Hyper-Suggestible States: Voodoo

(This blog was originally posted on December 7, 2016)

Photo by Rick Hustead

People in hyper-suggestible states tend to want to “retreat” into a trance or disassociate themselves from themselves/the situation if they feel overwhelmed by the stimuli around them. The more suggestible the individual is the more easily he or she will drift into a trance state (hypnosis). This is particularly true of third-stage somnambulists, said hypnotherapist Dr. John Kappas. 

In one of his most interesting video seminars, the Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder worked with a client to remove the man’s frozen smile and nervous twitch. The client explained that these symptoms developed while he lived in Trinidad, where he had lived for many years. During the course of their discussion, the Dr. Kappas discovered that the client had participated in a voodoo ritual around this time. The hypnotherapist deduced that his client’s natural somnambulistic tendencies kept him in the hyper-suggestible state he experienced during that experience. 

In addition to chants/spells, voodoo rituals often include smoking or ingesting hallucinogenic drugs to overwhelm the participant and induce a trance to change the participant’s behavior, Dr. Kappas said. The more suggestible the person is, the more likely he is to go into that trance. Voodoo rituals are unfamiliar and especially frightening to Westerners, who have little first-hand knowledge or experience with its traditions and beliefs, he explained. “If the person believes voodoo spells (curses) work and is already highly suggestible, he may be particularly vulnerable to going along with any behaviors or beliefs the priest presiding over the ritual suggests.”

The small (pin-point) size of the client’s pupils indicated that he was already in a trance state. Therefore, before Dr. Kappas started to work on changing the unwanted behavior (twitch and frozen smile), the hypnotherapist had to de-hypnotize him and get the man out of the original hyper-suggestible state. “You have to recognize that the client is already in-state [and then] re-direct him. Take him in to get him out,” the HMI founder said. Next, Dr. Kappas desensitized the man to the previous suggestions and drew on aspects of hypnotic modality to assume an authoritative role during the hypnotic induction. These steps were imperative to make the client more amenable to following the hypnotherapeutic suggestions to remove the client’s suggestibility to the voodoo and change the unwanted physical behaviors, the hypnotherapist explained.

“You have to recognize the client is already in state, [and then] redirect him. Take him in to get him out,” Dr. Kappas said.

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/.

© 2019

Hyper-Suggestible State: Voodoo

(This blog was originally posted on December 7, 2016)

Photo by Rick Hustead

People in hyper-suggestible states tend to want to “retreat” into a trance or disassociate themselves from themselves/the situation if they feel overwhelmed by the stimuli around them. The more suggestible the individual is the more easily he or she will drift into a trance state (hypnosis). This is particularly true of third-stage somnambulists, said hypnotherapist Dr. John Kappas.

In one of his most interesting video seminars, the Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder worked with a client to remove the man’s frozen smile and nervous twitch. The client explained that these symptoms developed while he lived in Trinidad, where he had lived for many years. During the course of their discussion, the Dr. Kappas discovered that the client had participated in a voodoo ritual around this time. The hypnotherapist deduced that his client’s natural somnambulistic tendencies kept him in the hyper-suggestible state he experienced during that experience.

In addition to chants/spells, voodoo rituals often include smoking or ingesting hallucinogenic drugs to overwhelm the participant and induce a trance to change the participant’s behavior, Dr. Kappas said. The more suggestible the person is, the more likely he is to go into that trance. Voodoo rituals are unfamiliar and especially frightening to Westerners, who have little first-hand knowledge or experience with its traditions and beliefs, he explained. “If the person believes voodoo spells (curses) work and is already highly suggestible, he may be particularly vulnerable to going along with any behaviors or beliefs the priest presiding over the ritual suggests.”

The small (pin-point) size of the client’s pupils indicated that he was already in a trance state. Therefore, before Dr. Kappas started to work on changing the unwanted behavior (twitch and frozen smile), the hypnotherapist had to de-hypnotize him and get the man out of the original hyper-suggestible state. “You have to recognize that the client is already in-state [and then] re-direct him. Take him in to get him out,” the HMI founder said. Next, Dr. Kappas desensitized the man to the previous suggestions and drew on aspects of hypnotic modality to assume an authoritative role during the hypnotic induction. These steps were imperative to make the client more amenable to following the hypnotherapeutic suggestions to remove the client’s suggestibility to the voodoo and change the unwanted physical behaviors, the hypnotherapist explained.

“You have to recognize the client is already in state, [and then] redirect him. Take him in to get him out,” Dr. Kappas said.

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

Mental Block, Mental Overload

Photo by Rick Hustead

Some people are great at sports. Some people are wonderful painters or sculptors. Some people are fabulous wordsmiths. Regardless of their expertise, almost everyone experiences that horrifying moment of “choking” on the playing field or unable to harness that muse to create another masterpiece. When we hear the term “writer’s block,” it is common to imagine that the person suffering this very painful and stressful condition has no ideas for a subject to write about. But this is not always the case, as Carrie Ann Golden explained in her blog titled, “Sometimes Having Too Many Creative Ideas Hurt.”¹ Indeed, in this situation having too many creative inspirations can be equally paralyzing as we feel we do not have enough resources/skills/opportunities to express every idea that has come to us. Believe it or not, this situation is actually a direct path to, and example of, being in hypnosis.

According to Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D., the state of hypnosis occurs when an overload of message units disorganizes the inhibitory process (Critical Mind), triggering the fight/flight response and creating a hyper-suggestible state that provides access to the subconscious mind. This deluge of message units comes from the environment, the body, the conscious mind or the subconscious mind. We “escape” from this overload by going into hypnosis. Although hypnosis is generally perceived as a very comfortable and relaxing physical state, it is common—and even necessary—to experience some anxiety on the way to expressing the creative ideas bottled up inside.

To help a client overcome Writer’s Block or a similar creative obstruction, the first thing I must often do is de-hypnotize the person. This is a necessary step to release any previous subconscious mental scripts the person has created or follows regarding why he or she cannot or will not commit to one of those ideas. Sometimes the individual needs to learn how to allow the creative process to evolve and even be willing to discard an idea or plan that doesn’t seem so feasible or practical in the long run. Other times, the key to creative success lies in helping the person give himself or herself permission to pursue the topic that is most inspiring and motivational.

During hypnosis, I provide relevant suggestions to help my client organize and express these idea(s) creatively. Someone whose block is created by an overload of ideas may also appreciate the hypnotic suggestion that there is plenty of room in the subconscious mind to file and store inspirations for future projects. At the end of the session, once the client has returned to a fully alert and aware state I teach the individual how to count out of hypnosis to prevent this kind of overload during the creative process.

  

1 Golden, Carrie Ann. “Sometimes Having Too Many Creative Ideas Hurt.” Scriggler. © 2013-2017

https://scriggler.com/SharePos/Opinion?cash=e912b50b7aa714a1165e2f59129ae220

 

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