Hypnosis for PTSD

All hypnotherapy sessions are conducted via phone or Zoom. 

 

 

(This blog was originally posted on June 6, 2014)

  

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

 

     Some people become very traumatized by their experiences in a war or while fighting a war, Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D., observed. “Any time a person goes into an extremely stressful situation, you start to anticipate the stress or danger,” he said. Even though soldiers receive specific combat skills, their survival depends on their ability to fight and kill as well as to deal with the horrors that they have experienced or witnessed on the battlefield: i.e., the fight/flight/freeze response.

Dr. Kappas warned that whenever a person represses the stress and emotions (e.g., fear, sadness, anger) experienced during combat, he or she is vulnerable to suffering “post-war depression” or, as post-traumatic stress disorder. The Diagnostics and Statistics Manual V defines PTSD as an extremely complex disorder that includes psychological as well as physical symptoms of distress. These include: insomnia, bad dreams or flashbacks of the war experience, explosive anger, survivor’s guilt and difficulties integrating with or back into society. Job performance at work may and personal relationships with the spouse/lover, friends and family may also be negatively affected. Even if the stress is repressed when the traumatic event occurs, eventually these symptoms surface and must be dealt with, he warned. “Some guys 20 years out of the Service are fine and then suddenly break,” the late hypnotherapist warned. “After you survive in the military/war, if it’s the only thing you know, it can be a shock to face the real world,” Dr. Kappas said. Treatment for PTSD entails desensitizing the client to the stress of war and reintegrating the person back into his or her “old” life, including relationships and work.

On January 1, 2013, I earned a certification to use hypnosis to help people who are experiencing PTSD to reduce stress and symptoms in order to improve their quality of life. I use hypnosis, relaxation/breathing and therapeutic guided imagery techniques to teach these clients how to manage stress. I also employ cognitive behavioral-therapy techniques and exposure therapy to help the person separate (un-pair) the association between triggers of fear about the previous traumatic event and what is going on in their current environment. Because PTSD is such a complex disorder, I require a referral from both a licensed medical doctor and a licensed psychotherapist for me to provide hypnotherapy as a complementary therapy to alleviate, manage and control these symptoms.

      I would like to thank each of the men and women who have risked and continue to risk their lives—and those who have sacrificed their lives—to protect and defend our country. I will not forget you.

 

*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 an alternative or complementary 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:

Hypnotherapy to Release Weight

Hypnosis for weight loss series: $2,000 for the 10-week series. Each session lasts approximately one hour and includes a free, digital recording of the hypnosis portion of the session. If you pay for the 10-week series up front it is $1,600 to save $400!

 

*May not be combined with any other offer. Not redeemable for cash.

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. Sara has been voted the Best Hypnotherapist in Santa Clarita, California, four years in a row (2019-2022). For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/

© 2023

 

 

 

Defense Mechanisms: Turning Against Self

I am continuing to suspend in-person hypnotherapy sessions with me in my office. However, phone, and Zoom consultations ARE and WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE! 

 

(This blog was originally posted on January 14, 2015)

Photo by Rick Hustead

 

Sometimes, emotional pain or intense disappointment because something didn’t go our way can lead to self-criticism and self-recrimination (self-blame). Rather than direct our negative emotion toward the cause or source of this pain, we turn on ourselves. For example, have you ever told yourself that the reason a romantic partner ended the relationship with you was because you were unattractive and actually “unworthy” of his or her love? Have you ever scolded yourself for being unskilled and “hopeless” at your job when a relatively new, junior colleague got the pay-raise or promotion you deserved after you landed that big account? Or, have you ever blamed yourself for “doing something stupid” that resulted in an injury while playing your favorite sport or doing a maintenance project around the house? If so, you have turned against yourself, which is a form of defense mechanism.

I previously touched on this phenomenon in my blog titled Stop! Negative Self Talk. Every time we disparage ourselves we create powerful, negative subconscious messages about ourselves that undermine our self-confidence and self-esteem. Since the subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between fantasy (imagination) and reality, thinking or speaking these negative beliefs in a moment of pique cause equal damage.

