Really. I Can Hypnotize Anyone

I am continuing to suspend in-person hypnotherapy sessions with me in my office. However, phone, and Zoom consultations ARE and WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE! 

 

(This blog was originally posted on February 23, 2016)

 

Photo by Rick Hustead

 

 

“I can hypnotize anyone.”

Has anyone ever told you this? Do/did you believe them?

As I have explained in previous blogs, each one of us is in a light state of trance at least twice each day: for 30 minutes when we wake up in the morning and 30 minutes before we drift off to sleep each night. Other examples include environmental hypnosis and even believing the negative self-talk (chatter) we sometimes tell ourselves when we’re having a bad day.

The first thing I tell every new client is to reassure, “You can only be hypnotized if you want to be.” When you contact me by phone or e-mail, I can be fairly confident that you are interested in hypnotherapy as a way to help change an unwanted behavior because other strategies to do so have not been as effective as you wanted them to be. Or, perhaps you are curious about hypnosis and how it works. Maybe you just want to give it a try because you heard it is very relaxing and it worked for a friend to reduce anxiety or helped a relative quit smoking. Whatever the situation happens to be, hypnotherapy is always a choice. If you don’t want to be hypnotized, you won’t be. This is also why I include the suggestion that you will only enter the hypnotic state “with your permission and only your permission.”

Perhaps you have watched a hypnosis demonstration on a cruise or at a magic show. The hypnotist randomly picks people from the audience and/or asks for volunteers to take part in the performance. The individuals who ultimately get selected to participate are not chosen by accident. Before the demonstration begins, the hypnotist has already identified and recognized physiological changes that indicate who is already “going in” to hypnosis. These are the ones who are most likely to be suggestible to instructions given during the performance. Someone who does not volunteer or is sitting in the audience shaking his head, etc., will probably not get asked to join the act. That’s okay, because he probably wouldn’t want to anyway.

The same principle applies in hypnotherapy. During my training to become a certified hypnotherapist at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in Tarzana, California, I learned a variety of techniques to hypnotize someone. I learned how a client’s suggestibility (how you learn) would determine and direct the words and phrases I use to induce hypnosis. For example, if the client has an emotional suggestibility, metaphors and images such as “your eyelids are feeling heavy” would be the most effective way to encourage the person to close his eyes. Conversely, a physical suggestible client would respond better to the direct and literal suggestion of “your eyelids are closing.” Sometimes, if a person is highly analytical, the most effective hypnotic induction is the auto-dual technique, wherein the client essentially hypnotizes him- or herself. Regardless of the technique I use during the induction, I use my client’s own words in the hypnotic to describe goals, motivations and reasons to change an unwanted behavior and achieve a vocational or avocational self-improvement goal.

Since we are all most suggestible to ourselves, ultimately, it is the hypnotherapy client—the person sitting in that chair or recliner—who is hypnotizing him- or herself. Claiming to be able to hypnotize “anyone” is a bit of an overgeneralization. Ultimately, the person being “hypnotized” must be suggestible to you and willing to enter a hypnotic trance in the first place.

 

 

Special Offer:

Hypnotherapy to Release Weight

Hypnosis for weight loss series: $1,250 for 10-week series. (This is a $250 savings!) The $200 fee for the first session will be included in this rate only when the package is purchased up front. Book this package before June 30, 2023, to lock in this price as my rates will be going up on July 1, 2023.

*May not be combined with any other offer. Not redeemable for cash.

 

 

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. Sara has been voted the Best Hypnotherapist in Santa Clarita, California, four years in a row (2019-2022). For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/

© 2023

 

Hyper-Suggestibility at the Doctor's Office

I am continuing to suspend in-person hypnotherapy sessions with me in my office. However, phone, and Zoom consultations ARE and WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE! 

(This blog was originally posted on June 30, 2019)

 

Photo by Rick Hustead

 

 

“Patients cannot hear it when you say disparaging things about them to colleagues out of earshot. But they can feel it.” – Mark Reid, M.D.

 

 

When you go to the doctor’s office, you are likely to perceive a lot of things. You will see the doctor’s white coat, smell the astringent odor of anti-septic and cleaning products, feel the cool air circulating throughout the clinic (it always seems so cold in a doctor’s office). Then there will be sounds: a child’s cough, the buzz over the reception area desk instructing the next patient to step check in, the voices of other patients’ chatting in the waiting room, the medical staff discussing…whatever. Sometimes the topic of the medical team’s conversation or the tone of their voices causes unnecessary (and unintended) anxiety and distress.

For example: I once overheard an Ob/Gyn physician call to his nurse, “Bring the cow in here.” Now, calling a woman a “cow” is unkind and derogatory, to say the very least. I was seething. What kind of physician would refer to his patients this way? I wondered, gritting my teeth. Then I saw the nurse wheel a computer into the examining room and shut the door. Cow. C.o.W. Computer on Wheels. But you wouldn’t have known what the doctor really meant if you hadn’t seen the item he wanted the nurse to bring into the room.

