Thursday, February 25, 2021

The Post-Hypnotic Suggestion

 

To minimize risk of exposure to and spread of the COVID-19 virus, I am temporarily suspending in-person hypnotherapy sessions with me in my office. However, phone, Skype and Zoom consultations ARE and WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE! 

 

(This blog was originally posted on September 26, 2017)



Photo by Rick Hustead

 

When I work with my hypnotherapy clients, I give a lot of suggestions during the session. Some of those suggestions happen at the very beginning of hypnosis. For example, I will tell a Physical suggestible client: “You are allowing your eyes to close.” Or I might say to the Emotional Suggestible person, “Right about now you are noticing that your eyelids are feeling verrrrrrrry heavy.” The content of the suggestions I use to facilitate the client’s desired behavioral changes will depend on the person’s therapeutic/self-improvement goal and his or her suggestibility. I also include two specific post-hypnotic suggestions during the session.

The first is the post-suggestion to re-hypnosis. This is what enables the client to easily, comfortably re-enter the hypnotic state in future hypnotherapy sessions whenever a specific word/phrase or physical trigger occurs: the words “deep sleep” and me snapping my fingers or touching the client’s forehead. I include the phrase, “Each time deep sleep is suggested to you for the purposes of hypnosis, with your permission and only your permission” to ensure that this state will be induced only in the context of hypnotherapy. When I work with children/teens I make it clear during the cognitive (alert) and hypnosis portions of the session that only the hypnotherapist can induce the hypnotic sleep, not a parent or sibling, etc. Similarly, when I use hypnosis to help a pregnant woman and her birthing partner prepare for childbirth, I include a similar caveat. For example, the client will not be suggestible to doing anything that is not relevant to relaxation and aspects of the birth process.

The second post-hypnotic suggestion I use is called the post-suggestion to reaction. This is a specific suggestion that activates a desired behavior change when the client is no longer in hypnosis and has returned to an alert and aware state. For example, I might suggest to a client to wants to feel more relaxed and confident when speaking in public begins to notice a specific color that represents relaxation and calm everywhere around him, all over the environment. Furthermore, every time the person sees this color, he immediately feels completely confident, relaxed and in control of his response to every situation and can express himself and his ideas easily, comfortably and confidently.

 

Special Offer! Free, 30-minute Phone/Zoom Consultation

This month, I am offering a FREE, 30-minute phone or Zoom consultation. This is a great opportunity to learn about hypnosis and how and WHY it is such an effective modality to help achieve your vocational and avocational self-improvement goal(s). Call/text me at (661) 433-9430 or send an email to calminsensehypnosis@yahoo.com to set up your free consultation! 

 

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 and in September 2020 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/.

© 2021

 

Thursday, February 4, 2021

Dreams and Phobias

To minimize risk of exposure to and spread of the COVID-19 virus, I am temporarily suspending in-person hypnotherapy sessions with me in my office. However, phone, Skype and Zoom consultations ARE and WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE! 

 

(This blog was originally posted on January 17, 2017)

 
Photo by Rick Hustead
 

 

An individual works through events and conflicts that he or she experienced earlier in the day by venting them out in early-morning dreams, Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D., explained. A dream recurs if the subconscious mind does not resolve the issue/content through this process. Furthermore, a recurring dream can cause a phobic reaction if its content induces anxiety. When this occurs, the individual may subconsciously resist sleeping or if the person only sleeps very lightly to avoid having the dream again. Paradoxically, avoiding sleep also reduces the possibility of venting the original issue that keeps showing up in the disturbing dream.

In addition, a person may incorporate stimuli that he or she experiences during sleep—such as the sound of a barking dog or a slamming door—into the content of a dream. Low blood-sugar levels are associated with the development of phobias, so it is also reasonable to conclude that someone whose blood-sugar level drops during sleep may develop a phobia about a recurring dream. In this case, the person’s nutrition must be addressed to ameliorate the phobic response in addition to helping the person resolve the issue(s) presented during the dream.

