The Mystery of Guided Imagery and How Working With A Hypnotist Can Help You

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Dennis Atkinson

When people talk about guided imagery, hypnotic trance, and meditation … essentially, they are speaking of the same thing. Any time you are very focused on something and you narrow your attention to what you may be focused on, as you might do if you are really engrossed in a good movie, or totally involved in a sporting event, or just daydreaming, you are in a state of trance.  A really common trance-like event that I think most of us have encountered from time to time might be driving down the freeway while having a million thoughts and ideas floating in our mind and then suddenly we find we are at our intended off ramp, and the last five or ten miles seem as they have been lost in space.  Has that ever happened to you?

The term hypnotic trance and especially the word hypnosis may strike tinges of fear with some people; and I think this may be due in part to Hollywood’s colorful dramas about mind control and brainwashing, or having read some headline in the newspaper about how dangerous hypnosis is, or you may have seen a hypnosis stage show at the fair or in Las Vegas and not really understood what was going on with those people on stage. But what if I was to tell you that hypnosis occurs naturally and often, to all of us?

There is a saying used by many that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis; and although I feel this may not be a 100% true comment, I do think the statement is close enough to the truth that I like to use it quite frequently. So let’s hold that thought for a moment … hypnosis is self-hypnosis.

One of the biggest and most misunderstood myths about hypnosis that I encounter on a regular basis is that a hypnotist is going to hypnotize you and then somehow make you do something you don’t really want to do … bark like a dog or quack like a duck. The truth is, when it comes to hypnotic trance, no one can “make” you do anything you would not voluntarily choose to do – except you.

The phrase hypnosis is self-hypnosis; essentially this means you will only allow yourself to go into and out of whatever level of hypnotic trance you, yourself, are comfortable with at the moment. No one can make or force you go into a trance … it just doesn’t work that way.

If anyone has ever seen the video that has been floating around YouTube for the past several years of the bank robber going up to the teller then immediately placing the teller into a hypnotic trance causing the teller to give all the money to the robber and then the teller failing to remember having done anything, let me assure you, it just is not going to happen.

When I interview new clients, part of my job is to educate them about the hypnosis and guided imagery process … and that task includes putting all the myths to rest.

Here is a list of some of the things I have been asked, and let me assure you, none of the following comments are true:

Myth #1 Hypnosis is mind control, exerted by the hypnotist on a weak minded subject.

Myth #2 Hypnosis is about losing consciousness, and afterwards you can’t remember what happened.

Myth #3 It’s possible to become stuck in hypnosis, and unable to come out of it.

Myth #4 Hypnotists have special powers, possibly psychic or related to the occult.

Myth #5 Hypnosis is dangerous, and could damage my mind.

What really happens when a hypnotic trance is induced … and please remember, you have to allow this process to take place, the hypnotist cannot just make it happen … is that the critical faculty of the mind (your conscious awareness) is bypassed in such a manner as to establish a process of selective thinking. The critical faculty, or conscious mind as it is often called, is the part of our brain that we use as our filter, and is the area where we learn, listen, reason, judge, and analyze. It is the conscious mind you use to make decisions, and these decisions are based on information we have stored away in our memories and experiences that we keep stored inside of our imagination.  Our imagination is often referred to as being our subconscious mind and sometimes as our unconscious.

If a person allows the critical faculty (the conscious mind) to be bypassed in such a way that one no longer readily distinguishes between hot and cold or sweet and sour as examples, we can then substitute selective thinking for conventional judgment thinking. Selective thinking is our belief system – the person who we have learned to be based on life experiences and memories – and is that area of the conscious mind that filters our everyday information.  What hypnotic trance allows for is communication directly with the sub-conscious mind — and since the sub-conscious mind does not judge or analyze, this process allows for positive changes (suggestions) to take place. This is why change can sometimes take place quite rapidly and effectively.

Hypnosis is an extremely pleasant state of mind whereby you may experience a very deep mental and physical state of relaxation, but also one where you are aware of most everything that is going on around you and one where you are in complete control.

When a person is in a hypnotic state (guided imagery, hypnosis, or meditation), you are not asleep nor are you unconscious.

Let’s repeat that … Hypnosis is not about sleep, and you are not unconscious and you are in control.

What hypnosis can do for you is help normalize the actions of the autonomic nervous system, allowing for the creation of a strong positive expectancy of healing and improving. This allows for the reduction of overall stress and anxiety, and this can promote improved health and well-being.

Hypnosis and guided imagery helps clients discover their inner creative abilities to develop positive thinking and feeling and to transform undesirable habits and behavior patterns. During the process, clients may learn the use of self-hypnotic techniques to assist in achieving goals and resolving issues.

Hypnotherapy is considered to be a client-centered type of hypnosis that uses a combination of transforming and analytical hypnosis, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, and Ericksonian language and metaphors (Ericksonian hypnosis).

Dennis Atkinson is a certified medical/clinical hypnotist and has met the education, training, and certification and testing requirements of the following:

1.   American Council of Hypnotist Examiners

2.   International Medical and Dental Hypnotherapy Association

3.   International Certification Board of Clinical Hypnotherapy

4.   National Guild of Hypnotists, Inc.

5.   California Hypnotherapy Academy

The services provided by Dennis Atkinson do not include the practice of medicine or psychotherapy.

http://www.mytrance.net

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The Cure Is U

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Dennis Atkinson

This video is about 26 minutes in length … but well worth the time … Enjoy

http://vimeo.com/36928487

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For San Francisco Giants Manager Bruce Bochy, kicking tobacco is mind over matter

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Dennis Atkinson

Interesting article well worth passing on …

By Adam Berry / MLB.com | 08/11/11 2:55 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO — After making the short walk to AT&T Park from his nearby residence, Giants manager Bruce Bochy used to reach instinctively for a dip.

That’s no surprise to Giants bench coach Ron Wotus. One of the first things his generation of players did upon breaking into the game, he said, was grab the chewing tobacco.

