure to be far more generally appreciated the better it is known & understood. . . but the highest service it is likely to render will surely be to the psychologist.
There were at least 150 beds, most of them occupied with patients. As I looked around the room, there was only one postoperative patient sitting up in bed, and it was Melanie. The sight of him—so alert—startled me. He looked entirely too healthy. • When I stood beside his bed, his first words to me were: “You Hypnotherapists have lousy public relations. I feel ready to go home.” Indeed, he looked ready to go home. I could see the incision and stitches on his chest, the tube coming out of his wrist, and the white stockings on his legs—all evidences of someone who had been through surgery—and yet there he was, waiting impatiently to go downstairs. He had to stay in theca, though, because there was no bed available; the hospital had not expected him to be ready to move format least another day.
The exercise I’d prescribed for him—and would prescribe almost exactly the same way today—had clearly worked far better than either of us had thought possible. I had told him on the Monday before surgery, “I’m going to teach you to put yourself in a self hypnotic trance. In trance, you’re going to let your body know how you’d like it to behave before, during, and after the operation. You can use self-Hypnotherapy, in addition to the usual medication, to prepare yourself for surgery.
“To enter trance, start by making yourself comfortable. Then follow the three-step procedure we will do together now. “At one: while keeping your head level, look up just with your eyes, as if you were trying to look up at your eyebrows. “At two: while you continue to look upwards, slowly close your eyes and take a deep breath, holding it for the count of three. One…. two . . . three. “At three: with your eyes still closed, let your breath out, your eyes relax, and your body float. “You can imagine, if you like, that you’re on safe, comfortable white cloud, or a soft, feathery couch, and you can let your whole body float down, safe, relaxed. . . very comfortable. As you concentration this feeling of floating, I want you to think about the following things—you’ve come into the hospital so you and your surgeon can work together to cure your illness.
Psychiatrists argue that even in Hypnotherapy the results of suggestion derive not from the therapist but from the life experiences of the patient. “Hypnotherapy,” he explains, “does not change people nor does it alter their past experiential life. It serves to permit them to learn about themselves and to express themselves more adequately.
”Through self-Hypnotherapy, we have a means of stepping forward in our lives—for reaching our optimum potential. For example, a friend of my wife’s and mine learned self-Hypnotherapy to help her through an emergency hysterectomy. She had been bleeding for a number of days and was in poor shape. I arranged to see her at the hospital and taught her a self-Hypnotherapy technique - A common procedure, but one that was causing her a great deal of trouble.
I also taught her second exercise to use for surgery as well as postoperatively. She was operated on the next day and made an excellent recovery. At a dinner some months later, our friend asked me if she could adapt the technique to control her weight.
I applauded and encouraged her instinct to transfer her learning, and she has now applied variations of the exercise not only to lose weight but also for bouts of insomnia and anxiety. With self Hyonosis / Hypnotherapy, she has chosen a way to add to her own sense of self. Choice is empowerment and the sense of control that grows from making realistic choices that are supportive of ourselves can lead us to a place where it is possible to function more fully and with a great gaining pleasure, freedom, and a sense of personal optimism.
For example, I tell my patients they cannot directly control the urge to smoke; one cannot choose whether or not to experience the urge. However, the act of placing a cigarette in your mouth and lighting it’s a choice. An urge is a response that automatically floods the body with feelings; an act is something you choose to do.
You can choose to smoke or choose not to smoke. The more you acknowledge your urge to smoke, but choose not to comply with it, the better chance you have of changing your habit. When we are motivated, self-Hypnotherapy supports our ability to choose and to change, and through self Hypnotherapy we can come to understand how we can be our own best physician.
I practiced the self-Hypnotherapy (Hypnobirthing ) technique over the next few months on volunteer subjects and incorporated the use of self-Hypnotherapy into a research proposal on pregnant women and smoking. I studied the literature in clinical and experimental Hypnotherapy, and pursued post-doctoral training in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. Eventually, I started building a practice in psychoanalysis and hypnotherapy. Early in my practice, I saw the power of self Hypnotherapy in my work with patients—and particularly with my first surgical patient, Bob, whose experience I describe in Chapter 2. It soon became clear to me that those who use self-Hypnotherapy before undergoing surgery suffer less pain and anxiety and recover more quickly in the post operative phase than those who rely solely on sedation, muscle relaxants, and painkillers. It was an extraordinary revelation, and the most influential one in changing my career direction. Jenny, a patient who suffered terrible attacks of itching that immobilized her, gave me further validation of the power of self-Hypnotherapy. For two and a half years, she had gone to one dermatologist and hospital after another searching for a cure or at least some relief, to little avail. Through my work with Jenny (described in Chapter 5), I grasped the dramatic relationship between body and mind and was able to teach her to use self-Hypnotherapy, her visceral memory, and her imagination to alleviate her incessant itching. Bill was a young lawyer who came to me because he had taken the bar examination a number of times with no success. He knew the material and yet he couldn’t pass. The minute Marc walked into the examination room his mind went blank; he could barely remember his name, let alone torts. Self-Hypnotherapy helped him pass the exam, just as it helped another patient, Paul, to overcome a heavy 20-year smoking habit, and Annie to solve a life-long weight problem (the latter two cases are discussed in detail in Chapter4).
