Hypnothoughts.com (Test for confirmation)

Hypnothought's question:

Do you do tests to confirm if your clients are in a hypnotic state or not?

John's response:

I usually don’t convince my clients during the session with specific tests. All of my energy goes into suggestions – coaching/motivation/behavior modification, post suggestions and change. If I convince them at all it is after the session which may be a little unorthodox from the traditional convincers. After I bring them out of trance, I quietly get up from my chair and move about...sometimes, I get on the internet and check my messages, check my calendar or read a book (this is only if my clients went to sleep - which the majority do). Allowing them to get the much needed rest that they need. Also, it gives all of my suggestions time to percolate deep inside of their minds before they go home or back to work.
Of course how long they rest all depends on my schedule and if I am in my home office, their home for a house call or a clinic.

Client convinced? Absolutely! What better way of being convinced than to wake up and see the person who was talking to you (just a few minutes ago) on the internet checking e-mail or looking through a book?

But the biggest convincer of all comes when the client comes back the next week and report the successes from the first session. That’s all the convincing we both really need. The client doesn’t really care what happened in the therapy chair. She is more concerned with the results on what she came in for!


John Owens
Clinical Hypnotherapist & Life Counselor
http://www.hypnotizeanybody.com

Hypnothoughts.com (Guarantees)

Hypnothought's Question
'is the offer of a guarantee of success something that can be offered by hypnotherapists and if so how is this possible'?


John's response

I have personally made guarantees to clients (only for emotional issues – anger, anxiety, depression, fear, phobia, panic attacks) who have already been to therapy and it failed them. The guarantee would be that they would have to come to at least 10 sessions and if they aren’t satisfied at the end, I will work for them for free.

The longest one came to session was 5 and she stopped because she didn’t feel any more need to come. I had them come to 4 and some to 3 sessions and they stopped which the guarantee stopped as well.

I will never make a guarantee on a consciously chosen issue/habit – smoking, drugs, alcohol, eating chocolate because it is easier to cheat (the hypnotist cannot control their environment) than for an emotional issue.

I have never had one to come back for more sessions after they stopped – some of these sessions were over 3 years ago.

My theory behind this is: generally speaking, people don’t consciously choose to be angry, anxious, depressed, etc. Since it isn’t something they can consciously control giving them guarantees is more a calculated risk - of course there are always exceptions for everything. But even with these exceptions, if you use both deep level trance and behavior modification/coaching on how to deal with the adversities (which is a big issues with emotional issues) of life these types will change as well before the 10 sessions.


John Owens
Clinical Hypnotherapist & Life Counselor
http://www.hypnotizeanybody.com

Hypnothoughts.com (Infertility)

Hypnothought's question
Seeking advice or script for infertility. Any suggestions appreciated.

John's answer

After my client has convinced me that both parties have been checked out by the doctor for this infertility issue, I go to work with coaching them on how to relax, ‘let go’ of robotic thinking (I explain why it is necessary to let go of science), deprogram negative behavior (if this is necessary) and activate her healing/reproductive center.

The goal here is to put nature in charge!

Of course I make no promises in a situation like this (which I tell them up front), but these clients have reached the end of the line when they come to me or any other hypnotherapist. Most have been told that there isn’t anything that can be done medically for them. Unfortunately, some of these ‘infertile’ women find out they can become pregnant right after they have adopted a child. Usually in this case, they would have ‘let go’ of the stress of getting pregnant and the reproductive process will do what it supposed to do naturally. To me, this says that the medical industry underestimated the power of nature in these specific cases.

Subconsciously, I drop them into delta to help them deeply relax urging nature to flow smoothly. Even though I had one client who didn’t come to me with an infertility issue, she had been told that she could never have children 10 years prior to our session – she was 38 at the time she became pregnant. What I did with her was to deprogram her from the debilitating emotional pains of child abuse – which was part of her stress and it prevented her from becoming pregnant. This was all it took for this client.

Had another client who I coached to stop counting months and days and buying over the counter ovulation and pregnancy tests and thinking of names and furniture before it was time - before conception. I put her in a waking trance and told her that women have had children before modern medicine was invented and without all of the information we have today. Too much information was causing this client’s issues. She too had been abused so I had to iron out these issues. Once she put nature in charge, she became pregnant – she was 39 just weeks shy of 40.

I would say you would need more than a script/metaphor in these cases. Anyone taking on infertility should consider at least these points. Make sure that:

1. They both have been checked out by a medical doctor.
2. Let them know up front that you cannot make promises. In this case it is best to under promise and over deliver
3. Deprogram them from the emotional ups and downs of child abuse if this is part of the client’s issue. It has been in a few of my cases.
4. Coach them on how to relax and ‘let go’ of robotic thinking. If they are counters, get them to stop and let them know that this puts more pressure on them – mentally, emotionally and physically. They need to allow nature to takes its course by taking science out of the equation.
5. If there is tension going on in the relationship between the two, coach them through their issues. This will take out the mental and emotional blocks to help nature flow as it should.
6. Drop them into delta and activate the healing/reproductive center



John Owens
Clinical Hypnotherapist & Life Counselor
http://www.hypnotizeanybody.com

Hypnothoughts.com (Circadian Rhythm)

Hypnothoughts Question:

I have a client who wants to adjust her sleep cycle and is scheduled for a sleep study. Her MD told her that her circadian rhythm is what is keeping her up late at night and makes it difficult to get up in the morning. Yesterday she asked if there was anything that hypnosis could do to change circadian rhythm. My response was that I have not yet had the opportunity to facilitate this, and that I didn't see why it couldn't be done with hypnosis. We left it that I would do some research and most likely have something for her in 2 weeks when she returns from Antonio;s home of Kauai.