Like other defense mechanisms, turning against self is: 1) unconscious; 2) self-deceptive; 3) and it distorts reality through thoughts and action. According to the Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D.’s Theory of Mind, people are subconsciously motivated to maintain and/or restore a known physical and emotional status of comfort and security. Whenever someone says or does something that causes physical injury, hurts your feelings or challenges your beliefs, your mind automatically tries to compensate for this threat or “pain” by activating this or another form of defense mechanism. In this case, you turn against yourself to avoid having to experience the pain of rejection or disappointment that someone else caused you.

To help someone change this behavior, while the client is in hypnosis I desensitize him or her to the situation (and similar situations) that triggered this defense mechanism. I also employ therapeutic guided-imagery techniques to help them reframe their negative beliefs and self-recrimination to positive thoughts that are self-nurturing and promote self-love and self-confidence. Finally, I use imagery techniques to enable the individual to find solutions for those situations and visualize how they have overcome this setback and which lessons they learned from this experience have increased self-confidence and social coping skills.

 

Special Offer:

Hypnotherapy to Release Weight

Hypnosis for weight loss series: $1,250 for 10-week series. (This is a $250 savings!) The $200 fee for the first session will be included in this rate only when the package is purchased up front. Book this package before June 30, 2023, to lock in this price as my rates will be going up on July 1, 2023.

*May not be combined with any other offer. Not redeemable for cash.

 

 

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. Sara has been voted the Best Hypnotherapist in Santa Clarita, California, four years in a row (2019-2022). For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/

© 2023

 

 

The Power of Imagery

I am continuing to suspend in-person hypnotherapy sessions with me in my office. However, phone, and Zoom consultations ARE and WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE! 

 

 

(This blog was originally posted on February 21, 2017)

“Imagination is a place where all the important answers live.” – Joe Meno

 

 

Photo by Rick Hustead

 

I am continuing to suspend in-person hypnotherapy sessions with me in my office. However, phone, and Zoom consultations ARE and WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE! 

 

 

(This blog was originally posted on February 21, 2017)

“Imagination is a place where all the important answers live.” – Joe Meno

 

 

Photo by Rick Hustead

 

I use therapeutic guided imagery in every hypnotherapy session. Let me tell you why.

·        It is an effective deepening technique. When you use imagery, you invoke every perception: visual, olfactory (smell), auditory (hearing), tactile (touch) and taste. All of the senses are more finely attuned during hypnosis. Therefore, when I suggest that you “Visualize, imagine, picture or pretend…” that you are in the middle of a specific scenario you subconsciously incorporate the experiences of these sensations/perceptions, which also strengthens the hypnotic suggestion. The more perceptual details you notice and process, the greater sensory overload you will experience and the more deeply relaxed you will become during your hypnotherapy session.

·        The subconscious mind does not know the difference between fantasy and reality, you can practice in your mind those new beliefs and behaviors you want to adopt before you try them out in the real world. Therefore, once you have imagined doing something—as far as your SCM is concerned—you have actually done it.

·        Imagery of nature scenes/being in nature is a great way to release stress and tension. Many people experience a deep sense of relaxation and state of calm when they are in nature. Virtually any natural environment—at the beach, in a mountain forest or desert, or near a body of water (moving or still)—brings a sense of calm and comfort that can be difficult to match in our daily lives. The opportunity to take a mini-vacation to one of these scenes during a guided-imagery journey can be just what you need to rejuvenate and feel re-energized to complete a task at work or resolve a problem.

·        Through imagery, you can access problem-solving skills and resources that you have used before to help you overcome a similar situation and conquer the current setback. The theory behind this practice is: If you have overcome ‘X’ before, your subconscious mind knows how to use these skills to succeed, again!

 

For more information about how therapeutic guided imagery in hypnotherapy can help you achieve your vocational and avocational self-improvement goals, please contact me at (661) 433-9430 or send an e-mail to calminsensehypnosis@yahoo.com.

 

 

Special Offer:

Hypnotherapy to Release Weight

Hypnosis for weight loss series: $1,250 for 10-week series. (This is a $250 savings!) The $200 fee for the first session will be included in this rate only when the package is purchased up front. Book this package before June 30, 2023, to lock in this price as my rates will be going up on July 1, 2023.

*May not be combined with any other offer. Not redeemable for cash.

