What can a blind psychology student tell you about the way hypnosis may help you to reduce the suffering associated with life-changing health problems such as chronic pain or tinnitus?
Many years ago a respected psychological researcher named Dr. Ernest Hilgard was conducting experimental hypnosis sessions with his students. As described the book he co-authored with his wife, Hypnosis in the Relief of Pain (1994, Brunner-Mazel, 2nd edition) Hilgard stumbled across a phenomena he dubbed the "hidden observer."
"My subject was a blind student, experienced in hypnosis... Once hypnotized, he received the suggestion that, at the count of three, he would become completely deaf. His hearing would be restored when I placed my hand on his right shoulder.
An associate and I then banged some large wooden blocks together, close to the subject's head, but he did not react to the sound. He was completely indifferent to our questions.
One student asked whether some part of the subject might be aware of what was going on. After all, there was nothing wrong with his ears. I agreed to test this and said to the subject, "Although you are hypnotically deaf, perhaps some part of you is hearing my voice and processing the information. If there is, I should like the index finger of your right hand to rise as a sign that this is the case."
The finger rose! The subject immediately said, "Please restore my hearing so you can tell me what you did. I felt my finger rise in a way that was not a spontaneous twitch."
His curiosity piqued, Hilgard said he would explain later. He told the student, who was still hypnotized, that there was a hidden part of his mind which knew everything which had happened. Hilgard then gave the suggestion that when the student's arm was touched, the hidden part would become conscious.
"Sure enough, when I placed my hand on his arm, he could report exactly how many loud sounds had been made, what questions the class had asked, and what I had said that caused his finger to rise."
Further investigations led Hilgard to conclude that there was a part of a mind that observed experience but did not respond to it.
For example, after hypnotic suggestions are successfully delivered for pain relief the hidden observer is still aware of and processes the pain stimuli at some level, but the experience is blocked from conscious awareness which reduces the suffering.
This hidden observer phenomena is also theorized to be the reason why hypnosis cannot make someone do something that is against his or her moral code.
In conjunction with appropriate medical care, hypnosis can help relieve the suffering of life-changing health challenges. If you would like to learn more, a free, confidential phone consultation is available by calling (732) 714-7040.
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Back to School Stress?
As the summer season is winding down here at the Jersey Shore, I am reminded of my younger years when hearing the term "back to school" filled me with a certain dread-although as a parent it now creates quite a different emotion!
A small amount of back to school anxiety is normal as all the unknowns about the coming year such as "what will the new teachers be like?" or "will I be able to handle the work?" can challenge your child's confidence level.
Yet in some instances the child's level of stress gets to the point where it becomes a major problem and interferes with quality of life at home and school.
Over the years I have enjoyed working with students from middle school up to college age when it comes to academic-related stress for two major reasons.
First, younger people are naturally imaginative and this allows them to much more receptive to experiencing the process of hypnosis.
Second, learning about self-hypnosis and mindfulness is a tool that can serve a person well for the rest of his or her life.
I often wish I had learned earlier on in life that:
A small amount of back to school anxiety is normal as all the unknowns about the coming year such as "what will the new teachers be like?" or "will I be able to handle the work?" can challenge your child's confidence level.
Yet in some instances the child's level of stress gets to the point where it becomes a major problem and interferes with quality of life at home and school.
Over the years I have enjoyed working with students from middle school up to college age when it comes to academic-related stress for two major reasons.
First, younger people are naturally imaginative and this allows them to much more receptive to experiencing the process of hypnosis.
Second, learning about self-hypnosis and mindfulness is a tool that can serve a person well for the rest of his or her life.
I often wish I had learned earlier on in life that:
- The unconscious mind automatically acts out patterns, images and beliefs whether they are good, bad or neutral-so you need to be careful what you dwell upon!
- That the unconscious mind reacts to vividly imagined experiences as if they were real. The good news is that the same mental dynamic that provokes fear and stress can also create calm and confidence-you do have a choice.
- The basic tenet of mindfulness: learning to be more in the moment and realizing that as long as I am breathing, right now I am OK.
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Stress Eating and Will Power?
A study was published recently in the medical journal Neuron about how stress alters brain function in relationship to healthy eating choices.
Volunteers who were intentionally subjected to a stressful stimulus (having a hand stuck in ice-water for 3 minutes) showed increased activity in the regions of the brain involved with signaling that a food is appealing with a simultaneous decrease in the areas involved with self regulation/willpower when compared with a control group.
During the stress response it would seem that taste trumps health considerations (but you probably didn't need me or some academics to tell you that!)
