Weight Loss and Hypnotherapy

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

(This blog was originally posted on January 2, 2014)

 

 

Whenever I work with a hypnotherapy client to help the person lose weight, the first thing I do is to establish the motivation for losing the weight. Is there a health reason such as diabetes control? Does the person want to improve his or her physical fitness or just take off a few pounds after indulging during the holidays? Sometimes friends or relatives in the person’s social circle put on pressure to drop the pounds. Or, a client may use excess weight as a “shield” to protect against emotional rejection or even a subconscious fear of returning to a previous lower weight where an emotional trauma may have occurred, said John G. Kappas, Ph.D., founder of Hypnosis Motivation Institute.

“If you are not personally motivated to achieve the weight-loss goal, the weight-loss program is unlikely to be successful,” Dr. Kappas explained. 

Once the client identifies what is motivating him or her to lose weight, I help the person to resolve any previous issues or resistance to losing weight* and develop a strong, positive self-image about being at the desired weight and feeling comfortable with being physically attractive. When appropriate, I also refer the client to be examined by a physician for guidance about an appropriate exercise and nutritional regimen, which I will reinforce during the hypnotherapy sessions. All hypnotic suggestions would incorporate the client’s feeling motivated to feel physically, emotionally, mentally healthy and happier every day and to project positive feelings and ideas of successfully losing weight in a healthy way.

*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 an alternative or complementary 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 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®, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

Our Thoughts Create Our Reality

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

“Our thoughts create our reality - where we put our focus is the

direction we tend to go.”– Peter McWilliams

 

                You have probably heard the expression, Be careful what you wish for. You might have just had a random thought or made an observation about a situation going on in your environment and then, bam! Without even particularly “wishing” for something, the thing you have just been considering manifests into a real-life experience. Suddenly, you are the unintentionally intentional recipient of a particular life lesson.

It is almost spooky how that happens. There you are, having a seemingly random thought about the frequency of car crashes that happen close to home, and then you get in a fender-bender of your own two blocks away from your house. Or, you see a stranger on the street who reminds you of a friend or relative you haven’t heard from or seen in a long time. Lo and behold, you receive a post-card or e-mail or even get a phone call from that person. And how many equestrians reading this blog have been warned that when you look at the ground while you are riding, you are selecting the spot where you will fall off your horse?

                Hypnotherapist and Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D., believed that everyone follows a subconscious mental script that we create very early in our lives. Every minute of every day, our thoughts and behaviors are constantly being influenced by the ones we already store and follow in our subconscious mind. Furthermore, he stated, we will behave and even think in ways that are consistent with it even when the script does not facilitate achievement of our conscious personal goals or may even be detrimental to them.

                When someone seeks hypnotherapy to help get out of a rut or “unstuck” from a perceived pattern of negative circumstances, I help the person reframe his or her negative thoughts/beliefs/expectations in a more positive or optimistic perspective. I also work with the client to increase self-confidence, which in turn increases the person’s belief in his or her ability to control and even transform a potential negative outcome to a positive one. Ultimately, the willingness and ability to transform (control) an initial negative response by looking for and enacting positive solutions to that challenge are keys to creating a more favorable outcome.

 

 

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/.

Client Cooperation

(This blog was originally posted on March 6, 2014)

Photo courtesy of Fotolia

Whether you want to change a behavior to improve your health or you simply want to learn how to relax, hypnosis is an effective, natural and drug-free tool that facilitates behavior change by accessing the subconscious mind. However, you must want to change your behavior in order for hypnotherapy to work.

As I explained in my December 27, 2013 blog, “suggestibility” is how we communicate and learn. Even though you can be suggestible to many people, you are most suggestible to yourself. Therefore, I incorporate the specific words/expressions you used to describe your emotions and motivations/desire to effect the desired change when I craft your hypnotic script (suggestions). This means that you will be hypnotizing yourself.

