The Transparent Hypnotist

(Guest blogger:  Michael Raugh)

Friday night at the annual NGH convention is always show night.  Three stage hypnotists put on shows for the entertainment of the attendees and their guests.  This year the performers were Tommy Vee, Nadeen the self-styled “Queen of Hypnosis,” and Dan LaRosa.  Tommy Vee and Dan LaRosa were both well-known performers that I’d seen before, so my group (myself, Julie, and two of my sons) got tickets for Nadeen, the 8:30 show.

The show was interesting.  Nadeen was clearly nervous, as I think anyone would be with people like Dr. Dwight Damon and Jerry Valley in the audience along with some 450 other hypnotists and their guests.  Her format was something I’ve never seen done before:  a tribute show.  Nadeen borrowed routines from several famous stage performers past and present such as the late Ormond McGill, Tom Silver, and Jerry Valley (gutsy with Jerry in the audience), gave a short introduction to each discussing the original hypnotist, and then performed the routines in her own style with a nod to the originator.   I won’t say that the performance lived up to the “Queen of Hypnosis” tag but it was certainly one of the more memorable shows I’ve seen lately.

After being up late socializing it was hard to get moving for an 8am session on Saturday, but somehow I managed it.  And I was glad, because the session I’d chosen was Communicating Under Pressure by Faith Wood.  Faith has a smooth, dynamic style that is easy to listen to and a great sense of humor.  The session focused on communication skills when either you or the person you are seeking to communicate with is under emotional pressure.  Real-life examples and Faith’s style made this a very pleasant and informative hour — just what I needed to start the day.

Next I moved on to another session I picked because I know, like, and respect the presenter:  William Mitchell’s How to Make Posthypnotic Suggestions Stick.  William gave lots of practical advice backed up with examples from his practice, including a recorded interview with a smoking cessation client in which she talked about being surprised by the effects of some of the posthypnotic suggestions he’d given her.

After that came a two-hour paid seminar that I’d chosen from Scott McFall called Inductions of the Masters.  Scott comes off as something of a renegade and seems to enjoy it that way.  His style is to throw out a statement intended to challenge the audience’s beliefs (for example:  “People have all kinds of misconceptions about hypnosis.  Don’t mess with that — we spent hundreds of years creating them!”) and then back it up with evidence or experiential stories to prove his point.  It made for a fun and fascinating two hours, in which Scott called out specific qualities or statements of legendary hypnotists and discussed why they worked so well.

After a lunch break I had two more sessions to attend.  Wil Horton’s Inside Secrets of Elite Trainers contained insights into making more memorable, interesting training presentations and was well worth the time to attend.

The highlight of the day, though, was my last session:  Hypnotist, Hypnotize Thyself! with Gloria Constantas.  I have a lot of admiration for Gloria because she always challenges me to think differently and to really examine what I believe and why.  This session took the concepts from her Verbal Impact presentation that I’d attended in 2007 and advanced them a step farther into a discussion of how we as hypnotists can — and should — be helping ourselves through our own self-talk and the use of the basic principles of self-hypnosis.  It was a pleasure to be in Gloria’s audience again.

Tonight most of the attendees will be taking part in the formal banquet and awards presentation.  Not me; Julie and I are due for some together time.  I’ll do a wrap-up installment tomorrow when the conference is over.

<MR>

(Guest blogger: Michael Raugh)

Yes, it’s been a long dry spell at The Transparent Hypnotist.  Things have been quite busy, personally and professionally, for both Ellie and me.  Ellie was not able to make the NGH convention this year, so I thought I’d post a few reports while I’m here for the benefit of those who aren’t here.

This year’s theme is “Join the Leaders.”  I’ll have to ask some people who saw Dr. Damon’s keynote for highlights because I missed it.  (Why do they schedule it for 8am Friday, anyway?)   My session choices this year are a mixture of basic skills, marketing (a major weakness of mine), and things that either look like fun or feature presenters I admire and enjoy.

The day started with a session on Abreactions given by Marx Howell.  Marx’s field is forensic hypnosis rather than therapy, so his approach to the subject is quite different from what I’m used to seeing presented.  Often in therapy we seek to cause an abreaction as part of the process of resolving inner conflict; Marx works exclusively with victims and witnesses to violent crime, though, and as a result is more focused on protecting the client from that emotional trauma while eliciting information reliably.  He had a lot of good points on how to avoid an abreaction if that’s the goal.

