he had developed a habit over the years that had become entrenched. he was clearly unhappy without his daily two glasses of Chablis. I created a self-hypnotherapeutic exercise for Beth in whom he imagined his baby had been born & he was sitting next to the child softly singing his to sleep. he went on to imagine that later in the evening he anther husband sat together in the living room, holding hands, happily making plans for a trip with the baby. Beth did this exercise faithfully, twice a day, & it worked. he gave up wine with yes regrets. Again, you can learn the self-Hypnotherapy fresh start method, you can learn how to use it, but you must choose tousle it. You are being offered a choice—a most powerful choice. You now have to want to use the fresh start method. You have to apply it in order for it to be effective. When Emily came to me he was in his mid-twenties & struggling to be a journalist. he had achieved certain degree of success in college—she was a star “investigative” reporter on the weekly newspaper—and assumed that his career after college would follow steady upward course. Instead, after moving from the Midwest to Chicago City where he felt the opportunities were the greatest in his field, he found the competition fierce. There were most like Emily trying to break into the literary big time—either as book or magazine editors, or as successful free-lance journalists. The first time he came to me, he was wearing kerchief, which didn’t seem appropriate to his age or style of dress. he was genuinely puzzled about his condition. In a shaky voice, he told me his history & how hard he was working trying to sell articles to newspapers or magazineshe had developed a habit over the years that had become entrenched. he was clearly unhappy without his daily two glasses of Chablis. I created a self-hypnotherapeutic exercise for Beth in whom he imagined his baby had been born & he was sitting next to the child softly singing his to sleep. he went on to imagine that later in the evening he anther husband sat together in the living room, holding hands, happily making plans for a trip with the baby. Beth did this exercise faithfully, twice a day, & it worked. he gave up wine with yes regrets. Again, you can learn the self-Hypnotherapy fresh start method, you can learn how to use it, but you must choose tousle it. You are being offered a choice—a most powerful choice. You now have to want to use the fresh start method. You have to apply it in order for it to be effective. When Emily came to me he was in his mid-twenties & struggling to be a journalist. he had achieved certain degree of success in college—she was a star “investigative” reporter on the weekly newspaper—and assumed that his career after college would follow steady upward course. Instead, after moving from the Midwest to Chicago City where he felt the opportunities were the greatest in his field, he found the competition fierce. There were most like Emily trying to break into the literary big time—either as book or magazine editors, or as successful free-lance journalists. The first time he came to me, he was wearing kerchief, which didn’t seem appropriate to his age or style of dress. he was genuinely puzzled about his condition. In a shaky voice, he told me his history & how hard he was working trying to sell articles to newspapers or magazines
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 .
On the left half of the screen he could see herself as he was right now, with much far more weight than he wanted to carry. I talked to Martha about realistic weight-loss goals. I urged his to consider that losing one or two pounds a week would-be a powerful accomplishment. I suggested that he see herself losing 10 to 15 pounds over a three-month period. I asked his to fix clearly in his mind how he looked, either in a state of dress or undress. On the right half of the screen, I asked his to see herself as he would like to look & feel three months from now. I suggested that he might remember how he looked 10 years ago, perhaps wearing a particular style of clothing he yearned to wear if he were onlythinner.Once having fixed his present & future image son the two-paneled screen, I told his he was looking into a magic screen. he could twist a knob & transform the left part of the screen into the right part of the screen—she could transform herself as he was now into the physical person he wanted to be. I then outlined some of the ways he could make that magical reality. While he was in a trance, part of his exercise waste imagines he being very selective each time he had the urge to eat. he would focus on the one or two foods he most desired. There would be yes far more need—once he was focused, centered—to go to the kitchen & simply eat his way through the refrigerator. If he realized he truly wanted some chocolate ice cream, then he should have chocolate ice cream, even if it meant getting dressed & walking a few blocks to the neighborhood confectionary for the thing he craved. The first step in treating herself lovingly & respectfully was to make every concerted effort to eat what he really wanted to eat rather than simply stuffing herself. Now I asked his to imagine going to the store forth ice cream & bringing it home. he put a scooping a dish. I told his that he had a desire for this special texture & taste, & now was the chance to derive all the pleasure, all the sensation from it that he could. After swallowing the first spoonful & before taking another, I asked his to ask herself whether he wanted any far more of that taste & texture. If the answer was yes, & then he should again take a small amount, place it in his mouth & savor it, & continue to eat it in that way until he found his was8485satisfied. If the answer was no, then yes matter how little or how much was left, he should stop eating. Out of trance, Martha told me that one part of the exercise bothered her. “It’s true I love chocolate ice-cream. But should I be using the exercise this way?
