Welcome

Tuesday, January 3, 2023

Dominant Laws of Suggestibility: Law of Reverse Action

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 March 7, 2015

Photo courtesy of Microsoft/Bing

During a typical hypnotherapy session, I reinforce hypnotic suggestions in various ways during the hour or so I spend working with a client. An effective way to strengthen the message of the suggestion is to employ the Law of Reverse Action or misdirection.

You might already recognize a common, colloquial example of this law: someone tells you not to think about pink elephants, at which point you can’t help yourself but think about that subject. This occurs because “pink elephants” is the stronger part of the command than “not to think about.” (How can you not think about a pink elephant when that image is suggested to the mind?)

In a therapeutic context, the hypnotherapist might suggest that someone who suffers from a fear of public speaking imagines being in a situation in which he or she must make a speech and try bring up that fear. Meanwhile, the hypnotherapist would repeat the suggestion that the harder the person tries to actually bring up that fear response, the more relaxed he or she actually feels. In this case, becoming relaxed is the more powerful suggestion than “trying to” bring up the negative response.

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/

Monday, January 2, 2023

Hypnotherapy and a Different Perspective

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 September 19, 2014)

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

In September 2013, the local news reported that a white cobra was loose in a neighborhood in Thousand Oaks, California. Residents responded to this information in various ways. Many were understandably frightened by the prospect of having an exotic, venomous snake potentially slithering around their property and told reporters that they would secure their livestock in barns and keep domestic pets inside until it was caught. Others seemed to take a more measured approach, explaining how they would continue to live their lives as usual but would avoid areas where the snake was last seen or biologists warned it might hide. Another person (or persons) even went to social media and created a Twitter account for the cobra so the snake could post updates on its whereabouts and, presumably, add some levity to a very tense situation.

I was surprised that my reaction to the news that a cobra was loose in a local neighborhood was one of curiosity rather than terror. If I lived anywhere near where the snake had been spotted or if I kept my horse out there, I probably would have been beside myself with anxiety and concern. My subconscious mental script was already familiar with the idea that venomous snakes live in Southern California: anyone who owns or rides horses here knows to be on the lookout for rattlesnakes hiding in a hay barn or slithering across the path on a trail. Of course, the idea of a lethal exotic (and comparatively rare) snake slithering around a suburban neighborhood is a different story.

But ever since I earned my hypnotherapy certification in 2005, my attitude and expectations about various situations I have encountered during my life have changed. As soon as I heard about the loose cobra, I was quickly able to activate the reasoning, logic, will-power and decision-making faculties in my conscious mind to determine whether I or anyone I knew was in immediate danger: No. Even if I had been, my previous experiences dealing with animal control and law-enforcement officers reassured me that these professionals were trained to deal with various threats, including unexpected ones posed by wild animals that the average citizens probably never consider. I was confident that I could have put my trust and faith in their recommendations to keep myself and my animals out of its way until it was caught. Also, I trusted that the survival instinct in my (and just about every other person’s) subconscious mind was strong enough to avoid unnecessary risk and avoid areas where I knew/heard the animal had last been seen or was likely to hide.

Something else helped me take a more measured perspective about the possible danger posed by that cobra. I knew various mental tools with which I could re-frame what I initially believed to be a no-win situation and turn it into an opportunity to learn something new: i.e., look up information about the biology and natural habitat of cobras. That kind of lesson would be far more beneficial for me than indulging in toxic worry about a situation over which I and most of the residents of that Thousand Oaks neighborhood had little control.

Fortunately, the snake was safely caught and removed from that community the next day and no humans or animals were victims of its lethal bite. Another positive thing to come out of this situation is that everyone who was affected by this experience now has a new subconscious known in his or her repertoire of mental scripts. While it is unlikely any Southern California residents will have to deal with another cobra loitering by their swimming pool, if this scenario is ever repeated, we will have some idea what to expect and how to handle the situation.

