Right Brain/Left Brain

 

                I always consider right brain/left brain theory when I work with my hypnotherapy clients. According to Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D., it refers to the most effective way to communicate with a person based on his or her suggestibility and how the client’s subconscious mind communicates with his or her conscious mind. According to right brain/left brain theory, each hemisphere (half) of the brain is responsible for processing information that it receives. The right hemisphere is generally associated with symbols, pictures and images (inferences), while the left processes language and words (direct and literal).

The hypnotic script must emphasize direct and literal instructions to target the left hemisphere of a physical-suggestible client, while images and metaphors are more to likely to activate the right hemisphere of an emotional-suggestible client’s brain. (Someone who has emotional suggestibility will understand and process a direct and literal suggestion, although those phrases may not resonate as strongly with this person.) When a client is in a deeper state of hypnosis, he or she can’t relate to the world in terms of words. At this is fourth-level stage of amnesia—which is associated with the right hemisphere of the brain—pictures and images (metaphors) are required to facilitate communication between the right and left hemispheres of the brain. Those words are intended to instantly call up a picture/image, emotion or sensation that the subconscious mind instantly recognizes and understands to increase the effectiveness of the script and the hypnotherapy.

 

 

 

 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®, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2014

 

"It's Not What I Expected..."

                Most people have preconceived ideas about what something will or should be like. These expectations are based on the mental scripts or subconscious associations (knowns) that guide their beliefs and behaviors. For example, when I ordered a plate of fish and chips at lunch today, I was stunned to receive a plate of potato chips, not French fries, with my fried fish. Don’t get me wrong: the chips I received were home-made and very tasty. However, I had been looking forward to eating a serving of the British version of chips—steaming, thick wedges of fried potato—with salt and malt vinegar. I was initially disappointed that the restaurant didn’t seem to “get” the fact that when “chips” are served with fried fish, they should and traditionally are French fried potatoes. But once I got over being shocked about this apparent misunderstanding, I also had to laugh. The menu listed fish and chips, and in the United States, “chips” means potato chips. I expected to receive fries because I incorrectly inferred that they were on the menu based on my known, personal experience of what it means to eat fish and chips. The meal was not what I expected to be served, but it was still very enjoyable.

                I think people have similar expectations and a similar kind of experience the first time they come in for hypnotherapy. They have so many ideas about what will happen when they are hypnotized that it sometimes takes a little while for them to relax and appreciate all of the nuances of what they are experiencing. If they ever watched or participated in a stage-hypnosis performance, they might expect that they may also “have” to behave in an uncharacteristic and possibly embarrassing way during a hypnotherapy session. Similar to the description of the food I ordered at lunch today, many people have preconceived ideas about what hypnosis and hypnotherapy are, and what will happen when they are hypnotized. Therefore, it is very important that I can reassure my clients how and why this will not be the case. I explain how I use hypnosis and therapeutic guided-imagery techniques to help them person relax and emphasize why I include their specific words and motivations in their hypnotic scripts to change undesired behaviors.

                In the years that I have been working as a certified hypnotherapist, people have expressed feeling the most surprise at how completely relaxed and comfortable they felt during the session. Many have even confessed that hypnotherapy wasn’t what they expected in the same sentence they tell me that they didn’t know what to expect. Once out of hypnosis, when they really start to notice (feel) the subtle changes of physical energy that I observed during the session they express surprise at feeling so relaxed, so focused, so good. This positive experience will create a new known in their subconscious mind: hypnotherapy facilitates changing unwanted behaviors so they can strive for and achieve their 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. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy®, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2014

 

Flash in the Pan

 

                From time to time we come across—or think we have come across—someone who just seems too good to be true. This individual is talented, charming, intelligent and, of course attractive. Perhaps she is an extraordinary, previously unknown athlete that comes out of nowhere to win every championship title. Or it is an actor who has gone unnoticed or even unrecognizable in several major motion pictures or television series before “suddenly” landing a starring role in a major project; suddenly, he is turning up everywhere. Continuing on this theme, there is even a song in which someone is lamenting the fact that other people always have plenty of admirers and romantic suitors while the singer never seems to get any attention. We wonder how and why some lucky few people get all of the attention/acclaim/wealth, etc., while we are struggling just to keep up with everyone around us. It just doesn’t seem fair, does it?