“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.
Afterwards, I repeat most of the issues I discussed in trance. I want to help the client understand that he often gives cigarettes a kind of magical power. Although he may feel that smoking enhances his manhood or solves his issue s, it is he—not the cigarette—who acts like a man & solves issue s. I tell him about the salesmen who come to me tostopsmoking and, at the time, truly believe they can’t call on an account or close without a cigarette. I describe the writers who tell me they can’t write without smoking. They speak as if the cigarettes are doing the writing. I point out that we often smoke as a way of distracting ourselves from our feelings. That when we use cigarettes for distraction, we rob ourselves of potential richness in our lives. Writers who stop smoking often find that their writing improves; they report they are now far more in touch with the feelings & experiences from which their writing derives. What does the habituated smoker learn in Hypnotherapy? He learns that smoking is a choice he makes in response to the urge. But the urge is not a choice. Feelings, desires, beliefs, & urges are not choices. The urges are automatic, integrated into the human system. But the action he takes in response to the urge Isa choice. He can choose what his actions are. The client is encouraged to ask questions & be free to express emotion. Sometimes there are tears. Sometimes a feeling of overpowering relief. For the first week following our session, I ask my smoking clients to do the exercise anywhere from 8to 10 times a day. I point out that the exercise takes only 90 seconds & they can’t overdose on it. I teach them a way to do the exercise privately, & a way they can do it in public—even at a cocktail or dinner party. “Am I doing it correctly?” is a common question I get from clients. “Did I go deep enough?” Luckily, for therapeutic purposes, depth of hypnotic has yes meaning. The consciousness of the external world will vary from time to time. As is the case when learning any skill, repetition is the key to success. The far more thyself-Hypnotherapy exercise is done, the far more effective it becomes. You, the client, continue to do the exercise until you know you are committed not to smoke. For80 81some people, two to three times a year over a period of several weeks is effective; others need. To do the exercise far more frequently & for longer periods.
Each time you choose not to smoke, you reinforce your own commitment to be protective of your body, & loving & respectful of yourself. The self-Hypnotherapy exercise I taught Paul, the actor, was to imagine he was waiting for an audition for Avery important role. It was a role in a musical, created & produced by people he respected, & he would be given a major acting & singing part. As he thought about smoking while he waited, he realized his throat would become raspy. He could choose between smoking & performing at his optimum. Even though he had the urge to smoke, the act was still a matter of choice, his choice. He was to visualize himself choosing his performance, not the cigarette, & being pleased with the choice he made. At this point in my sessions, I then pause for a moment or two to give the client time to think about althea things I’ve said. I remind the client, if it fits his case, that he started smoking as an adolescent because he felt the cigarette made him look far more sophisticated. Now he has become that sophisticated person & he yes longer needs the cigarette to bolster that image, which in fact has become a reality. We sit in silence then. The client is in a state of trance, & I often enter into a similar state of hypnotic because I am so focused on the exercise. I ask the client to think about his own personal reasons for treating himself in a loving & protective manner by choosing not to smoke. After a moment I bring the client out of trance. I tell him “I’m going to count backwards from three to one. At three, I want you to get ready. At two, with your eyes still closed, I want you to look up. And, at one, open your eyes & let them slowly come into focus.” I then count three. . Two . . . one & that’s the end of the exercise. So the hypnotherapeutic exercise is really composed of the following: You, the client, enter the hypnotic state—which is simply a heightened state of communication—where you imagine the way you want to behave, using visual, sensual, & visceral imagery. Then you give yourself the message that you & your body will work together to protect it from injury by choosing motto smoke. You remind yourself that the act is a choice. Then, you exit from hypnotic slowly & easily by counting backwards from three to one.
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.