“It was everywhere,” Wotus said. “Baseball and tobacco went together.”

Giants manager Bruce Bochy tried hypnotherapy in April to stop using chewing tobacco, and he hasn’t used tobacco since. (Getty)

Everywhere, in this case, used to include the lower lips of Bochy, bullpen catcher Billy Hayes and longtime equipment manager Mike Murphy. But not anymore, thanks to highly effective hypnosis sessions in Arizona with medical hypnotherapist AlVera Paxson.

Bochy kicked the habit — a common one among baseball players, coaches and managers — after meeting with Paxson on the Giants’ early season road trip to Arizona. He hasn’t dipped since April 14. Hayes hasn’t used it Jan. 26, nor has Murphy in two years. The suggestion to visit Paxson and try hypnosis came first from Murphy’s wife, Carole, who stopped smoking with help from Paxson. So the chain began, from Carole Murphy to Mike Murphy, from Murphy to Hayes and, finally, from Hayes to Bochy.

“I’ve been trying to stop the dipping. I know it’s a bad habit. It’s not a good example, either,” Bochy said. “Once you start, it’s like smoking — it’s hard to get off it.

“She did a great job, because I’m not doing it now. I’m thankful.”

Bochy’s session with Paxson, first reported on by The Associated Press, was the most recent of several attempts to quit dipping. He had given it up before, only to feel the urges return shortly afterward. Bochy said he is surprised that he doesn’t even crave the smokeless tobacco anymore, especially with some of his players using it in the dugout.

“There’s no triggers there anymore. I believe in it,” Bochy said of the hypnosis. “I was skeptical when I went, but once I left, it was pretty neat to see how it all went.”

Hayes described his session with Paxson in great detail earlier this week, more than half a year after it happened.

After reading and hearing about the harmful effects of what he was putting into his body, he reclined in a chair, almost lying flat. Paxson told him to relax and keep his eyes closed, which was a struggle for the first 10 minutes or so, Hayes said, but became easier as the three-hour session wore on. Hayes wasn’t entirely sure if he was hypnotized — “I wasn’t out, and she wasn’t making me walk like a chicken or say stuff. You’re aware of where you were,” he said — but he vividly recalled several specifics of the session.

At one point while Hayes was still awake, Paxson took a clear bottle filled with what Hayes thought looked like motor oil, which he assumed to represent tar and nicotine, and shook it at him. Later on, when Hayes said he was “almost asleep” but aware of what Paxson was saying, he remembers walking up to the back passenger-side window of a four-door car and seeing the window roll down, at which point he produced a similar clear bottle and began shaking it.

“Just like she did to me,” Hayes recalled. “That was kind of weird.”

Upon waking up, “Immediately I went, ‘Oh man, I want a dip.’ But then something went, ‘Nope, don’t do it,’” Hayes said, snapping his fingers. “When you’re hooked on that as long as I had done it, you probably wouldn’t go more than an hour when you’re awake without one.”

But it worked for Hayes, even if he still occasionally indulges in imitation snuff. And it has worked for Bochy, although Wotus smiled as he thought back to the few weeks after Bochy’s session.

“He was a little bit on edge. He was a little bit more ornery than usual,” Wotus said. “But you know what? Recently, if he still hasn’t dipped, then I guess it’s working. He seems like his normal self, so I think he’s over that rough patch.”

Giants reliever Jeremy Affeldt said he noticed Bochy chewing a lot more gum than usual, another method of stress relief for those who don’t dip. There has been an all-encompassing ban on tobacco products in the Minor Leagues since 1993, and Affeldt doesn’t use it, but he admitted getting rid of it in the Majors would be a touchy situation because you’re asking grown men to eliminate habits they might have had for dozens of years.

But Affeldt was a little more certain regarding his stance on the hypnosis Bochy, Hayes and Murphy underwent.

“You would have to make me a believer. It’s worked for Bochy,” Affeldt said. “I have no experience with it, but I’m a little bit more on the skeptical side of things like that. You’d have to prove it to me before I would be a believer.”

Hayes is certainly a believer. He has given Paxson’s card to several other people since his session, saying, “It’s just a blessing that it happened that way.”

Count Bochy among the believers in hypnosis as well, even if he doesn’t know for sure if he’ll stay away from his old habit as the stress piles up during the final months of the Giants’ season.

“I feel better about it, and hopefully I won’t crank it up again. But all these tight games, you don’t know,” Bochy said. “There’s so many triggers. But right now, I feel very good about it.”

Adam Berry is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Hypno-Band … Hypnosis, Weight Loss, & Pilates in Vacaville

Posted on March 4, 2012 by Dennis Atkinson
  • Is it time to end the cycle of good and bad eating?
  • Do you want to have an amazing level of desire to exercise?

Dennis Atkinson Hypnosis & Life Coaching is committed to helping you achieve your ideal body image.  Using our proven techniques, which include the Hypno-Band Weight Loss System (hypnotic gastric bypass), allow one to release those old habits and patterns … to get rid of those old beliefs and ideas … those things that have caused you to overeat … while at the same time, creating new habits and patterns, new beliefs and ideas that will leave your body healthy, energized, and full of life!

  • You will eat and drink healthier.
  • You will begin a process of thinking healthier
  • You will be more energized and full of life
  • You will be more motivated to get up and move!
  • You will learn techniques to maintain this improvement!

All of us were born with the ability to recognize the right amount of food needed to power our bodies and maintain a consistent level of energy, were we not?  And as we grow from infant to adult, our mind creates associations with our food, associations that last long into adulthood, associations that are both healthy and unhealthy.

Have you ever done one of the following?

  • Eaten out of boredom?
  • Eaten because of stress?
  • Eaten to heal a broken or lonely heart?
  • Eaten as a substitute for intimacy?
  • Eaten to show off?
  • Eaten when angry or upset?
  • Looked at food like it was your friend?

I would guess that we all have!  When we are young and growing, our metabolism is able to better manage our intake … basically we have a greater ability to burn off those calories; but as we mature, as we reach adulthood, we require less food than when we were in our teens and twenties.