                If it is any comfort, there are very, very few people who truly live up to the description of being a “flash in the pan,” someone who comes out of nowhere to take the world by storm without having to exert any effort. In fact, I truly doubt that such an individual really exists. Everybody has a history, and every success is framed by a back-story that features hard work and effort.  The person may have been unknown to you before he or she landed on your radar; but just because you didn’t witness those trials and disappointments doesn’t mean they didn’t occur.

                Many of us have heard or even been told that we shouldn’t judge someone until we have lived or walked in that person’s shoes. In other words, don’t make a snap-judgment about someone’s behavior or attitudes if you don’t know what that individual has experienced or endured that inspired a particular reaction. Just because you haven’t heard about someone’s earlier achievements (and even failures) until today doesn’t mean that this person is new on the job. One of my favorite examples of this comes from an interview with Clinton Anderson, the founder of Downunder Horsemanship® and champion horseman. In it, he described that many people’s mistaken belief that he and other horsemen of his ilk came out of nowhere and become immensely successful and wealthy doing what they love: training horses. The truth was far less glamorous, Anderson said: He used to travel around the United States to teach riding clinics to anyone who would show up, usually just one or two women, and treat his client like a queen for the weekend. He said that he could only hope that those students would return for more training the following year and hopefully bring a couple of friends with them. This strategy, dedication and hard work have paid off, big time. Twenty years after emigrating from Australia, he had earned and established his reputation as a champion horseman and trainer and could purchase his first training center. The rest, as they say, is history.

                When you feel tempted to make a snap judgment about whether another person deserves the success that he or she seems to be enjoying, imagine what you would have to do to be in a similar position. Chances are pretty good that this individual put in more time, energy, dedication and money than most people would want to invest—and endured many professional and/or emotional disappointments—before achieving the success you have idealized. This person has simply followed a subconscious mental script that facilitated the kind of success you admire (or envy) and perhaps would like to emulate. 

 

 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®, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2014

Why Quitting Is So Hard to Do

 

                Your teenage daughter promises to stop procrastinating in completing her homework assignments, but “forgets” to turn in a final project on the last day of school. A colleague at work announces that he is on a new diet to lose a few more pounds while he nibbles a piece of pizza during a social at work. You sneak a quick drag on your friend’s cigarette even though you officially quit smoking eight months ago. You wonder what these behaviors are all about while that famous line from Brokeback Mountain reverberates in your mind: “I can’t quit you!”

                Yesterday I shared a link on my Facebook account that illustrates the benefits of quitting smoking. Several people indicated that “liked” the post. Seeing this response made me think about how much hard work and dedication it takes for a person to permanently change a behavior or give up a longtime habit. Nicotine, caffeine and alcohol are commercially available and are fairly easy to obtain; they are also habit-forming and addictive substances. It is also argued that some processed foods include ingredients that manufacturers hope will trigger consumers’ cravings to eat more and more of that product. But the adrenaline rush or high that we get when we participate in a favorite sport or the surge of endorphins we feel when we are in love occur naturally and these experiences can be equally addictive.

The challenge in trying to change or replace these behaviors is that we generally don’t want to stop doing something that feels good, even if the sensation of “pleasure” lasts for an even shorter duration every time we experience it. The motivation to stop doing something we enjoy or that makes us feel good drops even more if we associate specific ideas or outcomes with that behavior. For example, your belief that smoking prevents overeating may trump your desire to quit smoking in order to avoid gaining weight. Or, you may ignore your doctor’s advice to lose weight to prevent getting diabetes because you believe that your­ extra pounds will insulate you from intimacy or protect you from suffering another broken heart if the relationship doesn’t work out.

Regardless of your conscious motivation to change a belief or behavior, your subconscious mind is fighting even harder to continue to follow the mental scripts that have been directing those actions that you want to replace. Furthermore, the longer you have been doing whatever it is you can’t or don’t want to stop doing, the harder it is to replace that behavior with one that will help you achieve your vocational and avocational self-improvement goals. Whether you smoke, overeat, procrastinate/miss deadlines or constantly starting new relationships so you can re-experience the excitement of being in love, your subconscious mind follows that familiar mental script so you can continue to experience that familiar known (pleasure). Fortunately mental scripts can be rewritten and behaviors can be replaced; and hypnosis and hypnotherapy can help you make this change.

               

 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®, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2014

 

Getting Older

                Actress Bette Davis famously said, “Aging ain’t for sissies.” Often, the body isn’t what it was during the blush of youth: it is more challenging to get and remain fit, joints get stiff, hearing and vision start to fade. We become more vulnerable to physical illness, injury and chronic disease. With age comes the responsibility of being an adult, always having to—or feeling like we must—make the best and most mature (sensible) choice at the expense of living out our whims or desires. But having said all that, I believe that with age come the invaluable gifts of wisdom, compassion, patience and respect that only years of life experience can bestow.