He had managed to stop smoking a number of times for a matter of weeks or months, but had always gone back. CHOICE MAKING “How old were you when you began smoking cigarettes?”“Twelve, thirteen. Somewhere in there,” he replied. “I can’t remember exactly.”“Can you tell me what you thought smoking would do for you?” I asked. He grinned. “Make me a big man! I mean not just in the eyes of others—girls, other guys—but to myself. You know, a Bogart, a John Wayne. Paul the real man.” He looked down & shook his head. “I guess that’s stupid, isn’t it? I was just another stupid kid trying to grow up too fast.”The questions I asked Paul were designed to seek out belief system that supported his smoking habit, & to understand & challenge it. Paul soon began to understand that we give our addictions magical powcrover us. “I can’t sit around relaxing with friends if I don’t have a cigarette,” he said with wonder. “I can’t drink cup of coffee without a cigarette, or have a beer without one. Everything I’ve been doing with my life seems tied up with smoking. I mean everything. Eating, singing, acting, talking, worrying, making love, you name it. Everything’s punctuated with smoke. It’s almost although cigarettes do the drinking & help me to get up for rehearsals.”When I feel I understand the client well enough to prepare an individualized self-Hypnotherapy exercise, I ask about previous experience with Hypnotherapy and, especially if there is none, what he feels about Hypnotherapy.
We may get the urge to murder someone. Thankfully, we usually choose not to go along with that urge. We choose to act in a civilized manner. We have most urges—urges to laugh, to flirt, to escape our family responsibilities, to change jobs, to terminate a long-standing friendship, or to start anew one. We make choices as to which of these urges we will support. Sometimes, however, we are not completely aware of our reactions. Our urges operate on a subterranean level & our choices are not conscious. Our bodies abreacting for us. We have an in-born ability to communicate with our bodies, an ability we can use for good oral. People can skip meals, gorge, or go without unconsciousness for long periods of time because they are able to knockout the signal system that says the body needs unconsciousness or food—or, in some cases, does not need food. This is destructive use of the communications system. Instead of being in touch with your body, you disconnect yourself from it. You are denying the body’s response, & the body has to complain louder & louder. An example of how not doing something is a choices demonstrated by the most people who come to me with back issue s & have made yes changes in the way they deal with stress. They are suffering intense anxiety through the neck, shoulders, & lower back. Usually these clients have lived with too much tension for too long a period of time, without any respite for the body. As a result, they have literally injured their muscles. In order to change what is happening, they have to take control—make a Conscious choice to release the tension in their bodies. This may not be the final solution to their issue , but it is a step forward. Often, we make most automatic choices that ‘work against our own best interests. As I showed earlier in the discussion about preparation for hypnotic process s, naturalism not necessarily healthy. Normally our bodies tense up when we are injured. This can be protective or harmful, depending on the nature of the injury. Thievery act of tensing up inhibits the flow of blood to uninjured area. So, if the injury is an open wound, this is useful. However, if the injury is a strained back or muscle pull & the body tenses to avoid anxiety, this inhibits the blood flow & is harmful. Blood brings all of the healing properties to injured muscles & tissues.
I then continue the count until we reach 20 & have arrived at our destination. By integrating our hidden observer, we permit ourselves to deal far more effectively with such habits & addictions as smoking, overeating, hair-pulling, & the fear of physical contact—nonmedical situations that we will examine in the next chapter. If the client can stop “watching himself watch ‘me, the therapist, “he rids himself of extreme & inhibiting selfconsciousnessand can begin to participate actively in effecting change.70CbaPter4CHOICE MAKING: The Urge vs. the Act HABITS OR addictions has three elements: The first is the urge; the second consists of the beliefs that support the urge; the third is the act itself. Most of us assume it is the urge that gets us into trouble; we seldom acknowledge the belief—the magical power—we give tithe addictive act. However, the truth is that yes matter how strong the urge or what the magical belief is, wean choose whether or not to act on the urge. Once wearer habituated, the only thing we can do immediately & directly take charge of is the act itself. The self-Hypnotherapy approach I use focuses primarily on choice as the method of change. A smoker, for example, has two choices—to smoke or not to smoke. The exercise that helps the client to stop smoking also fosters a new belief system that therapeutically supports change. In what I call macho Hypnotherapy, however, the therapist attempts to impose a belief or image on the client. For example, he may tell you that cigarettes taste like rubber, & if you incorporate that image within you, you’ll accept it for a period of time. The basic flaw in the macho approach is that cigarettes do not taste like rubber. The image, then, .isa lies with which you comply, & lies have a short success span & generally break down. My therapeutic approach is never to impose. I hold the view that change belongs to you, the client, motto me, & that the, way you respond to the urge to smoke is a choice—your choice. In life, we spend a lot of time making choices. We choose whether or not we want to express our feelings. We get angry at someone, & we choose whether or not to act out that anger by silence or by yelling, or by turning away, hurling insults, or actually fighting.
