The Transparent Hypnotist

Before I read the New York Times article earlier today, I had a notion to write about positive thoughts. So, indulge me if you will, as I find yet another way to actively procrastinate from task I really need to accomplish. LOL.

There are a couple of reasons why positive thoughts bubbled into my consciousness upon waking: one being the obvious negativity on certain forums and the second being the negativity people seem to elate in while reviewing others. I will not preach to the choir (cause I know, I just know you who read this are more positive minded), but I often wonder why there is such glee in putting down others. The character Anton Ego, the food critic in Rattialloue addresses this most eloquently. I wish I had the quote, it is so perfect. Basically he says that critics enjoy writing bad reviews because people love reading bad reviews.

Then I wonder….is this really true? For me, I would say not. When I read someone’s words who are predominantly negative, I stop reading. What about you?

And back to the subject from yesterday and the day before on paintball - yes I wrote a rave review. Most of my reviews tend to be that way. Now if I do have a truly negative experience I might share that, but in general, I try to go into most things with a positive mind. If I do not like it and it is of no real consequence to mention it, I probably will not. In the case of the paintball review, there were a few sites that were too slow, too confusing and unfriendly for the novice. I chose instead to focus on the positive experience.

So, I have decided to try something a bit fun and whimsical. I am going to track my attitudes by rating my day. Thanks to I Rate My Day, this seems to be an easy enough task. Yes, perhaps the icons are a little cartoonish, but hey, I still relish a good animated film. Just think of them as iconographic. You will notice on the right column of this blog, I have it available for those who may be interested. It might be a good forewarning about the tones of my post. LOL. It looks like this:

And yes, like cartoons and other such fancies, I also have a love of cool toys to include on the blog. I like this one because it is a chance to spread some positive energy out into cyberspace, or perhaps to receive it if your day is not going so well. If you click on the widget, it gives you a chance to comment. So you could in fact, make someone’s day.

I notice they are also running a contest to win a Microsoft Zune media player. To participate you must do the following:

• have an account on IRateMyDay (it’s free)
• enter by completing this registration form before July 31th;(hurry, hurry, hurry)
• if you have a blog: invite four friends and install the IRateMyDay widget on your site (like the one above and we can rate our days together).

OR

• if you don’t have a blog: invite 10 friends;
• have evaluated your day at least 30 days throughout the contest.

Once you register, the contest ends on August 31, 2007.

Sweet!

Normally, upon waking I grab my coffee or tea and slide into my chair, read email and begin my musing to you. Realizing the joy in occasionally shaking things up a bit, I read the New York Times this morning. There is an interesting article in the health section today entitled Who is Minding the Mind by Benedict Carey. You might want peruse it yourself, so just click on the article title and it should take you there.

Mr. Carey’s article discusses some interesting findings from various studies. One study focused on participants perceptions about a hypothetical person. Before this, the participants were “Bumped into” by a stranger and asked to hold a cup of hot coffee or tea or an iced beverage of the same nature. Those holding the iced cup often found the hypothetical person to be “cold”. Interesting.

Findings also found that much of humanities subconscious decisions happen in the ventral pallidum within the brain, the part that used to be considered the “reptilian” part and this is before it transmits to the prefrontal cortex.

Anyway, I will not rewrite or synopsize the whole article (two pages) so you can read it and enjoy it. I am always game for a good discussion.

Since there was little response to yesterday’s question of the week (but there is still plenty of time), I am presenting the same question as our poll topic, to which I hope you will respond. It is even more anonymous than posting your words on the comment section of the blog. And yes, I am aware that it is a touchy subject or seems to be when brought up in any group situations.

But I shall leave it to you and take another sip of my ginger peach tea. Very soothing to the throat, you know. There that’s better.

My partner has teased me mercilessly (well once) about my Saturday posting on paintball. He says that the fact that I know so little about it hardly gives me the right to expound so enthusiastically about a specific company. I understand this, but if you dear readers recall, I was challenged to learn more about paintball. I went to many sources (thank you wikipedia.com) and found the one mentioned to be one of the most helpful because of their online chat person, who patiently explained the pros and cons or various accessories (I compared this information to reviews I had read and most of it seemed to jive). And I did not want to go into the various types of paintball warfare out there. That would be like my partner telling me what techniques to use for my self-hypnosis section of the workshop. But I am hoping he will choose a more woodsball to speedball type of game.

Dr. Eimer’s article that I posted last Friday has been tickling my brain a bit. He was very kind in accepting my edit to his article (about finding a licenced health care person). Perhaps you have a feel of where I am going with this Sunday question. Are you thinking, oh no, Ellie, don’t go there?

Yep, I am going there.

Here is the question:

What are your thoughts on making hypnosis a licenced industry, rather than one that emphasizes certification, but does not require it?

I am probably speaking more toward those in the United States, but would love to hear about how the U.K. and other countries view this idea as well. I also believe there may be some states that require hypnosis to be practiced by licenced professional, so thoughts from those of you dealing with this would be welcomed as well.

I have heard many arguments for and against it. Am I correct in thinking that the states that require licencing in the U.S., required that one have a medical or counseling background? I admit there are times when I think it might be good to follow in the massage therapist licencing, where one could be a hypnotist and be licenced just for that.

One argument in which I have enjoyed listening is why one would want to go to a hypnotist as opposed to a psychologist who uses hypnosis in therapy. The argument for the hypnotist is that we are so focused into consciousness study and methods, we are not spread out with other therapy concerns. We have more focus.