Many people wonder if hypnosis will really work—and how it can work—on someone who has a razor-sharp mind and such a strong will (i.e., a stubborn streak) like theirs. Even though it is natural to subconsciously resist the process of becoming hypnotized at first, these initial doubts may even help to deepen your relaxation and comfort once you enter the hypnotic trance. However, you will not successfully change your behavior if you do not want to make this change.

 

 

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

 

What You Can (and Cannot) Expect From Hypnotherapy

 

                I would like to clarify a couple of things about hypnosis and my role as a certified hypnotherapist. First, as I explain on my website, hypnosis is a natural, drug-free and highly effective therapeutic modality that has been used for centuries to help people change mental scripts for unwanted beliefs or behaviors that no longer work for them. Whether you want to lose weight, quit smoking, increase your self-confidence, overcome a fear or phobia, or achieve just about any vocational and avocational self-improvement goals, hypnosis can help you get it done.

                My goal is to help each and every one of my hypnotherapy clients to achieve his or her vocational and avocational self-improvement goals. I participate in continuing-education courses throughout the year to fine-tune my therapeutic skills and learn new techniques that I can apply in my practice. Between sessions with my clients, I make myself available to answer any questions or discuss an issue that may have come up during the week via a follow-up phone call, e-mail correspondence or both. I provide a recording of the hypnosis component of their therapy for them to listen to during the week and even give them “homework” assignments to help reinforce the new behavior until their next hypnotherapy session. These assignments may include breathing/relaxation exercises to practice, maintaining their Mental Bank program by writing in their Mental Bank ledger each night before bed, reading specific articles or watching online videos about related hypnotherapeutic techniques that are available via the Hypnosis Motivation Institute online video library.

                I work with my clients to achieve their stated goals; when they have accomplished what they set out to do, we typically part ways until they want to work on something new. I generally do not need to explore unrelated issues or discuss experiences that occurred long ago in my clients’ lives unless they state or believe that event pertains to their presenting issue or affects how they currently lead their lives. Having said that, hypnotherapy is not an overnight miracle “cure” for anything and everything that ails or distresses you. By the time most people come in for hypnotherapy, many months or even years have passed since the unwanted belief or behavior was created. Meanwhile, their subconscious mental script has had plenty of time to nurture and reinforce that unwanted habit. Although hypnotherapy is also generally a shorter-term therapy than many traditional psychotherapeutic modalities, it will likely take more than one hypnosis session to change and/or permanently remove that behavior.

Finally, California law allows me to provide hypnotherapy as a complementary or alternative treatment to help my clients to achieve vocational and avocational self-improvement goals (Business and Professions Code 2908). For example, I am certified to help people manage pain and individuals who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder to deal with a myriad of physical and emotional symptoms. However, I may only do so with a referral from a licensed medical doctor or mental-health professional; I must receive a referral from both of these health-care providers to work with a client who has PTSD. I ethically and legally cannot and will not address some issues (e.g., age regression therapy to identify possible past abuse) or diagnose medical or mental-health symptoms. If I feel that your issues are or become beyond my scope of expertise as a hypnotherapist, I will refer you to a licensed medical doctor or psychologist for further evaluation and/or treatment.

 

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

Handwriting Analysis at "Catober Fest" 2014

Photo by Sara Fogan

Morse, ca. September 1996 (1988-2000)

 

 

 

For the second year in a row, I spent a wonderful autumn afternoon doing handwriting analyses to help celebrate “Catober Fest” at The Cat Doctor & Friends  veterinary clinic in Santa Clarita, California.  In addition to honoring all things cat and introduce residents to Dr. Tracy McFarland and the other wonderful veterinarians and technicians who work at her clinic, the open-house event was also a fundraiser for the Forgotten Angels Cat Rescue. My family adopted our kitty from this rescue a couple of years ago, so I donated all proceeds from the analyses I did today to help support this organization’s rescue efforts. Following is a description of how I use the information I learn about you from your writing to facilitate your hypnotherapy session with me so you can achieve your vocational and avocational self-improvement goals.