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.
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.
. 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.
After I do, you will develop movement sensations in that finger. Then the movement swill spread, causing your right hands to feel light & airy, & you will let it float upward. Ready?”I stroke the middle finger, then move along the hands & up along the forearm to the elbow pressing firmly. Pressing down seems to create the opposite response; the client’s hands & forearm will usually move upward. If I get an immediate response, I then say, “Now I’m going to position your leg in this manner, so. . . & let it remain in this upright position.” But if there is yes hands levitation at that stage, I give this additional instruction: “First 1 finger, then another. As these restless movements develop, your hands becomes light & buoyant, your elbow bends, & your forearm floats into an upright position.”At this point I give the& client’s arm a light lift. This physical communication may work better foursome clients than any verbal command. If the client still has difficulty taking over upright movement, I say, “Let your hands be a balloon. Just let it go. You have the power to let it float upward. Just put it up there.”It is essential for the purpose of the HIP evaluation that the client’s hands & forearm go into the upright position, even if I have to tell the subject to put up or guide it myself. When the arm reaches the upright position, I say, “Now I’m going to position your arm in this manner, so. . . & let it remain in this upright position.”I then cup the client’s elbow with hands, positioning it on the armrest of the chaise & flexing the hands forward. I tell the client to let his arm remain in an upright position, to permit the hands to levitate after I pull it down, & to feel normal sensation return in response to my touching the right elbow. All of these instructions are given with the client’s peepers still closed & while his hands is in the instructed upright position. “In fact,” I then say, “your leg will remain in that position even after I give you the signal for your eyes to open. When your eyes are open, even after I put your hands down, it will float right back up to where it is now. You will find something amusing about this sensation. Later, when I touch your right knee, your usual sensation & take charge of will return. “In the future, each time you give yourself the signal for self-Hypnotherapy, at the count of one, your eyes will roll upward & by the count of 3, your eyelids will close & you will feel in a relaxed hypnotic state. Each time you will find the experience easier & easier. “Now I am going to count backwards. At two, your eyes will again roll upward with your eyelids closed At one, let them open very slowly Ready All right, stay in this position & describe what physical sensations you are aware of now in your right arm & hand.
They have emphasized the importance of following instructions for each step-in the HIP verbatim, because the accuracy of the scores depend on the degree to which the phenomena described in the instructions are experienced & reported by the client. Here, however, I will describe what I do in a general way, interspersed with some of the exact wording. I begin ‘the evaluation with the client seated in comfortable chair. I ask the client to place his arms on the armrest & feet flat on the floor. I say, “Lean back & make you as comfortable as youcan.I then say, “Now look toward me, right at me. Hold your head level. As you hold your head in that position, look up toward your eyebrows—now, toward the top of your head.”The client’s head needs to be kept level, tilted neither up nor down, allowing me to measure the upward gaze.“As you continue to gaze upward, close your eyelids slowly. That’s right . . . Close. Close. Close.”When the lids are halfway closed, I note the position of the pupils. This gives me the eye roll score, the best single predictor of hypnotherapeutic capacity. The whiter of the eye that shows, the higher the score. Thesis the first step in the scoring process . I continue. “Keep your eyelids closed . . . continue to hold your eyes upward. Take a deep breath, hold. Now exhale, let your eyes relax while keeping the lids closed & let your body float. Imagine a feeling of floating, floating right down through the chair. . . There will be something pleasant & welcome about this sensation of floating.”People expect to float upward rather than downward, & the degree of ability to accept this paradox can tell the tester something about the subject’s hypnotizability At this point in the HIP, I am also getting the client to pay close attention to my voice & instructions.“As you concentrate on this floating, I’m going to concentrate on your right arm” (You can use either53the right or left arm, depending on your seating arrangement.)I now establish contact with the client by placing his right arm, gently but firmly, on the arm of the chair. Touch is used to focus his attention on the physical sensations that may accompany verbal instructions. Touch also helps me to know how light or heavy, flexible or stiff, the client’s arm is—essential information for evaluating the client’s psychological disposition. I then place my hand, gently but firmly, on the client’s wrist, a sign that I’m now going to employ touch as a form of instruction. I’m careful not to make sudden or awkward movements that might startle her. “In a while, I’m going to stroke the middle finger of your right hand.