As we mature, it is imperative that we adjust our intake to support our current metabolism, so as to maintain our weight and health goals.  Diets do come and go, do they not?  But if we truly want to make changes that actually last, then we must release those old thought patterns … release those old beliefs and ideas associated with our eating … release those old thoughts, beliefs, and ideas that drive our eating habits.

Hypnosis, Hypnotherapy & Guided Imagery are all fantastic tools with proven results.  And when we combine these tools with NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) you can achieve your goal faster and with much more positive and lasting results.

  • Is it time for you to end this cycle?
  • Do you want to feel healthier?
  • Do you want to be healthier?
  • Are you ready for some change in your life?

We are presently looking for people seriously interested in improving their overall health … dropping those unwanted pounds … improving their overall quality of life.

And we are teaming up with Practical Pilates in Vacaville to accomplish just that!

There are a few big reasons people pursuing significant weight-loss should consider Pilates:

  • Pilates exercises strengthen and prepare muscles and joints to be able to handle the effects of a heavy cardio regimen.
  • Pilates will also improve core strength and balance, both being critical components of health and fitness.
  • Pilates will help connect the mind and body as one, thereby encouraging a healthy mindset.
  • Pilates strengthens muscle thereby burning body fat … you lose the body fat and decrease clothing size, all without the focus on losing weight

And did you know that weight loss programs may be tax deductible?

 If interested in our Hypnosis/Pilates program:

Please contact our office  707 474-9230                                                                           Contact me directly  mytrance@comcast.net                                                             Visit our website http://www.mytrance.net                            

If you are interested in checking out Pilates, here is the link to the bootcamp page of Practical Pilates website:  http://practicalpilates.org/Home_Workout_Program.html      Or their website home page: www.PracticalPilates.org                                                               Or you can call the Pratical Pilates studio @ 707 447-4072                                             Or simply email the owner directly: aaicher@practicalpilates.org

 

 

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Mind Over Matter: Patients’ perceptions of illness make a difference

Posted on March 4, 2012 by Dennis Atkinson

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2012/01/27/mind.over.matter.patients.perceptions.illness.make.a.difference

Mind over matter: Patients’ perceptions of illness make a difference

Published: Friday, January 27, 2012 – 18:33 in Health & Medicine

Whenever we fall ill, there are many different factors that come together to influence the course of our illness. Additional medical conditions, stress levels, and social support all have an impact on our health and well-being, especially when we are ill. But a new report suggests that what you think about your illness matters just as much, if not more, in determining your health outcomes. In the February issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, Keith Petrie, of the University of Auckland, and John Weinman, of the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College, review the existing literature on patients’ perceptions of illness. The authors find that people’s illness perceptions bear a direct relationship to several important health outcomes, including their level of functioning and ability, utilization of health care, adherence to treatment plans laid out by health care professionals, and even overall mortality.

In fact, some research suggests that how a person views his illness may play a bigger role in determining his health outcomes than the actual severity of his disease.

In general, our illness perceptions emerge out of our beliefs about illness and what illness means in the context of our lives. So, we might have beliefs about how an illness is caused, how long it will last, how it will impact us or our family members, and how we can control or cure it. The bottom line, says Petrie, is that “patients’ perceptions of their illness guide their decisions about health.” If, for example, we feel like a prescribed treatment isn’t making us feel better we might stop that treatment.

Research on illness perceptions suggest that effective health care treatment plans are about much more than having a competent physician. According to Petrie, “a doctor can make accurate diagnoses and have excellent treatments but if the therapy doesn’t fit with the patient’s view of their illness, they are unlikely to keep taking it.” A treatment that does not consider the patient’s view is likely to fail, he argues.

The authors conclude that understanding illness perceptions and incorporating them into health care is critical to effective treatment. Asking patients about how they view their illness gives physicians the opportunity to identify and correct any inaccurate beliefs patients may have. Once a patient’s illness perceptions are clearly laid out, a physician can try to nudge those beliefs in a direction that is more compatible with treatment or better health outcomes. Such conversations can help practitioners identify patients that are at particular risk of coping poorly with the demands of their illness.

Research confirms that brief, straightforward psychoeducational interventions can modify negative illness beliefs and lead to improvements over a range of different health outcomes. But this research is still new and scientists don’t know much about how our illness perceptions develop in the first place. With mounting pressure to lower the costs of healthcare, continued research on illness perceptions will help practitioners design effective interventions that are able to reach a large number of patients.

Source: Association for Psychological Science

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Hypnosis, Meditation and Guided Imagery … Use in the Treatment of Cancer and Disease

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Dennis Atkinson

It would seem that from the moment  we enter this world, we are being taught to associate sickness with reward. When ill we get to stay in bed and relax … people send us cards and flowers … friends visit and tell us how much they love us … parents and spouses bring us food to make us healthy. I remember my mother used to make me chicken soup, and I too learned to associate receiving love and attention with being ill.

Even our present day insurance system seems to reward illness by taking a stance of penalizing those who choose to take care of themselves. What would happen if we were to receive reductions in our premiums because we controlled our weight, followed a healthy diet, quit smoking, exercised on a regular basis, and chose to practice an idea of preventative care?

I wonder, does psychological shaping that occurs during the formative years of our life play a part in determining who will develop a serious illness?

And because of this learned association with disease and illness, many illnesses do seemingly take on a psychological component, do they not?

What would happen if we were to ask a person who was ill to take a deep look inside … to take that journey deep inside one’s self and look into the mirror of life and ask if there is some emotional need being met by having their illness?  Or perhaps ask them what is it in your life that needs to change so that you no longer need this illness?

Many effects of the body are achieved directly on the body’s tissues, without any conscious awareness on our part; and the remarkable thing is the body will respond to the mind’s messages whether they are received consciously or subconsciously.