                Handwriting is a manifestation of what you consciously think, but it is motivated by a subconscious ideomotor (automatic physical) response. The way you write—the shape and size of each letter, whether you connect the letters and even the speed of your writing—are literally a reflection of your behavior and personality traits. Your handwriting does not reveal your age or gender; nor will it enable me (or anyone else) to determine whether you are right- or left-handed or to predict your future. However, your handwriting will reveal your mood, personality traits, suggestibility and subconscious motivations at the time of writing this sample. Following is a list of some of the characteristics I analyze in every writing sample. I do not focus on the content of what you have written; however, the form and characteristics of each letter will help me identify, confirm or negate your specific personality traits and how those traits may be affecting behavior.

·         Baseline slant: This handwriting characteristic indicates the mood of the person at the time the handwriting sample is done. An upward slant would suggest that you tend to be optimistic. A downward slant suggests a more pessimistic attitude or possible depression, which would necessitate a referral to a licensed medical or psychological professional for further evaluation and/or treatment. A baseline that undulates like waves indicates moodiness, which could be associated with low blood sugar/hunger.

·         Connecting strokes: Writing samples whose letters are connected and flow together indicate someone who has a very methodical and systematic way of thinking. Writing samples that feature little or no connection between the letters could indicate someone who is very analytical and can intuit information or results from just a few pieces of information.

·         Margins: Do you start and/or finish writing at the edge of the page? The more room you leave on the right-hand margin of the page indicates that you tend to be generous with the amount of time and space you leave for other people. If you have wider margins on the left-hand margin of the page, you are more generous with yourself.

·         Pressure of the writing: I can tell by feeling the grooves on the reverse side of the page how much pressure (intent or emotion) the writer invested in writing this sample. Someone who is very passionate or emotional about the topic would tend to exert more pressure when writing. Conversely, areas of lighter pressure (no groove) could indicate less emotion, indifference or even physical weakness.

·         Signature: A person’s signature indicates how he or she would like to be seen by others. It is not necessarily indicative of who the person really is/what the person is really like. Someone whose signature matches or is most like the body of the writing tends to be very no-nonsense; “what you see is what you get.” The opposite would be true of an individual whose signature is very different from the rest of the writing.

·         Slant of letters: The degree of angle or slant of your letters indicates whether you tend to repress or express your emotions. Someone whose writing has a left-hand slant tends to hold in emotions whereas a person whose writing that slants to the right will express how he or she is feeling. The greater the degree of the slant indicates the degree to which emotions are repressed or expressed.

·         Zones: Each “zone” of writing indicates where the person puts the greatest emphasis or priority in his or her life. The upper zone is where thought/fantasy/analysis occurs. The middle zone concerns daily life, communication and responsibility. The lower zone is dedicated to fulfilling physical or materialistic needs: sex, clothes, shelter and money.

These are just a few of the indicators I look at when I analyze handwriting in my hypnotherapy practice. For more information about handwriting analysis, or if you would like to request an in-depth analysis of your own writing, please contact me via my website at www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com.

 

 

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



Traditions...It's All in the Family

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

 

                Most of us have traditions. Perhaps you always take your kids to spend a couple of weeks at the beach each summer. Maybe your mom serves stuffing according to her grandma’s recipe at every Thanksgiving feast. Many people participate in individual or team sports, and enjoy watching these activities on television after a holiday meal (e.g., football games on Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day). I know several people who share the same profession as their parents and even grandparents. Have you ever wondered why these behaviors are repeated? I have. My answer: Theory of Mind.

                Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D. stated that the subconscious part of the mind likes and wants to do what is familiar (known) because familiarity represents “safety” and comfort. He proposed that human behavior is based on the subconscious mental scripts that we create during early childhood, whereby the SCM is accumulating and storing various message units that will ultimately comprise the subconscious life script. Each message is ultimately categorized as a positive (pleasure) or negative (pain) experience, and anything that the subconscious mind does not recognize falls under the category of “pain.” Consequently, the SCM often resists doing anything new or different even when the logic, reason, will-power/free-will and reasoning faculties of the conscious mind says that it’s okay (safe) to do so. We repeat certain behaviors and/or continue to hold particular beliefs that we already know because these are familiar and comfortable or even convenient to perpetuate. These behaviors are the basis of Dr. Kappas’s Theory of Mind.