                For many of us, when we are very little, the only thing we want to do is to grow up. Fast. We believe (know) that we are older than whatever our chronological age happens to be and therefore should be entitled to the privileges that the older kids enjoyed. Things like our first 10-speed bicycle, a later bedtime and curfew, a driver’s license and the right to vote. But when the magical year arrives when we can theoretically enjoy that privilege the reality of those long-awaited promises don’t always live up to our expectations. We get a 10-speed bicycle (yay!) on our tenth birthday, but since we have to ride it to school we lose some interest in riding it for recreation. We get our driving license on our sixteenth birthday, but when our parents say we can only have a car on the condition of driving our younger sibling(s) around, the excitement about driving is replaced with frustration. It is exciting to be able to vote in presidential elections, but the act of voting also means we are likely to be summoned for jury duty soon after.

                As the years go by and life marches on, we wonder where all of this time has gone. Somehow, during the years between finishing high school to graduating college, getting our first job, starting a family to now, we have become someone whose reflection we don’t necessarily recognize in the mirror. We think about friendships and romances, goals that were achieved and projects that never got off the ground. Over time, the brightness, or clarity of each of those memories and the emotions we associate with them have transformed from their Technicolor vivacity to the more subdued hues of experience. The really wonderful and even some not-so-wonderful events that we have experienced during our lifetime alternately tested our ability to celebrate or adapt to and thrive in just about every situation or environment in which we have found ourselves.

These days, when I look back on my life and plan for the future, I contemplate my previous experiences not just through the lens of 20/20 hindsight but also in the context of the subconscious knowns that motivated me, then. I consider those beliefs and behaviors, who or what influenced me to adopt them, and evaluate whether and how those knowns affect my actions today. I know that if I don’t like the direction in which my life is heading that I have the power to change and improve my path, if and when I want to. As Ms. Davis observed, growing up and getting older can be challenging in many ways. However, each one of us possesses the wisdom we have gained just by living and experiencing life to ensure that getting older continues to bring us as much joy and excitement as we felt when we were younger...or, at any age.

 

 

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®, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2014

 

Confounding Variables

 

                “Confounding variables” is a concept in statistics where two or more discrete variables can interact in such a way that it is impossible to determine which factor had the greatest impact on the results of the study. Statistics was my least-favorite class in college, but I remain very interested in the way confounding variables affect so many areas of our lives, in “real” life. They impact our work and personal relationships; they influence how we feel physically and emotionally at different times of the day, week, month or year. Everything you see, smell, taste, hear or touch can interact with another factor (or person) to produce a specific response; but that reaction may be completely different in an hour or if one of the stimuli changes.

For example, imagine that you are sitting at your desk at work, about to open your mail. Your colleague peeks over the top of the cubicle divider to invite you to join her for lunch, and the cloying sweet scent of her perfume fills your nostrils. You politely decline the invitation and start to open the first envelop when a wave of nausea rolls over you. Whoa. You skipped breakfast this morning; maybe you are hungrier than you thought, and a low blood-sugar level triggered this symptom. Alternatively, your sensitivity to strong smells, especially to perfumes and colognes, could have made you feel queasy. It’s no wonder that this particular scent set you off, since your ex also used to wear the same brand. Then you notice that the letter you just opened is from a particularly demanding client; he wants to know why his last order still hasn’t arrived. Cue the sense of panic, palpitations, shortness of breath and cold sweat.

You know that each of these stimuli can induce stress in you. The tricky thing about confounding variables is that you may not be able to identify which one has triggered your reaction at that moment. If you feel overwhelmed by what is going on around you, take a moment or two to do diaphragmatic breathing to help you relax and increase your ability to focus on what is going on inside and around you. (If you feel overwhelmed while you are driving, pull your car over to the side of the road or, even better, into a parking lot so you can concentrate on this exercise.) Once you are feeling calmer, do a quick mental scan of what is going on in your life at that moment that could have triggered the stress reaction or anxiety. If you haven’t eaten in a long time, have a snack or a small meal that contains protein to help regulate you blood-sugar level and alleviate symptoms such as dizziness, irritability and confusion. (If you are experiencing physical symptoms of distress, such as chest pain, seek medical help immediately.) I also recommend to my clients that they do EFT (emotional-freedom technique) or “tapping” to individually address the factors that they believe to be exacerbating their distress.