Next up was Marilyn Gordon’s session on Hypnosis And The Internet.  I have to say this was a disappointment to me.  Marilyn is very well known and respected within NGH, but it became painfully obvious early on that she was presenting on a topic that she barely understands herself.  Gloria Constantas was sitting with me in that session and got to see me wince repeatedly as Marilyn tossed out inaccurate web terminology and asserted that “right-brained” people have a hard time understanding tech.  I would attend another Marilyn Gordon seminar without hesitation, but not if the topic is in any way related to technology.

Next came play time:  Joann Abrahamsen’s session called Gimmicks, Gizmos and Gadgets.  Several years ago I took a similar session, then given by Laura Amoroso, and it was so much fun that I wanted to see Joann’s take on it.  She brought out a suitcase full of various toys and demonstrated how they can be used as induction props.  Several were simply novel eye fixation objects, including a plastic ‘magic wand’ with a flashing pink star at the tip and an hourglass.  Joann also demonstrated an auditory induction using a pair of Chinese singing balls and a kinesthetic induction using a pair of soft, squishy stress balls.  It was a nice way to close out the morning.

After lunch I have Joann Abrahamsen again for a three-hour paid workshop all about inductions.  Admittedly this falls squarely under “fun” on my selection criteria, but every hypnotist knows that while we may have a couple of go-to inductions that we tend to use the most it’s always good to experiment with more.  A hypnotist who knows, and can confidently use, a wide range of induction techniques is more versatile and therefore better prepared for that eventual client who just needs something a bit different for the best experience.

More as it happens.

<MR>

(guest posted by Michael Raugh)

Morning, everyone.   It’s been way too long since we had a Monday news round-up.  Part of the reason, I’ll confess, is that I haven’t found much to include.  Ellie is much better at finding these things than I am.  Still, here’s what a bit of Googling turned up.

From naturalnews.com comes a short piece by Steve G. Jones that touches on how researchers use hypnosis to study how the brain responds to different stimuli.  His sources are all pretty old and the piece is vague, but at least it’s possible and factual.

A piece on WebMD last week talks about a recent University of Geneva study on paralysis that looks interesting.  A dozen volunteers were hypnotized and givent he suggestion that their left hand would be paralyzed and then, while hooked up to a functional MRI, told to move that hand.  Those results were then compared to a control group who were not hypnotized but instead told to fake the paralysis.

A press release from the weekend announced that Jeffrey H. Cohen received the Humanitarian Award from the IACT/IMDHA at their May convention in Florida.  IMDHA has seriously upgraded its image, in my estimation anyway, since merging with IACT and coming under the guidance of the likes of Robert Otto and Wendi Friesen.

Did you notice anything that I missed?  Leave a comment and let everyone know.

<MR>

As I write this it’s just a touch under two months until the annual National Guild of Hypnotists Convention.

I spent some time recently looking over the convention catalog, which is posted on the convention page of the NGH website.  A few of the one-hour seminars caught my attention and I thought, in the absence of a Friday 10 Questions, I’d draw some attention to them for the benefit of those who plan to attent (or who are maybe trying to decide).

• Marx Howell will be doing a lecture on regression techniques with an eye toward avoiding traumatic abreactions.  Marx’s experience with forensic hypnosis (using hypnosis with crime victims) makes him an expert on that and I know from past seminars that Marx is an outstanding presenter, so I’m looking forward to this.
• Joann Abrahamsen is on the schedule with her annual “Gimmicks, Gizmos and Gadgets” presentation.  I love this seminar!  Every year Joann shares the latest in toys and gadgets she’s discovered that, whether intentionally or not, can be used very effectively as hypnosis props.
• Bernard Yam will be exploring the scientific side of hypnotism, discussing FMRI technology and its implications to how we view … well, everything.  I attended his seminars last year and enjoyed them both.
• My favorite presenter of all time, Gloria Constantas, presents “Hypnotist, Hypnotize Thyself!” about using hypnosis on ourselves.  This will be an absolute must see.
• These two really surprised me:  Philip Holder is holding a seminar Friday called “Put the Pizzazz Back In Your Sex Life” in which, according to the blurb, he will discuss using hypnosis to help with better and more satisfying sex.  Then on Sunday, Sharon Stidham presents “Not Tonight — I Love You, But I Have a Headache — Zen & The Art Of Middle Aged Sex” which pretty much says it all right there. Anything remotely about sex has been taboo with NGH for years, so I hope there is a strong turnout for these.

