The Saddest Thing I Ever Heard

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 September 6, 2016)

Photo by Rick Hustead

 

In August 2016, a four-year-old-girl was rescued from an abusive home in Hot Springs, Arkansas.¹ When police officers rescued her, she reportedly told them that her name was “Idiot” because that’s what her mother’s boyfriend allegedly called her. Apparently, she was called that so often that she did not even know her real name.

This incident absolutely broke my heart.

According to John Kappas, Ph.D., the subconscious mind works on expectation and imagination. Over time, we learn to expect others to respond to and interact with us in a particular way based on our previous experience with those individuals. Eventually, this treatment becomes part of our subconscious mental script as we also learn to internalize the message or emotion we perceive in those interactions. All of this can and does affect self-confidence and self-esteem, the Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder explained. No matter what the “message” is, the more you hear and repeat it to yourself your subconscious mind starts to believe and even “own” that message. When everyone around you constantly bombards you with so much criticism and negativity, including referring to you as an idiot or some other derogatory slur, it’s no surprise that your self-confidence and self-esteem take a hit. It’s really only a matter of time until you start to believe in the negative hype, and when you are as young and impressionable as this child it takes even less time to create a negative mental script.

Now that this little girl has been found and her alleged abusers—her mother and her mother’s boyfriend—are in custody, she can start to heal from the psychological damage she endured as well as her physical injuries and emaciation. Hopefully the inner resources that helped her endure the negative treatment and messages she received during these early years will also help her to heal, thrive and find happiness, safety, and security throughout the rest of her life.

1.       “Abused 4-Year-Old Child Tells Police Her Name Is ‘Idiot’: Mother, Boyfriend Charged After Abuse Reported” by Anneclaire Stapleton, CNN. http://www.clickorlando.com/news/national/abused-4-yearold-child-tells-police-her-name-is-idiot

 

 

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

 

Hypnosis, Mind Control and The Vampire Diaries

(This blog was originally posted on October 13, 2014)

One of the most prevalent myths and misconceptions about hypnosis is that it is a form of mind control. This notion is so widespread that several popular books, films and television series have included story-lines wherein a character is hypnotized to do something dangerous, illegal and likely detrimental to his or her survival. Cases in point: the use of “compulsion” in L.J. Smith’s young-adult novels and popular CW television series, The Vampire Diaries.

First, let me reassure you that you cannot be made to say or do anything in hypnosis that you would not say or do when you are in a wide-awake, alert state. If your subconscious mind does not “agree” with the hypnotic suggestion, you simply would not do it. Furthermore, as a certified hypnotherapist I would not ask you to do anything that goes against your moral and ethical standards. Needless to say, it would also be unethical for me to ask you to do so.

Having said that… I find the concept of compulsion in the context of The Vampire Diaries absolutely fascinating. In my blog titled Gullibility, Suggestibility, Hypnosis I describe how a person can induce a trance state in another person and get him or her to behave in a certain way. The process by which the vampires get their victims to act in a certain way—usually, to stay still and “don’t scream” before an attack—is practically a textbook example of how this kind of hypnotic induction works. This is why:

• They have authority. If you are familiar with the series, you know that in addition to their myriad supernatural abilities, Stefan and Damon Salvatore and the vampires in question are charismatic, charming and, of course, very good looking. They literally command an audience when they enter a room. If you are (un)lucky enough to make direct eye contact with one of them and you do not know their true identity, you will be suggestible to their confidence, charisma and physical attractiveness. If you do know that they are vampires, your natural fear about how the encounter might end will induce its own kind of trance. Either way, you will not only will you be told what to do and when to do it, you will be helpless to resist the command.

• They have a message. That message can be about almost anything, although it is usually an instruction to the unwitting victim that he or she must perform a specific task that will help conceal the vampire’s true identity in the community. Of course, the content of that message is inconsequential for the above reason(s).

• They overload the person’s subconscious mind to accept the message without question. In this case, the vampire locks eyes with the intended victim and gives the instruction (compulsion) in a whisper or hushed voice. By this point, the person’s subconscious mind truly is overwhelmed by the monster’s charm, strength and powers of persuasion that the individual is willing to do as he or she has been instructed.