Our conscious mind is that area of the mind considered the “filter of the brain”. This is the area we most utilize during our waking hours. This is where we learn, listen, reason, judge, and analyze … tools we use to make our day to day decisions, and those decisions are based in part on the information contained in our perceptions of the experiences that are stored in our subconscious.

The subconscious mind (sometimes referred to as the unconscious) is that creative part of the mind. It is essentially our data base for every past experience that we have had in our life; and our subconscious is where our perceptions of those past experiences are stored away.  This is where those “pictures” of our past are tucked away, and one might consider this to be the darkness of the mind because we are not always aware of our memories, or the perception of those memories as many of those memories and beliefs were formed when we were very young, long before we had the abilities of adulthood to reason and analyze and make sense of the actions of ourselves and others.

Every tissue and organ in our body is controlled by a complex interaction among chemicals circulating in our blood. Located just below the brain, the pituitary gland is the master gland of the body.

The output of pituitary hormones is controlled by both the chemical secretions and nerve impulses from the brain, namely that part of the brain called the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus regulates most of the body’s subconscious maintenance, such as controlling your heartbeat, breathing, blood pressure, temperature, etc.

The immune system of the body consists of different types of white blood cells concentrated in the spleen, the thymus gland, and the lymph nodes. These white cells travel throughout our body in our blood and lymphatic system. They are divided into two main groups, called B cells and T cells.

B cells in essence are the protectors of the body as they neutralize poisons made by disease organisms entering the body. T cells consist of helper cells, and killer T cells. When the B cells locate a suspected hazard in the body, it sends out signals to the helper cells. Helper cells are basically the investigators, and if a suspected hazard is determined to be detrimental to the body, it sends signals to the killer T cells to go to work to destroy invading bacteria, viruses, and disease.

The immune system is controlled by the brain, either indirectly thorough hormones in the bloodstream, or directly though the nerves and chemicals of the body.

Essentially, the immune system is influenced by the messages it receives from the body, as well as those messages it receives from the conscious and subconscious mind.

What we believe and tell our body influences how our immune system responds to the needs of our body.

One of the theories related to cancer is that cancer cells are developing in our bodies all the time, but because of our immune system, the cancer cells are destroyed by our white blood cells. But what happens when our immune system becomes depressed?

Passive emotions such as grief, feelings of failure, and suppression of anger produce and release over secretions of chemicals into our system. These chemicals appear to be related to our emotions, thoughts, and beliefs. Essentially, what happens is we become what we think and feel, both on a conscious and subconscious level.

When we ignore our despair and emotional pain, essentially when we “stuff our feelings back down” and refuse to deal with them, subconsciously our body receives a “die” message. Over time, our body responds to these chemical changes and messages, often times transgressing into disease and illness, one of which is cancer. It is the body’s way of saying to you that you need to pay attention to me, and take care of me. Our body sends us signals, often times in the way of pain, to let us know that we need to pay attention, and just as one would pay attention to an obvious injury such as a cut or a broken bone, one needs to address emotional pain in a similar fashion.

Now, this may sound somewhat sinister, but I actually wish there was more pain involved with cancer – at least initially. Think about it. If cancer was more painful early on, people would report it much sooner, doctors would catch it and diagnose it much sooner, and less and less people would die from its effects.

Sharing healthy emotions and using guided imagery (meditation and hypnosis) are two ways we can let our minds and bodies communicate with each other in a healthy way. Both emotions and imagery are transmitted through the central nervous system to the brain and organs of the body. Our emotions tell the body what we expect of it, and by visualizing certain changes, we help the body to bring about those positive changes. Essentially we send the body an “I want to live” message.

When we enter into a meditative state of mind, especially where hypnosis is concerned, we experience an extremely pleasant journey into deep mental and physical relaxation. When you are relaxed you can accomplish twice as much as you can when you are tense or nervous – and with half the amount of effort.

Hypnosis opens the lines of communication directly with the subconscious. When a person allows themselves to enter into a state of hypnosis, they allow the critical mind (consciousness) to become bypassed in such a way that they become more receptive to change. They no longer judge and analyze every thought, and they become more open to new ideas and beliefs.

In order for us to enter on a path of true creative and spiritual growth, we must learn to move past our fears and negative beliefs. The deep feelings of love and caring are incredibly powerful in the face of conflict.

When we choose to hang onto resentments, anger, and hate all we accomplish is to prevent ourselves from clearing up our unfinished emotional business, thus disallowing our ability in achieving the harmony we all seek from life.
Your emotions, your feelings, and your beliefs dictate who you are and who you will become.

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Matt Damon And Other Celebrities Quit Smoking With Hypnosis

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Dennis Atkinson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FG4I2Lh5Cc&feature=player_embedded

http://www.mytrance.net/vacaville-hypnotherapy-private-sessions.html

http://www.mytrance.net/about-dennis-atkinson-cht.html

http://www.mytrance.net/index.html

http://www.hypnothoughts.com/

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The Possibilities in Hypnosis, Where the Patient Has the Power

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Dennis Atkinson
Published: November 3, 2008

 

My husband, Richard, smoked cigarettes for 50 years, having failed several attempts to quit on his own. When a friend told him in August 1994 that hypnosis had enabled her to quit, he decided to give it a try.

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“It didn’t work; I wasn’t hypnotized,” he declared  after his one and only session. But it did  work; since that day, he has not taken one puff of a cigarette.

Gloria Kanter of Boynton Beach, Fla., thought her attempt in 1985 to use hypnosis to overcome her fear of flying had failed. “When the therapist brought me out, I said it didn’t work,” she recalled in an interview. “I told her, ‘I heard everything you said.’ ”

Nonetheless, the next time she and her husband headed for the airport, she was not drenched in sweat and paralyzed with fear. “I was just fine,” she said, “and I’ve been fine ever since.”

Like many others whose knowledge of hypnotism comes  from movies and stage shows, my husband and Mrs. Kanter misunderstood what hypnosis is all about. While in a hypnotic trance, you are neither unconscious nor asleep, but rather in a deeply relaxed state that renders the mind highly focused and ready to accept suggestions to  help you accomplish your goals.