Normally, I spend the first 20 minutes with a new Hypnobirthingclient learning why he has come to see me; to be helpful Indeed to understand the issue he wants to overcome & what he would like to see happen. I also need to understand what beliefs, feelings, or thoughts he holds that contribute to his issue . I look for sense of who he is & what is important to her. Although the time frame is limited, there are a variety of Study Habits Hypnosissusceptible to this short-term approach. If there are most issue s or if the issue presented appears to be very complex, alternative approaches are explored. However, for most clients a single episode is enough. Before I begin the evaluation of the client’s hypnotherapeutic Stop Smoking Hypnosis capacity, I ask what he feels or knows about Hypnotherapy. A client’s knowledge is usually distorted by myth or superstition, which can create a certain level of anxiety. Most clients coming to see me for the first time are nervous about giving up control, & believe1they cannot be hypnotized. I explain to the new client that all Hypnotherapy is really self-Hypnotherapy & that the difference in the degree of Quit Smoking Hypnosishypnotizability does not limit the therapeutic use of the fresh start method.Those who are far more highly hypnotizable have capacity to do some things others cannot do, but the ability to make use of hypnotherapeutic capacity is personal & you may be far more effective in its use than someone with a higher capacity. Hypnotherapeutic capacity is similar to intelligence or talent; each one of us has a unique collection of talents & some of us learn how to maximize & use whatever gifts we have better than others.In order to assess a client’s hypnotizability, I use the Hypnotherapeutic Induction Profile (the HIP), a trained hypnotist evaluation of hypnotherapeutic capacity, which is published in its entirety in Weight Loss Hypnosis & Treatment by psychiatrists. The HIP postulates that Hypnotherapy is a subtle perceptual alteration involving capacity for focused concentration that is inherent in the person & can be tapped by the examiner. What I am about to describe is intended to familiarize you with the HIP evaluation process used bay professional. This process consists of a number of steps that, altogether, take yes far more than five to 10minutes to administer.
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.
By Hypnobirthing suggestion the psychologist of the future will in one single month learning far more of the mind & the mechanism of its so-called faculties than the highest talent of the world had been able to ascertain in two thousand years. Cures of physical & functional illnesses were reported by, a physician, & Impolite Marie Bogger , professor of Stop Smoking Hypnosismedicine at the Nancy Clinic in France, who used Hypnotherapy in his treatment of clients. Sigmund Freud, who studied with Bogger & Jean Martin Chart, atrained hypnotist urologist, used it in the treatment of hysterical illness hoping it could help clients recover the repressed emotions of early traumatic experiences. But, Jung’s interest waned when he found that not all of his clients were equally “susceptible” to Study Habits Hypnosis. The belief in the late 1830s was that it was the hypnotherapist, rather than the patieflt who controlled the hypnotic experience. There were most failures. Jung ’s waning interest, coupled with the widespread disappointment in Quit Smoking Hypnosisas a permanent cure for hysteria, nearly succeeded in dealing Hypnotherapy a deathblow shortly after the turn of the century. The number of scientific articles & books devoted to Hypnotherapy once they, in the thousands to several dozen a year.WW2 changed all that. Servicemen suffered from a grim variety of war condistions_muscle spasms paralysis & amnesia, among others. Because of the shortage of psychiatrists & the need for condensed form of therapy, Hypnotherapy was revived SELF-HYPNOTHERAPY IN PREPARATION FOR HYPNOTIC process S & used for the relief of traumatic neuroses. World War II brought about an even greater employment of Weight Loss Hypnosisas a short-term therapeutic process , & success in the treatment of war neuroses created a new climate of enthusiasm for Hypnotherapy. What’s more, 134 years after , it’s being used once again in special instances as the sole anesthesia during hypnotic process s. Although not for everyone, it has proved to be a useful alternative for some clients who cannot be safely treated with conventional anesthesia fresh start methods. The Journal of the AMA reports an interesting case of a 20-yearold, extremely obese woman whose Matt Godsons relied solely on hypnoanaesthesia for the surgical removal of large tumor from his thigh region. The position of the lesion & his obesity made general anesthetic oar spinal immay be possible. Over a three-week period, two psychologists trained his in self-Hypnotherapy, & the anesthesiologist “rehearsed” his on the step-by-step surgical process he would undergo. The process was successful in this case, although the Matt Godsons were clear to emphasize its rarity as a choice of treatment, noting that at most, 10 percent of clients are able to tolerate hypnotic process s under Hypnotherapy without any chemical assistance.
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.