Whenever I watch The Vampire Diaries I must suspend my disbelief about how the characters use hypnosis—as well as my own experience of how hypnosis really works—so I can just enjoy the “fantastic” elements of the story. Remember, you would not behave that way because someone else told you to while you are hypnotized unless you would do these things or hold a specific belief when you are in an alert and aware state. Having said that, the next time a barista overwhelms you with so many options about beverage-cup sizes and pastries to accompany your quadruple latte that you actually purchase a croissant you never planned on buying, you were probably hypnotized.

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

Suggestibility on Prime Time

(This blog was originally posted on March 3, 2014)

Photo by Rick Hustead

Did you watch the 86th Academy Awards on television on March 2, 2014? Remember when host Ellen DeGeneres asked viewers to retweet the group “selfie” picture that host Ellen DeGeneres took of herself with a handful of Oscar nominees during the broadcast? Did you do it? If so, you weren’t alone: according to a CNN report, 2.7 million people took on her challenge, and the Twitter platform actually crashed for a few minutes. The event was undoubtedly a major advertising and publicity triumph for the Oscars and the company that manufactured the camera they used to take the shot (Samsung)—not to mention the host. This incident was also a great opportunity for me to illustrate how suggestibility and hypnosis work in real life.

In my January 16, 2014 blog about hypnotic modalities, I explained how an authority figure could create a hyper-suggestible state in another person and use this state to persuade that individual to behave in a particular way. (If you have ever gone car shopping, you have likely experienced this kind of sensory overload.) She may not have literally sold an item to her audience, but Ms. DeGeneres did a very handy demonstration of group hypnosis with just a few elements naturally occurring elements:

1.       She had authority. As the Oscar host, Ellen DeGeneres had access to all areas of the stage and the audience in the auditorium. A celebrity herself, she also had charisma and charm that helped her to build a rapport with the guests as well as television viewers at home.

2.       She had a message. The role of any host at a party or event is to help the guests feel at ease and have a good time so that, hopefully, they will want to come back again. The Academy Awards may be an American event, but it is known around the world. No doubt the Academy and the television network wanted to receive positive reviews and feedback so they could do this again, next year. What better way to get this message out than to take a photograph of some of your guests having a good time and share that image with everyone you know (or who wishes they knew you)?

3.       There were plenty of environmental stimuli to overload the subconscious mind and create the hyper-suggestible state: the excitement of being nominated for or having won an Academy Award, or the disappointment of not winning that Oscar, after all; the visual overload of being surrounded by beautiful people wearing beautiful clothes; the amount of time the nominees had already spent posing on the red carpet before the awards began; the anxiety/stress that they must have been experiencing while they waited for the award to be bestowed in their category; waiting and wondering who would win an Oscar; the glamorous environment in the Kodak Theater and the stage… You get the picture.

4.       Ms. DeGeneres used the right language to get the group of nominees to do the photo with her. Not only did she have the advantage of being the host for the night, but she knew how and when to cajole one of the A-list actors sitting in the front rows to join the group. Soon, some actors just jumped into the shot without waiting for an invitation.

5.       Watching the scene from home on our televisions or computers, etc., it looked like everyone in the shot was smiling and having fun. Didn’t you wish you could have been in on that picture, too? (Or one just like it, but with your friends and family?) When Bradley Cooper finally snapped the picture, the audience at home and in the theater was ready and waiting to be asked (or told/playfully challenged) to retweet the image so many times that Twitter couldn’t cope with all the traffic.

6.       And hey, presto: 2.7 million people accepted and acted on Ellen DeGeneres’ suggestion.

Now, that is impressive.

Limited-Time Offer: Free Phone Consultation

 This is a great opportunity to find out why hypnosis is so effective and how hypnotherapy can help you achieve your self-improvement goals. Call/send me a text message at (661) 433-9430 or send me an e-mail at calminsensehypnosis@yahoo.com to set up your free, 30-minute phone consultation, today! 

Offer valid through April 30, 2019. 

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/.

© 2019