Addressing the Other Issues

(This blog was originally posted on November 1, 2016)

Photo by Rick Hustead

To facilitate a positive therapeutic outcome, from time to time, it is necessary to identify and address other issues besides the goal a client wants to work on before we can focus on the stated self-improvement goal. Examples of such conflicts include low blood-sugar levels, passive-aggressive behavior, low self-esteem/low self-confidence and even addiction to alcohol or other substances. Following is a summary of some therapeutic approaches to resolve these other issues.

·         Prevent “bunching” the problems by helping the hypnotherapy client identify and separate each issue and deal with it separately.

·         During the pre-induction speech, incorporate Theory of Mind and the role of suggestibility in learning and unlearning beliefs and behaviors. “Expose why/when/how the problem started, and give hope it can be changed,” advised Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D. “[Provide] logical reasons why the problem started and solutions for what can be done to help him.”

·         Test the client’s suggestibility and sexual personality traits to identify how and which hypnotic suggestions will work best to communicate with the person cognitively and while in hypnosis.

·         Work on changing the person’s negative mental script and any passive-aggressive behaviors by explaining how and why they develop. Explain to the client how building the person’s self-esteem and self-confidence to correct the passive-aggressive act. client

·         Explain to the client how and why nutrition affects emotions and behavior. Discuss the benefits of good eating habits and nutrition. (In some cases it may be necessary to refer the person to a licensed medical doctor for a blood-sugar level test before continuing with the hypnotherapy.)

·         While the client is in hypnosis, suggest that the person will have a venting dream to continue working out the issues being addressed in hypnotherapy, Dr. Kappas advised.

·         Block the client’s suggestibility and make the person receptive only to the hypnotherapist’s hypnotic suggestions. “We want to suggest him deeper and deeper so we could give him ideas that wouldn’t depreciate,” the hypnotherapist said.

·         Introduce the Mental Bank to help the client work toward achievable goals and replace the unconscious negative script with a positive one.

·         If the client is dealing with an addiction to alcohol or drugs, hypnosis and hypnotherapy are great tools to help a person follow Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous, etc. guidelines during rehabilitation from a substance addiction. However, when I work with an individual to help break this addictive curve I ask that the person continues to receive support from a sponsor and/or 12-step program during this process.*

*California law allows access by California residents to complementary and alternative health care practitioners who are not providing services that require medical training and credentials. The purpose of a program of hypnotherapy is for vocational and avocational self-improvement (Business and Professions Code 2908) and as alternative or complimentary treatment to healing arts services licensed by the state. A hypnotherapist is not a licensed physician or psychologist, and hypnotherapy services are not licensed by the state of California. Services are non-diagnostic and do not include the practice of medicine, neither should they be considered as a substitute for licensed medical or psychological services or procedures.

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/.

© 2017

The Chicago Cubs: World Series Champions (Again) At Last!

(This blog was originally posted on November 3, 2016)

Image courtesy of Microsoft

The Chicago Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians in the tenth inning of the seventh game of the 2016 World Series to take the title in one of the hardest fought titles I have ever seen. Like so many other people who are not necessarily Cubs fans, I was curious to see how the team would fare. Despite the team’s best efforts over the years to clinch another World Series title, the infamous “Billy Goat curse” had haunted the ball club since their last World Series appearance in 1945. The last time they won a World Series was 108 years ago, in 1908. Why should this year be any different?

Needless to say, my interest in how this team would fare had less to do with being a fan of baseball compared to how they would deal with the pressure of such high-octane competition and a particular subconscious mental script. A curse like the one bestowed on the Chicago Cubs all those years ago is particularly insidious because its effectiveness is derived from people’s belief in it. Apparently, a local bar owner named Bill “Billy Goat” Sianis promised that the team would stop winning games because he wasn’t allowed to bring his pet goat in to watch Game 4 of the World Series at Wrigley Field. (The goat reportedly had a ticket, too.) The curse seemed to have worked because the Cubs didn’t make it back into these championship games until this year. Generations of baseball fans and even baseball players that compose this and other baseball clubs may or may not believe/believed in the curse. And regardless of their belief in it, the very idea of a curse was certainly a convenient explanation (defense mechanism) for why the team couldn’t win, let alone get into, another World Series. 

My question is this: Was that curse really so powerful and effective to undermine the post-season success of this team all these years? Other teams have had long “droughts” between winning and even entering the World Series, and they don’t carry the burden of a curse to explain/excuse their post-season performances. 

The fact that such a negative proclamation even existed likely helped to undermine fans’ and even the players’ own confidence and belief in the Cubs ability to win a championship. If you don’t believe me, consider how much better teams/athletes generally fare when they have a home-field advantage. Just like in Jack Norworth’s iconic song, “Take Me out to the Ball Game,” local fans generally do “root, root, root for the home team.” The positive energy that comes from an excited, supportive crowd cheering, whistling and chanting for their home team cannot be dismissed; athletes truly seem buoyed by the home advantage. Similarly, the negative energy and disdain this crowd projects when the visiting team scores or prevents the local heroes from scoring or ultimately winning, is palpable. (I will address that phenomenon in a future essay.) Of course, this is exactly what the Chicago Cubs did last night.

As I reflect on the excitement and, yes, anxiety-inducing action that took place during the 2016 World Series Games, I do not doubt the power the curse might have had over the team and their fans over the years. Their belief systems and the negative chatter/subconscious mental scripts that fueled and reinforced those beliefs were obviously very powerful. But let’s turn this scenario around for a moment. What if it had simply taken all these years for a World Series-caliber Chicago Cubs team to come into being? 

Now that we all know this baseball team is capable of winning a world championship, hopefully the athletes, future team members, coaches, club owners and fans can store this memory and experience as a new subconscious “known.” The Chicago Cubs played fabulous baseball this season and the cooperation and talent of each player proved once and for all that this is a championship team. I think these past seven (game) days prove that their curse is finally, officially lifted/exorcised/over. So, no more excuses….just play world championship-caliber baseball!

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/.

© 2017