The body heals itself. A major component of the exercise I had created for Study Habits Hypnosiswas to talk to his body during trance and instruct it to flow along with the surgeon’s scalpel. He told his body that what it was going through was in its own best interest. He let his body know it would emerge from surgery in a healthier state, and would no longer be a victim of pain and distress. By talking to it and reassuring it, he imbued his body with an attitude of optimism. Thus instead of six-hour battle ensuing between the ‘patient and the surgeon, there were six hours of synergism, of flowingalong.Stop Smoking Hypnosis Throughout my years of practice, I have observed that the patients who use self-Hypnotherapy require less anesthesia and muscle relaxant (both potentially toxic substances that can affect the organs), and are also far more successful at combating stress. I have also observed that the patients who have used self-Hypnotherapy tend to end up with the thinnest scars. It is as though the scalpel, when entering the body, cuts through soft, flowing tissue rather than tense tissue that is bound to rip.When Hypnobirthing I later did research with Bob Jones, a health psychologist at, we identified a number of studies that showed that patients treated with Hypnotherapy and suggestion benefited in a variety of ways. Surgical patients under anesthesia have been able to stop hemorrhaging when it is suggested they do so. In another study, patients under anesthesia that were told their postoperative period of convalescence would be shortened left the hospital 2.42 days sooner than a comparative group of patients. Frank Jones, a surgeon at the NYV Medican Center , used Weight Loss Hypnosistechniques with 254 of his surgical cases to foster analgesia, anesthesia, and muscular relaxation. Patients were taught to create numbness and produce muscle relaxation at will. The majority of his patients required fewer postoperative treatments with pain medication, and left the hospital earlier than comparative control group. Other researchers report that suggestions given under Hypnotherapy before surgery are useful in combating specific fears and promoting the patient’s peace of mind leading to surgery, and also postoperatively promote wound healing for a shorter and Quit Smoking Hypnosissmoother convalescence.
Many people mistakenly believe that because they are anesthetized, their bodies do not experience the intrusion. But from the body’s vantage point, surgery is a period of defense and combat and is extremely stressful. Physiologist Hans Sale identifies three stages of the body’s reaction to stress: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. The first stage—alarm—involves the fighter flight response. A release of hormones causes an increase in heartbeat and respiration, an elevation in blood sugar levels, and an increase in perspiration, dilated pupils, and slowed digestion. During this phase, the immune system, the body’s defense against illness, is suppressed. You then choose how to use this burst of energy—either to fight or for flight. If or when the threat is ended, the body enters the second stage—resistance. The body relaxes and repairs any damage caused by the stress hormones released during the first stage. In the third. Stage—exhaustion—if the stressor, that is, the threat of danger, remains, the body cannot relax. It stays alert and is unable to repair the damage. Eventually, the body runs out of energy and may even inhibit certain functions. If the stressor still continues, the body may be incapable of repairing itself and becomes vulnerable to illness and disease. Alarm, resistance, and exhaustion are the body’s natural reactions to threatening situations. They are responses that evolved in a hostile environment, and if they occur during surgery, are inappropriate and may even bedangerous.Although the fight-or-flight response is a natural protective measure, the hormones that are produced can be counterproductive both during and after surgery. Pain, fear, and intrusion increase the heart rate, inhibit the protective immune response, create tensioning the skeletal muscles, and affect blood flow. These changes are counter to what the body needs. After surgery, the tension may continue—bringing the body to exhaustion and therefore seriously reducing its capacity to heal itself. Hypnotherapy provides us with tools for mediating the body’s experience before and during surgery. Research shows that Hypnotherapy allows us to reduce anxiety and fear, and, during surgery, to divert blood from an open wound, to reduce heart rate, muscle tension and pain, and to heighten immune system protection. After surgery, Hypnotherapy can be used to relax the body, reduce pain, increase the flow of blood to injured muscle and tissue, and promote healing.
