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.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Celebrities with Tinnitus
I came across an article in the Huffington Post (read original article here) on some celebrities past and present who are known to have struggled with tinnitus.
The list includes
-Former US President Ronald Reagan who is believed to have developed tinnitus after a blank pistol was fired near him on a movie set during his acting career.
-Musicians Pete Townshend, Jeff Beck, John Densmore and Bono from exposure to loud music.
-Actors William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, who both developed after being near a stunt explosion during the filming of a 1967 episode of Star Trek, "The Arena."
-Vincent Van Gogh, post-mortem medical detective work has led some to suspect that the artist's famous incident where he cut off his ear was the result of his suffering with tinnitus rather than a psychiatric disorder as was once believed.
-Liza Minelli, the entertainer claimed her tinnitus resulted from her father excitedly shouting in her ear when she won an Oscar for her role in the film Cabaret.
-Alan Shepard, the Apollo 14 astronaut was almost sidelined from his mission by a combination of Meniere's disease and tinnitus. Surgery corrected his problem and he went on to be a hero.
Whether you are a celebrity or not, having tinnitus can be quite a burden. It is imperative that you give yourself every advantage including consulting with an audiologist who is familiar with the condition. (Two New Jersey audiologists who have a proven track record of helping with tinnitus are Dr.'s Dhyan Cassie and Robert DiSogra.)
Stress and anxiety also complicate the experience of having tinnitus, further information is posted here.
If you could use some help in developing stress remediation skills in order to cope more effectively with your tinnitus, please feel free to give me a call at (732) 714-7040.
The list includes
-Former US President Ronald Reagan who is believed to have developed tinnitus after a blank pistol was fired near him on a movie set during his acting career.
-Musicians Pete Townshend, Jeff Beck, John Densmore and Bono from exposure to loud music.
-Actors William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, who both developed after being near a stunt explosion during the filming of a 1967 episode of Star Trek, "The Arena."
-Vincent Van Gogh, post-mortem medical detective work has led some to suspect that the artist's famous incident where he cut off his ear was the result of his suffering with tinnitus rather than a psychiatric disorder as was once believed.
-Liza Minelli, the entertainer claimed her tinnitus resulted from her father excitedly shouting in her ear when she won an Oscar for her role in the film Cabaret.
-Alan Shepard, the Apollo 14 astronaut was almost sidelined from his mission by a combination of Meniere's disease and tinnitus. Surgery corrected his problem and he went on to be a hero.
Whether you are a celebrity or not, having tinnitus can be quite a burden. It is imperative that you give yourself every advantage including consulting with an audiologist who is familiar with the condition. (Two New Jersey audiologists who have a proven track record of helping with tinnitus are Dr.'s Dhyan Cassie and Robert DiSogra.)
Stress and anxiety also complicate the experience of having tinnitus, further information is posted here.
If you could use some help in developing stress remediation skills in order to cope more effectively with your tinnitus, please feel free to give me a call at (732) 714-7040.
Friday, July 24, 2015
Product Review: Power Hypnosis: the Future of Hypnotic Sessions
Power Hypnosis: the Future of Hypnotic Sessions is a new book by stage and clinical hypnotist John Cerbone.
I have run into John a few times over the years, most recently when he gave a lecture/demo at the Greater NJ Chapter of the National Guild of Hypnotists this past spring. He has a funny and outgoing personality that serves him well as an entertainer and I thoroughly enjoyed his presentation there.
When I saw that he had published this new work I was intrigued as it promised a new spin on the art and science of clinical hypnosis. Always on the search for fresh ideas to enhance my practice and serve my clientele better, I figured it was worth chancing $20 on the digital download of the book.
I must say I was pleasantly surprised and have gained a number of new ideas that I could implement right away. In particular, I really like the idea of crafting "self-perpetuating" suggestions that can benefit the recipient beyond the initial issue he or she sought help with.