Hypnosis has been mired in controversy for two centuries, and its benefits are often overstated. It does not help everyone who wants to quit smoking, for example; then again, neither do other kinds of treatments.

And the patient’s attitude is critical. In the words of Brian Alman, a psychologist who practices hypnosis in San Diego, “The power of hypnosis actually resides in the patient and not in the doctor.”

Roberta Temes, a clinical hypnotist in Scotch Plains, N.J., insists that hypnosis cannot make people do anything they don’t want to do. Hypnosis can  succeed only in helping people make changes they desire, she said in an interview.

In her book “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Hypnosis,”  Dr. Temes points out that success in achieving your goal is the best proof that you were really hypnotized. She also suggests  a second or third session if you didn’t quite reach your goal after the first try.

What Hypnosis Can Do

In effect, hypnosis is the epitome of mind-body medicine. It can enable the mind to tell the body how to react, and modify the messages that the body sends to the mind. It has been used to counter the nausea of pregnancy and chemotherapy; dental and test-taking anxiety; pain associated with surgery, root canal treatment and childbirth; fear of flying and public speaking; compulsive hair-pulling; and intractable hiccups, among many other troublesome health problems.

Writing in The Permanente Journal in 2001, Dr. Alman said that “useful potential” for benefiting from hypnosis “exists within each patient.” “The goal of modern medical hypnosis,” he said, “is to help patients use this unconscious potential.”

Dr. Alman described a 65-year-old concentration camp survivor who repeatedly choked when she tried to swallow,  though examinations of her esophagus revealed no obstruction. After three hypnotherapy sessions, her  problem was solved. “I was liberated from my esophagus,” the patient said.

You may not even have to be face to face with a hypnotist to benefit medically. Dr. Temes said hypnosis could  be helpful even if done with a cassette tape or CD, or by telephone, which she offers as part of her practice. She said many helpful CD’s could be found through the Web site www.hypnosisnetwork.com.

Ellen Fineman, a physical therapist in Portland, Ore., had had five surgeries to repair a  retina that kept detaching. Hoping that a sixth attempt would hold, she used a hypnosis tape prepared by Dr. Temes for patients undergoing surgery.

The hypnosis tape “was very calming and reassuring,” Ms. Fineman said in an interview.

“It told me that I would be in the hands of professionals who would take good care of me and that I’d have minimal swelling,” she said. “This time the surgery went superbly — no inflammation, no swelling and no more detachment. The surgeon was amazed and asked what I had done differently this time.”

While not everyone is easily hypnotized, nearly everyone can slip into a therapeutic trance, Dr. Temes maintains. Another of her patients, Dr. Susan Clarvit, a New York psychiatrist, thought she could not be hypnotized — she was too scientific, too rational a person, she said.

“But I was desperate,” Dr. Clarvit said in an interview. “I was pregnant with my second child and too nauseated to be alive. Dr. Temes asked me what I held most often, and I said a pen. She hypnotized me so that when I held a pen I had an overall feeling of wellness. I held a pen all the time, even while driving, and didn’t feel nauseated.”

Under hypnosis, Dr. Clarvit was given a posthypnotic suggestion that linked holding a pen to feeling well. Such suggestions enable people to practice a new, desired behavior after being brought out of the trance.

Someone trying to overcome snacking on sweets might be told, “When you are hungry, you will eat vegetables.” The suggestion to a smoker might be “you will drink water when you want a cigarette,” and someone terrified of public speaking might be told “you will do deep breathing when you feel scared.”

Many patients are also taught to practice self-hypnosis to reinforce the new behavior.  Dr. Karen N. Olness, a professor of pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University  who is the president of the International Society of Hypnosis, said  that “self-hypnosis training in children is an effective and practical strategy to prevent migraine episodes.”

Indirect Benefits

Sometimes patients with well-established illnesses can benefit indirectly from hypnosis.

Dr. Alman told of a woman with multiple sclerosis who was treated with hypnosis for depression that had failed to improve with antidepressants. Almost immediately, he reported, not only did the woman’s depression ease, but her gait and speech improved markedly.

He explained that for many patients the medical problem is so complex that specific directions and commands may be ineffective.  The benefit from hypnosis may rely more on unleashing unconscious processes within the patient. He suggested that there exists “a wealth of material in the patient’s unconscious that can be used in healing” but lamented the fact that although medical hypnosis can often produce rapid change even in difficult cases, it is “underutilized as a therapeutic tool.”

As with any other profession, some hypnotherapists are more talented than others. Dr. Temes suggests that word of mouth  may be the best way to find someone practiced in hypnosis for the kind of problem you’re trying to solve. Also helpful is the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, at  www.asch.net, which maintains a referral list of therapists, both certified and not, by location and specialty.

More Articles in Health »A version of this article appeared in print on November 4, 2008, on page D7 of the New York edition.
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Dreaming Takes the Sting Out of Painful Memories

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Dennis Atkinson

Published: Wednesday, November 23, 2011 – 15:37 in Psychology & Sociology

They say time heals all wounds, and new research from the University of California, Berkeley, indicates that time spent in dream sleep can help us overcome painful ordeals. UC Berkeley researchers have found that during the dream phase of sleep, also known as REM sleep, our stress chemistry shuts down and the brain processes emotional experiences and takes the edge off difficult memories.

The findings offer a compelling explanation for why people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), such as war veterans, have a hard time recovering from distressing experiences and suffer reoccurring nightmares. They also offer clues into why we dream.

“The dream stage of sleep, based on its unique neurochemical composition, provides us with a form of overnight therapy, a soothing balm that removes the sharp edges from the prior day’s emotional experiences,” said Matthew Walker, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at UC Berkeley and senior author of the study to be published on Nov. 23, in the journal Current Biology.

For people with PTSD, Walker said, this overnight therapy may not be working effectively, so when a “flashback is triggered by, say, a car backfiring, they relive the whole visceral
experience once again because the emotion has not been properly stripped away from the memory during sleep.”