 

 

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. Sara has been voted the Best Hypnotherapist in Santa Clarita, California, four years in a row (2019-2022). For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/

© 2023

 

 

 

 

Body Syndromes: Responsibility Syndrome

I am continuing to suspend in-person hypnotherapy sessions with me in my office. However, phone, and Zoom consultations ARE and WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE! 

(This blog was originally posted on December 14, 2014)

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

 

 

   Have you ever been plagued by severe pain or discomfort in your back or shoulders while you are working on tight deadline to complete a project at work, or dealing with some family or relationship issues? Do you notice this discomfort is most prominent when you are under intense emotional stress, but it almost instantly—miraculously—goes away when the issue is also resolved? If so, your symptoms may be part of the Responsibility Syndrome.

  This syndrome affects the shoulders and upper back and upper spine. Physiological symptoms and diseases that are characterized by these syndromes include: muscle tightness or muscle spasm in the back, upper spinal subluxation and spinal scoliosis. Like other body syndromes, the symptoms that affect this syndrome are physical manifestations of your perception that you are bearing a lot of responsibility for what is going on in your environment. It is common for people who suffer these symptoms to express the belief that they are “carrying the world on their shoulders.”

   As I explained in a previous blog titled Body Syndromes, 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. Since there are no nerve endings in the brain, the sensory perceptions (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, Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D., stated.

   It is out of my scope of expertise as a certified hypnotherapist to recognize/identify specific symptoms that have a psychological or physiological basis. Consequently, I refer clients to an appropriate licensed medical and/or mental-health professional to make this diagnosis. Once this other expert has ruled out a medical etiology of your symptom and provided an appropriate treatment, I may continue to work with you in hypnotherapy with a follow-up referral from that licensed professional (California Business and Professions Code 2908). In addition to providing complementary therapeutic benefits and help to alleviate and/or control your discomfort, I can also use hypnosis and therapeutic guided imagery techniques to help you achieve vocational and avocational self-improvement goals.

   My first step to treating someone who is manifesting a Responsibility Syndrome is to explore what emotional “burden” the client is subconsciously carrying or bearing. Next, I would use systematic desensitization to help the client neutralize the intensity of the stimulus that triggers the physical symptom. With a physician’s referral, I would also incorporate therapeutic guided imagery to teach the person effective pain-management techniques to help ameliorate the physical discomfort and continue or return to normal activities. The Emotional Freedom Technique is also useful to increase the person’s perception of being able to control and prevail over those emotional triggers. Therapeutic guided-imagery techniques would also be useful tools with which to explore different options for the client to quickly and effectively resolve interpersonal and/or practical conflicts the client believes are preventing his or her ability to enjoy life. In so doing, these therapeutic approaches can help the person release and let go of overwhelming perceptions of responsibility to focus on and achieve vocational and avocational self-improvement goals.

 

 

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. Sara has been voted the Best Hypnotherapist in Santa Clarita, California, four years in a row (2019-2022). For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/

© 2023

 

Blogging

I am continuing to suspend in-person hypnotherapy sessions with me in my office. However, phone, and Zoom consultations ARE and WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE! 

 

 

(This blog was originally posted on April 10, 2014)

 

Photo by Sara R. Fogan CHt

     The first time I ever heard the words “blog” and “blogging” was from a former client. I admit that I initially didn’t really get what blogging was about or what it could do—let alone why someone would do it in the first place. All that changed when I saw the film Julie and Julia, which starred Amy Adams and Meryl Streep. Computer blogging was the cornerstone of the movie in which Adams’ character (Julie Powell) wrote a blog each day for one year about her experiences cooking and eating food that she had prepared from a Julia Child cookbook. She also included other details about her life in these essays and provided background information about the late chef’s personal and culinary challenges and triumphs. Ultimately, Powell’s online journal was not only a chronicle of her own culinary adventures that year, but it also provided a cornucopia of life experiences and philosophies that she had learned in the process.

     I often think about this film when I sit down to write my own blogs. I think about Powell’s passion about recreating each of Julia Child’s recipes exactly how the chef wrote them. I think about the author’s dedication to sharing each aspect of these culinary projects with anyone and everyone who was interested or curious in what she was trying to do. Unlike Powell, I do not have a general or generic book of hypnosis recipes that I can replicate and will share with you each night. In fact, each one of the hypnotic scripts that I create for my clients is as individual and specific as the person for whom I have created it. Also, for ethical reasons I would not and could not share this information in order to preserve client/therapist confidentiality.