Thursday, December 29, 2022

Dehypnotizing the Hypnotized Client

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 July 27, 2014)

Photo by Rick Hustead

Every now and then, someone seeking hypnotherapy comes in for the appointment already hypnotized. Hypnosis is a completely natural state which every one of us experiences for approximately 30 minutes, at least twice a day—just before drifting to sleep at night and right after waking up in the morning. As I have explained in previous blogs, we are also susceptible to experiencing a natural, environmentally-induced trance at other times of the day. (For more information about this topic, see: Have You Ever Been Hypnotized Before?; An Extreme Example of Environmental Hypnosis; and Hypnotized by the Grocery Store. And then there are instances in which we hypnotize ourselves. This is the state (and kind) of hypnosis I will address in this essay.

Psychologist and hypnotherapist John Kappas, PhD, observed that hypnosis occurs when an overload of message units disorganizes the inhibitory process, which triggers the fight/flight response to result in this hyper-suggestible state. Since we are more suggestible to ourselves than any other stimuli in our environment, we can get caught in a pattern of carrying beliefs or behaving in ways that do not work for us, but we continue to act that way because that is what we have always done. For example, someone who continues to accept work that is considerably below the individual’s skill and desired pay grade may do this because the individual follows a subconscious mental script that says this is the best he or she can do. Now, despite expressing a desire to pursue a more lucrative career and possessing obvious skill to do that work, the person doesn’t even try to pursue a different career because he or she believes that original mental script.

To help an already-hypnotized client exit this state, Dr. Kappas advised deepening the person’s state even further and blocking his or her subconscious mind from accepting negative suggestions or influences from the environment. This must be done before proceeding with the regular hypnotherapy session to address the self-improvement goals that the client wants to actualize, the Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder said. If the client knows when, where and why these negative mental-scripts evolved, I will systematically desensitize the person to the environmental stimuli that trigger the undesired responses/behaviors.

However, if the client does not know how these negative mental scripts evolved, I do not employ age-regression therapy to explore and desensitize the origins of those negative beliefs. (For more information about this topic, see my blog titled “Age Regression…and why I Don’t Use This Technique. Rather, I use a technique called “rejection-proofing,” wherein I provide hypnotic suggestions to help increase the client’s overall self-acceptance, self-appreciation and self-approval. This process enables the individual to dismiss the negative self-talk (“chatter”) in the person’s subconscious mind and re-write a new mental script to reinforce the positive beliefs about his or her abilities to pursue those goals.

Finally, to increase the person’s ability to control entering the hypnotic state, I target the logical (left-brain) side of the client’s subconscious mind during this and subsequent hypnotherapy sessions. I also teach the person how to count out of hypnosis whenever the individual notices that he or she is naturally entering this state at home, work, driving or any other time.

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Hypnosis to Overcome Fear of Water

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 August 24, 2016)

Photo by Rick Hustead

Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D., once worked with a client to help her overcome her irrational fear of water. She told the hypnotherapist that she even felt anxious just thinking about water and always tried to wipe the fluid off her face as quickly as possible. This anxiety was a legitimate fear versus a phobia because the client had nearly drowned in a river as a young child and was subsequently involved in a car crash where the vehicle went over a bridge. However, she also manifested 27 symptoms consistent with having low blood sugar.

When working with someone who has an irrational fear of water, start by advising the person to change her eating habits to normalize the blood-sugar level, Dr. Kappas advised. It is also necessary to modify her suggestibility to decrease this fear and susceptibility to suggestions about it. Once the client is in hypnosis, work with the individual to separate her anxiety of water and the sensation of it making contact with her face.

Use circle therapy to desensitize the person to the fear reaction by repeatedly having her bring up the fear and then relax, the hypnotherapist said. This process will help the individual associate relaxation with the originally threatening stimulus. As the client disassociates her fear of water from the fear of her physical reaction, she will gradually be able to think about this stimulus without associating it to a fear response.

Finally, use a double bind to lock in her sense of relaxation, Dr. Kappas said: “The harder you try to feel the fear of water, the more difficult it will become.”

