Hyper-Suggestibility and Common Examples of Hypnosis, Part 1

Definition of Hypnosis: “Hypnosis is created by an overload of message units disorganizing our inhibitory process (critical mind), triggering our fight/flight mechanism and ultimately resulting in a hyper-suggestible state, providing access to the subconscious mind.” – John G. Kappas, Ph.D., founder of the Hypnosis Motivation Institute

 

Photo by Rick Hustead

Earlier this afternoon, I had the honor of describing a common aspect of my work as a certified hypnotherapist to my business-marketing group, the Network Referral Group of the Santa Clarita Valley. In this presentation, I described what environmental factors that can trigger a hyper-suggestible state of awareness and affects our behavior. Following is a list of various ways we can be (and have been) hypnotized by the environment.

Examples and Triggers of a Hyper-Suggestible State:

• Driving past your intersection, street, etc. because you are thinking about something else.
•  Appointment with the doctor, investment broker, accountant, etc., law-enforcement officers, etc., any professional that is “out of your scope of expertise” and you tend to zone out listening to explanations, definitions, etc. 
• Being glued to the television, etc. watching a police chase or incoming reports about a natural disaster, fire, overseas military activity, etc. not directly related to you, you just feel you “can’t turn away.” Also, continually watching on-line video of hostage executions, etc., for the same reason.
• Missing what someone said to you in a conversation because you were busy thinking about what you should say next or even something completely different.
• Popularity of Poke-Mon Go: more people walking, looking for the icons in the game. Consequently, authorities have started advising people to not play game while driving!
• The Internet: Surfing, commenting on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/etc. Do you sometimes say/post something you wish you hadn’t because you were caught up in the moment?
• Reactions of the passengers on airlines on 9/11: Initially, they listened to and believed what the terrorists told them to do and believed they were on the way back to the airport, there would be a ransom and release, etc.
• Making purchases on-line, shopping sprees, etc., per encouragement of TV advertisements and in-store representatives
• Get so caught up watching the action in a movie/television series and become sad, enraged, happy, etc., about the action going on in the story. Did you cry when Jack Dawson died in Titanic? Spend all last summer worried/wondering about Jon Snow’s fate at the end of the fifth and sixth seasons of Game of Thrones?
•  Panic buying/selling of stocks after Brexit, other world events or market corrections. Also, feeling pressured to buy into a “Once-in-a-Lifetime Deal!” that is actually a marketing ploy to make a quick sale.
• Mob behavior/copy-cat crimes based on what was seen on-line, news, social media, etc. For example, Flash Mobs and copy-cat crimes that have been promoted or described on social media.

In tomorrow’s blog, I will provide some tips to help return/maintain a fully alert and aware state no matter what is going on around you.

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/.

© 2016

Hypno-Anesthesia

Photo by Rick Hustead

You may recall one of the scenes in Glory, in which a young soldier runs away from Confederate gunfire despite having had one of his legs shot off. Presumably he is in considerable physical pain at that moment, but his subconscious and conscious mind are completely focused on fleeing the danger/surviving the battle and living. He doesn’t even seem to even notice his injuries. Conversely, in Dances with Wolves, Union Army lieutenant John Dunbar (Kevin Costner) runs toward enemy fire in a bid to commit suicide rather than have Union doctors amputate his badly wounded leg. In this case, Lt. Dunbar was likely more afraid of living the rest of his life as an amputee—a totally unknown way of life, compared to the one he knows as a decorated soldier—than the prospect of death, which he faced every time he went to battle.

Even though at least one million sensations are going on in the body at any one time, we typically only perceive a few of them at once. So, at this point in reading my blog I want you to focus attention to your feet and how they feel in the shoes you have on. Until I gave you that suggestion, had you even noticed your feet or shoes? This kind of selective attention is very fortunate; otherwise, we would be in a state of sensory overload every minute—every second—of the day.