     However, I am like Julie Powell in that I do have a lot of information, skills and experience in my own area of expertise that can help and motivate you to achieve your own goals. I can share the theoretical premises behind hypnosis and hypnotherapy, and human behavior/motivation. I can explain how and why hypnosis works. I can tell you how and why the subconscious mind responds to the negative (or positive!) “chatter” that you have been telling yourself so that you continue to practice a behavior or habit that no longer works for you. I can share information about the many and various hypnotherapeutic techniques that I have learned and mastered since I first started working as a hypnotherapist. I can write blogs about all these things to inspire you to give hypnotherapy and therapeutic guided imagery a try so you can also achieve your own vocational and avocational self-improvement goals.

     Hypnotherapy worked for me… I know it will work for you, too!

 

Special Offer: Free 30-Minute Phone or Zoom Consultation

This is a great opportunity to find out why hypnosis is so effective and how hypnotherapy can help you achieve your self-improvement goals. Call or text me at (661) 433-9430 or send me an e-mail at calminsensehypnosis@yahoo.com to set up your free, 30-minute phone or Zoom consultation* today! 

*This is not a full hypnotherapy session. Hypnosis will not be provided during this consultation. This offer is not redeemable for cash and may not be combined with any other promotion.

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. Sara has been voted the Best Hypnotherapist in Santa Clarita, California, four years in a row (2019-2022). For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/

© 2023

 

Overcoming Fear of Flying with Hypnosis, Part 2

I am continuing to suspend in-person hypnotherapy sessions with me in my office. However, phone, and Zoom consultations ARE and WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE! 

 

(This blog was originally posted on May 15, 2014)

Photo courtesy of Fotolia

 

 

  

If you are afraid of flying, hypnosis and therapeutic guided imagery can alleviate this anxiety and help to make your journey more comfortable. In this blog, I will describe how I use hypnosis and therapeutic guided-imagery concepts to help desensitize my clients to any negative associations they may have with and fear of flying.

The first thing I do is confirm that the client has a fear and not a phobia of the stimulus (flying). According to Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D., a fear is distinguished from a phobia if it has a specific cause or origin. For example, if the plane you were last on went through a thunderstorm and you experienced a lot of turbulence and sudden drop in altitude or a loved one dying in a crash, you might develop a fear of flying. Conversely, a phobia is a generalized anxiety response that is associated with low blood-sugar levels and no specific event triggered the reaction.

Once I make this determination, I will teach the person some basic relaxation techniques, such as diaphragmatic breathing and special-place imagery. When the client is in hypnosis and is in a deep state of relaxation, I will help him or her to create a finger-press anchor to “lock in” that sensation of calm and comfort, which the person can employ if and when he or she feels anxious or afraid. I also guide the person through a series of imagery exercises to desensitize him or her to anticipatory anxiety about flying and to the specific stimulus or stimuli that trigger the fear or anxiety response (e.g., words such as terminal, last call and final destination). I also have the person “rehearse” preparing for and taking the scheduled flight: making travel arrangements, packing for the flight, waking up the day of the trip, eating a nutritious meal, leaving for the airport and boarding the plane. During this exercise, the client gets to visualize, imagine picture or pretend that he or she hears and sees the doors close on the aircraft and feel the plane take off, fly for the estimated duration of the journey and land at the destination. I will then guide the client through a similar exercise to prepare for the trip home.

I incorporate the client’s words/expressions in the hypnotic script to emphasize and reinforce his or her reasons/motivations to overcome the fear (or phobia) about flying. I use guided imagery to help the client replace negative associations between the sensation of flying, with that of the deep relaxation and sense of calm and comfort experienced during hypnosis. In this and future hypnotherapy sessions, I will continue to desensitize the person to triggers of this fear of flying and reinforce the new association between feeling confident, relaxed and in control while traveling in an airplane. Once the client has returned to an alert and aware state, I will provide some practical tips to further reduce anxiety while traveling and provide a recording of the hypnosis/visualization portion of the session to further reinforce this relaxed state.