The tone of the medical professionals’ voice and cadence of their speech can also influence your level of anxiety or comfort/relaxation during a medical visit. When I over-heard the doctor instruct the nurse to bring the C.o.W. into the examining room, his tone was mild or even indifferent. My hyper-suggestible state intensified my emotional-suggestible interpretation to his comment. I immediately jumped to the conclusion that he was mocking or belittling the patient and he didn’t seem to care that he was insulting her. If I had been in that examining room, I would have been very insulted—until the computer came into the room, anyway.

Whether you are at the clinic for a regular check-up, preparing for/recovering from a scheduled surgery or an unexpected trip to the emergency room, hospitals and medical environments can be an overwhelming and anxiety-inducing experience. As the smells, sounds and sights of this environment fill and overwhelm the senses, it is easy and natural to slip into a hyper-suggestible state of awareness (i.e., environmental hypnosis). Fear, anxiety and/or nervousness you experience being in this medical environment, combined with any negative emotions/associations you have about the examination or procedure you are about to undergo likely intensifies this state.

 

  

Autumn Promotion: Hypnosis for Weight Loss

 

Let the power of your subconscious mind help you release extra weight and increase your motivation to make healthier eating/nutrition and exercise choices. Book the entire 10-week series and save $250!

 

 

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. Sara has been voted the Best Hypnotherapist in Santa Clarita, California, four years in a row (2019-2022). For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit my website. 

© 2022

 

Hyper-Suggestibility at the Doctor's Office

 To minimize risk of exposure to and spread of the COVID-19 virus and COVID-19 variants, I am continuing to suspend in-person hypnotherapy sessions with me in my office. Meanwhile, phone, and Zoom consultations ARE and WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE! 

(This blog was originally posted on June 30, 2019)

 

 

 

“Patients cannot hear it when you say disparaging things about them to colleagues

out of earshot. But they can feel it.” – Mark Reid, M.D.

 

 

When you go to the doctor’s office, you are likely to perceive a lot of things. You will see the doctor’s white coat, smell the astringent odor of anti-septic and cleaning products, feel the cool air circulating throughout the clinic (it always seems so cold in a doctor’s office). Then there will be sounds: a child’s cough, the buzz over the reception area desk instructing the next patient to step check in, the voices of other patients’ chatting in the waiting room, the medical staff discussing…whatever. Sometimes the topic of the medical team’s conversation or the tone of their voices causes unnecessary (and unintended) anxiety and distress.

For example: I once overheard an Ob/Gyn physician call to his nurse, “Bring the cow in here.” Now, calling a woman a “cow” is unkind and derogatory, to say the very least. I was seething. What kind of physician would refer to his patients this way? I wondered, gritting my teeth. Then I saw the nurse wheel a computer into the examining room and shut the door. Cow. C.o.W. Computer on Wheels. But you wouldn’t have known what the doctor really meant if you hadn’t seen the item he wanted the nurse to bring into the room.

The tone of the medical professionals’ voice and cadence of their speech can also influence your level of anxiety or comfort/relaxation during a medical visit. When I over-heard the doctor instruct the nurse to bring the C.o.W. into the examining room, his tone was mild or even indifferent. My hyper-suggestible state intensified my emotional-suggestible interpretation to his comment. I immediately jumped to the conclusion that he was mocking or belittling the patient and he didn’t seem to care that he was insulting her. If I had been in that examining room, I would have been very insulted—until the computer came into the room, anyway.

 Whether you are at the clinic for a regular check-up, preparing for/recovering from a scheduled surgery or an unexpected trip to the emergency room, hospitals and medical environments can be an overwhelming and anxiety-inducing experience. As the smells, sounds and sights of this environment fill and overwhelm the senses, it is easy and natural to slip into a hyper-suggestible state of awareness (i.e., environmental hypnosis). Fear, anxiety and/or nervousness you experience being in this medical environment, combined with any negative emotions/associations you have about the examination or procedure you are about to undergo likely intensifies this state.

 

 

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. Sara has been voted the Best Hypnotherapist in Santa Clarita, California, three years in a row (July 2019, September 2020, July 2021). For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2021

 

Hyper-Suggestibility at the Doctor's Office

 To minimize risk of exposure to and spread of the COVID-19 virus, I am temporarily suspending in-person hypnotherapy sessions with me in my office. However, phone, Skype and Zoom consultations ARE and WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE! 

 

(This blog was originally posted on June 30, 2019)

 

Photo by Rick Hustead

 

 

“Patients cannot hear it when you say disparaging things about them to 

colleagues out of earshot. But they can feel it.” – Mark Reid, M.D.

