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Monday, August 26, 2019

The Role of the Audio Track to Reinforce Hypnotic Suggestions

(This blog was originally posted on March 23, 2016)

Photo by Rick Hustead

Audio tracks can be used to consistently reinforce a suggestion for changed behavior that is made to a client during the hypnotherapy session. Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D. liked to record of the hypnotic suggestions and affirmations that he gave clients during hypnosis. He then gave the recording to the individual to listen to independently at home and reinforce the suggestions for behavioral change between sessions. He found that these recordings were particularly useful to achieve self-improvement goals such as increase self-confidence, correct or curb impulsive behaviors and behaviors, facilitate weight loss/weight control, and modify fear reactions.

Like the Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder, I also like to offer and typically make an audio track of the hypnosis portion of the session for each of my clients to play at home and fortify the hypnotic message I provided in the office. Sometimes I put it on a CD but, more often lately, I simply e-mail a digital copy of the track to the client to listen to on a mobile device. Since it is designed to relax the listener, I always attach a written warning in the e-mail or on the hard copy that the person must not play the track while driving or at any other time when alert attention is needed.

Unlike the generic, topic-specific hypnosis tracks that you can purchase at book stores or on-line, the recordings I provide for each client are individualized to address each client’s specific therapeutic goals and needs. In almost every case, the suggestions, affirmations and motivational words that I provide in the hypnotic script are created on the spot, based on information that the client provided just moments before being counted into the hypnotic trance. Even scripts that have been previously created to facilitate weight loss, quitting smoking, overcome a fear/phobia, etc. must still be customized this way so the client’s subconscious mind will accept the new message I am providing. Each of these recordings is free, a “take-away gift” I give to the client at the end of each session.

Dr. Kappas advised that hypnotherapists should use discretion when providing the recording for a client. For example, hypnotherapists should only record the session for someone whom he or she feels confident will stop using the track once the problem is resolved or his or her situation has changed, he said. As I mentioned previously, I typically offer to record the hypnosis for each of my clients; this is true regardless of the person’s presenting issue according to the therapeutic guidelines and state regulations of the Business and Professions Code 2908. In addition, each hypnotic script includes suggestions that reflect where the person is on his or her therapeutic journey to address and help the client focus on that stage of the therapeutic journey.

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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/.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Eyes on the Ground

(This blog was originally posted on July 13, 2011)

Photo by Rick Hustead

No matter who you are, every equestrian benefits from having someone observe you ride. Ideally, you can train with a riding instructor who can constructively critique your position, aids, etc. while you work with your horse. No matter how good or experienced an equestrian you are, it is almost impossible to notice every detail about your position or technique that another person’s experienced eye could easily see. There is nothing so valuable for improving your ride as receiving feedback—good or bad—at the precise moment you are asking for a movement. This kind of instruction can truly make all the difference in how you ride.

Many years ago, figure skater Michelle Kwan decided to train without a skating coach. She had previously won a silver Olympic medal, and she owned many national and world championship titles. Surely, these experiences and her talent as a skater qualified her to work without a trainer. However, she did not skate so well on her own; within a year Ms. Kwan re-hired her former coach and started winning medals again.

Even trainers have trainers. At the very least, they acknowledge the philosophies of other horsemen who have influenced their own work with horses. In 2010, I was privileged to audit a couple of Jan Ebeling’s dressage clinics at Equine Affaire (Pomona). In addition to teaching his own students, he competes at Grand Prix dressage competitions around the world. At one point, Mr. Ebeling disclosed that in addition to being coached by his wife (also an accomplished dressage competitor), he sends video of his training sessions to his own instructor…in Germany!

I rode in my first horse show in 2011. To prepare, I took taking riding lessons almost every day. I followed the mantra, “Perfect practice makes perfect performance,” and I relied on my then-trainer’s experience as a riding teacher and a successful competitor in dressage to help me prepare for this competition. I wanted to ride accurate tests on show-day, and I trusted Julie Van Loo’s insights as she advised me how to fine-tune my position and aids when I rode Candy through walk-trot transitions. She even corrected my mistakes before I even make them—or, at least before I was aware that I had made an error.

As the tagline for those MasterCard® advertisements might read, “Having a trainer to watch you ride: Priceless.”

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Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Recreating the Family of Origin

(This blog was originally posted on May 19, 2016)

Photo by Rick Hustead

When I was a freshman at Occidental College, I noticed something very interesting: all of the students looked the same. Well, not exactly the same, as in identical; but our similarity in physical features and even social backgrounds struck me as uncanny. One of my favorite instructors reminded me of my mother, from her general physique and gentle demeanor to the curly, salt-and-pepper dark hair they wore in a similar style. Maybe that resemblance contributed to her being one of my favorite professors. I remember that my fourth-grade teacher reminded me of one of my grandmothers; Mrs. Payne also happened to be one of my favorite grammar-school teachers. I don’t think that was a coincidence. One of the first good friends I made at Goldsmiths College in London, during my junior year abroad reminded me of my sister; they both even shared the same major in English literature.

On Tuesday, May 17, 2016, KFI AM 640 radio host Gary Hoffman and his featured guest, Wendy Walsh, Ph.D., discussed people’s subconscious tendency to recreate the “home” or family environment/social schema where they work. Dr. Walsh’s description of this behavior sounded a lot like Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D.’s Theory of Mind. No matter where we are or who we are with, we subconsciously want to return to those early experiences where we felt comfortable—even if we were experiencing pain in that situation. Both models made total sense.

Many people spend a majority of their waking day at work or at school/college. Whether it is a youngster’s first day in kindergarten or the first time newly minted CEO walks into the boardroom to facilitate a meeting, anxiety (pain) is usually the dominant emotion experienced. To alleviate this discomfort, we subconsciously look for any similarity between what he or she knows/knows how to do and other people with whom we have shared this previous environment or space. I remember the anxiety I experienced when the original owner of Black Belt magazine sold the company in 2001. All of the staff was anxious about our job security, even the senior editors and art directors. We all knew that the new line manager could easily decide this was a chance to “refresh” the current business model and get new writers and editors. Would our possible replacements actually be more skilled at our job or just a better social “fit” for the new boss? As it turned out, most of us kept our job and even got promotions when Black Belt magazine’s current owners bought and expanded the company a few years later. However, it was easy to see that new writers and editors that were hired were much more “like” and compatible with the new executive staff.

When I interviewed for college and, later, future jobs, I subconsciously looked for an environment where I already felt comfortable and shared interests/goals as the people with whom I would be sharing that environment. I have no doubt that Oxy’s college-acceptance board and my prospective employers had similar criteria when they considered how well I would fit in with them. The same could also be said of how I was originally recruited to join NRG—the business-network group to which I belong—and even, to some extent, how my clients “choose” to work with me as their hypnotherapist. What is similar? What is familiar? That is where we ultimately go—and stay.

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