(This
blog was previously posted on September 14, 2014)
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| Photo by Rick Hustead |
According to 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.
Late-night
talk-show host Seth Meyers once told his audience that he tends to wander across the stage while
he does the monologue during his show. In fact, the host confided that he never
really noticed this behavior until one of his producers showed him a clip from
a previous episode. Sure enough, within a few minutes he had drifted several
feet to the left of his mark (tape) on the middle of the stage. His studio
audience laughed. My mind whirred and came up with an immediate explanation for
his nightly migrations across the stage:
Flight Syndrome.
Flight
Syndrome represents physical symptoms and behaviors that affect the legs
and feet. In this syndrome, a person manifests his or subconscious desire to
run away from a situation or problem that may be inducing fear or anxiety. Physical
symptoms affect the muscular/skeletal structure of the legs and feet (e.g.,
bunions, breaks or sprains) or even disorders of the circulatory or nervous
system (e.g., varicose veins or neuropathy). Flight syndrome behaviors include
pacing, toe-tapping and an inability to remain still.
As a certified
hypnotherapist, it is out of my scope of expertise to diagnose an illness or to
recognize/identify specific symptoms that have a psychological or physiological
basis. Therefore, I do and will refer
clients to an appropriate licensed medical or psychology professional to
determine the cause and/or treat that specific physical symptom that. However,
once this other expert has ruled out a medical etiology of your symptom, with a
follow-up referral from that licensed professional, I can continue to work with
you in hypnotherapy, which can provide complementary therapeutic benefits and
help to alleviate and/or control these symptoms and help you to pursue and
achieve your vocational and avocational self-improvement goals.
People
generally do not know the cause of this presenting issue when they seek
hypnotherapy. Therefore, the first step to treating someone who is manifesting
a flight syndrome is to explore what the client is running away from and possible
reasons why the client needs or wants to run away. Once the possible cause(s)
has been established, I would use systematic desensitization to help the client
neutralize the intensity of the stimulus that triggers his or her physical
symptom or flight behavior. I would also incorporate guided therapeutic imagery
and teach the emotional freedom technique to
increase the person’s perception of being able to control and prevail over the
flight triggers and manage symptoms of physiological discomfort.
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/.
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