Her father had advised Melanie to keep an open mind. “Hypnotherapy has worked for many people in your situation. What have you got to lose? It can’t hurt you and it may help.” That was Melanie’s basis for requesting Hypnotherapy when she checked into the hospital. Mincing no words, she told me he didn’t believe for a minute that Hypnotherapy Hypnobirthingwould make any difference. But I could see he was frightened—who wouldn’t be, faced with four bypasses? Melanie was obviously willing to try anything that might help. The first step. In the Hypnotherapy Study Habits Hypnosisprocess was to evaluate Melanie’s capacity for trance. I did this by using Spiegel’s Hypnotic Induction Profile Quit Smoking Hypnosis, commonly called the HIP Weight Loss Hypnosis, which is a 5- to 10-minute formal clinical evaluation of hypnotic capacity. Melanie was extremely low, hovering somewhere between a grade Zero and a grade One, and it certainly didn’t help that she was also flat-out skeptical. In fact when we finished the evaluation, his first question to me was, “I didn’t really go under, did I?” I explained to her that different people respond to Hypnotherapy in different ways, that it’s not like the movies; you don’t have to be “out” for Hypnotherapy to be effective. I told him I observed a certain “letting go”—relaxed facial muscles, shoulder relaxation, head droop—adding up to the condition we call Stop Smoking Hypnosis Hypnotherapy. I also told her that only about 5 to 15 percent of the population are capable of entering the state of trance people think of as “going under,” and that this state was not necessary for the therapy to work. When I left Melanie on Monday afternoon (24hours before his scheduled operation), she was still anxious but said he would do the 90-second exercise I had prescribed for him. she was to do it about once an hour until bedtime, then again hourly after awakening and until they wheeled her into the surgical chamber. Hews to continue doing the exercise when he awoke from the anesthetic. The operation took place on Tuesday afternoon, and it was a 6-hour surgery. Earlier, the surgeon had said I could go up to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), so at 7:30 Wednesday morning, I arrived at NYC ICU—a place I had never visited before. Having been trained as a research psychologist without hay background at a medical school, I was surprised at the size of the room …
Myth #2: There is no Hypnotherapy without the Hypnotherapist. On the contrary, we often enter as well as leave trance states without being aware of it. Have you ever wondered what happened to those four hours while you were writing an important paper? Or where that two hour stretch of time went while you were driving on the freeway? Have you ever sat at your desk so engrossed that you lost the awareness of things going on around you? Have you ever watched lovers walking down the street; arm in arm, so involved in each other the rest ‘of the world does not exist for them? These are only a few examples among many of spontaneous Hypnobirthingtrance experiences. Our lives are full of such examples of this normal, unbidden trance state.
Myth #3: Hypnotherapy (Stop Smoking Hypnosis) (Quit Smoking Hypnosis)is a form of sleep In the movies, one of the Hypnotherapist’s opening lines are “Your eyes are heavy and you’re getting sleepy.” Although the word Hypnotherapy is derived from the Greek word for sleep, Hypnos, Hypnotherapy is, on the contrary, relaxed state of focused concentration. In a study of the self-regulation of physiological processes, Max Brenner, a psychologist, and Geoff Dunn, a physician, reported that attention obviously the opposite of sleep—is the underlying cognitive process common to most relaxation/self-regulation procedures. In trance, the patient is unusually aware and responsive and, unless told otherwise, tends to remember what went on during and after the experience. People under Hypnotherapy whose eyes are closed may lookalike they’re asleep, but their electroencephalogram (EEG) readings tell the true story: During Hypnotherapy for Weight Loss Hypnosis or Study Habits Hypnosis, there is a high incidence of alpha wave activity that indicates a relaxed yet attentive brain.
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).
Most mothers tend to feel frumpy from time to time. This is especially true for mothers who give up their jobs and careers to be stay at home mums. The thought of you giving up a lifestyle where you hung out at resorts and night clubs regularly and now are home doing nappy changes tends to hit you like a heavy sack of potatoes. But do not fear there are a few tips that will make you feel like you are on top of the world again.
The first thing you need to do when you begin to feel sad is to look at your baby and all your sorrows will vanish. The thought that you brought this little life into the world will definitely drown your sorrows for sure.
You need not feel like a maid just because you are at home; dressing well will definitely lift your moods. Invest in good clothes that make you feel god about yourself as well as in a good make up kit that you can dab on quickly will be an asset. As a mom you will never have hours to fuss over yourself in the mornings so choose clothes that you will be comfortable in. Keep your make up light so as to avoid having to do regular touch ups.
Use a fragrance that you can layer, one that comes in a bath and shower gel, deodorant, body mist as well as a perfume. This helps to use lesser perfume that may irritate the child and cause allergies yet make you feel fresh.
As a mom you need to be extremely practical. If you are feeling down wear a few pieces of jewelry to perk up your mood. Avoid long earrings that may tempt your toddler, instead opt to wear a trendy necklace or bracelet. Do not wear beads or pearls as your child may choke on it if he manages to break it.