Monday, December 26, 2022

Whom Do You Trust?

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 11, 2016)

Photo courtesy of Sara Fogan

One of the most important qualities of a good relationship is the amount of mutual trust shared between the partners. I believe this is especially true of the relationship people share with our equine partners, as well. I am grateful that I have twice been blessed to share this kind of bond with two equines. My first horse, Geeves, was a big Thoroughbred gelding and retired schooling master. He passed away in 2010, and I still feel his loss every day. Galahad, an Arabian/Lipizzan gelding pictured above, is one of my greatest joys and a true embodiment of the knight in shining armor. He has really lived up to his name on many occasions.

A former trainer often reminded me that the Arabian horse is historically a “people” horse. Many people have first-hand experience of how well this breed takes care of the humans in their lives. They love and are great with little kids: put a child on an Arabian or part-Arabian horse’s back and you can trust that the animal will do its best to keep the little one safe during the ride. I still remember my first ride on a little Arabian gelding when I got back into the sport in 2003. Even though I was a grown-up, Vinnie knew that I needed extra support and even some TLC the first time I got back in the saddle after a 19-years’ hiatus. When I lost my balance—which I did a couple times during that first ride—the gelding adjusted his body under me and even stopped so I could find my seat again.

Galahad does that for me, too—and not just when he is under saddle. At our first barn, when I would go out to catch him in the paddock where he was turned out with the other geldings, my horse often turned his body sideways as if to block his herd-mates’ access to me. It was as if he knew and understood that, as a human, I was fragile and more vulnerable to injury from the rough play that he enjoyed with his buddies. No matter where we were in the paddock, my horse immediately changed his posture as if to shield me when another horse approached us. Was this action a gesture of true protection or jealous territoriality? For the first few months after I bought Galahad, whenever I had him on the wash rack to rinse him after a ride, he often moved his body to block my visibility to cars passing by on the street. He actually did this a few times before I realized what was going on, because he usually stood quiet and still to get rinsed off. But before I could detect the sound of an engine, my horse took those few steps to position his body closer to the street.

People scoff at my interpretation of these behaviors—alternately chastising me for anthropomorphizing Galahad’s actions and warning me about the inherent danger of handling and riding horses. Nonetheless, I know what I believe. When I work with equestrians in hypnotherapy, one of the first things I ask is for them to rate their level of trust they have in their equine partner and whether/how much their horse trusts them. Without trust, how can we explain or understand the various things horses allow us to do while we are on their backs? Without trust, how do we feel confident and secure to do those things without being frozen with fear that the horse will run away with us or dump us into the dirt the first chance they get?

I experienced the most significant example of my horse’s apparent concern about my well-being a couple years ago. Once a week or so I would take Galahad for a walk around the neighborhood to give him a change of scene and relax after spending so much concentrated time training in the arena. He got to do all of this work just in his halter, not bridled and under saddle. Even though I didn’t ride him on these excursions, we were still “training” as we practiced serpentine figures, lateral movements and even backing up the street. We practiced staying calm and being brave when the next-door neighbor’s donkey would brays and trot up the fence-line or another neighbor’s dogs barked as we walk past.

One day, about 10 minutes into our walk I became so weak that I could barely finish walking up the street back to the barn. It took fifteen minutes for us to travel about fifty feet, but my horse never put a hoof wrong. Every few yards I needed to stop to catch my breath; every time, Galahad just stood quietly and even cocked a hind hoof as I leaned against him for support. He was like a rock—my rock. Of course, I told him what was going on—that I felt ill and I just needed to rest for a minute before we started off again. I have no doubt that if I actually needed to stretch out on the side of the road he would have been a sentinel for me then, too. (Fortunately, I never needed to do that.) At one point, we stopped very close to where the donkey comes out to greet us. Even though Galahad was used to the sound of the little equine’s bray he still sometimes did a double-take or took a side step if he wasn’t expecting to see the animal. That day, however, my horse never flinched or even look anywhere except over his shoulder at me or straight ahead as we forged our way slowly back to the barn.