Mind you, those are just a few picks that jumped out at me from approaching two hundred possibilities.  There was also the usual contingent of things that strike me, at least up front, as of dubious value or credibility.  Hypnosis to cure allergies?  There are seminars on past life regression, on whether or not to believe in PLR, and now there’s one on “Lives Between Lives” — which seems to say that there are lifes in between the past lives!  I’m a pragmatist when it comes to that sort of thing, but I’m sure they will be well attended.

And of course it wouldn’t be an NGH convention if there wasn’t also a collection of old stand-bys:  morning yoga and chi kung, seminars on how to conduct seminars, and of course “How To Prepare A Winning Convention Proposal.”

Since I’ll probably be busy this weekend and may not get a Sunday Question posted, let’s close with one:  Are you planning to attend the NGH Convention in August?  What seminars do you plan to attend?

<MR>

Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Newton, MA (from their website)

(Guest poster:  Michael Raugh)

Good morning.

First things first:  Ellie is okay.  She’s run into a serious time crunch because of some of the changes she alluded to in her real-world life, and that’s what has kept her from the blog.  When she returns I’m sure she’ll share as much of the story as she can.

My sweetheart, Julie, had day surgery recently at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, which involved a different sort of pain than Ellie’s.  Often as a hypnotist I feel a little out of place in a medical facility.  So many real doctors tend to see hypnotists, especially “lay hypnotists” like myself, as a nuisance at best or charlatans at worst.  The staff at Newton-Wellesley gave me none of that vibe, I rush to say.  They are delightful people and made us feel very comfortable.

In the 19th century James Braid performed hundreds of amputations and other surgeries using only hypnosis for anesthesia.  A number of modern hospitals welcome hypnosis in childbirth (talk to my friend Dee Bitner about that) but it’s not often seen in other forms of surgery.  And Julie was no exception.  She is capable of reaching very deep trance states up to and including the Esdaile state, so in theory she could have had her procedure that way, but there’s a time and a place for experiments and this wasn’t it.

We did make ample use of hypnosis both before and after the procedure, though.  Before, for example, I put Julie in a moderate trance to help her remain relaxed and distracted while the nurse tried twice to establish a good IV and then had to yield to the anesthesiologist because Julie’s veins were hard to pin down.   The nurse commented on how soothing my voice was.

After the procedure Julie was in a fair amount of pain despite the medications still in her system.  We worked on that and were able to  lessen the pain somewhat, but the narcotics interfered with her concentration.  It wasn’t until that evening when she could focus well enough to really take control of her body’s responses again.  I’m proud of my honey, though, because she made it through the next few days needing nothing but hypnosis and a little Advil to keep herself comfortable.  As a result she felt good enough that we spent Memorial Day weekend out and about, within reasonable limits, and that helped us both feel worlds better.

<MR>

I have alluded to the idea that things are changing for The Transparent Hypnotist, but before I do anything terribly differently, I want to know what you think. This is important because without your support these are just words, binary bits in the air. Yes, I know, having a survey on a Monday is a serious deviation already, but it just cannot be helped.

There are 12 questions (mostly multiple choice) on this survey. It should only take a couple of minutes. I hope you will help me out by answering the questions.

*Entrecarders - I will give the first 10 of you who answer the questions (you have to enter your email in the survey) and leave me a comment or email (ellie.blunt@gmail.com) a 100 entrecredits.

Photograph by freeparking(cc)

The smell is all newness and potential, grand adventures and long drives. The last congratulatory handshakes from the sales person have passed, my name has been signed to a servitude of paying-off a loan and the keys have been handed over. There is a sense of familiarity in sitting behind the wheel. It feels and drives like my last beloved little car, the one that I have left behind at the dealership. Memories and emotion flow out of me as I drive my pre-owned car off the lot and make it a part of my daily life.

I find myself mourning my old car and feel like I have taken a cherished pet to the animal shelter. I do not know what will happen to it, but I hope for the best. I also know that this is pure silliness on my part - the car had over 175,000 miles on it, was thirteen years old, over-heated in city traffic, needed some extensive repair work and had peeling paint….and yet, I remember the joy of taking it home that first, rainy day. It took me across the the world, or at least it felt like it at times (across the States several times). At other times, it felt like the only friend I had.