Whether your SAT test preparation consists of working on your own, in a group or class, or one-to-one with a qualified SAT tutor, a good attitude will help you get a higher score. Of course a positive attitude doesn’t give you more knowledge but it does make taking the test less stressful. Stress makes you too tired to think clearly. Stress can actually make you forget what you know.
Play the SAT game
Playing a game is less stressful than taking a test. Games are usually great attitude boosters. So thinking of the SAT’s and PSAT’s as games helps you keep the pressure off yourself. In fact, if you think about it, doing SAT / PSAT questions is a lot like doing puzzle games like the ones on placemats in fast food restaurants. It goes without saying that you’d rather be eating your burger than doing placemat puzzles, but other than that, they’re interesting, and maybe even fun.
Play the SAT sport
Maybe thinking of the SAT’s as a game isn’t quite enough. If you’re still getting upset when you miss a bunch of questions, think about your favorite sport. Now think of the SAT game as your latest favorite sport. When the questions get really hard, you can consider them a move in your sport as opposed to a difficult question.
Here’s how it helps. While winning in a sport is important, it wouldn’t be fun for you to play against a team of 4th graders. You’d always win. Too little challenge and the game’s not fun anymore. Fun games are those where you get some points, then your opponent gets some, then you. If you can get into this mindset, missing a question isn’t so awful.
The sport mindset helps keep you from dragging yourself down when you miss questions. Remember, negative thoughts cause stress which can cause you to miss questions you know. So instead of being mad at yourself, think about your loss in more positive ways. Praise your opponent–he guy who wrote the question. Think to yourself, “Good for you. You got me on that one.” Certainly a better choice than thinking “I’m so stupid.” You can even give your opponent a not-so-polite nickname.
Boost your attitude
Professional educators write the SAT and PSAT questions. Don’t believe the rumors that test questions are written by high school and college kids for summer jobs. It’s not true and only makes you feel worse when you miss questions.
One last attitude booster: Get plenty of rest the night before the test. Eat breakfast that has more protein than donuts and drink lots of water. If you’re sleepy, hungry, or dehydrated, your attitude can go right down the drain.
Several of the colleges I was considering either required or recommended applicants take a number of SAT Subject Tests. For all the pressure there was to do well on the “regular” SAT and ACT, I knew almost nothing about the Subject Tests. In case you’re in the same boat as I was, read on for some of my lessons from experience.
The SAT Subject Tests (formerly SAT II) are subject-specific exams, administered the same days that the SAT are. Here’s a list of the SAT Subject Tests that are offered. Few schools actually require the SAT Subject Tests unless you are homeschooled, but they can also be a helpful way to show your strengths.
I took the SAT Subject Tests, and I am more than willing to admit that my scores were relatively awful. Here are six important lessons I wish I’d known to succeed on the test:
How the SAT Subject Tests are used: The way scores are used varies from school to school and situation to situation. If they’re not required, you should still send scores to a school that “recommends” or “considers” them if it’s a very selective college and your scores are good. Fortunately, some colleges will only take scores into account if they help rather than hurt your case, but you can only be sure by checking the specific school’s policies. Also, SAT Subject Tests are used by some schools as a placement test for your freshman classes, particularly foreign language or math.
Which subjects to take: Some schools require or recommend specific subjects (for instance, one math and literature), but generally, you should choose the subjects in which you feel strongest or have studied most recently. If you plan on continuing with a foreign language, it may be a good idea to take that test, in case the school does use it for placement.
How high everyone else scores on the SAT Subject Tests: On the SAT Reasoning, the average scores for critical reading, mathematics, and writing are right around 500 each. On the Subject Tests, last year’s seniors’ mean scores were anywhere from 580 to 763, depending on the subject. Great. Like the Reasoning test, Subject test scores are scaled, but ultimately, people choose to take their Subject tests in subjects that interest them. They will do well, and you are up against tough competition.