I've worked a lot over the years with insomnia, but never have adjusted the circadian rhythm.I haven't cracked my med books yet but I'm thinking it should be pretty straight forward, go to the control room, adjust the biological clock, hypothalamus, serotonin, body temperature. I probably need to add something about creating the desire to shut of the TV & computer and go to bed.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has actual experience with circadian rhythm and anyone who has additional thoughts and ideas.

Thanks to all of you!

John's response:
Too much adrenaline/cortisol (because of prolonged stress) may deplete the happy messages – serotonin which converts into melatonin for sleep and dopamine for pleasure/natural pain killer.

What I do consciously with these clients:
I teach/coach them how to relax and shut off if they are left brain dominants. When a left brain dom spin out of control, this is usually part of their issue.
If they are right brain dominant, I teach/coach them through their emotional issues, get them to exercise and bring fun into their lives because of their hopelessness.

What I do subconsciously with these clients:
I get as many sessions as I can and drop them into delta every session stimulating their happy messages – serotonin and dopamine if they are left brain dominant (this will get them to sleep and feel good throughout the day) and noradrenaline if they are right brain dominant to offset the droopiness and listlessness. By the way, if you help someone to stay in alpha for any long period of time, it begins to release more endorphins instead of excess cortisol.

Of course for me, this is my rule of thumb..there is always exceptions...

John







John Owens
Clinical Hypnotherapist & Life Counselor
http://www.hypnotizeanybody.com

Hypnothoughts.com blogging

As a member of Hypnothoughts, I ocassionally respond to questions or concerns related to hypnotherapy, hypnosis or healing from new and experienced hypnotherapists. I thought I would share some of these responses (each week) on my blog site dating back to October 15, 2010. I will provide the hypnotherapist's question (just to give you background on what I am responding to) and then my response/answer to the question.


John Owens
Clinical Hypnotherapist & Life Counselor
http://www.hypnotizeanybody.com

John's Television Appearances

ANNOUNCEMENT: Until further notice, I will be appearing weekly, live, on NET TV in Malta. My slot is scheduled for every Wednesday during the programme "Kaxxa Jan", which starts at 6.30pm. The topics for discussion shall all be related to hypnosis and how this tool can be used in healing therapy. On July 6th, 2011, the chosen topic was Panic Attacks.

John Owens
Clinical Hypnotherapist & Life Counselor
http://www.hypnotizeanybody.com

New book on hypnosis and healing

In JOImethod: A Healer's Way, you will experience my transition from being strictly a hypnotist to using hypnotherapy and other tools to heal my clients and help them achieve ultimate well-being on a mental, emotional and physical level.

My method and focus have resulted in my gaining entrance as a consultant with The St. James Hospital Group in Malta (a company which owns one of the major private hospitals on the island, as well as cosmetic and oncology clinics); getting referrals from three pharmacies; and providing my services in the wellness center of a 5 star hotel frequented by international celebrities!

Throughout this book, I walk you through the new JOImethod – sharing important new things I learned in order to effectively work with all the people who walk through my door. This new sleeping hypnosis technique is biologically designed to take any person to coma or hypno-sleep in less than five minutes!


You will see how I use the Triune Brain Model with my clients, oftentimes utilizing it to place them into a waking trance. This model allows me to explain how therapy works – especially to those adult clients suffering from the debilitating experiences of child abuse and to athletes who desire more productivity from their bodies.

In this book, I explain core nature, that is, the importance of understanding the psychology of people. I use this information to help me group clients after identifying their strengths and weaknesses. It is their weaknesses that drive them to seek therapy in the first place! The weaknesses of people manifest themselves in emotional issues – anger, anxiety, depression, fears, obsessive thoughts, phobias and relationship problems.

I also explain the nature of various emotional problems and explain how negative emotions can directly cause physical pain. I will discuss the psychology of smokers and those who seek to lose weight. In addition, I will provide practical insight into the tools needed to provide effective coaching for couples. Understanding the psychology of people in addition to being aware of the impact and functioning of emotions equals the ability to heal!

Last but certainly not least, I will talk about waking and covert hypnosis. I will provide detailed steps about how to effectively use this art. Furthermore, I will share real cases – some of the most challenging ones I encountered – in which I used waking/covert hypnosis with my clients. These include working successfully with a seven year old autistic child; an incarcerated man sitting in a holding prison cell; and an agoraphobia client who had not left his house in the daytime in 3 years. I will also describe how I used covert hypnosis while pretending to be an ‘interior decorator’ to help an octogenarian who suffered from fear and insomnia.

One of the practical results of my work with these people is that it will answer in absolute terms the below questions, which professional hypnotists and hypnotherapists have been weighing and discussing for centuries:

1. Can a person be hypnotized without his or her consent? Yes
2. Can a person be hypnotized without his or her knowledge? Yes
3. Does rapport need to be established for hypnosis to work? No
4. Does a person need to be motivated for hypnosis to work? No


John Owens
Clinical Hypnotherapist & Life Coach
http://www.hypnotizeanybody.com
http://www.hypnotizeanybody.com/joimethodbook.asp