You’ll still have to solve the dream and the subconscious motives and fears that aren’t being expressed consciously, Dr. Kappas said. “[Dreams] send signals when something is wrong. These signals must be taken into consideration. Even though the signal (dream) is fantasy, the event that precipitated it is real.”

During this process, the hypnotherapist should provide plenty of suggestions to help the person vent the original fear in addition to desensitizing the client to specific content of the recurring dream. “It might frighten you a bit, but that’s okay because it’s the last time you will ever dream it. You will feel the dream fading and disappearing,” Dr. Kappas advised.

 

 

Special Offer! Free, 30-minute Phone/Zoom Consultation

This month, I am offering a FREE, 30-minute phone or Zoom consultation. This is a great opportunity to learn about hypnosis and how and WHY it is such an effective modality to help achieve your vocational and avocational self-improvement goal(s). Call/text me at (661) 433-9430 or send an email to calminsensehypnosis@yahoo.com to set up your free consultation! 

 

 

 

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 and in September 2020 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/.

© 2021

 

 


Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Addressing the "Other" Issues in Hypnotherapy

 

To minimize risk of exposure to and spread of the COVID-19 virus, I am temporarily suspending in-person hypnotherapy sessions with me in my office. However, phone, Skype and Zoom consultations ARE and WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE! 

 

(This blog was originally posted on November 1, 2016)

 

Photo by Rick Hustead

 

To facilitate a positive therapeutic outcome, from time to time, it is necessary to identify and address other issues besides the goal a client wants to work on before we can focus on the stated self-improvement goal. Examples of such conflicts include low blood-sugar levels, passive-aggressive behavior, low self-esteem/low self-confidence and even addiction to alcohol or other substances. Following is a summary of some therapeutic approaches to resolve these other issues.

  • Prevent “bunching” the problems by helping the hypnotherapy client identify and separate each issue and deal with it separately.
  • During the pre-induction speech, incorporate Theory of Mind and the role of suggestibility in learning and unlearning beliefs and behaviors. “Expose why/when/how the problem started, and give hope it can be changed,” advised Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D. “[Provide] logical reasons why the problem started and solutions for what can be done to help him.”
  • Test the client’s suggestibility and sexual personality traits to identify how and which hypnotic suggestions will work best to communicate with the person cognitively and while in hypnosis.
  • Work on changing the person’s negative mental script and any passive-aggressive behaviors by explaining how and why they develop. Explain to the client how building the person’s self-esteem and self-confidence to correct the passive-aggressive act. client
  • Explain to the client how and why nutrition affects emotions and behavior. Discuss the benefits of good eating habits and nutrition. (In some cases it may be necessary to refer the person to a licensed medical doctor for a blood-sugar level test before continuing with the hypnotherapy.)
  • While the client is in hypnosis, suggest that the person will have a venting dream to continue working out the issues being addressed in hypnotherapy, Dr. Kappas advised.
  • Block the client’s suggestibility and make the person receptive only to the hypnotherapist’s hypnotic suggestions. “We want to suggest him deeper and deeper so we could give him ideas that wouldn’t depreciate,” the hypnotherapist said.
  • Introduce the Mental Bank to help the client work toward achievable goals and replace the unconscious negative script with a positive one.
  • If the client is dealing with an addiction to alcohol or drugs, hypnosis and hypnotherapy are great tools to help a person follow Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous, etc. guidelines during rehabilitation from a substance addiction. However, when I work with an individual to help break this addictive curve I ask that the person continues to receive support from a sponsor and/or 12-step program during this process.*

 

*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.

 

Special Offer! Free, 30-minute Phone/Zoom Consultation

This month, I am offering a FREE, 30-minute phone or Zoom consultation. This is a great opportunity to learn about hypnosis and how and WHY it is such an effective modality to help achieve your vocational and avocational self-improvement goal(s). Call/text me at (661) 433-9430 or send an email to calminsensehypnosis@yahoo.com to set up your free consultation! 

 

 

 

 

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 and in September 2020 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/.

© 2021