Hypnosis to Stop Stuttering

 

                According to John Kappas, Ph.D., the founder of the Hypnosis Motivation Institute, stuttering is a projection of incongruent behavior. For example, the person may have a way of learning (suggestibility) that is different from how he or she performs/acts. This individual may speak literally (physical suggestible) but picks up a lot of inferences from conversations and the environment. There is often another family member who stutters, he said.

                Stuttering usually begins when the person is around five years old and is often observed in people who have very addictive personalities, Kappas said. “People cannot stutter when they are under hypnosis, performing visualization exercises or when they are not concentrating on what they are saying.” However, speaking on a telephone often induces stuttering, he observed.

                There are typically no physiological causes of stuttering. As your hypnotherapist, my first objective would be to help you identify the circumstances around which the stuttering began. Once the cause of the stuttering is identified, while you are in hypnosis I would use relaxation, systematic-desensitization and behavioral conditioning techniques to help you resolve any issues that perpetuate this behavior. “Since people usually can’t stutter on purpose, one of the most effective techniques to replace stuttering with normal speech is to teach the person to stutter in hypnosis,” Kappas said.

 

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/.

© 2014

 

 

 

 

Hypnotherapy to Help You Stay Motivated During a Challenge

                As a hypnotherapist, one of the most important things I do is to motivate my clients to continue working to change an unwanted behavior. Sometimes a challenge or a setback occurs during this therapeutic process, and I must put on another hat to facilitate crisis management. Perhaps you have experienced a personal crisis, such as the unexpected death of a spouse or life-threatening medical diagnosis*; or, you are discouraged about your rate of progress in achieving the desired self-improvement goal. It is my honor and privilege to help you to find/re-discover, and employ, your inner resources to overcome such a challenge in the following ways:

·         Provide you with unconditional positive regard. I use active and reflective listening techniques to help you clarify the issue or source of frustration, and identify the emotions or feelings surrounding that situation.

·         Employ Neuro-Linguistic programming techniques such as “chunking down” the problem to help you look at and identify ways of breaking it into smaller, more manageable elements that you can resolve.

·         Help you to brainstorm a list, which you will write, of all of your inner resources—talents, work/sports experience, problem-solving skills, etc. that you have acquired during/through hypnotherapy—that you believe will help you overcome the current setback or disappointment.

·         Apply hypnosis and therapeutic guided-imagery techniques to help you access those resources and other problem-solving skills that you have previously used to overcome a similar situation in order to conquer the current setback. If you have overcome ‘X’ before, your subconscious mind knows how to use these skills to succeed, again!

·         Help you to create an anchor which you can access at any time to activate this sensation of relaxation, calm and comfort that you experienced during hypnosis in order to solve a problem or overcome a challenge when you are alert and aware (not in hypnosis).

 

If the issue or crisis is beyond the scope of my expertise as a hypnotherapist to help you achieve your vocational and avocational self-improvement goals, I will refer you to a licensed medical doctor and/or licensed mental health practitioner. This referral is imperative to ensure your emotional and physical well-being, because these experts are equipped to provide you with the specific support that you need to help you through that event. However, according to California law I may continue to work with you as your hypnotherapist in conjunction with these other experts to provide complementary therapy, with a signed referral from them (*Business and Professions Code 2908).

 

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/.

© 2014                                                                                                                                                                                                            

The Art of Perfecting a Behavior

 

 

                Everybody has a different idea of perfection. There is perfect weather. A perfect test score. And then there is the perfect boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse. The list goes on, ad infinitum—as do our expectations of what constitutes perfection and our desire to possess it. What if I were to tell you that you are already perfect, just the way you are?

                It is true. Your subconscious mind is literally programmed to try to do everything you ask or want it to do—including those behaviors and beliefs that no longer work for you and want to change or get rid of. The longer you have done or been practicing that behavior, the more deeply you ingrain it in your mind. Eventually, it becomes a default, a comfort zone, a known. Every time you repeat that behavior or habit, you send another positive message to your subconscious that reinforces your comfortable association with what you are doing. In his Theory of Mind, John Kappas, Ph.D., refers to the subconscious mind categorizing certain events or stimuli as “pleasure.” In this context, pleasure is something the person identifies as familiar or known, but not necessarily “pleasurable.” In other words, you are equally likely to continue to behave in a particular way even if it is uncomfortable, because that behavior is what you know and where your subconscious mind tells you that you are safe.