The results offer some of the first insights into the emotional function of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, which typically takes up 20 percent of a healthy human’s sleeping hours. Previous brain studies indicate that sleep patterns are disrupted in people with mood disorders such as PTSD and depression.

While humans spend one-third of their lives sleeping, there is no scientific consensus on the function of sleep. However, Walker and his research team have unlocked many of these mysteries linking sleep to learning, memory and mood regulation. The latest study shows the importance of the REM dream state.

“During REM sleep, memories are being reactivated, put in perspective and connected and integrated, but in a state where stress neurochemicals are beneficially suppressed,” said Els van der Helm, a doctoral student in psychology at UC Berkeley and lead author of the study.

Thirty-five healthy young adults participated in the study. They were divided into two groups, each of whose members viewed 150 emotional images, twice and 12 hours apart, while an MRI scanner measured their brain activity.

Half of the participants viewed the images in the morning and again in the evening, staying awake between the two viewings. The remaining half viewed the images in the evening and again the next morning after a full night of sleep.

Those who slept in between image viewings reported a significant decrease in their emotional reaction to the images. In addition, MRI scans showed a dramatic reduction in reactivity in the amygdala, a part of the brain that processes emotions, allowing the brain’s
“rational” prefrontal cortex to regain control of the participants’ emotional reactions.

In addition, the researchers recorded the electrical brain activity of the participants while they slept, using electroencephalograms. They found that during REM dream sleep, certain electrical activity patterns decreased, showing that reduced levels of stress
neurochemicals in the brain soothed emotional reactions to the previous day’s experiences.

“We know that during REM sleep there is a sharp decrease in levels of norepinephrine, a brain chemical associated with stress,” Walker said. “By reprocessing previous
emotional experiences in this neuro-chemically safe environment of low norepinephrine during REM sleep, we wake up the next day, and those experiences have been softened in their emotional strength. We feel better about them, we feel we can cope.”

Walker said he was tipped off to the possible beneficial effects of REM sleep on PTSD patients when a physician at a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in the Seattle area told him of a blood pressure drug that was inadvertently preventing reoccurring nightmares in PTSD patients.

It turns out that the generic blood pressure drug had a side effect of suppressing norepinephrine in the brain, thereby creating a more stress-free brain during REM, reducing nightmares and promoting a better quality of sleep. This suggested a link between PTSD and REM sleep, Walker said.

“This study can help explain the mysteries of why these medications help some PTSD patients and their symptoms as well as their sleep,” Walker said. “It may also unlock new
treatment avenues regarding sleep and mental illness.”

Other co-authors of the study are UC Berkeley sleep researchers Justin Yao, Shubir Dutt, Vikram Rao and Jared Saletin.

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Research Evidence on the Effectiveness of Hypnosis

Posted on November 19, 2011 by Dennis Atkinson

90.6%  Success Rate for Smoking Cessation Using Hypnosis

Of 43 consecutive patients undergoing this treatment protocol, 39 reported remaining abstinent from tobacco use at follow-up (6 months to 3 years post-treatment). This represents a 90.6% success rate using hypnosis.

University of Washington School of Medicine, Depts. of Anesthesiology and Rehabilitation Medicine, Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2001 Jul;49(3):257-66. Barber J.

87% Reported Abstinence From Tobacco Use With Hypnosis

A field study of 93 male and 93 female CMHC outpatients examined the facilitation of smoking cessation by using hypnosis. At 3-month follow-up, 86% of the men and 87% of the women reported continued abstinence from the use of tobacco using hypnosis.

Performance by gender in a stop-smoking program combining hypnosis and aversion. Johnson DL, Karkut RT. Adkar Associates, Inc., Bloomington, Indiana. Psychol Rep. 1994 Oct;75(2):851-7. PMID: 7862796 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

81% Reported They Had Stopped Smoking After Hypnosis

Thirty smokers enrolled in an HMO were referred by their primary physician for treatment. Twenty-one patients returned after an initial consultation and received hypnosis for smoking cessation. At the end of treatment, 81% of those patients reported that they had stopped smoking, and 48% reported abstinence at 12 months post-treatment.

Texas A&M University, System Health Science Center, College of Medicine, College
Station, TX USA. Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2004 Jan;52(1):73-81. Clinical hypnosis
for smoking cessation: preliminary results of a three-session intervention. Elkins GR, Rajab MH.

Hypnosis Patients Twice As Likely To Remain Smoke-Free After Two Years

Study of 71 smokers showed that after a two-year follow up, patients that quit with hypnosis were twice as likely to remain smoke-free than those who quit on their own.

Guided health imagery for smoking cessation and long-term abstinence. Wynd, CA.
Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 2005; 37:3, pages 245-250.

Hypnosis More Effective Than Drug Interventions for Smoking Cessation

Group hypnosis sessions, evaluated at a less effective success rate (22% success) than individualized hypnosis sessions. However, group hypnosis sessions were still demonstrated here as being more effective than drug interventions.

Ohio State University, College of Nursing, Columbus, OH 43210, USA Descriptive
outcomes of the American Lung Association of Ohio hypnotherapy smoking
cessation program. Ahijevych K, Yerardi R, Nedilsky N.

Hypnosis Most Effective Says Largest Study Ever: 3 Times as Effective as Patch and 15 Times as Effective as Willpower.

Hypnosis is the most effective way of giving up smoking, according to the largest ever scientific comparison of ways of breaking the habit. A meta-analysis, statistically combining results of more than 600 studies of 72,000 people from America and Europe to compare various methods of quitting. On average, hypnosis was over three times as effective as nicotine replacement methods and 15 times as effective as trying to quit alone.

University of Iowa, Journal of Applied Psychology, How One in Five Give Up Smoking.
October 1992.

Hypnosis Over 30 Times as Effective for Weight Loss

Investigated the effects of hypnosis in weight loss for 60 females, at least 20% overweight. Treatment included group hypnosis with metaphors for ego-strengthening, decision making and motivation, ideomotor exploration in individual hypnosis, and group hypnosis with maintenance suggestions. Hypnosis was more effective than a control group: an average of 17 lbs lost by the hypnosis group vs. an average of 0.5 lbs lost by the control group, on follow-up.