Practical tips to make your flight more comfortable:

• Drink water and eat a nutritious meal that contains protein to keep your mood even and anxiety low.
• Do not drink alcohol or caffeinated beverages before or during the flight, which can affect suggestibility and may increase your anxiety.
• Get plenty of sleep the night before you travel.
• Listen to the reinforcement track before bed the night before your flight and on a personal stereo during the flight.
• Practice diaphragmatic breathing and activate the finger-press anchor whenever you need to reduce stress or anxiety before or during the flight.

 

 

 

 

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. Sara has been voted the Best Hypnotherapist in Santa Clarita, California, four years in a row (2019-2022). For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit my website. 

© 2022

 

Are You Afraid to Lose...or Win?

I am continuing to suspend in-person hypnotherapy sessions with me in my office. However, phone, and Zoom consultations ARE and WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE! 

 

(This blog was originally posted on May 14, 2014)

Photo by Rick Hustead

 

Have you refused to participate in an activity because you didn’t want to look bad or ruin your current performance record? Have you ever refused to participate in an activity in which you were likely to succeed? Both of these examples are potential causes of performance an­­xiety, and recognizing what triggers this anxiety is the first step to successfully managing and treating it.

Fear of success is often more difficult for people to imagine feeling, because who doesn’t want to succeed and to be the best at something, right? But success comes with its own kinds of pressure and stress, including responsibility. Suddenly, it does not matter to that newly minted executive that he or she has years of training and experience to validate this promotion. It does not matter that the person has a proved track record of being able to execute profitable negotiations in the boardroom and is willing to make tough decisions about that will benefit the company. Once you get the big promotion that you have been working so hard to receive, you have to do more work and probably take on more roles than you previously had, to earn the new title and salary that you now earn. You will have to use the skills you have honed during your tenure in your previous role and put them to a real test in a leadership position. Like it or not, when you make a decision the buck will start and stop with you.

Or, imagine an honors student at high-school student who has received two letters of acceptance from two different universities. He or she may decide to accept a place in the state university because he or she feels intimidated by the anticipated course demands and his or her family’s expectations about what it means to be a student at Harvard. It doesn’t matter that you have earned academic letters or were the captain of your sport or debate team. It doesn’t matter how many awards you have received for community service or other extracurricular activity. Once you leave the security of high school (and childhood) where you were the top-ranked student of your class, you will be starting over in a new environment that is populated by hundreds of young adults just like you. You may well become the head of your class and set a new standard of academic achievement, or not. Whatever you do academically, high-school graduation and attending college are a rite of passage from childhood to adulthood.

The physical manifestations of performance anxiety take many forms, including trembling or shaking, feeling nauseated or “blanking out” (forgetting) the lines or music you are going to perform or the information you are supposed to present. Hypnotherapy and therapeutic guided-imagery techniques can help you to manage these symptoms and overcome this anxiety so you can do the performance or presentation.

• Systematic desensitization to the stimuli that trigger the anxiety/fear response.
• Creating hypnotic scripts that reinforce the client’s recent achievements to boost his or her self-confidence about ability to achieve the stated goal.
• Use guided-imagery techniques to help the client re-experience those previous successes and further reinforce his or her self-confidence about being able to achieve a new goal.
• Teach the client how to practice diaphragmatic breathing and to activate an “anchor” to help relieve symptoms of anxiety.
• Educate the client about the relationship between nutrition and anxiety; specifically, the correlation between drops and spikes in blood-sugar level and feeling anxious or afraid.
• Instruct the client about using the Emotional Freedom Technique (tapping) to reduce anxiety and replace negative responses with positive/desired responses to achieve a goal.

Performance anxiety affects most people at some time in their lives. As John Kappas, Ph.D. explains in his book Success Is Not an Accident: The Mental Bank Concept, every person has the ability to achieve success. You do not have to be afraid to fail or to succeed to achieve your goals. Now is the perfect time for you to turn your dreams into reality.

 

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. Sara has been voted the Best Hypnotherapist in Santa Clarita, California, four years in a row (2019-2022). For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit my website. 

© 2022

 

Hypnotherapy and Negative Self-Perceptions

I am continuing to suspend in-person hypnotherapy sessions with me in my office. However, phone, and Zoom consultations ARE and WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE! 