I know, I know. I make at least a passing reference to this concept in virtually every one of my blogs, but that is because I find examples of it in virtually everything I do and/or observe. The premise of this model is so simple, so logical: observe a behavior, learn and repeat that action and finally model/teach it to someone else. Traditions are a great example of this pattern. For example, imagine you learned—probably from a very young age—that your mom’s grandmother’s recipe for Thanksgiving stuffing is the very best ever. As a child of four or five you probably didn’t have an opportunity to try other people’s version of this dish. However, the people in your environment kept praising it—especially Mom, who was likely your primary caretaker and to whom you are particularly suggestible—and you adopted that belief as your own. You know that one day you will prepare that dish at Thanksgiving to carry on your mother’s grandmother’s holiday tradition.

Or, when it came time to think about getting a career you found yourself gravitating to a similar vocation as one or both of your parents. I have several friends who ultimately became a teacher like their parents. Another friend’s spouse is a law-enforcement officer, as are this person’s father-in-law and a couple of uncles. I love to spend time and vacation in the mountains because when I was a very little girl, my family used to spend a couple of weeks at a property near Big Bear every summer. I have very happy memories (positive knowns) of that environment and would love to spend more time there or someplace like it. And speaking of sports, not only are brothers Peyton Manning and Eli Manning quarterback football players on NFL teams, their dad, Archie Manning, is a former NFL quarterback, too!

Consider your “traditions” for a moment. What things do you do day in and day out without much thought? Do you know where, when, why and how they came about? The answer(s) may surprise you.

 

 

 

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

It's All in How You Say It

 
                When I create hypnotic scripts for a client, I take great care to include words and phrases that have positive intention and positive action. I do this so the person’s subconscious mind will understand, accept and process the positive energy in his or her therapeutic goals.

                For example, if a person comes to me for help losing weight, the first thing I do is help to reframe this goal in a more positive-action perspective. Even though the client wants to “lose” weight, this word is loaded with the implication that the SCM needs to “find” it somewhere—typically, by reverting to unwanted behaviors that he or she is trying to change. To avoid this, I will help the person rephrase the goal to express shedding the extra pounds, such as: “dropping (the number of) pounds,” “getting down to (the goal weight),” etc. These are just examples of alternative expressions to state this goal; the important thing is for the client to choose word(s) or phrases that most resonate with his or her ultimate goal.

                Another phrase I help my clients to replace is “try to.” My reasoning for this is simple: the word try is actually an inert (not moving) verb. Remember the scene in The Empire Strikes Back in which Luke Skywalker begins his training to become a Jedi Knight? When he says that he will try to accomplish the task that the Jedi Master has set for him, Yoda is not impressed with the young warrior’s response: “Try not. Do or do not. There is no ‘try.’” Performing a behavior is action; even if you are not 100 percent successful when you do it the first, second or even third time, you are still doing it. Conversely, the word “try” is ambivalent. It implies indifference, acting without focus to achieve the desired outcome of the task: success.

                The other word I avoid using in hypnotic scripts is “not.” The subconscious mind does not recognize negative qualifiers in our thoughts. It is as if the words “not,” “no” and “won’t” are nonexistent. For example, a few years ago I told myself that I would not fall off of my horse at the beginning of a ride. Guess what? That is exactly what I did do, because all my mind saw/heard/understood was “I will fall off of my horse.” These days, I repeat the following mantra: “I am secure in the saddle and I will enjoy a fun and relaxing ride.”

To help motivate my clients to pursue their vocational and avocational self-improvement goals, I incorporate visualization in the hypnotic script so they can feel what it is like to achieve that success. Guided imagery works well as a therapeutic modality because the subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between fantasy and reality. If you imagine that you are doing something, it is no different from actually doing (and accomplishing) that task. When you imagine that you are improving a skill and succeeding at a task, your subconscious mind is already primed and prepared to help you realize your goal because it believes you already have.

 

                  

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