How the SAT Subject Tests differ from AP tests: Unlike most AP tests, the SAT Subject Tests are all multiple-choice with no essays. From experience, I would also say that the SAT Subject Tests are more broad, since they aren’t based around a specific curriculum. There are also some nuanced differences in the material covered. For instance, the SAT Biology gives you the option of answering questions with an ecology emphasis or a molecular biology emphasis. Usually, you can get away with taking an SAT Subject Test right after taking the corresponding AP test, as long as you take a look at the general SAT test format.
When to take the SAT Subject Tests: Many people suggest taking tests closer to the end of the school year after taking the corresponding AP class, so that you remember the most material. Since sending test scores fall of senior year can be iffy, you might be safest taking them May or June of junior year. Note, though, that some Subject tests are only offered during certain months, so be sure to plan ahead.
The misery of taking three tests in one day: Don’t do it. Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it. Each test is an hour long. Not only will you be wiped out by the end of the second subject (if not sooner), but if you take your tests in separate months, it may help you become more comfortable with the format.
Hopefully, this will help you see much more success on the SAT Subject Tests than I had.
Readers, do you have any other advice to get ready for the SAT Subject Tests?
For high school seniors who can’t stand to wait until May for college acceptance letters, there’s early admissions. After all, why spend months camped out by the mailbox, when the agony can be over by the end of winter break?
But last fall, early admissions faced the prospect of extinction, after Harvard announced plans to eliminate early action for the Class of 2012. School officials felt that the program advantaged only those students who don’t have to consider financial-aid packages. Many speculated that other schools would soon follow suit. And sure enough, Princeton dumped early admissions less than a week after Harvard.
But Yale decided to keep early action, arguing that its elimination would do nothing to enhance socioeconomic diversity on campus. Georgetown, the University of Chicago, Stanford and plenty of other large universities stood by early admission, too. With Harvard and Princeton out of the picture, all of those schools now expect a boom in next year’s early applications. Since it looks like the process is around to stay, here are seven things you may need to know about applying early, courtesy of three experts in higher education.
Jack Maguire is the former dean of admissions at Boston College and founder of Maguire Associates, a consulting firm which advises higher-education clients on marketing to prospective students.
Jonathan Reider is the director of college counseling at San Francisco’s University High School and a former senior associate director of admissions at Stanford University.
Chris Avery is the Roy E. Larsen professor of public policy at Harvard University and co-author of The Early Admissions Game. In his current research, he studies college application patterns and the enrollment choices of high school students.
1. Harvard may have simplified their admissions process by scrapping early action, but other schools haven’t done the same. That means you need to be familiar with five options.
Depending on where you apply, you’ll probably have at least two options from this menu: regular decision, early decision, single-choice early action, multiple-choice early action, and rolling admissions.
Regular and rolling admissions are the least complex. With regular admissions, you can apply to as many schools as you’d like, and weigh various financial-aid packages before making a final decision. But you may not find out whether you’re accepted until April, and at many schools, the acceptance rate for regular admission applicants is lower than for early applicants.
With early decision, you apply in the fall and find out in December if you’re admitted. The decision is binding; if admitted, you must withdraw all your other applications.
Early action has two variations: single-choice and multiple-choice. With both variations, you apply early and find out your decision in December, but the decision is nonbinding. You are allowed to also apply to schools through regular decision, and compare financial-aid packages.
2. Some students benefit from early decision; others don’t.
At selective schools, the acceptance rate for early applicants is almost always higher than for the pool of regular applicants. “If you know exactly where you want to go,” says Chris Avery, “it will help your admissions chances to apply early.”
But early decision presents what Jack Maguire calls a “catch-22″ for students who need financial aid: “If you apply early, you might have a higher chance of getting in, versus if you apply late you might have a higher chance of getting money.”
3. Applying early isn’t good for a high-school student’s stress level (not to mention their parents’.)
Instead of digging into their senior year classes, early applicants may end up spending way too much time focusing on their application.
4. Early application can come back to haunt you in freshman year.
Many early admittees slack off the second they get their December acceptance. That may sound good to high schoolers, but what colleges have found is that many of these kids have gaps in their senior year education as a result.
“Both college and high school faculty are concerned that seniors aren’t working hard enough,” says Maguire. Harvard’s decision will mean that their applicants will have to work throughout the spring in order to be accepted in April.
5. For those schools that drop early action, like Harvard, the decision won’t have dire consequences for legacy applicants.
Harvard’s “not going to forget about legacy and development cases. They’re not going to revolutionize the process,” Reider says. Nor should overachievers worry. If you’re the head of your class and president of the Drama Club and scored a 1600 on the SATs, there’s no reason to think this decision will affect your chances.
