Twister in Our Backyard

(This blog was originally posted on December 15, 2014)

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

Waterspouts, which are tornadoes that form over the ocean, are often reported off the coast of Southern California during the winter. However, it is very rare that a tornado actually hits a major California city. But that is exactly what happened on Friday, December 12, 2014: a twister touched down in South Los Angeles suburb. The National Weather Service classified it as an EF0, which is the lowest rank with winds measuring 65-85 miles per hour. Regardless of the wind speed, this phenomenon was not something that most Los Angeles residents are used to seeing let alone experiencing. Sure, we get the occasional downdraft during a heavy rainstorm in a mild or weak El Nino season. But this time it really was a tornado that ripped rooftops off of homes, knocked down trees and damaged several cars that were in its path.

According to ABC7 meteorologist Dallas Raines, the part of California where this one struck is actually a kind of “hot spot” for wild weather: a hot spot west of the Mississippi River that is. One resident who got caught in the storm video-recorded the entire event from his home. His footage showed debris swirling in the air and the sound of rushing wind and banging as airborne objects crashed into each other.

Now, I am fascinated by weather—especially extreme weather. However, on Friday I was equally if not more curious to hear and read about eye-witness reactions to the storm. Most of the people who were interviewed for the evening news expressed surprise, shock and fear about what they had gone through. After all, most of us associate tornadoes with states like Kansas, Oklahoma and even Florida. Not California. We get earthquakes. In fact, one woman explained that her first impression of the tornado was that she was experiencing an earthquake because her house was shaking so hard. Apparently she even sought shelter under a piece of furniture to wait out the movement, just as California residents are taught to do. 

This witness’s initial reaction made complete sense to me. After all, California is known for its earthquakes. They happen every day whether we feel them or not. Residents are often reminded to keep emergency supplies on-hand and even rehearse plans to reconnoiter with family members and escape the danger zone after a major tremor. The knowledge that “the big one is coming” becomes so ingrained in our subconscious mental script that if significant time passes without experiencing any kind of tremor, our collective anticipatory anxiety increases. Some people associate earthquakes with specific weather, such as extreme heat that continues over extended periods of time. But this was no earthquake, and the idea of a tornado happening in Los Angeles, California was so far out of most people’s experience or expectations made it that much more terrifying.

Fortunately no one was seriously injured or died during the storm. And next time dark clouds move in, everyone in the state will have a new script they can refer to if the weather looks like it might become severe. Extreme weather can happen anywhere, even in Southern California. Next time, we will have a better idea about what the warning signs are so we can stay safe until the sun comes out again.

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2018

Secondary Relationships

Photo by Rick Hustead

This is dialog from a scene in the 1996 film Twister, in which two tornado chasers discuss filing for divorce.

Billy Harding, introducing his new fiancée to his estranged wife, Jo: “She’s a therapist.”

Jo Harding: “Yours?”

In my blog titled, My New Office, I explain how the furniture in this space is positioned to prevent my (the hypnotherapist) invading a client’s space. Many people are initially nervous and wary about hypnosis the first time they come in for a session, including those who are seeking hypnotherapy as a “last resort” to overcome an unwanted behavior. Furthermore, characteristics such as the person’s suggestibility and their Emotional and Physical sexuality (personality) may require greater physical distance between us during the therapy.

It is also important to maintain a professional boundary between the hypnotherapist and his or her clients. By this I mean that the therapist must separate (and keep separate) his or her personal life and interests from the client’s. It is not uncommon for clients to start to feel similar emotions for the therapist that they already carry for someone in their own life to their therapist during the hypnotherapeutic process. Or, the person may develop strong feelings for the therapist that have nothing to do with those he or she has for a significant other at home. This phenomenon is called transference. With the client already highly suggestible to the hypnotherapist, it is easy to see how this can occur.

Counter-transference is the phenomenon in which a therapist reciprocates the client’s feelings/emotions. Like the client, these feelings for the other person can be negative or positive. The conflict arises when the professional can no longer provide effective hypnotherapy for the client because these strong emotions erode the ethical parameters of this professional relationship. Whether the therapist has become unable to provide unconditional positive regard for the client or has become too emotionally and/or socially involved with the person outside the therapy setting, the therapeutic relationship is untenable and should be ended.

The scene I quoted at the beginning of this essay illustrates this conflict of interest. Billy Harding does not explicitly say that he met his new girlfriend because she was his therapist when his marriage to Jo started to break down. In addition to the fact that this kind of secondary relationship is unethical and unacceptable in the context of their therapeutic relationship, it also makes the new couple’s partnership potentially more fragile. It could be argued that Billy took the unrequited emotions he still carried for his estranged wife and transferred them onto his therapist. The therapist then broke a golden rule of therapy and got romantically involved with her client. Regardless of the emotional bond they shared outside of the relationship, they sacrificed the progress of the emotional “work” Billy had been doing in his therapist’s office up to that point. His feelings for his soon-to-be ex-wife did not get resolved enough to stand up to the real-world challenge of asking Jo to sign divorce papers to officially, finally ending their marriage.

To prevent transference and counter-transference in my hypnotherapy practice, it is important to establish strong professional boundaries around the therapeutic relationship that the hypnotherapist shares with a client. The hypnotherapist’s role in a client’s life is to use tools such as hypnosis and guided imagery to help the individual achieve vocational or avocational self-improvement goals, not to become that person’s new best friend, dog-walker or spouse.

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2016