Subconscious Anchors

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 April 4, 2014)

 

Image courtesy of Microsoft

 

     In previous blogs, I have described how I help my clients “anchor” a positive association to their new, desired behavior. This is done while the person is in hypnosis and most likely to be enjoying the deep relaxation, calm, and comfort that this state naturally provides. He or she can activate this new anchor at any time to reinforce the new, desired behavior and replace unwanted habits. But hypnosis is not the only time we create anchors. In fact, these subconscious associations can occur in various situations and at any time whether we intend to do this or not. This is how many of those habits that we consciously want to change have been created in the first place.

   Smells can create very strong, pervasive anchors for many people. The scent of the cologne or perfume can bring up a happy association with a beloved grandparent or may trigger negative emotions if the smell reminds you of your ex. The smell of freshly baked apple pie might­ take you back to coming home from college to enjoy a holiday meal; but this same smell could be frustrating or even torturous for someone who is on a diet. These are just a few reasons why I do not wear perfume or even use scented candles when I work with my hypnotherapy clients. I also want to avoid creating an unintended trigger to hypnosis that could be activated if the person perceives a scent that their subconscious mind already associates with me.

    We can also create subconscious anchors to food or physical sensations (touch). Do you remember the first time you touched a hot stove? You may not if this first experience happened when you were very young. You probably can’t recall a time when you have not been cautious about touching a surface that might be hot. However, your subconscious mind sure does. The same is true if you have ever avoided a certain food because you once got food poisoning eating that item, or you can no longer tolerate the taste or smell of a favorite snack since you had your child because that was all you could eat while you were pregnant.

   You can even create a subconscious anchor to sounds or music. For example, whenever I hear the Bon Jovi hit song, “Always,” my mind immediately flashes to an early memory of lounging on a beach at the end of a summer day. The sun is still bright in the sky, but the temperature is no longer hot, and an almost-cold breeze is coming off th­e ocean. The song sounds almost tinny as it blasts out of the portable, one-speaker stereo that belongs to a nearby sunbather. I can barely detect the scent of Coppertone® sunscreen as the salty air fills my nostrils. Do you see how much imagery and how many associations are evoked by this one, specific song? To this day, I only need to catch the first few bars of the song, and I can see this scene.

     Isn’t that interesting?

              

 

Special Offer: Free 30-Minute Phone or Zoom 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 or text me at (661) 433-9430 or send me an e-mail at calminsensehypnosis@yahoo.com to set up your free, 30-minute phone or Zoom consultation* today! 

*This is not a full hypnotherapy session. Hypnosis will not be provided during this consultation. This offer is not redeemable for cash and may not be combined with any other promotion.

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

 

 

Suggestions of a Scent

In compliance with current WHO and CDC recommendations 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 and Skype consultations ARE and WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE! 

 

(This blog was originally posted on February 3, 2015)

Photo by Rick Hustead

               

After the New Year I typically do an early “Spring Cleaning” in which I donate clothes or other items that I no longer use to make room for new items I received as gifts over the holidays. When I started sorting this year I came across some old bottles of perfume that I hadn’t worn in ages. Curious, I spritzed one of my favorites into the air and inhaled deeply. Of course the composition of those scents had degraded by now; in their less pure form they were actually more intense. Equally intense was the power of my memories of the emotions I felt back when I used to wear that brand of perfume.

Good days, not-so-good days—it all came flooding back in a rush. I remembered the friend who introduced me to my former signature scent. Then that recollection reminded me where I was at that time: I was living in a suburb of London and had just started working on my post-graduate degree. In January, it would have been much colder and wetter in London than the current weather in Southern California. In fact, around this time twenty-four years ago, snow fell in Southeast London and blanketed the rooftops and pavements in neighborhood for several days….

That unexpected trek down memory lane served as a powerful reminder of why I do not wear perfume or use scented candles or incense when I work with hypnotherapy clients. Olfaction (sense of smell) is one of the most powerful triggers of memory and strong, pervasive emotional associations. As I explained in my previous blog titled Anchors, the mind creates a subconscious link or “anchor” between the scent a person perceives and whatever is going on in his or her life at that moment. Even though the details of a specific event will likely fade from the conscious mind over time, exposure to a scent or odor can trigger an unexpected memory that the subconscious mind associates with that moment in time.

Part of my work as their hypnotherapist entails helping my clients to create new, positive associations that will facilitate the achievement of their self-improvement goals. Therefore, it is important that minimize the possibility that something about me will unintentionally create or trigger a subconscious association between me and a previous, unwanted behavior that could impede the therapeutic process.

Special Offer!

Save 15 percent on all a la carte (individual) phone and Skype hypnotherapy sessions, including the 2-hour introductory First Session!

*This offer may not be combined with other promotional discounts/session packages and is not redeemable for cash. Offer expires on June 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 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

Hypnotherapy to Stay Motivated During a Challenge

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

Photo by Rick Hustead

As a hypnotherapist, one of the most important things I do is to motivate my clients to continue working to change an unwanted behavior. Sometimes a challenge or a setback occurs during this therapeutic process, and I must put on another hat to facilitate crisis management. Perhaps you have experienced a personal crisis, such as the unexpected death of a spouse or life-threatening medical diagnosis*; or, you are discouraged about your rate of progress in achieving the desired self-improvement goal. It is my honor and privilege to help you to find/re-discover, and employ, your inner resources to overcome such a challenge in the following ways:

•  Provide you with unconditional positive regard. I use active and reflective listening techniques to help you clarify the issue or source of frustration, and identify the emotions or feelings surrounding that situation.

• Employ Neuro-Linguistic Programming techniques such as “chunking down” the problem to help you look at and identify ways of breaking it into smaller, more manageable elements that you can resolve.

• Help you to brainstorm a list, which you will write, of all of your inner resources—talents, work/sports experience, problem-solving skills, etc. that you have acquired during/through hypnotherapy—that you believe will help you overcome the current setback or disappointment.

• Apply hypnosis and therapeutic guided-imagery techniques to help you access those resources and other problem-solving skills that you have previously used to overcome a similar situation in order to conquer the current setback. If you have overcome ‘X’ before, your subconscious mind knows how to use these skills to succeed, again!

• Help you to create a subconscious anchor which you can access at any time to activate this sensation of relaxation, calm and comfort that you experienced during hypnosis in order to solve a problem or overcome a challenge when you are alert and aware (not in hypnosis).

If the issue or crisis is beyond the scope of my expertise as a hypnotherapist to help you achieve your vocational and avocational self-improvement goals, I will refer you to a licensed medical doctor and/or licensed mental health practitioner. This referral is imperative to ensure your emotional and physical well-being, because these experts are equipped to provide you with the specific support that you need to help you through that event. However, according to California law I may continue to work with you as your hypnotherapist in conjunction with these other experts to provide complementary therapy, with a signed referral from them (Business and Professions Code 2908).

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