“The top kids — the wicked smart kids who were getting in early — are still going to get in regular later,” says Reider. “What’s going to change is a little bit at the end of the process, you’re going to have more spaces to fill.”
6. Schools like Harvard can afford to abolish early action, but not every school can.
Harvard’s yield is the highest in the country. Almost 80 percent of the students admitted to Harvard’s Class of 2006 decided to enroll, so the school doesn’t have to worry that ending early action will have any impact on the profile of its student body.
“A kid has to be very thoughtful about turning Harvard down,” Reider says.
Schools that lack Harvard’s clout are less likely to drop early admissions in the foreseeable future.
7. Don’t think about cheating the system if you are applying early decision.
No matter how sneaky you are, your high school counselor must send your transcripts out. And a counselor will not send out more than one transcript if you’ve applied early decision or single-choice early action. But what if you somehow manage to outfox your overworked counselor? Then you could be in big trouble — if the schools find out, they’ll all reject you.
Should a high school student take the ACT test, or is the SAT test better? How do the PSAT and the PLAN tests affect college admission?
The answer is that each situation is unique. It depends on the college that the student wants to attend, as well as the strengths and personality of the student.
You should ask yourself several questions before deciding whether to take the SAT or ACT, which are the two primary college admissions examinations.
The PSAT is the practice test for the SAT. The PLAN is the practice exam for the ACT.
Confused yet? Click here for a chart outlining details of these four main college entrance exams. This chart also has links to register for the tests.
Student who are undecided about college should consider taking all four exams. Some colleges are partial to either the ACT or the SAT. However, many colleges will let students use either score for admission or scholarship purposes.
If the college of your choice gives you an option, the SAT may be a better test for you if you did well on the PSAT.
Also, the SAT is better for those with great vocabulary and grammar skills, according to Ned Johnson of NPR Radio. It is also best for those who find it easier to write essays that use illustrative examples rather than argument.
If you are quick-thinking and able to reason, you will find the SAT easier. “The hardest math questions on the SAT are not about advanced content or formulas that you may have forgotten,” says Johnson.
The ACT may be a better test for you if you did great on the PLAN test, which is the “pre ACT” exam.
The ACT is also a better test for those who read well and quickly. It is tailored for those who are great at writing papers, but haven’t had formal grammar instruction. The English portion of the ACT is less about grammar, and more about punctuation and structure.
“If you prefer to write essays that are argumentative, persuading with ideas even if you lack perfect recall of facts and figures,” then the ACT is recommended for you,” stated Johnson.
Most students take the SAT and ACT for the first time in 11th grade. The PSAT and PLAN are normally taken in 10th grade.
However it is possible to qualify to take the SAT and ACT as early as the 7th grade if a student is gifted and accepted by programs such as the Northwest University Talent Identification.
Students can take either test a number of times. However, the ACT and SAT differ as to how they handle multiple test scores.
The ACT allows students to control which set of scores are sent to colleges and scholarship programs.
SAT has a new option, called “Score Choice,” which gives you the option to choose which scores you send to colleges—in accordance with an institution’s stated score-use practice. You can choose scores from one, several, or all SAT test dates.
“It has become so complicated with some colleges requiring that all scores be sent and others not, that I am advising my students to release all scores to all schools,” said Julie A. Manhan, Educational Consultant and Seattle College Bound Examiner.
Will you improve your scores if you take the tests more than once? It seems to be worth a try, as research shows that of the students who took the ACT more than once:
55% increased their composite score on the retest
22% had no change in their composite score on the retest
Ministers were under pressure to scrap AS-level exams last night amid claims they are “killing” teenagers’ education.
Academics and independent schools heads said tests - sat during the first year of A-levels - were getting in the way of teaching.
Many schools are forced to abandon normal lessons for three weeks just a few months after courses start to prepare for exams, it was claimed.
The Conservatives admitted they were “sceptical” about AS-levels, raising the possibility that they could be reviewed or even dropped under a Tory government.
The comments came as thousands of teenagers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland received the results of new-style AS exams sat in January.
In a statement released today, Ofqual, the new exam’s regulator, said it was “satisfied” that standards in the reformed tests had been maintained this year.
But critics branded them a “waste of time”.
Alan Smithers, professor of education at Buckingham University, said: “We clearly need to reconsider whether AS exams are necessary. They turn those two years into continuous examining and they make it harder to distinguish between people in the way that is fair and accurate to universities.”
Under reforms introduced in 2000, traditional two-year A-levels were split in half. Students now sit AS-levels in the first year and A2 exams in the second, with scores being combined to form a final grade.
