Some Things to Know About Habits

Photo by Rick Hustead

Most people seek hypnotherapy to change or get rid of (quit) an unwanted habit. Whether you want to lose weight, quit smoking, stop procrastinating, improve sleeping habits or any myriad of behaviors, hypnosis and therapeutic guided imagery are powerful, effective tools to help you achieve your self-improvement goal. While I do not typically need to delve into your entire back-story to understand why you started, and want to change the unwanted habit, I will need certain, specific details about it to create an effective hypnotic script. Following is some important information about habits and habit-change to keep in mind.

·         You must be coming in for hypnotherapy because you want to change the behavior for this therapy to be effective.

·         While you (your conscious mind) want to change an unwanted habit, the subconscious mind is unlikely to share that goal. Changing habits entails getting out of your comfort zone (rejecting a subconscious known) which the subconscious mind considers “pain.”

·         Hypnotherapy can help create and establish healthier/more productive and desirable behaviors in the subconscious mind to replace the unwanted one(s). However, habits do not begin overnight and habits do not change overnight. Furthermore, the longer you have been practicing that behavior, the more time it may take to change it. Remember, each time you have engaged in the habit strengthened its positive association in your subconscious mind. 

·         Increasing awareness of when you engage in the undesired habit helps you gain greater control over that behavior.

·         Some behaviors may be a defense mechanism to avoid change and thereby protect the subconscious mind from the pain induced by change. In this instance, it may be necessary to address the cause of the behavior (habit) to help you achieve your vocational/avocational self-improvement goal.*

*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

Thoughts of the Day

Photo by Sara Fogan

      Every now and then I like (and need) to take a few moments and remind myself about what is really important to me, in my life. If you follow me on my Calminsense Hypnotherapy Facebook page you may have seen some of these quotes before on this page, or will in the future. Many of these Quotes of the Day are beautiful examples and illustrations of the work I do as a hypnotherapist, so I will probably draw on them in future essays.

• “Life is an echo. What you send out comes back. What you sow you reap. What you give you get. What you see in others exists in you. Remember life is an echo. It always gets back to you so give goodness.” – Unknown

• "Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it." – George Halas

• “Keep looking up. That’s the secret of life.” – Snoopy

• “I am not what has happened to me. I am who I choose to become.” – C.G. Jung

• "I have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened." – Mark Twain

• "When you see a good person, think of becoming like him. When you see someone not so good, reflect on your own weak points." – Confucius

• “It’s a terrible thing, I think, in life, to wait until you’re ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now.  And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good a time as any.” – Hugh Laurie

• "When the world whispers, 'Give up,' Hope whispers, 'Try it one more time.'" – Unknown

• "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." – C.S. Lewis

• "Some changes look negative on the surface but you'll soon realize that space is being created in your life for something new to emerge." – Eckhart  Tolle

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

Why Do We Keep Returning to Pain?

“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas

as in escaping from old ones.” – J. M. Keynes

Photo by Rick Hustead

Many years ago, an aerobics teacher commented to my class that the discomfort of childbirth is the only kind of natural, “healthy” pain we should experience. Every other kind or source indicates that something is very wrong in the body and should receive immediate attention. This warning is also true of emotional pain—or, it certainly should be—but it is so often disregarded or even intentionally ignored to return to the source or cause of that pain. Why ?

When I explain “Theory of Mind,” I often use the example of how individuals frequently return to an abusive romantic partner to explain how even a painful experience can be associated with the familiarity of what is known. From very early childhood we are taught to associate physical pain and discomfort as negative, bad, something to be avoided or fixed right away. Conversely, in an effort to avoid conflict or even a physical altercation we repeat the mantra, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” We are encouraged to ignore the verbal slights and barbs and do whatever is necessary to maintain peace in the environment. (This model also applies in a physically abusive relationship.) We learn to look the other way or look for the good, positive attributes once attracted us to him or her and enter the relationship. Over time, every time we repeat this behavior and return to the source of the pain, we are actually reinforcing the subconscious known which provides that temporary comfort of familiarity in the relationship.

As Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D. explained, we are all subconsciously motivated to maintain and/or restore a known physical and emotional status of comfort and security. Since the subconscious mind is motivated and even programmed to seek this comfort, we naturally, repeatedly gravitate toward the source of that comfortable, secure state until something or someone is available to replace that familiar stimulus. In some respects this response can be likened to addictive behaviors: Every positive gesture or response the person receives is an emotional reward that literally lights up the pleasure areas of the brain. However, when the response is negative—hurtful or even abusive—the subconscious association of familiarity in this situation knowing that it will likely turn around again is equally if not more powerful. No matter how frustrating and even humiliating the “pain” of that rejection is, the lingering hope that the situation will turn around and the negative behavior will actually change keeps us toughing out the temporary pain, luring us back.

Fortunately, hypnotherapy and guided imagery can help you change this behavior pattern by replacing and rewriting the subconscious mental script that has been keeping you in this pattern for so long. A hypnotherapeutic process called de-loving is also extremely effective to help dissolve the subconscious associations to the feelings and emotions that you carry for the other person and/or relationship. Instead of erasing any memories of the other person or situation, however, de-loving helps you return to a neutral and even indifferent attitude that enables you to focus on yourself, personal goals and other (more) important areas of your life.

For more information about this topic and to set up an appointment with me, call or send a text to (661) 433-9430 or send an e-mail to me at calminsensehypnosis@yahoo.com.

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