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

Photo by Rick Hustead

 

 

"People are constantly changing and growing. Do not cling to a limited, disconnected, negative image of a person in the past." – Brian Weiss

 

 

When I saw that quote on a Twitter feed, I knew I had found my blog topic for the day. In addition to holding onto an outdated image of others, we often carry around the baggage of similarly disconnected and negative images of ourselves. The longer you held that perception, the more time your subconscious mind was bombarded with chatter to reinforce that negative opinion of yourself. Ironically, you may be the only person who continues to see yourself in that old light; but other people’s perceptions alone are not powerful enough to not persuade the subconscious mind to change a long-held belief about personal worth. No matter how much work you have put into changing or getting rid of an unwanted habit or belief, it can seem really tough to completely evict the negative perception about yourself that went along with that old behavior.

But tough is not impossible, and hypnotherapy is a very effective way to dismantle the subconscious mental scripts that no longer reflect the person you are and want to be.

A lot of these negative belief systems about perceived futility of change come from and are reinforced by low self-esteem and low self-confidence. If the person believes that he or she has or can never make a positive life change, lack of experience in actualizing a previous change in behavior only reinforces this negative belief system. Through hypnosis and therapeutic guided imagery, I help my clients imagine how it feels to be able to completely and effectively make the new, desired behavior changes. Since the subconscious mind does not know the difference between what is reality or pretend, it is ideal to practice and reinforce these new behaviors while in hypnosis, where a new positive mental script can be written.

Hypnotherapy and therapeutic guided-imagery techniques are also effective tools to further dismantle the former negative beliefs and replacing them with powerful new mental scripts to reinforce the client’s self-power, confidence and willingness to embrace the desired behavior change. Every time you “practice” the new desired behavior, confidence in your ability to make the desired change continues to grow and the realization that self-directed change is possible further increases self-esteem. Over time, repeated reinforcement of the new subconscious mental script—“I can do X, I am worthy, etc.”—replaces the negativity and self-doubt until you also believe that your power to change and the changes you have made are here to stay.

 

 

 

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. Sara has been voted the Best Hypnotherapist in Santa Clarita, California, four years in a row (2019-2022). For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/

© 2022

 

Marketing and Promoting Hypnotherapy

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

 

(This blog was originally posted on May 9, 2014)

Photo by Rick Hustead

 

Someone recently contacted me to find out more information about hypnotherapy and whether hypnosis could help him to achieve a particular goal. We chatted for a while, and I gave him some information about hypnotherapy and how I use hypnosis and therapeutic guided imagery to help my clients achieve various vocational and avocational self-improvement goals. At the end of our conversation, he wanted to know if there was anywhere he could read more information about my experience as a certified hypnotherapist so he could make a decision about whether to give hypnotherapy a try. I gave him my business card and brochure and referred him to the website for my company, Calminsense Hypnotherapy®, so he could read more about me and what I do.

After we said goodbye, I thought about our conversation in the context of the best and most effective ways to disseminate information not just about my practice but hypnosis and hypnotherapy in general. Even though it is becoming a more mainstream therapy, I am aware that people are still a little wary about hypnosis. They want to know if they will become vulnerable to some kind of mind control or manipulation while they are in hypnosis. Will they do or say something stupid or embarrassing, or break a confidence or reveal a bank pass-code while they are in-state? (The answer is no, no, no and no.) But the fact that these concerns remain prevalent suggests to me that my colleagues and I need to continue to share the facts and dispel the myths about what we do.

One of the best ways to do this is through conversations with people about what we do. Here are some suggestions for the most effective ways that I have found to share this information:

