Confounding Variables

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

          “Confounding variables” is a concept in statistics where two or more discrete variables can interact in such a way that it is impossible to determine which factor had the greatest impact on the results of the study. Statistics was my least-favorite class in college, but I remain very interested in the way confounding variables affect so many areas of our lives, in “real” life. They impact our work and personal relationships; they influence how we feel physically and emotionally at different times of the day, week, month or year. Everything you see, smell, taste, hear or touch can interact with another factor (or person) to produce a specific response; but that reaction may be completely different in an hour or if one of the stimuli changes.

For example, imagine that you are sitting at your desk at work, about to open your mail. Your colleague peeks over the top of the cubicle divider to invite you to join her for lunch, and the cloying sweet scent of her perfume fills your nostrils. You politely decline the invitation and start to open the first envelop when a wave of nausea rolls over you. Whoa. You skipped breakfast this morning; maybe you are hungrier than you thought, and a low blood-sugar level triggered this symptom. Alternatively, your sensitivity to strong smells, especially to perfumes and colognes, could have made you feel queasy. It’s no wonder that this particular scent set you off, since your ex also used to wear the same brand. Then you notice that the letter you just opened is from a particularly demanding client; he wants to know why his last order still hasn’t arrived. Cue the sense of panic, palpitations, shortness of breath and cold sweat.

You know that each of these stimuli can induce stress in you. The tricky thing about confounding variables is that you may not be able to identify which one has triggered your reaction at that moment. If you feel overwhelmed by what is going on around you, take a moment or two to do diaphragmatic breathing to help you relax and increase your ability to focus on what is going on inside and around you. (If you feel overwhelmed while you are driving, pull your car over to the side of the road or, even better, into a parking lot so you can concentrate on this exercise.) Once you are feeling calmer, do a quick mental scan of what is going on in your life at that moment that could have triggered the stress reaction or anxiety. If you haven’t eaten in a long time, have a snack or a small meal that contains protein to help regulate you blood-sugar level and alleviate symptoms such as dizziness, irritability and confusion. (If you are experiencing physical symptoms of distress, such as chest pain, seek medical help immediately.) I also recommend to my clients that they do EFT (emotional-freedom technique) or “tapping” to individually address the factors that they believe to be exacerbating their distress.

Remember that in real life, as in research, it is necessary to identify and separate the factors that influence our unwanted behavior so we can affect the changes we want to make in our lives.

 

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/.

© 2015

Masters of Suggestibility

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

Photo by Jennifer Berkowitz

   Have you ever attended a really good concert? Rock, pop, country—it really doesn’t matter what the genre happens to be—have a lot in common: The singer(s) and other band members engage the audience through their music and banter; and the audience, which typically comprises devoted fans wearing T-shirts or hats with the performers’ logo, knows every lyric to every song they ever wrote.      

   There is always plenty of activity going on, on-stage: musicians or back-up entertainers are dancing, lights are flashing; there are changes of costume and/or scenery. There may also be a video screen projecting images or scenes from a previous gig to look at and further overload the audience with an impossible number of visual and auditory stimuli (sensory overload). By the time the band is halfway through the first song, the audience is mesmerized and the singer(s) have become masters of their fans’ suggestibility.

    Two years ago, my friends and I experienced one of the best and, for me, most interesting concerts I have ever been to. (I will get to that in a minute.) I think that anybody who has ever attended a Bon Jovi concert would agree that this band puts on an incredibly entertaining, rocking show. They went through a catalog of about 20 songs, practically nonstop, for two hours. Even when lead singer Jon Bon Jovi—who is one of the most energetic and charismatic performers I have ever seen—disappeared offstage for a couple of minutes to drink some water and change clothes, the band rocked on loudly and exuberantly until he popped back into the spotlight and continued to work the audience. Most if not every other person at Staples Center that night was a devoted fan of the band and knew all of the lyrics to their songs. All Bon Jovi had to do was hold his microphone out at the audience and thousands of voices would automatically sing along with him.

   But by 11 p.m. or so, the night was wearing on, and everyone’s ears were probably buzzing from the loud noise. Exhaustion was starting to set in. After all, most of the fans in this audience were in their late-forties or fifties, if not older. We had been at work all day and we still faced a long drive back to wherever we lived so we could get to bed and then get up early to start another workday, the next morning. Meanwhile, the band was still going strong and cranking out one song after another. Bon Jovi must have felt the reduced energy in his audience because this is when he suddenly encouraged everyone to get up and sing and dance with the music. “I still have a whole catalog of songs in my head to go through!” he told us. Of course, the revelry started up again and we continued to rock on until the concert was over.

   This was when the concert became truly interesting to me in terms of being able to observe behavior and suggestibility. I was fascinated to witness and impressed to actually experience the hypnotic modalities I have studied, hard at work on everyone at the Staples Center that night. Here was a very charismatic and talented band whose lead singer was literally telling thousands of people what to sing or say or do without really ever having to issue a direct instruction to the audience. There was no question that Jon Bon Jovi was running this show, because he was standing/walking/dancing around the stage (special place or authority), wearing either his trademark jacket emblazoned with the stars and stripes motif or leather vest (special clothes or authority) and singing those Billboard hit songs (special words or doctrine) or reminiscing about highlights of the band’s storied career. Bon Jovi only had to point his microphone and those of us with emotional suggestibility immediately got the inference: he wanted us to sing along with him! (So we did.) Later on, when he specifically told (instructed) his audience that he wanted us to continue to enjoy the music we obliged and stood to sing and dance some more (physical suggestibility) until the gig was over.