                For example, a chronic smoker has smoked two packs of cigarettes each day since she was 14. Her parents smoked for as long as she can remember, and her mother actually gave her that first-ever cigarette. Even though she is battling emphysema, she continues to smoke partly because, subconsciously, the smells of a just-lit cigarette or the sulfur from an extinguished match take her back to memories of that rare moment of mother-daughter bonding. Or, a recent Lottery winner blows through his entire jackpot in a matter of months: having struggled financially throughout his adult life, he had no experience (knowns) of how to enjoy this windfall in a responsible way. And then there is that individual who continues to embark on a series of disastrous romances in which the love interest already has a partner, or is physically/emotionally abusive or emotionally unavailable. Even though he or she can recognize the repeating pattern, the person seems incapable of leaving, let alone avoiding, that situation again and again.

                When I work with you to change or replace unwanted behaviors through hypnotherapy, one of the first things I do is explain Dr. Kappas’ Theory of Mind in relation to how it is applicable to your current beliefs and behaviors. I explain how your “knowns” were created in your subconscious mind, and how the SCM reinforces them each time you repeat that behavior. Finally, I will reassure you that since you are so good (perfect) at reinforcing this undesired, original habit, you are perfectly equipped to learn and practice the new, desired behavior. With the exception of your reactions to the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises—which every person is born with—you have had to learn every one of your beliefs and behaviors. If you want to change or get rid of one of them, it is in your power to do just that.

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/.

© 2014

 

 

Getting Out of Your Own Way

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

It is often easier to succeed at a task if you stop over-analyzing
what you need to do and just go out there and do it.

                We tend to be the biggest “block” to our personal success. For some reason, the more we want to succeed at something and the harder we try to accomplish our goal, the further out of reach that dream seems to get. Why is that?

Quite simply, we may be doing too much, “trying” too hard. We micromanage our behavior (activity) and over-analyze what we think we should be doing and how a task should be done to such a degree that, when the time comes to actually take action, we forget how to do it. We dream, we hope, we aspire to greatness. We set goals and lay down the groundwork—the foundations—that will make this success possible (we hope). But when we face challenges and even setbacks along the way, we become frustrated, angry and discouraged about our likelihood to succeed or achieve that goal. Sometimes we even consider giving up on that dream or project and start something new.

Does this scenario sound familiar? Star Wars fans know the scene in which Yoda famously counseled Luke Skywalker during his training to become a Jedi Knight: “Do. Or do not. There is no try.” All of our machinations and preparations for success are meaningless if we don’t finally, at last, just go out and do what we have been working so hard to achieve. Trying is not doing. At the end of the day, the most effective way to achieve a goal is to stop planning and thinking about all of the things that might go right or wrong when you finally get around to doing it. Just take a deep breath (or several) and go for it. Get out of your own way and just let your body and subconscious mind do what it already knows how to do.

               

 

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/.

© 2014

 

The Benefits of Cross-Training

Photo by Sara Fogan

Olympian Gina Miles applies her expertise in three discrete
equestrian disciplines as part of her training and competitive repertoire.

                To get really good at something, you must often learn and practice other skills that will complement and improve your primary vocation or avocation. We typically hear and use the term “cross-training” to describe this philosophy in a sports or athletic context. For example, many professional football players lift weights to increase strength, run to improve endurance and even take ballet and/or gymnastics to learn how to jump and tumble in a safe way. Gina Miles, an equestrian who won a silver medal in eventing (“combined training”) at the 2008 Olympics, must focus on three discrete equestrian disciplines—dressage, cross-country and show jumping—as part of their training and competitive repertoire.

                Even if you are not a professional athlete, you can still apply this philosophy of learning new and related skills to improve your “performance” at work. If you are a project manager or supervisor at work, you probably have to participate in specialized workshops and attend conferences to learn, master and maintain the skills you will need to do your current job. A reporter must maintain a standard of writing and communicating to the reading/viewing audience, in addition to keeping up with current events and research skills to produce an accurate report.