This kind of selective attention is also what facilitates hypno-anesthesia. Consider Dr. John Kappas’s definition of hypnosis: “Hypnosis is created by an overload of message units disorganizing our inhibitory process (critical mind), triggering our fight/flight mechanism and ultimately resulting in a hyper-suggestible state, providing access to the subconscious mind.” When you are in this state, the level of awareness is actually heightened. However, the message in the hypnotic script has you focus on a specific issue(s) or sensation(s) while disregarding or reforming the significance of conflicting messages/perceptions. For example, when preparing a pregnant client to manage the discomfort of the contractions in labor, I would suggest that she imagine/perceive the contractions as the gentle massage that is helping to bring her child into the world. By changing the meaning or association of the sensation from something uncomfortable to a process that is bringing joy into her life, she can also change the perception of that sensation.

Hypnosis is to manage/control pain is one of the most common requests/uses/applications of this modality. The body naturally produces its own analgesics (pain-control enzymes) when the subconscious mind is overloaded (distracted) or when you are comfortable and relaxed, such as during hypnosis/hypnotherapy/therapeutic guided imagery. Therefore, when you are relaxed and calm in hypnosis, you are more likely to feel greater comfort and be better able to manage or control physical pain. However, the anxiety and fear that often accompany pain typically increase this perception. Since hypnosis helps a person relax and reduces anxiety and stress, being in this state, alone, is a natural analgesic.

Unlike medically-induced anesthesia—which can induce physiological complications from medication-induced side effects—hypnosis is a safe, natural, drug-free state of awareness. In addition to helping create pain-free labor/delivery, it is useful to control pain/discomfort during dentistry procedures, low-back pain, headaches, arthritis and more.*

*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 a substitute for licensed medical or psychological services or procedures.

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/.

© 2016

Hypnotherapy and Eating Disorders

Photo by Rick Hustead

Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D. advocated addressing the emotional problems that caused the eating disorder when working with someone who suffered from anorexia nervosa or bulimia. The hypnotherapist believed that this process would alleviate the symptoms of the disease in order to address them directly. However, he warned against specifically mentioning the client’s bingeing and purging behaviors because these would be inferred during the hypnotherapeutic process. “If you’re not bingeing and purging, you’re not as concerned about the weight,” Dr. Kappas said.

Therapy with someone who is suffering from an eating disorder is a long process which may take many sessions to overcome, Dr. Kappas warned. Furthermore, it is may take many sessions for the hypnotherapist to build rapport with the client to address these issues.

When working with someone who has an eating disorder, he recommended changing the client’s suggestibility from herself to the therapist in order to facilitate treatment. “[She must] turn over conscious control to the therapist to take control of the unconscious process,” Dr. Kappas explained. While she is in hypnosis, provide suggestions to increase the client’s perception of having self-control, feeling better about herself and being calm, he advised. “Think of yourself feeling good physically, emotionally, psychologically. You’re becoming important to yourself. You’re beginning to control old habits and compulsions. You’re not controlled by old habits.” 

 Meanwhile, the hypnotherapist and other members of the client's medical/psychological team should monitor the person's eating and bingeing behaviors. “If they get worse, the hypnotherapist] will have to move in and attack the behavior," Dr. Kappas said.

As I explained in my blog titled, Eating Disorders Are Not an Extreme Diet, anorexia nervosa and bulimia are very complicated, dangerous conditions that can cause severe physiological destruction and even death. The symptoms and etiology (medical/psychiatric origin) of each are addressed in the Diagnostics and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders, a basic reference guide for various psychiatric disorders. Typically, these conditions are out of scope of my or most other certified hypnotherapists’ professional expertise to address in hypnotherapy (Business and Professions Code 2908). To do so, I would need to receive a referral from the person’s (licensed) medical doctor and/or mental-health worker to work with the individual. Even then, my input as a hypnotherapist would be only to help the client fortify her or his self-confidence and self-esteem and reinforce new healthy-eating behaviors recommended by the person’s medical and psychiatric team. Ultimately, the treatment (management) of anorexia nervosa and bulimia is often a lifelong process which must be done under such medical supervision.

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/.

© 2016