    Hmm… I wonder if I was hypnotized?

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

 

Avoidance Behavior

(This blog was originally posted on May 23, 2014)

                It’s 10 p.m., and your presentation for work is still not complete. This is your last chance to make a positive impression on your employers since your last two projects were abject failures and lost the company money. But rather than doing a final edit of your work or even double-checking the facts you plan to discuss, you are cleaning the break room. Or, you spend time and even money you don’t have to prepare and bringing meals to a friend who has recently lost his job while one of your siblings is also out of work and would also appreciate your help. And my favorite, albeit most extreme, example on this theme: Anthony Hopkins’ character in the 1993 film, The Remains of the Day continued to work, serving a fancy meal at a manor while his father is dying nearby. Each of these scenarios is an example of the lengths to which people are willing to go to avoid or even completely remove ourselves from a distressing situation or emotions. 

According to John Kappas, Ph.D.’s Theory of Mind, each person is subconsciously motivated to maintain and/or restore a known physical and emotional status of comfort and security. From the moment we are born, we start to accumulate and associate experiences in the context of two types of subconscious knowns: positive (pleasure) or negative (pain). The SCM is motivated or even programmed to seek the pleasure stimuli; not only do these experiences and stimuli not hurt (pain), this absence of pain also comes to represent comfort and security (pleasure). Even when a person’s “usual” behavior or belief system does not produce a “pleasurable: feeling or association, his or her SCM will seek stimuli (environmental, physical body) that reinforce the positive known or association. Even when this known causes physical and/or emotional discomfort, this is the status to which a person will return because this is where the SCM is most comfortable.

                Each of the behaviors described in the above scenarios are examples of the ways in which the subconscious mind does whatever it can to help a person remain comfortable. It will even employ avoidance behaviors such as procrastination, projection identification and emotional withdrawal to avoid experiencing emotional, physical and/or spiritual discomfort (pain) associated with the circumstances. Maybe you are cleaning the break room because this is a task you are confident you can do well, while there are no guarantees that the new project will even get off the ground. Also, it is possible that since your previous projects have failed, your SCM has created known associations with this status (failure) and it is trying to maintain this known for you. In the second example, you feel more comfortable supporting your friend because you worry that you could easily be in your sibling’s position (out of a job), and you want to distance yourself from that situation (projection identification). This association could be even more uncomfortable for you if you are highly motivated to succeed. Finally, Anthony Hopkins’ character literally withdrew from the emotional pain of his father’s death by focusing on his job to the extent that he could physically be “removed” from his father when the other man died. If the men did not share an emotionally close relationship, we can see how Hopkins’ SCM was simply following an already-established mental script; any behavior changes at this stage of his life would be painful.

                These types of avoidance behaviors all share the following characteristics. They are unconscious, self-deceptive, contain elements of denial, and distort reality/thoughts/actions. Hypnotherapy can help people work through these behaviors and associated belief systems.

               

 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/.

© 2015

And Your Handwriting Says...Part 2

(This blog was originally posted on June 19, 2014)

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

   Handwriting is an ideomotor response that provides insight into the writer’s subconscious mind. I explained the role of handwriting analysis in my hypnotherapy practice and identified some specific traits I look at in each HWA in two of my previous blogs (Handwriting Analysis for Hypnotherapy and And Your Handwriting Says). Here, I will describe several other prominent handwriting characteristics I look at and what these traits say about the writer’s suggestibility (how we learn), subconscious behaviors and motivations.

           

    Here are a few more handwriting characteristics that I look at:

·         Spacing (between letters): The size—or amount of space—between letters indicate the writer’s width or narrowness of thinking. The less space there is indicates that the writer has a narrow view and is less willing to take risks in his or her life.

·         Spacing (between words): The amount of space between words indicates social maturity. The less space there is between words suggests that the individual needs people and attention. However, this person is unlikely to be open to what others say or believe.

·         Spacing (between zones): A writer who leaves more space between lines of writing indicates that he or she tends to be generous, courageous and independent.

·         Size of letters: The size of each letter indicates the writer’s opinion of him- or herself. Small writing suggests that the person tends to be thrifty and may not have many friends; however, he or she is capable of deep concentration and extreme attention to detail. Average-size writing indicates someone who tends to conform to social expectations and exhibits normal caution and reserve. Someone who has large writing tends to be extroverted (social) and takes the initiative; he or she needs to be noticed. Someone who has very-large writing may be aggressive and single-minded, possibly rebellious.

·         Variable size of writing: If the size of the writing increases, this suggests that the person’s communication style tends to be blunt. When the size of the writing decreases, the writer’s communication style tends to be diplomatic and conforming.

·         Fancy/ornate writing: This style is identified by many swirls and embellishments of the writing. The writer tends to be someone who “must” be at the center of attention; it may also indicate someone who possesses an artistic personality, or someone who is acting out or showing off.

These are just a few more indicators of personality that 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 send me an e-mail or call me at (661) 433-9430.

 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/.

© 2015