Welcome to the world of clarity and focus

Self Confidence and Self Esteem

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:22:00 GMT

I have just completed a series of hypnosis recordings for various issues, including irritable bowel syndrome, insomnia, HCG Diet, successful test taking, and optimal preparation and recovery from surgery. These recordings were the assimilation of years of effort and seeing positive results in my clients with the techniques I used. Please contact me if you are interested in one of these recordings. I have been asked by one of my clients to prepare a recording for self-confidence and self-esteem. Realize that this issue ties in to all aspects of your life. Creating a positive internal attitude about your approach to yourself and to your environment is entwined with the amount of self-confidence and self-esteem one maintains. Usually when I see a client in the office, there is a component of self-confidence that needs to be addressed. Whether this is doing well in school, meeting people socially, getting ahead in your occupation.... virtually every aspect relies on creating that self-confidence.... that we are worthy and we will be successful at whatever the objective is. In order to tap into an area where a client is having difficulty, I want to create a link, an association, an anchor between something they do well and the issue at hand. Recently I was working with a client who literally could not provide a simple example of anything they could do well. Finally, after waiting a few moments, I said "How about boiling water?", to which they responded, "Actually I am a pretty good cook." Now atleast I could anchor the issue of difficulty to the expertise of cooking and have her see that if one is possible, so is the other. Sometime we have difficulty with self praise. We don't want to appear as arrogant. However, if you want to truly change your life, you need to change your thoughts about yourself and your capabilities. Acting confident is half the battle. There was a CEO who was giving a presentation on an unfamiliar topic. He asked an expert to give him enough information to give a short talk in front of a thousand people. The expert in the company felt uncomfortable getting up in front of the large group. When it came time for questions, he took all the questions and just said they would have to take a short break and then, after the break, after consulting his expert , responded with the answers. He had the expert prepare the answers during the break and he was set to go. The difference between these two..... the speaker was confident he would find a solution to whatever would come up, the expert was terrified of looking foolish, he just stopped himself. Self-confidence is about having the ability to keep going, to find solutions, to accept you may not be the expert but you know how to find an expert and deliver results. That unstoppable feeling! So how many times in your life have you have been told you can't do something because you are not smart enough, or good looking enough, or whatever enough..... and who were these people who told you this..... maybe authority figures, like a parent or teacher..... and you not knowing better actually believed them! Well I am here to tell you to stop believing in them and start believing in yourself and notice the difference in how you feel and the result you get in the various aspects of your life!!!

Inception, creating false memory and hypnosis

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 13:15:00 GMT

This past Tuesday, July 20, 2010, I was doing a hypnosis session via telephone with one of my clients living in Los Angeles. Although I had done a number of sessions in the past with this particular client, the focus for this session was on her self-esteem. At the age of 35, this attractive woman was still struggling with how she appeared to those around her. Was she pretty? Do men find her attractive?

One specific memory she related to me was that when she was 13, she asked her mother if she was pretty. She vividly recalled her mother answering her by saying

“Alice, you are a beautiful person on the inside.”

In Alice’s mind, she took this to mean that she was not very attractive looking and for over 20 years, this perception of herself has had a huge impact on the image of herself and her self-esteem. Even though the mother may have meant well by the comment, the mind of a 13-year-old, full of emotions, can be intensely impacted by comments regarding personal looks.

During Alice’s session, I recreated that moment in her life. I had Alice go back to that specific moment when her mother made that comment. I then changed the words. I had her mother resonating the words; you are a beautiful young lady, over and over again. When the session was done, it was as though that incident was powerfully changed in Alice’s mind. She told me the next day that she could see and hear that event just as we had created it the night before and could not even recall how the original event occurred. One might refer to this as creating a “false memory”. In Alice’s case, this “false memory” will hopefully impact her in a positive way, give her more confidence around men and feel more self-confident in general.

The “coincidence” regarding this session is that after the session, I went to see the new movie Inception. I only heard that it had good reviews and was not familiar with the story line. Well, this was a fantastic movie, with tremendous visuals. The basic focus of the movie, trying to create a thought in someone’s mind as if it was his or her own experience really was not a whole lot different than what I successfully did with Alice earlier that day.

Sometimes changing thoughts are productive and sometimes they can be destructive. As I contemplated writing this entry, I could not help but recall a client I saw a few months ago who came to me extremely distraught. This 60-year-old gentleman had a daughter in her thirties who now was claiming that he molested her when she was a young girl. Only he and god will know for sure if this did or did not happen. I happen to believe him and I feel that this unfortunate client is the victim of “false memory syndrome”. His daughter was going through therapy and had just ended a destructive relationship with a boyfriend. Then, through the course of her therapy it came out that her father had supposedly molested her when she was young. Another piece of information is that when she was a teen she went through a period of dressing “goth”.

“False memory syndrome”, although not real common is also not extremely rare either. I was able to help the father by coming to the undertanding that regardless of what he was accused of, he could stay calm and relaxed. He had no control over what his daughter said or did. I helped him to focus on the areas he could control.

So you see, creating thoughts in the mind can be either beneficial or devastating. Fortunately, my assistance in creating beneficial thoughts crosses into many areas of a person’s life, from health, to relationships, from inner peace to inner happiness.