Remember that in real life, as in research, it is necessary to identify and separate the factors that influence our unwanted behavior so we can affect the changes we want to make in our lives.

 

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®, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2014

 

That Elusive Crown

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

California Chrome won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes.
Even though he didn't win the Triple Crown, I believe a horse will
do it again someday.

California Chrome had already won six big races—including the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes—before he entered the starting gate to run the Belmont Stakes on June 7, 2014. He was already in the hearts of thousands, if not millions, of racing fans for proving that the Underdog can, indeed, come out on top. But when he crossed the finish line in fourth place instead of first, fans of American thoroughbred horse racing were reminded again that we must wait at least one more year for a horse to win the Triple Crown. The collective hopes and dreams shared by so many people that the big chestnut colt would end at least one drought in California, turned to dust. Why, oh why, is earning the title “Triple Crown Winner” so important to so many people?

                Because, it is, is such a pithy answer; but it rings so true. Even sports pundits who are not particularly fans of horse racing have conceded that winning the Triple Crown is an extremely difficult, athletic challenge. How many other sports can only boast 11 all-around champions since its inception? The Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes races weren’t officially classified as a series until 1930, but a three-year-old colt named Sir Barton was the first three-year-old colt to win all three races in 1919. Affirmed was the last and most recent horse to accomplish this feat in 1978. During my lifetime, three horses have run and won the Triple Crown, but I was too young to watch, let alone appreciate, what Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed accomplished. California Chrome was the first horse I had been rooting for to win since May 3, 2014, when he entered the gate at the Churchill Downs. Yes, I felt the sting of disappointment when the colt didn’t blast past the competition as he had done in the previous races. But I also noticed the dull, familiar ache of resolute acceptance seeping into my body after Belmont Stakes was over: there would be no Triple Crown this year. Not yet.

                In some ways, this resolution disturbed me more than my disappointment. Was I becoming inured to the expectation that so many people have expressed over the years, that there may never be another Triple Crown-winner? I certainly felt annoyed when I read and heard sportscasters comment that a Triple Crown might even be “bad” for racing. They theorized that because so much of people’s enjoyment of horse racing came from hoping that this would be The Year a colt won the Crown, those same people would lose interest once he actually swept the series. I would cry “foul” to that theory: first, three horses brought home the title during the 1970s—including two in a row (Seattle Slew in 1977 and Affirmed in 1978). People were still very excited about racing back then. Second, since racing is a betting sport, it is very good for fans (bettors) to “win” from time to time. The occasional win is what keeps people coming back (and back) for more.

                For the thirty-sixth time in as many years, a new Triple Crown champion wasn’t crowned yesterday. California Chrome’s owners, trainers, jockey and fans had different explanations and observations about why it didn’t happen for the colt. I would like to suggest a different hypothesis which, while it doesn’t address how the race was run, it does explore how our (fans’) subconscious minds are processing the Belmont Stakes’ outcome. Two subconscious knowns seemed to have gained traction in racing. The first was how quickly I—and the people I saw interviewed about the race—was able to resolve myself to the disappointment of California Chrome’s fourth-place finish. The second was how many people said that winning another Triple Crown might not only be an impossible feat, but it could be bad for racing. (This sentiment was expressed before the race as well as after it was over.) According to John Kappas, Ph.D.’s Theory of Mind, repetition of a behavior or a thought eventually becomes a known in the subconscious mind. So, every time a professional sports pundit declares that it is highly unlikely that another horse will ever win the Triple Crown, and this message is reinforced in the (collective) subconscious year after year, this message becomes an established known. Eventually, the idea of a horse winning each of the three championship races to earn the Triple Crown becomes painful because the concept of such a champion—let alone witnessing the actual experience—has become so unfamiliar. Eventually, it becomes more comfortable to be wishing and hoping for something we want to happen, but that dream not actually come true, because we would have no idea how to feel or react, if it was realized. And that not-knowing state is scary. It's painful.

                I for one believe that the pundits are wrong, and another horse will capture that elusive crown one day. I agree that running and winning three races on three different racetracks over a five-week period is an incredibly tough and daunting challenge. But, it is a challenge that has been done eleven times before. That is a fact; or, in terms of Kappasinian hypnotherapy, a known. If a behavior has been done before, it can, and will, be accomplished again.

               

 

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®, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2014