• Advertise and write blogs/articles: I limit my advertising budget to a few equestrian-themed publications. However, I write a hypnotherapy-themed blog just about every night to keep spreading the word about the many ways hypnosis and John Kappas, Ph.D.’s model, Theory of Mind, are generally relevant to daily life. I specifically tailor the topics of my essays to illustrate how the therapeutic techniques I learned or behaviors I studied during my training and continuing education at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute are relevant to my (and your!) daily life. I let people know when I have written a new blog by posting a short “announcement” about it on Twitter and on my personal and business Facebook accounts. I also provide a link that will take you directly to the blog on my website.
• Business cards and brochures: These are still among the most effective (and immediate) ways to promote your practice. I always carry business cards with me to give out. I have “rented” space at my local tack store to display my cards for prospective equestrian clients. I also leave a business card on the condiment table every time I go to Starbucks®.
• Donate hypnotherapy session(s) or handwriting analysis: Hypnotherapy sessions and/or formal handwriting analyses are unusual (and intriguing) prizes in a silent-auction or raffle at a fundraiser or social event. The best way for people to learn about hypnosis is to experience it. I recently donated a free hypnotherapy session with me as a silent-auction prize for a horse rescue in Leona Valley, California; to raise awareness about the package and market my practice, I spent a wonderful afternoon doing handwriting analyses for guests at the event, as well.
• Volunteer your time and skills to support local organizations: In addition to introducing your work to people who may not know about hypnotherapy, volunteering is a wonderful way to provide this valuable service to those who might not otherwise be able to experience it for themselves. 
• Dress code: Hypnotherapists, as therapists, follow professional codes of ethics and conduct. Wear clothes that best represent what you do as a therapist and your commitment to this work of helping your clients achieve their goals. Wearing your name badge while running errands, etc. is another great way to market your profession.
• Marketing materials: When I am out running errands on the weekend, I typically wear a baseball cap with my company name and website on it. I want people to ask me about the words they are reading so I can tell them about what I do and how hypnosis is an effective tool to help people change undesired behaviors.
• Network in the community: Introduce yourself to local chiropractors, masseuses, hair-stylists, yoga instructors, your bank, dry cleaners, etc. Let people know what you do, where you are located and how much you charge for your sessions. Even other hypnotherapists can be a great source of referrals if you specialize in different areas than they do: e.g., hypnosis to improve sports performance versus smoking cessation. This morning on my way to a meeting at a local Starbucks® I approached two firefighters who were parked nearby to ask if I could buy them a coffee in thanks for all they are doing to combat the fires in the community. At the end of the conversation, I also gave them each a business card.
• Professional affiliations: Keep up your professional affiliations, such as the American Hypnosis Association, the Hypnotherapists Union, your local chamber of commerce, etc. In addition to providing professional support these organizations will often “link” your website with theirs. (Be sure to return the favor!)
• Professional and client referrals: At some point in our career as a hypnotherapist, we may need to refer a client to a licensed medical doctor or mental health worker for further evaluation or to provide assistance that is out of our scope of expertise. Similarly, once the physician has ruled out any medical causes of his patient’s headache, he may refer the patient to you as a hypnotherapy client so you can help him manage the stress that causes his pain. Previous and current clients are also excellent referrals!
• Promote your practice through social media: I am active on Twitter and Facebook and write/post about various topics. Of course, I have provided information about my practice, Calminsense Hypnotherapy®, on these accounts. However, it is not necessary to “talk shop” all the time to get attention for your practice. Several of my Twitter followers have become specifically interested in what I do, but only after we had been communicating about our mutual interests for many months.
• Website: A good website goes a long, long way to “market” you to a wide population. Be sure to update the site periodically by posting new client referrals, updating your professional certifications and even changing the photographs or design to refresh the search programs.

Finally, another great way to generate interest in your hypnotherapy practice is to provide special discounts for your hypnotherapy services. For example, you can promote “special deals” to coincide with the anniversary of the creation of your practice, to kick off a holiday or a season, etc., or to promote a new therapeutic technique. This is the promotion I am currently offering:

Limited-Time Special Offer: Free 30-minute Phone/Zoom Consultation

 January—the start of a new year—is a great time to fulfil New Year’s resolutions and complete projects you may have been putting off. Call/send me a text message at (661) 433-9430 or send me an e-mail at calminsensehypnosis@yahoo.com to set up your free, 30-minute phone or Zoom consultation and find out why hypnosis and therapeutic guided imagery are such effective modalities to help you achieve your self-improvement goals and finish those projects! 

 

Offer valid through February 28, 2022. May not be combined with any other offer. Not redeemable for cash.

 

 

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. Sara has been voted the Best Hypnotherapist in Santa Clarita, California, three years in a row (July 2019, September 2020, July 2021). For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/

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