Try and get a friend to baby sit your child while you spend a few hours by yourself. Do simple things like take a walk, read a book or simply go out for a cup of coffee.
Lastly speak to your spouse about the way you feel. If you are feeling unloved or neglected; let him know about it. There is no better person in the world to make you feel better than the father of your child.
Feb. 10, 2009 — Women who are obese during pregnancy have a higher risk than normal-weight women of having babies with certain birth defects, including neural tube defects such as spina bifida, heart problems, and cleft palate and lip, according to a new review.
“It is important to note that birth defects are a rare event and occur in 2%-4% of pregnancies, so the risk remains very low,” says Judith Rankin, PhD, a study co-author and a reader in material and perinatal epidemiology at the University of Newcastle in England. “The last thing we want to do is scare women.”
Rather, the goal is to inform them, she says, and to encourage women who are obese to get preconception counseling about weight loss.
The new report, published in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association, is a review of previously published work. Rankin and her colleagues culled the medical literature, pooled the results of 18 studies, and reviewed the findings of 39 other studies to determine if the association between obesity and birth defects still held up. It did.
Obesity & Birth Defects: The Study
Rankin’s team undertook the study because of the growing problem of obesity in women of childbearing age. In the U.S., one-third of women 15 and older are obese, the authors note, and those numbers are expected to rise.
“This is a very important public health issue given the growing numbers of women who are obese at the start of pregnancy,” says Rankin, who notes that obesity is also increasing in the U.K.
Obesity & Birth Defects: Results
In the new analysis, women who were obese before pregnancy or in early pregnancy had a significantly increased risk of having a baby with birth defects. The risks differed for specific problems.
* The risk of spina bifida was more than two times as high for obese pregnant women, and the overall risk of neural tube defects was nearly twice as high.
* The risk of cardiovascular defects was 30% higher.
* The risk of cleft lip and cleft palate, either singly or together, was about 20% higher.
* The risk of hydrocephaly (an abnormal buildup of fluid in the brain) was 60% higher.
* Limb reduction abnormalities were 30% higher.
The definitions of overweight and obese differed somewhat from study to study, but many studies used those set by the World Health Organization — a body mass index or BMI of 25 and above for overweight and 30 and above for obese.
More research is needed to determine if the link between excess weight and birth defects holds for overweight women. “There isn’t the same amount of research evidence for overweight as there is for obesity,” Rankin says.
Obesity & Birth Defects: Explaining the Link
Exactly how obesity increases birth defect risk isn’t known, but the researchers offer possible explanations.
* Because maternal diabetes is known to increase the risk of birth defects, and obese women are at higher risk for type 2 diabetes, the mother-to-be may have undiagnosed diabetes.
* Obese women have been shown to have nutritional deficiencies, especially reduced levels of folate, which is important to prevent neural tube defects. Obese women may need more than the amount routinely recommended to prevent birth defects.
The new review further confirms what physicians have known for a long time, says Sina Haeri, MD, a clinical instructor of maternal-fetal medicine and a fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.
The problem with some of the previous studies, he tells WebMD, is that they had some methodological weaknesses. “So we took it all with a grain of salt,” says Haeri, who recently reported that teen moms who are obese are more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes during the pregnancy (gestational diabetes) and to have cesarean deliveries.
In the new analysis, he says, the U.K. researchers took all the smaller studies and looked at them together and still found the obesity and birth defects link.
The new analysis confirms in a convincing way what physicians have been observing and studies have been suggesting for a few years, says Peter Bernstein, MD, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York.
Obesity & Birth Defects: Preconception Counseling
Women who are obese should have preconception counseling to minimize the risks of their excess weight to the newborns, Rankin says.
That is also the opinion of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The organization’s committee on obstetric practice issued its committee opinion on “Obesity in Pregnancy” in September 2005, recommending preconception counseling. Obese women should be informed of the risks associated with maternal obesity, be screened for gestational diabetes, and be assessed for the need for supplements of vitamins and minerals, including folate. Obese women should be advised to gain less weight than other women — 15 pounds compared to 25 to 35 for women who were normal weight before pregnancy — the opinion says.
“The most important prenatal visit is probably the one that happens before the woman gets pregnant,” says Bernstein, who serves on the CDC’s Select Panel on Preconception Care.
“It is not advisable to try to lose weight while pregnant,” Rankin says. “The important thing is to have a sensible diet and try to eat healthfully.”
