Monday, April 28, 2008

CAN ONLY WEAK-MINDED GET HYPNOTIZED?



Many people may wonder if they can be hypnotized. I even receive calls from potential clients wondering if they can be ‘put under’, as they call it. There have been some to think they are too mentally strong to be hypnotized and they can resist any outside forces to put them in trance. They think hypnosis is for weak minded people. Where would they get such a thought? Much of it comes from television programming and stage hypnosis shows that you can now see on YouTube. When you see a person walk across the stage seemingly like a zombie or doing things that you feel he or she wouldn’t ordinarily do, you may get the impression that this person is mentally weak. Therefore, no wonder you would want to separate yourself from such “types”.

Contrary to these beliefs, however, clinical hypnosis is beneficial for everyone. There is a difference with what you see in stage hypnosis and what is practiced clinically. The stage show is strictly for entertainment purposes just as any magic show would be. You pay your money, you are impressed with different stunts, you laugh, ‘ooh’ and ‘ah’ over the feats of the entertainer and you leave walking away feeling as though you got your money’s worth – hopefully, at least.

What types of people volunteer for stage hypnosis? Since I am not a stage hypnotist, I can only speculate on the personality of a stage show ‘subject’. These shows may take place in a comedy bar, club, high school, college or at a corporate event. Mass psychology (individual boldness born from the dynamics of being in the midst of a group of people) probably has a lot to do with it. A little booze to cloud the judgment may have its place in the scheme of things, as well.




Nevertheless, I would think that these types of subjects are more interested in the entertainment part of the show rather than having a personal or professional issue resolved through hypnosis (as in clinical hypnosis). If they are ‘lucky’ enough to be left on the stage after the filtering process (that is, the process the hypnotist conducts of weeding out the ones who will not go into deep hypnosis in five minutes or less) of all of the volunteers, I would also say that they are probably a ‘good subject’ or a person who can easily be hypnotized – in the industry lingo, we call this type of subject a ‘natural’ or ‘true’ somnambulist. These types of volunteers are the bread and butter of the show and what stage hypnotists comb the audience for.

It is interesting that since 2000, I may have had less than a handful of my clients who have been a ‘volunteer’ in a stage show. If they have, they would tell me that it was many years ago when they were in high school or college and liked to do things on impulse.

Now, all the above considered, I must stress that clinical hypnosis is neither for weak minded people nor for anyone who would want to relinquish their control. People use clinical hypnosis to enhance their lives. This goes for my clients as well. Some of the types of issues that people seek to resolve with this form of hypnosis are: addiction, anger, allergy problems, confidence issues, depression, fear, memory enhancement, panic attacks, smoking cessation, sports/talent enhancement, motivation to start a business and weight loss/management.

Want to do something fun? If you would like to know if you are hypnotizable, you can go to this link on my website and take the free test: http://www.hypnotherapy4health.com/hypnoprofile.html

"Second picture courtesy of How Stuff Works".

John
Clinical Hypnotherapist & Life Coach
Hypnosis & Self-Enhancement Books & CDs: http://www.hypnotizeanybody.com
Hypnotherapy Services: http://www.hypnotherapy4health.com
Joimethod: http://www.joimethod.com

Monday, April 21, 2008

Dream Interpretation

Many of my clients ask me to interpret their dreams when they come to a session. When they ask about their dreams, they usually think that these interpretations will provide answers to key issues in their lives. They have normally consulted or looked up one of the various books on dream interpretation or some radio program they may have heard where the subject was discussed – a dog means this, a cat means that, and a nightmare could mean many things depending on the many views of the writer.

As for me, I don’t take this type of approach when I am analyzing someone’s dream. The reason why is because a dog, cat, or horse, and even nightmares, have different connotations for different people. For example, some people grew up loving dogs while others grew up fearing dogs – the same applies to the image of cats and other animals that may appear in your dreams. Nightmares, on the other hand, are a whole different ball game.

My approach to dream analysis involves a more scientific basis – it is a communication between the conscious and the subconscious mind or the interpretation of the outside world by your mind’s internal world. According to scientists, we have at least three dreams per night for approximately 90 minutes. These dreams are comprised of processing, predictive and venting dreams. The first dream of the night is the processing dream. At this stage, we process all of the information that filtered through our brain that day. If we watch a scary movie one evening before we go to sleep, for example, it may flash through our mind in the form of a dream or nightmare. The second dream of the night is a predictive dream. This type of dream’s meaning is just like it sounds – it predicts. Have you ever treasured a thought, person or thing so long or so often that it came up in your dreams? This is part of the predictive dream which means you may be predicting something about your future or something you want to happen in your future. The last dream of the night is a venting dream. With this type of dream, the subconscious mind may be dealing with a negative thought from the past in the form of blame, guilt or emotional pain, a thought that is “bothering” it. This dream – which often manifests in the form of a nightmare – may reoccur night after night unless it is consciously acknowledged and the issue is resolved or accepted.



Some specialists who use this form of interpretation as described in the previous paragraph may focus primarily on the venting dreams. My method is different especially if the client isn’t experiencing some type of pesky dream. What I primarily focus on is the predictive kind of dream. Instead of being so concerned about what my clients dream at night, in fact, I am more interested in finding ways to trigger their dreams. Why is this, you may ask? If my client’s goal is to become a successful portrait artist, I would program his or her mind to dream not only at night about it, but also to start daydreaming about being a successful artist. The idea behind this technique is that the more you eat, sleep and ‘dream’ about a goal, the closer you will be to transforming this goal into reality.

