hypnosis – Short-Term Therapy

Metaphor Consultation

Published on April 14, 2021February 14, 2022 by AkiLeave a comment

When working with the subconscious, you have to connect with the subconscious in it’s language.

Think of a birthday party you once had. Do you remember who was there? What happened? How you felt? Music that played? What was said? There’s little chance you remember specifically what was said because the mind stores information in pictures and feelings. Language is an overlay that we have worked hard to create over time, but is translated at the conscious level.

Working with the subconscious is best done through the use of accurate metaphors. Metaphor creates a layer of protection between the client’s threatening memory and the therapy process, taking the sting out of therapy and making it much more fun to participate in; this leads to additional client engagement and less cancelled sessions.

If you would like to hear your client’s story, noting the relevant items, relationships, and settings, and ignoring the irrelevant ones, to create metaphors that subconscious mind connects with in order to induce the most useful change, call me for a consultation.

For example: A woman recalls having been tripped in the cafeteria in middle school. She felt embarrassed, confused, and upset. She tells you that her peers and the adults in the room did nothing while the bully pointed and laughed at her. Take a moment to examine this example for what her subconscious mind remembered in that 2 second video clip or snapshot of the moment. What elements are relevant? Which are irrelevant?

I would construct a metaphor utilizing the feelings she verbalized (embarrassed, confused, upset), the notion that she was not saved by her community, and lightening that metaphor so that the memory of the original event is softened. This new metaphor is a subset of the original memory, which will be attached, but not replace, the original memory.

She is a court jester. Her job is to be embarrassed in front of her community, even though she does not always like that job, and most people do not love every moment of their jobs. She has to do pratfalls, get pied in the face, and be made fun of by royalty. This is much less threatening of an event to imagine than the actual event.

This takes me just a moment to concoct. I’d like you to be as excellent at working with the subconscious! There is no such thing as too many good therapists and if I can help you grow with this technique, it is my pleasure to do so.

Consultation is $100/hour as we can meet monthly or up to weekly, as is your preference, in small groups or individually. Please call 954-612-9553 to schedule. Video conferencing is available from me to where ever you are in the world.

Autumn Hahn is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist practicing at Clear Mind Group in Florida, Georgia, Nevada, and Virginia. Call 954-612-9553 for a consultation. Follow Autumn on Twitter & Facebook.

Priming – Preparing the Mind to Notice

Published on February 24, 2021January 4, 2021 by AkiLeave a comment

From http://www.customer-insight.co.uk/article/923

The kind of therapy I utilize is positive, future-thinking, now-centered, and about lighting up and moving into that which is beneficial. In doing all of that, we’re priming the exact right things.
Priming is preparing a person to think of something. This is why when you hear an unusual word, phrase, or name, you notice it more often in a short period of time. It’s on the top of your head, you’re primed to notice it.

Author Malcolm Gladwell illustrates priming through psychological experiments. When he talks about race at the end, that’s called “stereotype threat”
Video

Stereotype threat scholarly article (you can skim it or skip it) about having people declare their race and then take a test; black Americans did worse based on stereotype of lower intellect. Similar experiments were done with Asian women and math and driving and with athletics, where facilitator was changed to be black, white, buff or fat – participants did the same on number of push ups in test, but did worse on vertical jump if they were white and the facilitator was black because the stereotype is that black people are better at jumping and “white men can’t jump.”
Article

Video on stereotype threat experiments and how to reduce it.
Video

In practice, priming is why VA PTSD groups keep veterans sick. You go talk about atrocities and how crappy you felt and feel, then come back next week to do it again. Groups should be focused on solutions, be positive, and be time-limited. This is also why talk therapy fails, those therapists are priming their clients to continue thinking about what it is that sucks in their life. Instead, think about how you’re fixing that stuff – and be primed to keep thinking about that, making things better and better. It’s a small shift, but it’s a huge shift!

Advertisers utilize priming so you think of them every time you hear a slogan, see a color, notice an animal, etc. The biggest brands have the simplest logos – Nike’s swoosh, Coke’s ribbon, Pepsi’s circle, General Mills’ check mark; this is so when you see something similar in the real world, you think of them, free advertising, memory anchoring, and increased sales. I show this video in one of my classes – pause it and count the kangaroos. Every time you see a kangaroo, Dish wants you to think of them.
Video

Street hypnotist (and who I want to be when I grow up) Derren Brown primes actor Simon Pegg – look at the room, watch it twice, for the layperson, it may be difficult to weed out what is hypnosis and what is priming.
Video 1
And how it’s done
Video 2
I LOVED showing these videos when I taught college courses, and the students always had so many questions thereafter. I have a bunch of Derren Brown’s shows on DVD and I watch them over and over and over – I even have a regionless DVD player just to watch them on, as they’re often hard to get outside of the UK. He’s so masterful.