Cochrane, Gordon; Friesen, J. (1986). Hypnotherapy in weight loss treatment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 489-492.

Two Years Later: Hypnosis Subjects Continued To Lose Significant Weight

109 people completed a behavioral treatment for weight management either with or without the addition of hypnosis. At the end of the 9-week program, both interventions resulted in significant weight reduction. At 8-month and 2-year follow-ups, the hypnosis subjects were found to have continued to lose significant weight, while those in the
behavioral-treatment-only group showed little further change.

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (1985)

 Hypnosis Subjects Lost More Weight Than 90% of Others and Kept it Off

Researchers analyzed 18 studies comparing a cognitive behavioral therapy such as relaxation training, guided imagery, self-monitoring, or goal setting with the same therapy supplemented by hypnosis. Those who received the hypnosis lost more weight than 90
percent of those not receiving hypnosis and maintained the weight loss two
years after treatment ended.

University of Connecticut, Storrs Allison DB, Faith MS. Hypnosis as an adjunct to
cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy for obesity: a meta-analytic reappraisal. J
Consult Clin Psychol. 1996;64(3):513-516.

 Hypnosis More Than Doubled Average Weight Loss

Study of the effect of adding hypnosis to cognitive-behavioral treatments for weight reduction, additional data were obtained from authors of two studies. Analyses indicated that the benefits of hypnosis increased substantially over time.

Kirsch, Irving (1996). Hypnotic enhancement of cognitive-behavioral weight loss
treatments–Another meta-reanalysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical
Psychology, 64 (3), 517-519.

 Hypnosis Showed Significantly Lower Post-Treatment Weights

Two studies compared overweight smoking and non-smoking adult women in a hypnosis-based, weight-loss program. Both achieved significant weight losses and decreases in Body Mass Index. Follow-up study replicated significant weight losses and declines in Body Mass Index. The overt aversion and hypnosis program yielded significantly lower post-treatment weights and a greater average number of pounds lost.

Weight loss for women: studies of smokers and nonsmokers
using hypnosis and multi-component treatments with and without overt aversion.

Johnson DL, Psychology Reprints. 1997 Jun;80(3 Pt 1):931-3.

 Hypnotherapy group with stress reduction achieved significantly more weight loss than the other two treatments.

Randomized, controlled, parallel study of two forms of hypnotherapy (directed at stress reduction or energy intake reduction), vs. dietary advice alone in 60 obese patients with obstructive sleep apnea on nasal continuous positive airway pressure treatment.

J Stradling, D Roberts, A Wilson and F Lovelock, Chest Unit, Churchill Hospital,
Oxford, OX3 7LJ, UK

Hypnosis can more than double the effects of traditional weight loss approaches

An analysis of five weight loss studies reported in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology in 1996 showed that the “… weight loss reported in the five studies indicates that hypnosis can more than double the effects” of traditional weight loss approaches.

University of Connecticut, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology in 1996 (Vol. 64, No. 3, pgs 517-519).

 Weight loss is greater where hypnosis is utilized

Research into cognitive-behavioral weight loss treatments established that weight loss is greater where hypnosis is utilized. It was also established that the benefits of hypnosis increase over time.

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (1996)

Showed Hypnosis As “An Effective Way To Lose Weight”

A study of 60 females who were at least 20% overweight and not involved in other treatment showed hypnosis is an effective way to lose weight.

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (1986)

Hypnosis Reduces Frequency and Intensity of Migraines

Compared the treatment of migraine by hypnosis and autohypnosis with the treatment of migraine by the drug prochlorperazine (Stemetil). Results show that the number of attacks and the number of people who suffered blinding attacks were significantly lower for the group receiving hypnotherapy than for the group receiving prochlorperazine. For the group on hypnotherapy, these two measures were significantly lower when on hypnotherapy than when on the previous treatment. It is concluded that further trials of hypnotherapy are justified against some other treatment not solely associated with the ingestion of tablets.

Anderson JA, Basker MA, Dalton R, Migraine and hypnotherapy, International Journal of Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis 1975; 23(1): 48-58.

Hypnosis Reduces Pain and Speeds up Recovery from Surgery

Since 1992, we have used hypnosis routinely in more than 1400 patients undergoing surgery. We found that hypnosis used with patients as an adjunct to conscious sedation and local anesthesia was associated with improved intraoperative patient comfort, and with reduced anxiety, pain, intraoperative requirements for anxiolytic and analgesic drugs, optimal surgical conditions and a faster recovery of the patient. We reported our clinical
experience and our fundamental research.

[Hypnosis and its application in surgery] Faymonville ME, Defechereux T, Joris J, Adant
JP, Hamoir E, Meurisse M, Service d’Anesthesie-Reanimation, Universite de Liege, Rev Med Liege. 1998 Jul;53(7):414-8.

Hypnosis Reduces Pain Intensity

Analysis of the simple-simple main effects, holding both group and condition constant, revealed that application of hypnotic analgesia reduced report of pain intensity significantly more than report of pain unpleasantness.

Dahlgren LA, Kurtz RM, Strube MJ, Malone MD, Differential effects of hypnotic suggestion on multiple dimensions of pain.Journal of Pain & Symptom Management. 1995; 10(6): 464-70.

Hypnosis Reduces Pain of Headaches and Anxiety

The improvement was confirmed by the subjective evaluation data gathered with the use of a questionnaire and by a significant reduction in anxiety scores.

Melis PM, Rooimans W, Spierings EL, Hoogduin CA, Treatment of chronic tension-type
headache with hypnotherapy: a single-blind time controlled study. Headache
1991; 31(10): 686-9.

 Hypnosis Lowered Post-treatment Pain in Burn Injuries

Patients in the hypnosis group reported less post treatment pain than did patients in the control group. The findings are used to replicate earlier studies of burn pain hypnoanalgesia, explain discrepancies in the literature, and highlight the potential importance of motivation with this population.