 

 

When you go to the doctor’s office, you are likely to perceive a lot of things. You will see the doctor’s white coat, smell the astringent odor of anti-septic and cleaning products, feel the cool air circulating throughout the clinic (it always seems so cold in a doctor’s office). Then there will be sounds: a child’s cough, the buzz over the reception area desk instructing the next patient to step check in, the voices of other patients’ chatting in the waiting room, the medical staff discussing…whatever. Sometimes the topic of the medical team’s conversation or the tone of their voices causes unnecessary (and unintended) anxiety and distress.

For example: I once overheard an Ob/Gyn physician call to his nurse, “Bring the cow in here.” Now, calling a woman a “cow” is unkind and derogatory, to say the very least. I was seething. What kind of physician would refer to his patients this way? I wondered, gritting my teeth. Then I saw the nurse wheel a computer into the examining room and shut the door. Cow. C.o.W. Computer on Wheels. But you wouldn’t have known what the doctor really meant if you hadn’t seen the item he wanted the nurse to bring into the room.

The tone of the medical professionals’ voice and cadence of their speech can also influence your level of anxiety or comfort/relaxation during a medical visit. When I over-heard the doctor instruct the nurse to bring the C.o.W. into the examining room, his tone was mild or even indifferent. My hyper-suggestible state intensified my emotional-suggestible interpretation to his comment. I immediately jumped to the conclusion that he was mocking or belittling the patient and he didn’t seem to care that he was insulting her. If I had been in that examining room, I would have been very insulted—until the computer came into the room, anyway.

Whether you are at the clinic for a regular check-up, preparing for/recovering from a scheduled surgery or an unexpected trip to the emergency room, hospitals and medical environments can be an overwhelming and anxiety-inducing experience. As the smells, sounds and sights of this environment fill and overwhelm the senses, it is easy and natural to slip into a hyper-suggestible state of awareness (i.e., environmental hypnosis). Fear, anxiety and/or nervousness you experience being in this medical environment, combined with any negative emotions/associations you have about the examination or procedure you are about to undergo likely intensifies this state.

 

 

Special Discount for First Responders

 25 percent discount off the first hypnotherapy session for all active/retired military personnel and first responders (police, fire-fighters, EMT/paramedics, ambulance personnel, emergency dispatchers, ER doctors, ER nurses) plus $10 off a la carte sessions!*

*This promotion may not be combined with any other offer. It is non-transferable and may not be exchanged for cash. Promotion ends on November 30, 2020

 

 

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. In July 2019 and in September 2020 she was voted the Best Hypnotherapist in Santa Clarita, California. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2020

 

Hyper-Suggestibility at the Doctor's Office

(This blog was originally posted on June 30, 2019)

Photo by Rick Hustead

“Patients cannot hear it when you say disparaging things about them to colleagues

out of earshot. But they can feel it.” – Mark Reid, M.D.

When you go to the doctor’s office, you are likely to perceive a lot of things. You will see the doctor’s white coat, smell the astringent odor of anti-septic and cleaning products, feel the cool air circulating throughout the clinic (it always seems so cold in a doctor’s office). Then there will be sounds: a child’s cough, the buzz over the reception area desk instructing the next patient to step check in, the voices of other patients chatting in the waiting room, the medical staff discussing…whatever. Sometimes the topic of the medical team’s conversation or the tone of their voices causes unnecessary (and unintended) anxiety and distress.

For example: I once overheard an Ob/Gyn physician call to his nurse, “Bring the cow in here.” Now, calling a woman a “cow” is unkind and derogatory, to say the very least. I was seething. What kind of physician would refer to his patients this way? I wondered, gritting my teeth. Then I saw the nurse wheel a computer into the examining room and shut the door. Cow. C.o.W. Computer on Wheels. But you wouldn’t have known what the doctor really meant if you hadn’t seen the item he wanted the nurse to bring into the room.

The tone of the medical professional's voice and cadence of speech can also influence your level of anxiety or comfort/relaxation during a medical visit. When I over-heard the doctor instruct the nurse to bring the C.o.W. into the examining room, his tone was mild or even indifferent. My hyper-suggestible state intensified my emotional-suggestible interpretation to his comment. I immediately jumped to the conclusion that he was mocking or belittling the patient and he didn’t seem to care that he was insulting her. If I had been in that examining room, I would have been very insulted—until the computer came into the room, anyway.

Whether you are at the clinic for a regular check-up, preparing for/recovering from a scheduled surgery or an unexpected trip to the emergency room, hospitals and medical environments can be an overwhelming and anxiety-inducing experience. As the smells, sounds and sights of this environment fill and overwhelm the senses, it is easy and natural to slip into a hyper-suggestible state of awareness (i.e., environmental hypnosis). Fear, anxiety and/or nervousness you experience being in this medical environment, combined with any negative emotions/associations you have about the examination or procedure you are about to undergo likely intensifies this state.

Summer Promotion: Hypnosis for Weight Loss

Let the power of your subconscious mind help you release extra weight and increase your motivation to make healthier eating/nutrition and exercise choices. Book the entire 10-week series and save $250!

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. In July 2019 she was voted the Best Hypnotherapist in Santa Clarita, California. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2019