What if solving a challenge such as smoking or overeating continued on into the person becoming more able to reach his or her other goals in the future? Self-perpetuating suggestions make this a very real possibility.
In the book John shares a number of interesting personal anecdotes along with copious examples of suggestions he has created as well as the underlying concepts and insights as to the how and why of their specific wording.
Professional hypnotists know that the correct choice of language is paramount to creating successful hypnotic experiences for our clients and you can learn plenty from John's exuberant style.
I definitely recommend this book to my colleagues in the hypnosis profession, you can learn more at
http://hypnosisstageshow.com/power-hypnosis-the-future-of-hypnotic-sessions/
I have run into John a few times over the years, most recently when he gave a lecture/demo at the Greater NJ Chapter of the National Guild of Hypnotists this past spring. He has a funny and outgoing personality that serves him well as an entertainer and I thoroughly enjoyed his presentation there.
When I saw that he had published this new work I was intrigued as it promised a new spin on the art and science of clinical hypnosis. Always on the search for fresh ideas to enhance my practice and serve my clientele better, I figured it was worth chancing $20 on the digital download of the book.
I must say I was pleasantly surprised and have gained a number of new ideas that I could implement right away. In particular, I really like the idea of crafting "self-perpetuating" suggestions that can benefit the recipient beyond the initial issue he or she sought help with.
What if solving a challenge such as smoking or overeating continued on into the person becoming more able to reach his or her other goals in the future? Self-perpetuating suggestions make this a very real possibility.
In the book John shares a number of interesting personal anecdotes along with copious examples of suggestions he has created as well as the underlying concepts and insights as to the how and why of their specific wording.
Professional hypnotists know that the correct choice of language is paramount to creating successful hypnotic experiences for our clients and you can learn plenty from John's exuberant style.
I definitely recommend this book to my colleagues in the hypnosis profession, you can learn more at
http://hypnosisstageshow.com/power-hypnosis-the-future-of-hypnotic-sessions/
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Is it the Nicotine? Smoking Cessation Reconsidered
It was nearly 20 years ago that I first started seeing clients in my hypnosis counseling practice. During these two decades a large percentage of the people I have seen sought my help in order to become free of the smoking habit.
Looking back at the hundreds of private and small group sessions I have facilitated, here are some observations I have made about letting go of the smoking habit:
Looking back at the hundreds of private and small group sessions I have facilitated, here are some observations I have made about letting go of the smoking habit:
- If nicotine is so physically addictive why doesn't nicotine replacement therapy have a higher success rate? Most studies I have seen state around a 20% success rate for nicotine patches, with dummy or placebo patches having a rate of effectiveness of about 15%. So is 75% of the benefit really all in your head? I have encountered scores of folks who said that the patches didn't "work" and that they smoked while using them (quite dangerous to do BTW). Maybe the nicotine that isn't the key player here?
- If smoking is relaxing, why does it elevate heart rate, blood pressure and constrict blood vessels? What may be relaxing is the slow, rhythmic breathing of the smoking behavior and/or the break in your routine. Smoking may be the only time a person engages in "mindfulness." Trust me, there are better ways of going about that!
- Perhaps it would be better if we referred to the behavior of smoking as a bad habit rather than an addiction. Addiction implies helplessness/hopelessness, however unhealthy habits can be dropped.
- I have met a number of individuals who experienced severe adverse reactions to the prescription medications for smoking cessation. Do keep in mind these drugs were originally marketed as anti-depressants. It was discovered some patients taking them for clinical depression reported spontaneously losing interest in their smoking habits and it was then that the pharmaceutical companies decided to offer them as a stop smoking treatment. But what are the consequence of someone who is not depressed taking such a medication? Be sure to bring this up with your physician if you are considering that treatment route.
- The look of pride and satisfaction on a person's face when they know they have conquered that dirty, dangerous habit by tapping into their own inner resources is priceless. You can be one of them!
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