As for Inception, go see it. And then come see me if you would some assistance in creating and changing your world.

Be well!

Medical Authorities Providing Evidence of Hypnosis

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 13:25:00 GMT

MEDICAL AUTHORITIES

Hypnosis Helps Healing: Surgical Wounds Mend Faster, Harvard University Gazette, William J. Cromie, May 8, 2003, http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2003/05.08/01-hypnosos.html.

Hypnotherapy for Chronic Pain, altMD smart alternatives, http://www.altmd.com/Articles/Hypnotherapy-for-Chronic-Pain (Studies indicate that 75 percent of clinical and experimental participants with different types of pain can obtain substantial pain relief through hypnotherapy.)

Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, November and December 2004, http://journals.lww.com/rapm/Abstract/2004/11000/Clinical_Hypnosis_Modulates_Functional_Magnetic.8.aspx (volunteers under hypnosis experienced significant pain reduction in response to painful heat and had a distinctly different pattern of brain activity compared to when they were not hypnotized and experienced the heat. Suggests that hypnosis somehow blocks the pain signal from getting to the parts of the brain that perceive pain.)

Treatment of Non-Cardiac Chest Pain: A Controlled Trial of Hypnotherapy, GUT – An International Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, BMJ Publishing Group Ltd & British Society of Gastroenterology H Jones, P. Cooper, V. Milller, N. Brooks and P.J. Whorwell, Published Online First April 20, 2006, Gut 2006;55:1381-1384; doi:10.1136/gut.2006.095489 (Improvement in patients with non-cardiac chest pain)

Hypnosis Before Breast-Cancer Surgery Reduces Pain, Discomfort, and Cost, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Sept. 5, (J Natl Cancer Inst. 2007 Sep 5;99(17):1304-12. Epub 2007 Aug 28) http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/results/hypnosis0907

Hypnosis in Contemporary Medicine

James H. Stewart, MD

patients treated with hypnosis experienced substantial benefits for many different medical conditions. An expanded role for hypnosis and a larger study of techniques appear to be indicated.

MAYO FOUNDATION FOR MEDICAL EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, 2005

Hypnosis: Another way to manage pain, kick bad habits

MAYO CLINIC Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER)., DECEMBER 19, 2007

A scientist at the University of Liverpool has found that hypnosis can slow down the impacts of dementia and improve the quality of life for those living with the condition. Working in partnership with a dementia consultant, the doctor established that people living with dementia who had been given hypnosis therapy exhibited improved concentration, memory and socialization than the control groups. Relaxation, motivation and daily living activities also improved with the use of hypnosis, and they developed a course for clinicians who wish to incorporate hypnosis into health care plans.

Mechanisms may exist by which the brain and central nervous system influence immune,

endocrine, and autonomic functioning, which is known to have an impact on health. MIND-BODY MEDICINE: AN OVERVIEW NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH.

A January 2008 Weisman Institute of Science study provided measurable proof that hypnotism works and gives insight into how the brain stores memory. MRI brain scans performed under hypnosis showed reduced activity in some brain regions during intended memory suppression and increased activity in other regions. Additiionally, the brain scans demonstrated reactivation in the previously suppressed regions when the cue was given to bring back the memory. Scientists believe that this information may assist research into treatment for “memory loss” as it suggests that memories are not lost but, rather, they are suppressed.

Studies show that hypnosis can treat everything from chronic pain to poor study habits. Chances are, it can work for you. DIEDRE BARRETT, PSYCHOLOGY TODAY, JAN/FEB 2001 Deirdre Barrett, Ph.D. is a clinical assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, utilizes hypnotherapy in her practice, and is author of numerous books regarding hypnosis and hypnotherapy. A hypnotic trance is not therapeutic in and of itself, but specific suggestions and images fed to clients in a trance can profoundly alter their behavior. As they rehearse the new ways they want to think and feel, they lay the groundwork for powerful changes in their future actions. For example, in hypnosis, I often tell people who are trying to quit smoking that they will go hours without even thinking of a cigarette, that if they should light up, the cigarette will taste terrible and they'll want to put it out immediately. I'll talk them through the imagery of being a nonsmoker--some combination of finding themselves breathing easier, having more energy for exercise, enjoying subtle tastes and smells again, having fresh breath and clean-smelling closing, feeling good about their health, even saving money on cigarettes or whatever motivates that person to quit. The deep relaxation of a hypnotic trance is also broadly beneficial as many illnesses, both psychological or physical, are aggravated by anxiety and muscle tension.

Research over the last 40 years shows that such hypnotic techniques are safe and effective. Furthermore, a growing number of studies show that hypnotherapy can treat headaches, ease the pain of childbirth, aid in quitting smoking, improve concentration and study habits, relieve minor phobias, and serve as anesthesia--all without drugs or side effects (see "Hypnosis Heals," page 62).

An array of mind-body therapies (e.g., imagery, hypnosis, relaxation), when employed presurgically, may improve recovery time and reduce pain following surgical procedures. MIND-BODY MEDICINE: AN OVERVIEW, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH

In a 1988 study reported in the medical journal Lancet, hypnosis was shown to be a successful complimentary treatment in patients who were taking medication for duodenal ulcers.

Hypnosis does work!