Looking back, I can only express how grateful I was and am to have such a loyal and, yes, protective horse in my life. I was truly vulnerable that day: if he had spooked at a car or a loose dog, who knows what would have happened. I doubt that I could have been able to hold onto the lead line and keep Galahad calm in that situation. What still amazes me is that I never even worried about it, at the time,. I had complete faith and trust in my horse to help get me safely back to the barn the way I have always done for him in the past. Galahad was described as “a knight in shining armor” on the promotional DVD I saw before I bought him. On that day—and every day—he truly lives up to his name and that description.

Thursday, December 22, 2022

Application of Theory of Mind in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, 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 December 17, 2015)

Photo by Rick Hustead

Yesterday, I identified several applications of Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D.’s Theory of Mind in the 1964 stop-action film, Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. In the first part of this blog, I focused on Dr. Kappas’s model in the context of how the characters interacted with each other and dealt with challenges in their environment. Here I will address the ways in which details in the story satisfy the audience’s expectations about the characters’ behavior, especially by anthropomorphizing the non-human characters’ beliefs and behaviors.

First, the narrator of the movie, Sam the Snowman, tells the audience that a Christmas tree isn’t a Christmas tree without tinsel. Then, when Rudolph runs away from home and Donner decides to search for his son, the reindeer tells Rudolph’s mother that she must remain in the cave to wait because the search will be dangerous. A couple times, Donner and even Sam the Snowman refer to the search as being “men’s work” and that the male reindeer need to “protect the women.” Sexism aside, isn’t a female reindeer a “doe”?
Remember that tuft of bright yellow hair that I noticed sprouting between the tiny antlers of Dasher, Rudolph’s new friend at the reindeer tryouts? The “hairstyle” was probably very popular among young boys when the movie came out. As for “Coach” Comet’s baseball hat and whistle, we’re used to seeing these items on coaches and referees at human sports events. Incorporating these details on the reindeer helped to make the scene more relatable for the child audience that would have been watching the movie.
People of any age would recognize and even empathize with the more serious theme of bullying that Rudolph, Hermey the Elf and the characters on the Island of Misfit Toys endure. To this day, whenever I watch the movie or listen to the song, I feel a twinge of sadness and even anger about the teasing and ostracism that they endure before their differences are accepted and appreciated.
When we meet mineral prospector Yukon Cornelius, he values silver and gold above all else. He has been alone in the wilderness for so long in his pursuit wealth that it’s almost incredible that he would even know how to talk to Rudolph and Hermey, let alone forge a friendship with them. I don’t think it’s an accident that Cornelius is depicted as being socially isolated, perhaps the consequence of a single-minded pursuit of achieving his goal even though he also nurtured a desire to connect with others. The fact that this character is able to ultimately make friends and even join the community in Christmas Town is a hopeful metaphor for the many individuals who feel isolated and alone at this time of year.
The characters that live on the Island of Misfit Toys initially doubt that their dream of finding homes with children who will love them can or will ever come true. They don’t even believe it when they first hear the reindeer’s bells as they pull Santa’s sleigh and see the glow from Rudolph’s red nose. Their disbelief stems from their previous experience of being disappointed every Christmas Eve; the idea of finally being delivered to a home on Christmas morning is unknown and likely even a little bit scary. It is emotionally safer to feel disappointment when you know that a wish won’t be realized than to feel even more hurt by allowing yourself to believe that it might come true and then it doesn’t happen after all.

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Application of Theory of Mind in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Part 1

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 16, 2014)

Photo by Rick Hustead

One of my favorite holiday traditions is to watch the 1964 stop-action film, Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Yes, after repeating this activity since I was a very young child, it is now a subconscious known for me. So, last week I curled up in front of the television and sipped a home-made eggnog latte while I enjoyed the familiar story one more time. For fun, I tried to notice “new” things in and about the show that I might have overlooked in previous viewings. I did: I saw a tuft of bright yellow hair sprouting between the tiny antlers of Dasher, Rudolph’s new friend at the reindeer tryouts. And then it dawned on me that that Comet, the “coach” of the reindeer tryouts, was sporting a baseball cap as well as a whistle. How had I never spotted those details before?

