Right Brain, Left Brain

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

Image courtesy of Microsoft

     I always consider right brain/left brain theory when I work with my hypnotherapy clients. According to Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D., it refers to the most effective way to communicate with a person based on his or her suggestibility and how the client’s subconscious mind communicates with his or her conscious mind. According to right brain/left brain theory, each hemisphere (half) of the brain is responsible for processing information that it receives. The right hemisphere is generally associated with symbols, pictures and images (inferences), while the left processes language and words (direct and literal).

     The hypnotic script must emphasize direct and literal instructions to target the left hemisphere of a physical-suggestible client, while images and metaphors are more to likely to activate the right hemisphere of an emotional-suggestible client’s brain. (Someone who has emotional suggestibility will understand and process a direct and literal suggestion, although those phrases may not resonate as strongly with this person.) When a client is in a deeper state of hypnosis, he or she can’t relate to the world in terms of words. At this is fourth-level stage of amnesia—which is associated with the right hemisphere of the brain—pictures and images (metaphors) are required to facilitate communication between the right and left hemispheres of the brain. Those words are intended to instantly call up a picture/image, emotion or sensation that the subconscious mind instantly recognizes and understands to increase the effectiveness of the hypnosis script and the hypnotherapy.

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®, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2015

 

Dream Therapy and Hypnosis

(This blog was originally posted on January 8, 2014)

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

Dreaming helps your body maintain emotional and mental health.

            Whether you are sleeping or awake, the mind constantly perceives stimuli and processes those experiences as message units. Dreams are the language that the subconscious mind uses to speak to the conscious mind to make sense of all of that information you have collected during the day. The more message units you can take in during the day, the higher the amount of stress you can tolerate. Every night when you go to sleep, the subconscious mind is tasked with resolving your subconscious mind’s reaction to this stress in the form of dreams.

            When we are awake (conscious), we speak in linear language, but dreams are nonlinear. They may be metaphoric and symbolic; or, they may seem to have a “plot” and run from start to finish like a movie. Regardless of the format, your dreams are a direct language of the subconscious mind, and your subconscious mind is telling you what you need to know.

Dream analysis is often the first opportunity that I have to establish a working relationship with my hypnotherapy client. I use reflective listening to guide and support the person to interpret the meaning of his or her dream. Then, as I gauge the content of the person’s dreams, I can incorporate the language/symbols of the dream to create the hypnosis script help him or her change specific behaviors to achieve the stated therapeutic goal.

 

 

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/.

© 2015

Sensory-Based Communication

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

The words and metaphors you use in your speech tell
a lot about how you perceive your world.

 

                  No pun intended, but the way we use words to share thoughts and ideas is so expressive of who we are and how we take in our world. We communicate what we perceive, and we use specific words and terms to illustrate how we perceive the information we are sharing. According to Neurolinguistic Programming, we all have a preferred way to express or represent ourselves when we communicate. Following are descriptions of the different sensory representational systems.

·         Visual: This person primarily takes in information by seeing and how something looks. He or she looks up and is comfortable establishing eye contact. He or she needs to see written information or instructions to something and will use metaphors such as, “I see what you mean” to convey understanding during a conversation.

·         Auditory: This individual processes information via auditory cues and can learn by hearing and listening to instruction. He or she will use expressions like, “The message is loud and clear” or “another way to say that.” This person is comfortable memorizing sequences and is very sensitive to the speaker’s tone of voice and the words the other person uses. However, this individual can become overwhelmed by stimuli and may avoid eye contact (focusing on another stimuli) in order to listen to and understand what is being said. This person will use metaphors like, “I hear what you’re saying” to convey understanding during a conversation.

·         Kinesthetic: A kinesthetic person learns and memorizes something by rehearsing or “walking through” a scenario. This person tends to make physical contact with the object of discussion or another person in the conversation as a way of reinforcing what he or she is learning. He or she will use metaphors like, “That meeting completely slipped my mind.”

·         Auditory Digital: An auditory-digital individual focuses on whether something makes sense in order to learn and understand a concept. This person will use language like, “That’s logical” to indicate that he or she understands (or not) the principle being discussed.

During each hypnotherapy session, I pay careful attention to the words my clients use and which metaphors they choose when they speak. I know that the way they use language paints a picture of how they perceive their lives and where they are in the process of replacing an unwanted behavior. This information helps me to create the ideal hypnosis script by which I can communicate with their subconscious mind and help them achieve their goals.

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/.

© 2014