Patterson DR, Ptacek JT, Baseline pain as a moderator of hypnotic analgesia for burn
injury treatment. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology 1997; 65(1): 60-7.

 Hypnosis Lowered Phantom Limb Pain

Hypnotic procedures appear to be a useful adjunct to established strategies for the treatment of phantom limb pain and would repay further, more systematic, investigation. Suggestions are provided as to the factors which should be considered for a more systematic research program.

Treatment of phantom limb pain using hypnotic imagery. Oakley DA, Whitman LG, Halligan PW, Department of Psychology, University College, London, UK.

Hypnosis Has a Reliable and Significant Impact on Acute and Chronic Pain

Hypnosis has been demonstrated to reduce analogue pain, and studies on the mechanisms of laboratory pain reduction have provided useful applications to clinical populations.
Studies showing central nervous system activity during hypnotic procedures offer preliminary information concerning possible physiological mechanisms of hypnotic analgesia. Randomized controlled studies with clinical populations indicate that hypnosis has a reliable and significant impact on acute procedural pain and chronic pain conditions. Methodological issues of this body of research are discussed, as are methods to better integrate hypnosis into comprehensive pain treatment.

Hypnosis and clinical pain. Patterson DR, Jensen MP, Department of Rehabilitation
Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA USA 98104
Psychol Bull. 2003 Jul;129(4):495-521.

 Hypnosis is a Powerful Tool in Pain Therapy and is Biological in Addiction to
Psychological

Attempting to elucidate cerebral mechanisms behind hypnotic analgesia, we measured regional cerebral blood flow with positron emission tomography in patients with fibromyalgia, during hypnotically-induced analgesia and resting wakefulness. The patients experienced less pain during hypnosis than at rest. The cerebral blood-flow was bilaterally increased in the orbitofrontal and subcallosial cingulate cortices, the right thalamus, and the left inferior parietal cortex, and was decreased bilaterally in the cingulate cortex. The observed blood-flow pattern supports notions of a multifactorial nature of hypnotic analgesia, with interplay between cortical and subcortical brain dynamics.

Copyright 1999 European Federation of Chapters of the International Association for the
Study of Pain.

Functional anatomy of hypnotic analgesia: a PET study of patients with fibromyalgia. Wik G, Fischer H, Bragee B, Finer B, Fredrikson M, Department of Clinical
Neurosciences, Karolinska Institute and Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden Eur J Pain.
1999 Mar;3(1):7-12.

 Hypnosis Useful in Hospital Emergency Rooms

Hypnosis can be a useful adjunct in the emergency department setting. Its efficacy in various clinical applications has been replicated in controlled studies. Application to burns, pain, pediatric procedures, surgery, psychiatric presentations (e.g., coma,
somatoform disorder, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress), and obstetric situations (e.g., hyperemesis, labor, and delivery) are described.

Emerg Med Clin North Am. 2000 May;18(2):327-38, x. The use of hypnosis in emergency
medicine. Peebles-Kleiger MJ, Menninger School of Psychiatry and Mental Health
Sciences, Menninger Clinic, Topeka, KS, USA. peeblemj@menninger.edu

Significantly More Methadone Addicts Quit with Hypnosis. 94% Remained Narcotic Free

Significant differences were found on all measures. The experimental group had significantly less discomfort and illicit drug use, and a significantly greater amount of cessation. At six month follow up, 94% of the subjects in the experimental group who had achieved cessation remained narcotic free.

A comparative study of hypnotherapy and psychotherapy in the treatment of
methadone addicts. Manganiello AJ, American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 1984;
26(4): 273-9.

Hypnosis Shows 77 Percent Success Rate for Drug Addiction

Treatment has been used with 18 clients over the last 7 years and has shown a 77 percent success rate for at least a 1-year follow-up. 15 were being seen for alcoholism or alcohol abuse, 2 clients were being seen for cocaine addiction, and 1 client had a marijuana
addiction

Intensive Therapy: Utilizing Hypnosis in the Treatment of Substance Abuse Disorders.
Potter, Greg, American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, Jul 2004.

Raised Self-esteem & Serenity. Lowered Impulsivity and Anger

In a research study on self-hypnosis for relapse prevention training with chronic drug/alcohol users. Participants were 261 veterans admitted to Substance Abuse Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Programs (SARRTPs). Individuals who used repeated self-hypnosis “at least 3 to 5 times a week,” at 7-week follow-up, reported the highest levels of self-esteem and serenity, and the least anger/impulsivity, in comparison to the minimal-practice and control groups.

American Journal of Clinical Hypnotherapy (a publication of the American Psychological Association) 2004 Apr;46(4):281-97)

Hypnosis for Cocaine Addiction Documented Case Study

Hypnosis was successfully used to overcome a $500 (five grams) per day cocaine addiction. The subject was a female in her twenties. After approximately 8 months of addiction, she decided to use hypnosis in an attempt to overcome the addiction itself. Over
the next 4 months, she used hypnosis three times a day and at the end of this period, her addiction was broken, and she has been drug free for the past 9 years. Hypnosis was the only intervention, and no support network of any kind was available.

The use of hypnosis in cocaine addiction. Page RA, Handley GW, Ohio State
University, Lima, OH USA 45804. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 1993
Oct;36(2):120-3.

Healed 41% faster from fracture; Healed significantly faster from surgery

Two studies from Harvard Medical School show hypnosis significantly reduces the time it takes to heal.

Study One: Six weeks after an ankle fracture, those in the hypnosis group showed the equivalent of eight and a half weeks of healing.

Study Two: Three groups of people studied after breast reduction surgery. Hypnosis group healed “significantly faster” than supportive attention group and control group.

Harvard Medical School, Carol Ginandes and Union Institute in Cincinnati, Patricia Brooks, Harvard University Gazette Online
athttp://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2003/05.08/01-hypnosis.html.

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