                The great thing about cross-training in these contexts is that learning and mastering new skills is a great opportunity to increase your self-confidence and self-esteem. The more skills you possess, the better equipped you will be to apply these abilities to achieve goals/solve problems in any area of your life. Your conscious mind possesses the logic, reasoning, decision-making and will-power to learn those new skills; your subconscious mind internalizes this information in that will enable the conscious mind to apply the skills and succeed in your new goal. Best of all, the excitement and pride you feel when you master these new skills creates a new, powerful “known” message in your subconscious mind: I can do this, too!

 

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/.

©2014

Don’t Pack More Thank You Can Carry

Photo courtesy of Microsoft


When you pack for a vacation, remember to leave any
negative associations/expectations about your trip at home.

 

As I have mentioned in my blog on January 8, 2014, it is very important to devote some time every day to relaxation and chilling out. Your conscious mind and physical body need down time the same way your subconscious mind needs REM sleep and dreams to process information and work through stress while you sleep. With President’s Day upon us, tomorrow marks the start of a three-day weekend for many Americans. Some people will take advantage of the long weekend to go away for a few days of rest and relaxation. Others may opt to take a “staycation” and spend quality time at home with friends and family. And still others may choose to take the next few days to spend quality time alone, going to a health spa to meditate and recharge their emotional batteries.

While you prepare for the weekend, consider which items you absolutely need and want to bring with you and those you can (and should) leave behind. Plane/train/boat tickets, money and I.D., change(s) of clothes, toothbrush and toothpaste are obvious items you will need to bring along. If you plan to go skiing or snowboarding, you will probably also want to pack your sports gear for the trip, too. Just as there is limited carrying space in a suitcase, the trunk of your car and in the storage compartments of airplanes, trains and tour buses, I believe that there should also be limited room for the mental scripts that you bring with you on your vacation. “Necessary” items to include in this kind of mental script are: positive emotions and energy about the trip, optimism and alternative strategies or options if you must make an unexpected change of plan. What you do not need to bring on your trip are negative memories/associations with your travel destination and negative emotions (e.g., frustration, pessimism, etc.). If possible, you should also leave your job at home, too.

If you have any anxiety about or negative associations with your vacation destination—for example, if you haven’t been on skis since you had that bad spill two years ago—check out my suggestions for increasing self-confidence in my blog on January 12, 2014. I also provide a generic breathing and relaxation exercise in my blog on February 4, 2014: Here, I teach you an effective technique to replace negative associations with positive ones as you exhale and inhale your breath, respectively.

                I hope you have a wonderful and safe weekend, wherever you go and however you spend it.

 

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/.

© 2014

Handwriting Analysis for Hypnotherapy



Photo courtesy of Microsoft

Your handwriting is a reflection of your personality and the
subconscious motivations that drive your behavior.

 

                Handwriting is a manifestation of what we consciously think, but it is motivated by a subconscious ideomotor (subconscious physical) response. The way you write—the shape and size of each letter, whether you connect the letters and even the speed of your writing—are literally a reflection of your behavior and personality traits.

At the beginning of their first hypnotherapy session with me, I ask my clients to write a few sentences that describe their reasons/motivations for seeking hypnotherapy to change a specific behavior. Handwriting does not reveal the age or gender of the writer; nor will it enable me (or anyone else) to determine whether the person is right- or left-handed or to predict the writer’s future. However, handwriting will reveal the person’s mood, personality traits, suggestibility and subconscious motivations at the time of writing this sample. I analyze specific characteristics of the writing, not the content of what is written, per se, to identify, confirm or negate the writer’s specific personality traits and how those traits affect behavior.

I use these observations, plus the information that the client provides for me during the pre-hypnosis component of the consultation, to create a powerful hypnotic script that will help the person achieve specific, vocational and avocational self-improvement goals. Handwriting analysis is also useful to help a client identify other issues (e.g., stubbornness, low self-esteem/self-confidence) that may be impacting the presenting issue, and which the person may want to address during this or a future hypnotherapy session.

 

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/.

© 2014