So if you have an aspiration, stoke your desires and dream big, because In Descartes' words, "Desire awakens only those things that are thought possible."

John
Clinical Hypnotherapist & Life Coach
Hypnosis & Self-Enhancement Books & CDs: http://www.hypnotizeanybody.com
Hypnotherapy Services: http://www.hypnotherapy4health.com
Joimethod: http://www.joimethod.com

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

FEAR




We all experience fear at one point in time or other in our lives. Some people’s fears may be temporary and could surface in certain stressful situations, such as when taking a test, making a speech, or going out on a date. Other people’s fears may stay with them like a constant, throughout their lives. A person could be afraid of many things, such as, for example, the fear of certain animals, which list may include snakes, birds, dogs or of cats. Some fears eventually turn into phobias – which are a graduated level of fear where the person becomes immobilized by a particular stimulus.

Though it is not presented to me this way, most of the calls I receive are from people who are experiencing the fear of success. This type of fear is easily identifiable because it is often revealed through the lack of confidence, an overly shy or introvert nature in relations with the outside world, or through holding on to something that prevents them from ‘seeing’ the light.

Why do these fears exist? Regrettably, many adults still view life out of the eyes of a child. They were either never taught how to make it on their own, someone (parent/guardian) always gave them the solutions instead of allowing them to take the responsibility, they were often abused and berated instead of encouraged and appreciated, or they were just overly sensitive to words and situations.

Most people become exhausted from experiencing these life shattering emotions but don’t have anyone to help them battle these fears. They need someone to help them build their confidence, take on more responsibility with ease, or come out of their ‘shell’.

John




John
Clinical Hypnotherapist & Life Coach
Hypnosis & Self-Enhancement Books & CDs: http://www.hypnotizeanybody.com
Hypnotherapy Services: http://www.hypnotherapy4health.com
Joimethod: http://www.joimethod.com

Monday, April 7, 2008

Negative Self Talk




“Negative chatter” flowing in the back of your mind is how I describe lack of optimism to my clients. I usually get, “yeah, that’s it,” or “that’s me,” or something to that effect as a response. Many people refer to this as “negative thinking”.

Many of my clients have had this negative self talk going for most of their lives – it has become habit. Unfortunately, these terrible messages they are sending their own brain place road blocks in their path or derail their success. These people see the glass as half empty, rather than half full, and the world as a cold, harsh place. They also talk themselves out of progressing in their lives because this negative behavior is their comfort zone.

How does it all start?

From what I have observed over the years from my clients, most of this “negative chatter” started in childhood either with hearing negative words thrown at them by parents, teachers, friends and/or the many failures (before they reached success) that come along with learning how to orchestrate life – such as walking, talking, riding bikes, swimming, skating, learning how to speak, write, and school work.

Some people are more sensitive than others (whether through genetics or environmental factors) and it is often these types of people that I see in my practice.

This “negative chatter”, if left unchecked, may turn into feelings of hopelessness and eventually perhaps to something worse, such as depression. This is why it is important to recognize it for the danger that it is.

Image courtesy of http://overcoming-depression.org/

John
Clinical Hypnotherapist & Life Coach
Hypnosis & Self-Enhancement Books & CDs: http://www.hypnotizeanybody.com
Hypnotherapy Services: http://www.hypnotherapy4health.com
Joimethod: http://www.joimethod.com

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

The Restless Spirit

Last week's blog was about sleep and why it is so important that we get the recommended hours of rest each day. So I thought to write this week's blog about what happens when many people cannot get to sleep – basically, when they suffer from insomnia.

"What are you thinking when you should be asleep?" I ask after an insomniac comes to their first hypnotherapy session. Oftentimes, the sleep clinic they attended didn't find anything wrong physically while monitoring his or her brain. After I pose this question, I usually get a surprised look as though they want to say, "How do you know I was thinking about something while I was lying in bed trying to sleep?"

Eventually they would tell me about the issues they’d be dealing with – personally or professionally – which is primarily the culprit for all the sleepless nights. Oftentimes their problems with insomnia started when they began having these issues. They do everything to fall asleep: 'count sheep', read to bore themselves into a slumber, undergo acupuncture, take some herbal remedy or 'old folks' potion or a combination of the above. Some of these techniques may work for a while – if at all – and then they go back to the rhythm of “not sleeping”. This is because the real problem behind their inability to sleep was never targeted.

As their hypnotherapist, I usually go after the mental and emotional reason why they are not sleeping as opposed to the strictly scientific or medical method—going after the condition of insomnia and dealing with it by itself. Once I find out what their problems are, literally those that keep them up at night, I consciously coach them or use behavior modification to solve their problem, which may be career related or otherwise. After we determine a plan to correct it, I hypnotize them on the spot and give them the much needed rest (many go to sleep because they are so sleep deprived) they deserve.


John
Clinical Hypnotherapist & Life Coach
Hypnosis & Self-Enhancement Books & CDs: http://www.hypnotizeanybody.com
Hypnotherapy Services: http://www.hypnotherapy4health.com
Joimethod: http://www.joimethod.com