I know from my hypnotherapy training that it is normal and natural to not notice every aspect or characteristic about a person or an event. There are so many physical stimuli in the world that we could perceive that being consciously aware of each sensation would be completely overwhelming. To protect us from this kind of overload, the subconscious mind automatically associates and characterizes information (message units) as being “known,” or familiar; and “unknown,” or unfamiliar. Over time, we automatically ignore the known information because after repeated exposure, the SCM knows there is no associated danger with the stimulus and it can focus on other things. Conversely, a new piece of information can signify danger, and we will respond to that stimulus defensively until we feel safe and comfortable again.

This model forms the basis of Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D.’s Theory of Mind. According to Dr. Kappas, the subconscious part of the mind is uncomfortable about and resistant to doing new or different things even when the conscious mind (logic, reason, will-power/free-will and reasoning) says that it’s okay to do so. The SCM likes and wants to stick to what is familiar, comforting and safe: i.e., what it knows. Guess what? The characters in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer seemed to behave according to their own specific set of known and unknown message units, too. Furthermore, the characters’ attitudes and behaviors mirrored a lot of our own (e.g., bullying, low self-esteem, specific beliefs about the holidays). Following are more of my observations about the program in the context of Dr. Kappas’s Theory of Mind.

When Rudolph is born, his father, Donner, is horrified that his son has a shiny red nose. No other reindeer has a red nose. Even Santa Claus initially dismisses Rudolph as being eligible as a member of the sleigh team because of it. Donner immediately fashions a cover for the young buck’s nose to conceal Rudolph’s “nonconformity.” However, when the cover slips off to reveal Rudolph’s shiny nose after the flying tryouts (which he wins), his peers laugh at and ostracize him.
Meanwhile, back at Santa’s Castle, an elf named Hermey is having a hard time in the workshop. His boss and colleagues ridicule him because he wants to be a dentist, not a toymaker.
Even though their characteristics and talents are different (unknown) to each other, the fact that Hermey and Rudolph are social outcasts in their communities enables them to bond over this shared status. Later on, they also befriend Yukon Cornelius, a nonconforming mineral prospector who goes with them to the Island of Misfit Toys in hopes of finding someplace they all do fit in.
The Abominable Snow Monster of the North (The Bumble) is initially presented as a fearsome beast that only wants to ruin Christmas and probably bring physical harm to other creatures. He is huge with shaggy white fur, sharp teeth and long claws. The first time we see The Bumble, Donner is teaching Rudolph the fine art of being a reindeer. Suddenly there is a ferocious roar; after evading the Snow Monster by hiding behind a snowdrift, Donner tells his son how dangerous the monster is and that everyone must always be careful to avoid it. He doesn’t explain why the Bumble is so frightening and dangerous, but the young buck immediately files the information his father provided and the memory of his terrifying near encounter with the beast as a new known. By the way, this scene is a great example of how youngsters develop their suggestibility.
Ultimately, as they become more familiar with each other’s differences, they become more comfortable with and even appreciative of their individual talents and characteristics. For example, Hermey the Elf’s dentistry skills also prove useful in rescuing Rudolph and his family when he removes all of the Abominable Snow Monster’s sharp teeth. Not only does this action make the Bumble far less scary to the citizens of Christmas Town, but also reveals the gentle creature he really wants to be. Meanwhile, Yukon Cornelius discovers that The Bumble’s secret wish is to be useful, and since he really is a nice guy and conveniently very tall, he’s given a job placing the star on top of Santa’s Christmas tree.

Of course, Rudolph’s shiny red nose wins everyone over when Santa realizes that the now-famous reindeer is the only one that can save Christmas by turning on his bright nose to guide the sleigh through a ferocious blizzard. And this outcome is probably the most famous “known” in the story—now legend—of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.