Perhaps you are like my partner and wonder about how I have anthropomorphized that vehicle. And yes, perhaps I should be more evolved and not feel the pangs of loss (I do have a beautiful, close-to new car) for a material object, but alas, even years of psychology courses seem to be failing me at the moment. Maybe this falls into the whole “change is hard” category.

I have chosen to share this with you, needing to remember this (so maybe I will not become quite so attached the next time), needing to remember the spirit of my vehicle and show my gratitude towards it for keeping me safe and being as reliable as it was for so long. I hope you will understand.

So today’s question relates to this - do you think of your vehicles as objects of transportation or is there something more to them, something almost intangible that gives them something like an artificial intelligence?

Yesterday’s 10 Questions were just not complete. I did a terrible thing…in all my hurriedness, I short-changed my guest hypnotist. Yes, I did the unthinkable, the unfair, the most terrible thing I could do – I forget to include Shelley Albini’s location and a link to her web site.

I have corrected this error, but I still feel bad. Dear reader, if you would, please visit her web site at www.natural-mama.net and help me make this up to her.

Location: Waterburyand New Haven, CT
Cyber Location: www.natural-mama.net

1. Are you a full time hypnotist, a part-time hypnotist, a professional who incorporates hypnotism occasionally in your other
practice, or are you a hobbyist?

I am a part time hypnotist and a full time business owner.

2. Do you specialize in any type of hypnotism?

I specialize in natural childbirth and fertility using hypnosis.

3. Is there any form of hypnotism that you do not practice and why (i.e. entertainment, past-life regression, pain management)?

I find that focusing on birth helps me to be good at what I do. There are so many areas in life that can benefit by hypnosis, too many to focus on at this time.

4. Do you use self-hypnosis regularly in your life? If so, how?

Self-hypnosis is too awesome a skill not to use myself. I use it to improve my business decisions and for general peace of mind.

5. Describe your hypnotism office or work setting.

I teach in many different settings. I teach classes at Yale New Haven Hospital 4 times a year on Saturday mornings, I teach at couples homes and in my office at 1449 Old Waterbury Road, Southbury, CT.

6. Describe a typical day in your life.

My primary job is MOM, so I do all the mom things, but when everyone is in school, I spend time in my home office when I’m not out with clients. I love what I do.

7. Where did you get your training in hypnotism and are you certified by any organization?

I initially became certified by the HypnoBirthing Institute to teach HypnoBirthing classes. I went on to receive my Hypnotherapy certification from the National Guild of Hypnotherapists (NGH) and most recently became certified to do Fertility using Hypnosis.

8. What is the most fabulous hypnotism technique you use or prefer?

I agree with another interviewee that the most fabulous technique is the one that is perfect for the client and comes through my subconscious to the room. It’s quiet exciting. I did a session for fertility using hypnosis and two weeks later the women became pregnant. Doesn’t get any better than that!

9. What was the worse moment you ever experienced in a hypnotism setting that ended up being a valuable learning experience?

Luckily nothing horrible has happened. At the very least, clients become very relaxed and leave with a sense of well being. Sometimes births don’t happen the way couples hope they would, and the learning here is that one can only control their part. The baby and the Universe have a say as well.

10. Do you have any words of advice to potential clients or other hypnotists that you would like to share?

Self-hypnosis is an amazing tool for childbirth and I encourage clients and practitioners alike to explore this option. Thanks for this opportunity to share my views.

Photography by Auzigog(cc)

Yikes!!!!

Age has set in and I am deteriorating on the spot. I have been having some eye problems (a suggestion imprinted for my mum’s eye problems back in January?) and apparently my sight has changed significantly from last year.  I thought it would be a simple get-new-lens-for-the-glasses, but it seems more complicated. My sight has changed so much so that with the new lens, I have perspective issues and headaches. I have been back to the optometrist twice and they told me to hang in there until next Monday. I asked why and the response is that it will take my brain a little while to catch up with the change. Apparently my mind is trying to compensate for the changes as compared to my old lens and it will take a little time for the mind to adjust to the new lens.

Soooooo…if it is a mind thing, then I can influence the change through hypnotism. I can nudge my mind into accepting the change a little sooner. However, as the headache looms large, I am having trouble focusing. Hypnotist out there, any suggestions for creating that change?