This is the stuff that lights me right up. Thanks for letting me share and nerd out with you.

Mind-Body Healing

Published on January 27, 2021January 4, 2021 by AkiLeave a comment

I’ve had a bad back for years. I treat it with acupuncture and chiropractor visits and use an amazing heating pad. Sometimes, though, I throw my back out and it’s a few days where I’m benched until it’s better. That happened a few weeks ago (originally published in 2013). I was packing for a move and I wish I could say it was lifting a box, but it was getting up from the bed playing with the cat, just twisted wrong and that was it. No time to be sidelined, though, there was too much to do, and I had another training coming up. These trainings are 3-day long-day events in uncomfortable conference room chairs.

At the training, my back was killing me. I wasn’t whining about it on the outside, but I was going through Advil at an unhealthy rate and halfway through the day was needing half a muscle relaxer just to not whimper. On day 2, we did break-out practice groups to increase responsiveness. I believe that the mind controls the body in most everything and that the signals, if not going to the mind, are not going to be received, coded, or perceived, so the mind is the key to all this. Thus, I believe that the mind can make the change in all this, speeding healing, blocking pain, and increasing the time needed to receive and process the message of discomfort and what the body needs.

In my trance state, my partner effectively increased responsiveness in me. This meant, to me, that my body and mind were more than twice as responsive from before this trance state session. My body and mind were optimized, turned up, in line. I took my symbol and used it every time my back twinged. One deep breath, eyes closed, and thanked the messenger for the message that something was amiss and I needed to give extra care and healing to that part of my body. Second deep breath, eyes closed, dissipate the pain (I pictured it pixelated and expanding away). Note: none of this was part of what my partner did in the trance state, but since my body and mind were already optimized for responsiveness, they were responding to one another in an advanced way and I was building on that. This did not remove all pain; there was still an error in my body, a problem to be healed, but I could increase healing and decrease pain.

A couple of days later, my husband and I met up after my training was over and he was rubbing my back and said “I can see this is the muscle you pulled; it’s raised, but your whole back isn’t swollen anymore. Does it still hurt?” “Some,” I answered, “keep looking.” He did and I took a few breaths, visualizing my symbol and dissipating the pain. He said it looked a little flatter and how did I do that? This stuff, it’s good stuff!

I also got an emotional issue for me unstuck that weekend at the training and am looking forward to using that energy for being awesome in the moment and seeing how it frees me up for health and happiness.

Autumn Hahn is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist practicing at Clear Mind Group in Weston, Florida. Call 954-612-9553 for a consultation. Follow Autumn on Twitter & Facebook.

Resolve to Quit Smoking

Published on January 6, 2021January 4, 2021 by AkiLeave a comment

cigarette butts in a red circle with a line through it

A lot of people think of the new year as a new start to your new life, and why not? Every day is a new start! If you set a goal this year to quit smoking, let me help you meet that goal. I’m offering a New Year’s Resolution package of $400 for 5 hours over 4 sessions. Share this important information with your friends and coworkers!

Step 1: Pick a Quit Date. Between here and there, cut back on your smoking. Do not quit cigarettes cold turkey. It is a shock to your body and leads to relapse. Assess how much you are currently smoking, and cut it in half and half again before your last cigarette. I recommend skipping the gum or the patch or the fake cigarettes. The goal is to be free of all nicotine. If that means you need longer to cut down, that is a smarter option.

Step 2: Call me and let’s set a first appointment. During the initial appointment, we’ll discuss your history, any potential pitfalls, your smoking habit, your quit date, and determine a realistic plan for you. We will also be discussing your support system, behavior changes, and anything I can think of to help you stay quit for good. Never will I berate you for your habit; none of us are saints. I will simply help you get from good to great. This appointment is 90 minutes. The phone consultation is about 30 minutes.

Note: If I feel your quit date is too soon, based on your smoking habit, I will advise you of this. I will always be honest with you and want your success!

