(This blog was originally posted on May 4, 2014)
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| Photo by Rick Hustead |
At some time in
our lives, just about everyone uses a defense mechanism to cope with a
stressful or disappointing experience. These strategies can include denial or
displacement of the unpleasant emotion, repression of a memory, substance
abuse, regressing to an earlier stage of development or even substance
dependency. However these behaviors provide only a temporary perception of
control over the environment; eventually, we have to deal with and resolve the
primary issue that has triggered the defense mechanism in order to achieve
personal growth. To be an effective hypnotherapist, I must recognize which one(s)
a client may be using, how and why the device is working in this situation, and
when it is preventing desired change and personal growth to occur.
According to John Kappas, Ph.D., resistance to changing a behavior is the first stage of effecting
this change. “We do things systematically to avoid change,” said the founder of
the Hypnosis Motivation Institute. “Change is a threat
to the unconscious mind.” To facilitate change in a client’s behavior—such as
helping someone to quit smoking or to lose weight—the hypnotherapist must “buy”
the person’s symptoms of defensive behavior and provide some symptomatic
relief. But for the problem or unwanted behavior to be truly resolved it is
often necessary to go for the cause of the conflict or symptom. “The client may
be subconsciously protecting [the cause] by employing defense-mechanism
devices,” Dr. Kappas explained.
Usually, many
factors combine to create the primary issue or problem, and the client is
suggestible to those precipitating factors, the hypnotherapist explained.
Consequently, the first hypnotherapy session with a client is the most
important component of the therapeutic process, because this is the first
opportunity to start working with the client’s suggestibility
and “suggest” certain changes in behavior. For example, I might work with a
client to desensitize the person to the association of smoking a cigarette
while drinking an alcoholic beverage before supper. Or, I would create a new
association in which a client would “choose” to write about his or her negative
emotions in a journal rather than eat a bowl of ice cream when the person felt
angry or sad. But these changes in behavior—social drinking and displacing
negative emotions through eating—can and will only occur when the client is
ready to recognize the relationship between the emotion and behavior.
“You cannot
cure a person by telling him what the problem is,” Dr. Kappas said. “Whenever
you hit the cause of the problem, symptoms start to disappear. Once you
identify and remove the primary cause of the problem, you must alleviate
secondary issues.”
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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/.
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