Body Syndromes: Fight and Reaching Syndrome

(This blog was originally posted on December 9, 2014)

 

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

     According to Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D., whenever a person represses or does not express an emotion the displaced energy from that experience is converted into a physical “symptom” of that emotional trauma. The phenomenon is called a body syndrome. There are no nerve endings in the brain; however, sensory perception (e.g., smell, taste, sight, hearing, touch) that begin there send electric impulses that carry this information through the body. These impulses ultimately begin to manifest physical discomfort in areas of the body that are specifically associated with a certain repressed emotion. Once we are aware of which emotion is being manifested, we can treat the syndrome, the Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder stated.

       The Fight/Reaching Syndrome affects the arms and hands. Physiological symptoms and diseases that are characterized by these syndromes include: arthritis, blisters, nail-biting, rheumatism, skin rashes or warts.  According to the premise of Body Syndromes, the symptoms of someone who has a Fight Syndrome manifest the sufferer’s subconscious need to defend her- or himself, such as from verbal or physical abuse. Someone who is metaphorically “reaching” for something that is unobtainable, such as a rejecting lover or a promotion the person was denied, might experience one of those physical ailments as a manifestation of Reaching Syndrome.

People generally do not know what causes this presenting issue when they seek hypnotherapy. Since it is out of my scope of expertise as a certified hypnotherapist to recognize/identify specific symptoms that have a psychological or physiological basis, I refer clients to an appropriate licensed professional to make this diagnosis. However, once this other expert has ruled out a medical etiology of your symptom and provided an appropriate treatment, I can continue to work with you in hypnotherapy with a follow-up referral from that licensed professional. In addition to providing complementary therapeutic benefits and help to alleviate and/or control your discomfort, I can also use hypnosis and therapeutic guided-imagery techniques to help you achieve vocational and avocational self-improvement goals.

My first step to treating someone who is manifesting a Fight or Reaching Syndrome is to explore what the client is subconsciously fighting or reaching for. Once the possible cause(s) or motivation(s) has been established, I would use systematic desensitization to help you neutralize the intensity of the stimulus that triggers your physical symptom of this syndrome. I would also incorporate guided therapeutic imagery and teach the emotional freedom technique to increase your perception of being able to control and prevail over the emotional triggers of this syndrome. Therapeutic guided-imagery techniques would also be useful tools with which the client can explore different options for resolving the conflict so you can focus on and achieve vocational and avocational self-improvement 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/.

© 2015

Stop Negative Self-Talk

(This blog was originally posted on January 17, 2014)

 

Image courtesy of Microsoft

     From time to time, in a moment of frustration or anger or even fear, we say something negative and hurtful to someone very close to us. The incident that sparked the outburst may turn out to be inconsequential, but in that instant there is nothing more important or urgent than giving that other person a piece of our mind for causing so much trouble in the first place. We can always apologize and make amends to the other person once tempers have cooled down and the issue is resolved. But, what if the person you are so mad at is you? Do you apologize for the hurtful things you have said or thought about you, to yourself?

     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. We also learn to internalize the message or emotion we perceive in those interactions, which can affect self-confidence and self-esteem. No matter what the “message” is, as you hear and repeat it to yourself your subconscious mind starts to internalize and believe that message. If people in your social circle constantly bombard you with criticism and negativity, perhaps it is time to change who you hang out with. If you are the one trash-talking yourself, it is time to rewrite your subconscious mental script to be ­­­more loving and accepting of yourself.

      During hypnosis, I teach my clients simple breathing and relaxation techniques by which to dial down or even turn off the negative self-talk. I also desensitize my clients to the stimuli that typically trigger their self-criticism and self-reproach. Finally, I use therapeutic guided-imagery techniques to enable my clients to find solutions for those situations and then visualize, imagine, picture or pretend that they have successfully resolved a conflict with self-confidence and self-love.

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

 

Notes From the Universe

(This blog was originally posted on October 12, 2014)

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

As I explained in my blog titled “While My Computer Was at the Spa,” I had to take my computer in to get some viruses removed from the hard drive and update some other software. Unable to write my daily blog or even watch a class in the hypnotherapy course I am taking, I had plenty of time to think how I could best use all that “free” (ahem) time. It was still frustrating to not be able to use my computer at all, but I have no doubt that my hypnotherapy training helped me stay calm and even relaxed about the inconvenience.

Having said that, I was not surprised to notice that the first post I saw on my Facebook feed when I was finally able to log on was the following quote: “Patience is the key to paradise,” a Turkish proverb. Hmm… Was the universe trying to tell me something? Probably.

It was like a light bulb turned on in my mind. As I scrolled through my account, I found more related and inspiring quotes. The following philosophies helped to give me a new perspective on my situation. I hope you find them helpful, as well.

•  “Adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience.” – Unknown 

•  “Wherever you stand, be the soul of that place.” – Rumi 

• “When you forgive, you don’t change the past. You change the future!” – healinglightonline.com

•   “Being negative only makes a difficult journey more difficult. You may be given a cactus, but you don’t have to sit on it.” – 95.1 Shine FM

• “F-E-A-R has two meanings: ‘Forget everything and run’ or ‘Face everything and rise.’ The choice is yours.” – Zig Ziglar

• “In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

• “Keep calm and Hakuna Matada!” – The Glitter Fairy

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis MotivationInstitute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2015