The Pros and Cons of Making Connections

Photo by Rick Hustead

My original goal for communicating on social media was for services like Twitter and Facebook to help me market my services as a hypnotherapist. To be honest, I was initially very reluctant to join either of those services. It seemed like a false and impersonal way to get my message out, let alone explain and assuage doubts about what hypnotherapy can do to help a person achieve self-improvement goals. A lot has changed.

My website, www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com, does the majority of “explanation” heavy-lifting for me. However, social media has been very beneficial in helping me introduce myself and what I do to a worldwide audience and market new hypnotherapy skills and promotional offers. It has also enabled me to become socially active in causes about which I am passionate—such as animal conservation, anti-poaching and helping to rehome shelter animals—as well as connect with very good friends. In fact, I have never even met some of my on-line friends.

Before the advent of social media, interpersonal connections were made in the course of face-to-face encounters, introductions through mutual contacts and well-placed advertisements in newspapers and magazines. These days, entire populations of potential contacts are available at the touch of a button on a computer or SmartPhone. It has truly never been easier to make a potentially career-altering connection.

Indeed, there is a caveat to the benefits of having such widespread and easy access. Social media is that these various outlets offer a chance to express any and all feelings you want to share without offering an option or warning to take a time-out before pressing that “send” button. Unlike face-to-face or even voice-to-voice communication in which you have a chance to perceive nuances in language and expression, there is no or very little opportunity to make this kind of interpretation in 140 typed characters. (Facebook does provide the option to use emojis to support the emotions behind the sentiment the writer is trying to convey.) As Dr. Alex G. Kappas liked to say, “I know you believe you think you understand what I have just said; but I am not sure that what you heard is not what I meant.” Indeed, during the course of a passionate written exchange it is easy to lose track of the emotions and words that are being expressed and leave a long-lasting, sometimes negative, impression that overshadows the original intent of the message.

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

How the Body Expresses Extreme Emotional Trauma

Photo by Rick Hustead

When trauma or extreme emotional distress occurs, if the person cannot (verbally) express and work through and resolve feelings about the event, these emotions may be manifested as physical symptoms. As I explained in a previous blog titled Body Syndromes, these symptoms are likely to occur in areas of the body that correspond to the trauma or presenting issue. For example, if a woman is raped she may subsequently experience vaginal tightness that prevents any kind of sexual pleasure and even find intercourse painful. 

When psychologist and hypnotherapist John Kappas, Ph.D., treated these symptoms in hypnotherapy, the Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder recommended explaining how the client’s subconscious denial of the rape may have contributed to these symptoms. If appropriate and if she was ready to deal with the trauma, a hypnotherapist could help her go through the stages of loss during hypnotherapy, he said.

Dr. Kappas also advised including the client’s husband/partner in the therapy using the Systems Approach even if the other person is not present during the sessions. This inclusion is necessary because the client’s past trauma is likely affecting their sexual relationship; or, finally confronting the emotional trauma caused by the rape, in therapy, may have repercussions on the current relationship.

“It’s possible that removing the denial will reveal traumas,” the HMI founder warned. Therefore, the hypnotherapist must correct the client’s denial mechanism but not remove it completely. The hypnotherapist would also need to bring up more of her physical suggestibility to help her work through her physical symptoms*, he added.

*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.

• “Be curious! A good question can take you a lot farther than a quick answer.” – Jesse Lynn Stoner

• “To give value to others, you have to begin by valuing yourself.” – Tim Fargo

• “We are all damaged in our own way. Nobody is perfect.” – Johnny Depp

• “No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow your progress, you’re still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.” – Tony Robbins

• “Trust your journey, trust the process, raise your energy and the right people will come into your life.” – Steve Atchison

• “You never know what is enough, until you know what is more than enough.” – William Blake, Proverbs of Hell

• “If there is a solution to the problem, then don't waste time worrying about it.” – Dalai Lama

• “Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for.” – MayaAngelou

• “Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.” – Coco Chanel

• "Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” – 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

How Hypnotherapy Can Change Negative Self-Perceptions

(This blog was originally posted on February 1, 2016)

Photo by Rick Hustead

"People are constantly changing and growing. Do not cling to a limited, disconnected, negative image of a person in the past." – Brian Weiss

When I saw that quote on a Twitter feed, I knew I had found my blog topic for the day. In addition to holding onto an outdated image of others, we often carry around the baggage of similarly disconnected and negative images of ourselves. The longer you held that perception, the more time your subconscious mind was bombarded with chatter to reinforce that negative opinion of yourself. Ironically, you may be the only person who continues to see yourself in that old light; but other people’s perceptions alone are not powerful enough to not persuade the subconscious mind to change a long-held belief about personal worth. No matter how much work you have put into changing or getting rid of an unwanted habit or belief, it can seem really tough to completely evict the negative perception about yourself that went along with that old behavior.

But tough is not impossible, and hypnotherapy is a very effective way to dismantle the subconscious mental scripts that no longer reflect the person you are and want to be.

A lot of these negative belief systems about perceived futility of change come from and are reinforced by low self-esteem and low self-confidence. If the person believes that he or she has or can never make a positive life change, lack of experience in actualizing a previous change in behavior only reinforces this negative belief system. Through hypnosis and therapeutic guided imagery, I help my clients imagine how it feels to be able to completely and effectively make the new, desired behavior changes. Since the subconscious mind does not know the difference between what is reality or pretend, it is ideal to practice and reinforce these new behaviors while in hypnosis, where a new positive mental script can be written.

Hypnotherapy and therapeutic guided-imagery techniques are also effective tools to further dismantle the former negative beliefs and replacing them with powerful new mental scripts to reinforce the client’s self-power, confidence and willingness to embrace the desired behavior change. Every time you “practice” the new desired behavior, confidence in your ability to make the desired change continues to grow and the realization that self-directed change is possible further increases self-esteem. Over time, repeated reinforcement of the new subconscious mental script—“I can do X, I am worthy, etc.”—replaces the negativity and self-doubt until you also believe that your power to change and the changes you have made are here to stay.

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