Getting to the Cause Through Corrective Therapy

(This blog was originally posted on September 14, 2016)

Photo by Rick Hustead

Earlier this year, I posted an essay about one of my favorite cognitive, non-hypnosis techniques, the Paris Window, which helps get to the cause or foundation of a client’s therapeutic issue. Here, the individual is asked to describe his or her feelings about this goal or issue in the context of personal feelings and beliefs about how other people feel about it. Corrective Therapy is a second cognitive technique that helps to identify the subconscious cause or root of the therapeutic goal by having the client write five or six sentences about what he or she wants to accomplish through hypnotherapy and replace each word (or group of words) with a relevant synonym (subconscious symbolism).

The intention of this technique is to get to and identify the true goal of the therapy as it exists in the client’s subconscious mind. The process or format of each of these sentences will depend on his or her suggestibility (Emotional versus Physical). To start, the person writes the sentence with each word the head of its own “column.” As the client writes each new sentence, the Physical Suggestible client will provide synonyms to replace each word in the original sentence; the Emotional Suggestible client will provide a synonym or metaphor/association for the each word in the previous sentence.

Consider the following example for a client who comes in for hypnotherapy with the following stated goal: I want to lose weight. A Physical Suggestible client might choose the following synonyms to replace the original word or phrase for this goal in follow-up sentences:

I	Want	to lose	weight
Me (I) ↑	desire (want)	to drop (to lose)	pounds (weight)
(client’s) name (I)	need (want)	to take off (to lose)	inches (weight)
Man/Woman (I)	have to (want)	release (to lose)	body mass (weight)
Person (I)	must  (want)	let go of (to lose)	size (weight)

When an Emotional Suggestible client chooses replacement words to express the goal, this individual will be replacing the word from the previous sentence with a new synonym/association. The word or phrase in parentheses indicates the term that has been replaced.

I	Want	to lose	weight
Woman/man (I)	need (want)	relinquish (to lose)	pounds (weight)
Sister/Brother (woman/man)	want (need)	missing (to lose)	obesity (pounds)
Daughter/son (sister/brother)	rejection (want)	lacking  (missing)	ugly (obesity)
Husband/Wife (daughter/son)	isolation (rejection)	deficit (lacking)	lonely (ugly)

                                               

                                                                                       

I employ Corrective Therapy during the cognitive (alert) portion of the hypnotherapy to discover any underlying, subconscious motivation(s) behind the person’s unwanted behaviors that may be preventing the desired behavior change. One benefit of this technique is that it is very visceral: the person can literally read the story about how the origins or basis of this subconscious resistance evolve while writing the responses to each question (ideomotor response). Once the issue is revealed, I will discuss it with the client in terms of his or her beliefs and feelings about the problem/conflict and create strategies to change unwanted behaviors and accomplish this goal. When the person is in hypnosis, I incorporate specific suggestions in his or her hypnotic script to help the person implement these new beliefs or behaviors to help actualize this self-improvement goal.

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 Special Offer: 25 percent discount off the first hypnotherapy session and 10 percent off subsequent sessions for all active/retired military personnel and first responders (police, fire-fighters, EMT/paramedics, ambulance personnel, emergency dispatchers, E.R. physicians/nurses).

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/.

© 2019

Addressing the Other Issues

(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.

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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. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2018