The researchers suggest that a helpful intervention is to remove tempting items such as junk food, cigarettes or alcohol from your environment when you know you are going to be experiencing a challenging time.
This general idea has actually been around for along time. In addiction's programs members are told about the acronym HALT- that relapse into addictive behaviors becomes more likely when a person is Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired. Pretty much common sense, but it is interesting that modern brain science further validates it.
I would add that the practice of self-hypnosis or mindfulness can alter your stress responses in a positive way even if there isn't much you can do about your external circumstances at the moment. This is why I teach these skills to virtually all of my weight loss and smoking cessation clients.
If you would like to learn more, a free, confidential phone consultation is available, call (732) 714-7040.
Source for this article http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/05/us-health-stress-self-control-idUSKCN0QA21Q20150805
Volunteers who were intentionally subjected to a stressful stimulus (having a hand stuck in ice-water for 3 minutes) showed increased activity in the regions of the brain involved with signaling that a food is appealing with a simultaneous decrease in the areas involved with self regulation/willpower when compared with a control group.
During the stress response it would seem that taste trumps health considerations (but you probably didn't need me or some academics to tell you that!)
The researchers suggest that a helpful intervention is to remove tempting items such as junk food, cigarettes or alcohol from your environment when you know you are going to be experiencing a challenging time.
This general idea has actually been around for along time. In addiction's programs members are told about the acronym HALT- that relapse into addictive behaviors becomes more likely when a person is Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired. Pretty much common sense, but it is interesting that modern brain science further validates it.
I would add that the practice of self-hypnosis or mindfulness can alter your stress responses in a positive way even if there isn't much you can do about your external circumstances at the moment. This is why I teach these skills to virtually all of my weight loss and smoking cessation clients.
If you would like to learn more, a free, confidential phone consultation is available, call (732) 714-7040.
Source for this article http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/05/us-health-stress-self-control-idUSKCN0QA21Q20150805
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Belly Full or Mindful? A Thinking Thin Secret Shared!
As a professional hypnotist my stop smoking clients frequently ask me if I ever smoked (short answer: I tried it a few times in my younger years and didn't like it, so the habit never caught on.)
But usually my weight loss clients never ask if I ever had a weight problem-yet I was some 30 pounds heavier a few years back. Since I am above average height I didn't have the classic "obese" look but the extra pounds did have a very negative effect on my healthy, energy and comfort levels. And my pants didn't fit!
It was around then I took some positive steps to drop the unwanted weight including stepping up my activity levels and cutting back on refined foods which allowed me to drop about 20 pounds over the course of a year.
What I want to share with you is another helpful practice that helped me drop an additional 10 pounds this year with really no extra effort on my part: mindfulness.
I stumbled into this by accident as I took a continuing professional education program to become a Certified Mindfulness Meditation Instructor to supplement my traditional hypnosis training.
Mindfulness, for those of you who are not familiar with the term, is a state of mind where you are fully engaged in the present moment.
Virtually anxiety and stress occurs when we leave the present moment and either dwell on negative events from the past (which cannot be changed) or imagine dreadful things happening in the future. Yet in the present moment as long as you are breathing, right now you are OK.
Mindfulness meditation uses several techniques to help people become more present oriented rather than following some made up line of thinking. With practice you can learn to let a thought be a thought or a feeling be a feeling without become entangled with it and giving it extra energy.
The benefits of a mindfulness practice can include decreased stress levels, a better ability to cope with pain and discomfort and increased freedom from negative habit patterns.
In the case of weight loss, with mindfulness you learn that you can experience a thought, feeling or temptation to eat without having to respond to it. Its just a thought or feeling, after all.
Example: you might see a fast food restaurant sign and feel an urge to make a stop. Yet the truth is you can go quite a long time without eating, its highly unlikely you have to eat right now. Almost always you can wait awhile until a healthier option is available.
As I practiced mindfulness I would catch myself going, "that's a temptation to eat, but I don't have to right now, I'm OK." And as I mentioned earlier on, I released an extra 10 pounds without any sense of struggle-no "angel vs. devil" scenario. Just letting a thought be a thought...
As I practiced mindfulness I would catch myself going, "that's a temptation to eat, but I don't have to right now, I'm OK." And as I mentioned earlier on, I released an extra 10 pounds without any sense of struggle-no "angel vs. devil" scenario. Just letting a thought be a thought...
Mindfulness training is something I offer to all of my clients in addition to the guided hypnosis processes and other methods of self-hypnosis. If you would like to learn more a free, confidential phone consultation is available, call (732) 714-7040.
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