Step 3: Second appointment. We’re going to do some hypnosis and Rapid Resolution Therapy at this appointment. We’re going to change the way your mind stores data so that you loathe the idea of smoking. This is going to be the day before quit day, or as close as we can arrange it with our mutual schedules. If you want to have your last puffs before you see me, we could do it that way also, your call. We’re going to use strong words and imagery to make smoking absolutely repulsive.This appointment is one hour.

Note: If there are issues that I feel are relevant as obstacles and need clearing before your smoking (perhaps you smoke because of anxiety symptoms or there is concurrent substance abuse), we will be using the second appointment to clear that issue instead. If that issue is more involved, I will tell you during the first appointment and we will discuss pricing. If you have concerns, just ask me.

Step 4: Quit Day. The day you wake up free of the chains of tobacco use and enjoy detoxification in every cell throughout your day. You’re already doing wonderful things for your body and mind just in the first day.

Step 5: Third appointment. I check in with you and we discuss how it’s been. This will be shortly after Quit Day, maybe in a few days or a week. If there were any cravings, I want to make them absolutely gone. If there was any slip up, I want to be sure we institute behaviors and thoughts to immunize you from them in the future. This appointment is one hour.

Step 6: Fourth appointment: This appointment is a check in to see how things have been going. It should occur somewhere between a week and a few months from the third appointment. If you don’t need this appointment, we will skip it. If we used the second appointment to clear an obstacle issue, we will then not have this last appointment, but I would still like for you to call me and tell me that you’re on the path and doing great. This appointment is one hour.

Be a Quitter: Stop Smoking with Hypnosis

Published on September 23, 2020August 18, 2020 by AkiLeave a comment

Smashing The Habit

Quit smoking in an effective, lasting manner that takes into account your history, health, and needs. Regular cost is $750, but I’m offering this as a package for $600 if you pre-pay. That’s 5 hours over the course of 4 sessions.

Share this important information with your friends and coworkers! Be quitters together and enjoy better health and a longer life. Continue reading “Be a Quitter: Stop Smoking with Hypnosis” →

Your Power Song

Published on August 19, 2020August 25, 2020 by AkiLeave a comment

Symbols are powerful instruments used by the brain to store larger clusters of data. Hypnotherapists frequently use symbols to embed commands and anchor to positive emotions. Symbols can be visual or auditory, or even based in touch.

Music is an auditory form of a symbol. Music can evoke Continue reading “Your Power Song” →

Qualifications Explained

Published on May 4, 2020July 15, 2020 by AkiLeave a comment

The world of psychological credentials is confusing to laypersons. Here is your handy guide: Continue reading “Qualifications Explained” →

What Hypnosis Isn’t

Published on April 20, 2020July 15, 2020 by AkiLeave a comment

There are many misconceptions about hypnosis from exaggerations on television and in movies. So what is it? And what isn’t it?

I practice hypnotherapy, which uses hypnosis to enable the inner mind, or subconscious, to make changes that are more rapid than in traditional talk therapy, or many other kinds of therapy. I am a therapist first. I have the training, education, and experience for my profession. I added hypnotherapy as an adjunct to my practice because I saw the value in working with both parts of consciousness in treatment. Going to a hypnotherapist, as opposed to a hypnotist, means there is a board of ethics and a minimum of training in psychology, as well as hypnotherapy, to be upheld and maintained. Continue reading “What Hypnosis Isn’t” →

Power in surrender

Published on April 10, 2018April 9, 2018 by AkiLeave a comment

I just saw Pacific Rim: Uprising (no spoilers). In the Pacific Rim movies, the stars pilot a mech, called a Jaeger, and fight Kaiju, monsters that have risen from the ocean, to protect the city. A Jaeger takes two pilots who have to “drift” in order to work well together. The process shares intimate memories with the copilot. Once a pair of pilots drifts, they can train together to maintain control of the mech and be in sync.

As a hypnotherapist, new clients sometimes say that they are nervous about “being hypnotized” because they are afraid of feeling “out of control.” Statements like this are based on misinformation about hypnosis and hypnotherapy, as seen in TV. Continue reading “Power in surrender” →

Changing Habits: From I CAN’T to I DON’T

Published on March 14, 2017June 28, 2018 by AkiLeave a comment

Diet. Dieting concept. Healthy Food. Beautiful Young Woman choos If you are ready to make a change in your eating habits, workout routine, motivation, substance abuse, smoking habits, parenting habits, or any other thing, hypnotherapy can move your item into the Not Box.

I read an article on changing habits that discussed change as moving an item from “I can’t” to “I don’t.” Continue reading “Changing Habits: From I CAN’T to I DON’T” →