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Thursday, March 8, 2018

Hypnotherapy and Multiple Personalities

(This blog was originally posted on March 20, 2017)

Photo by Rick Hustead

In a previous blog titled Hypnosis Is Not a Cure for Paranoia and Schizophrenia, I explored the complex issues surrounding working with a client who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. According to Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D., since schizophrenia is a medical and psychological illness, working with such a client is generally considered “out of scope” for hypnotherapists.*

In an archived instructional video I watched during my hypnotherapy residency training at HMI, Dr. Kappas worked with a woman who had multiple personalities. Following are several emotional and behavioral clues this person manifested which might indicate that she was in a dissociated state and should be referred immediately to a licensed medical or mental-health professional for further evaluation and/or treatment. (In addition to his expertise in hypnotherapy, Dr. Kappas was a licensed psychotherapist, which was why he was legally allowed to work with this client.)

Loss of time: The individual concedes that he or she does not know or is unable to remember where he or she is/has been.

Dissociation with self: The client claimed to be a different person in certain situations, such as when she was with her lover and even to be aware of that other identity. “[Did] you notice how quickly she answered when I asked, ‘Are you aware of that other part of yourself?’ and she answered, ‘Yes’?”

Strict religious upbringing: This may induce guilt to the point that the client repressed her (stated) sexual urges, Dr. Kappas observed.

Incongruent behavior: The individual may possess characteristics and values of one type of (Emotional or Physical) sexual personality but behave in a completely opposite way. The client was actually a high Emotional Sexual personality, but she talked about things that were more commonly associated with a Physical Sexual. She also spoke like a Physical Sexual, he pointed out. “We see [one] personality and hear another one,” he explained.

Confusion about why she did something.

In the dissociated state, this individual may experience things she thought should be different,” Dr. Kappas said. “The client’s only escape [as an Emotional Sexual] was to come outside of herself.” If there are a lot of religious ties and guilt, and the person can’t or doesn’t think she can behave the way she wants to, she will dissociate to compensate for the guilt. “This is very typical of an Emotional Sexual female,” Dr. Kappas said.

*Business and Professions Code 2908: 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 alternative or complimentary 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 as 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/.

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

My Thoughts on the Milgram Obedience Experiment and Suggestibility

(This blog was originally posted on February 6, 2015)

Photo by Rick Hustead

Experimenter is being promoted at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival this week. The film is about psychologist Stanley Milgram, whose 1961 obedience experiment famously demonstrated how obedient people could be when they are confronted with real or perceived authority.

I remember reading about this project while I was pursuing my undergraduate degree psychology. In it, participants were made to deliver electric shocks of various and increasing intensity to other people. The Yale University psychologist was interested to see at what point and under what circumstance a participant would disobey authority: i.e., refuse to administer the shocks, which were portrayed as extremely painful and possibly causing permanent physical damage to the recipient. In fact, the “shocks” were imaginary and the people who were supposedly receiving them were actually members of Milgram’s research team. Ultimately, the researcher reported that 65 percent of the participants were willing to administer the electric shocks to others despite the extreme stress they reported feeling while administering the shocks and the pain they believed they were causing others.

Remembering and thinking about this study made me cringe, but it also made me wonder: Could John Kappas, Ph.D.’s models of suggestibility explain the social psychologist’s observations? Following are reasons why I think the Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder’s theories work very well to explain why Milgram’s research participants were willing (albeit begrudgingly) to continue to administer those shocks.

He had authority. Milgram was conducting his research in a prominent and respected academic university. Since he held a Ph.D. in psychology his subjects would have called him “Dr.,” which automatically implies a position of power or authority.
He had a message: The psychologist told the participants what to do and when to do it, and he did not waver from his instruction even when they voiced concerns about the harm the continued shocks must be doing to the shock recipients.
He overloaded the participants’ conscious and subconscious minds with written and auditory information (message units) about the intensity of the electric shocks being delivered and the sounds/exclamations of pain that the recipients uttered. Milgram also continued to deliver his authoritarian patter of instructions that the participants should continue to administer the shocks even if and when they wanted to stop taking part in the experiment.

Afterward, Milgram and his team debriefed the participants to explain that the electric shocks used during the experiment were imaginary and reassured them that no one had been harmed in any way. I’m sure that was a relief for those who had obeyed each one of the psychologist’s instructions to complete the experiment. The questionable and controversial ethics of his research design reportedly resulted in the American Psychological Association creating ethical standards for ensuring the physical, emotional and psychological well-being of participants in future studies.

I also follow the APA’s guidelines for ethics and professional conduct when I work with hypnotherapy clients. I will not and would not ask you to say or do anything while in hypnosis that you would not say or do while in a fully alert state of awareness. Furthermore, your subconscious mind would not comply with any hypnotic suggestion(s) that contradicted your ethical and moral beliefs. For more information about hypnosis and how it works, check out the Hypnosis Facts link on my website.

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Time Management

(This blog was originally posted on January 6, 2014)

Image courtesy of Microsoft

Many people fulfill several roles in their daily life. They juggle the role of parent, spouse or romantic partner, athlete, friend, etc., plus the myriad responsibilities they fulfill at work. Sometimes it feels like a full-time job to just keep track of who you are supposed to be and what you are supposed to be doing at any given moment. Here are some suggestions to help you relax and be completely “present” in whatever you are doing—no matter how much (or little) time you spend in that role.

Square breathe. Draw a deep breath through the nose and hold it to the count of four, then exhale through your mouth. As you inhale, visualize, imagine, picture or pretend that you are inhaling calm, focus, patience and any word that you associate with feeling powerful and in control. As you exhale, allow any stress, frustration or negative energy or emotion that you identify in your body.

Anchor this new sensation by pressing or rubbing the thumb and index (pointing) finger of either hand. This action physically “anchors” your subconscious mind to the calm, relaxed state of focused energy that you will be able to access as you fulfill each role.

Make a list—mental or write it down—of what needs your attention. The first item should be what needs to be done right now. What is the next priority, and so on?

Chunk it down. Break the project into smaller, more manageable “chunks” if it is particularly complicated or involved. Even though the final project is the same, it is psychologically easier—and more rewarding—to tackle small portions of it at a time.

Stay organized and on-task. Make sure that you have all of the material(s) available and on-hand to achieve your goal or complete your project.

Turn off/silence your phone or computer unless the project absolutely demands this kind of contact or you are waiting for someone in your group to arrive. Technology makes our lives easier in many ways, but the temptation to check for unrelated text messages or voice-mail and browse the Internet for something-that-might-be-useful-but-is-actually-totally-unrelated to what you are doing, is almost always more distracting than helpful.

Prioritize. Complete each task according to its priority before you tackle the next one!

Whether you are supervising a project at work, spending quality time with your family or just chilling out with your friends, each activity will place a specific demand on your attention and the time you spend doing...whatever. It is important to dedicate as much time as you want or need to this activity, but make sure that your focus is completely on that project. You, and whatever you are doing or working on, deserve nothing less—and you will value the time you spend focusing on this endeavor even more.