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| Photo by Rick Hustead |
In a previous blog titled Hypnosis
Is Not a Cure for Paranoia and Schizophrenia, I explored the complex issues
surrounding working with a client who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
According to Hypnosis Motivation Institute
founder John Kappas, Ph.D., since schizophrenia
is a medical and psychological illness, working with such a client is generally
considered “out of scope” for hypnotherapists.*
In an archived instructional video I watched during my hypnotherapy
residency training at HMI, Dr. Kappas worked with a woman who had multiple
personalities. Following are several emotional and behavioral clues this person
manifested which might indicate that she was in a dissociated state and should
be referred immediately to a licensed medical or mental-health professional
for further evaluation and/or treatment. (In addition to his expertise in
hypnotherapy, Dr. Kappas was a licensed psychotherapist, which was why he was legally
allowed to work with this client.)
- Loss of time: The individual concedes that he or she does not know or is unable to remember where he or she is/has been.
- Dissociation with self: The client claimed to be a different person in certain situations, such as when she was with her lover and even to be aware of that other identity. “[Did] you notice how quickly she answered when I asked, ‘Are you aware of that other part of yourself?’ and she answered, ‘Yes’?”
- Strict religious upbringing: This may induce guilt to the point that the client repressed her (stated) sexual urges, Dr. Kappas observed.
- Incongruent behavior: The individual may possess characteristics and values of one type of (Emotional or Physical) sexual personality but behave in a completely opposite way. The client was actually a high Emotional Sexual personality, but she talked about things that were more commonly associated with a Physical Sexual. She also spoke like a Physical Sexual, he pointed out. “We see [one] personality and hear another one,” he explained.
- Confusion about why she did something.
In the dissociated state, this individual may have experienced things she thought should be different,” Dr. Kappas said. “The client’s only
escape [as an Emo] was to come outside of herself.” If there are a lot of
religious ties and guilt, and the person can’t or doesn’t think she can behave
the way she wants to, she will dissociate to compensate for the guilt. “This is
very typical of an Emotional Sexual
female,” Dr. Kappas said.
*Business and Professions Code 2908: 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