So, your turn.

My partner and I have been discussing the concept of presenting team building workshops. My role would be to facilitate a self-hypnosis section and be

Here is my shout out to Michael Lank for sharing this link on uncommonforum.com (a really fabulous and well moderated forum) and proving great material for this Saturday’s post.

It is quite fun. Enjoy!

Here is the link to the youtube.com site where it is located.

My old faithful English Breakfast tea! How soothing it is on the throat when one seems to be inevitably destine for a summer cold. I suppose I should be thinking healing thoughts, but I am a bit torn between that and fighting it or just letting it happen and going with the flow. Even with this New Age enlightenment stuff, I guess we still have many choices.

In my current research with birthing techniques and such, I came across Dr. Bruce Eimer’s article on pain management. Though this article does not so much speak to child birthing, it does relate. There are some interesting similarities to Dr. Peterson’s premises (see yesterday’s posts). His again deals with some emotional aspects. Here is his article:

Hypnosis and Pain Management

Living with Chronic Persistent Pain can be a terrible energy drain and distraction. In addition to the “physical hurt” of the pain, there usually is a component of “emotional suffering”. This emotional component, or “emotional overlay” to the physical pain can make the pain hurt more, and it can also interfere with pain treatment. Emotional suffering makes physical pain worse.

Hypnosis … may help you obtain relief from the “Sensory” component” of your persistent pain, as well as from the “Emotional Overlay”.

Relief from the pain’s “Sensory” component” can be obtained through the induction of Hypnosis and the utilization of appropriate, individualized Hypnotic Analgesia, Relaxation, and Imagery techniques. In addition, you may benefit by learning SELF-HYPNOSIS so that you can self-induce the Hypnotic State and benefit regularly from the Escape from Pain that it can provide.

Relief from the pain’s “Emotional Overlay” component” can be obtained by changing your self-defeating, negative thinking patterns through the use of both “Waking State Reframing” and Hypnosis. This can enable you to cope better.

Pain is a total experience that is at once a “Physical Sensation”, an “Emotion” (e.g., depression, fear, anxiety, anger), an accompanying thought (e.g., Ouch!! This really hurts! When is this going to end?”) and a “Behavior” (e.g., laying down, ceasing activities that hurt, etc.). Pure pain” WITHOUT the “Emotional” and “Thinking” components does not hurt as much and is more tolerable.

Fear, Anger, Anxiety, and Depression all make pain worse. Negative ideas should be removed from one’s Conscious and expecially one’s Unconscious (i.e., “Subconscious”) Minds. This is best accomplished through the appropriate use of Cognitive Psychotherapy, Reframing, and Hypnosis.

No one need suffer continuously or endlessly. PAIN MAY BE MANDATORY BUT SUFFERING IS OPTIONAL. Most people can be helped to better cope with their pain.

To learn more about Dr. Eimer’s practice, go to www.hypnosishelpcenter.net.

*You will note the ellipsis at the second paragraph. Sorry Dr. Eimer, I did make an edit here. What I clipped out is “administered by the right licensed health professional.” Seems a bit small of me, I know, but I wanted to use it to make a point. In the United States, in most states, one does not even really have to be certified to be a hypnotist, much less licensed. I understand Dr. Eimer’s point of view on licensing, though. He is a clinical psychologist who uses hypnosis in his practice. However, there are some very wonderful hypnotists out there who are certified and should not be dismissed. If you are looking for a hypnotist, my suggestion would be to make sure that they are certified by a real association and do find out about their background.

Another pot of coffee later…

If you have already read today’s post and article by Gayle Peterson, you may want to look at it again. I have made a correction to the article that may clarify Dr. Peterson’s approach. I had originally cut it out, but it does make more sense with it in. So, my apologies to Dr. Peterson.

She emailed me to clarify all this and I thought I would quote the email because it is beautiful put:

It would be wonderful if people could finally understand that my body-centered hypnosis is developed through my research, applying concepts of indirect hypnosis (Ericksonian) to a woman’s unique life history. I have termed my approach “body-centered hypnosis” as it applies to the woman’s relationship to the cues of her body and psychological landscape……

Good morning, fellow coffee and tea drinkers (and anyone else for that matter).

As I mentioned in my last post, I contacted Dr. Gayle Peterson about her body-centered hypnosis for child-birth and she was kind enough to respond with a lot of helpful resources.

Basically, if I have understood her correctly, her method is a bit different from the traditional child-birthing hypnosis concept that involves disassociating the pain of labor. Since labor pains fluctuate in many ways, the dissociative method may not be the best solution for helping women with their pregnancy. (And sorry about this gentlemen, but as a female, if I were to have children, I would do so using natural child-birthing methods - midwife and all, and it seems like this body-centered approach would be perfect, perhaps heightening the experience as opposed to repressing it).

But rather then trying to explain this in my words, here are Dr. Peterson’s:

Hypnobirthing is a method, like LaMaze, that is based on Grantley Dick Read’s premise that fear of labor pain, alone, causes tension in childbirth. This approach has flaws, both scientific and practical. The body-centered hypnosis that I developed since 1973 is based on research that shows that hypnosis that is associative, rather than dissociative can greatly assist women in their adaptation and coping with labor, specifically targeting a woman’s unique needs. Women should not be slotted into “one size fits all” methods.

Dick Read’s approach was not a scientific one and represents an overly simplistic application of neurophysiology. Tension is not only related to the fear of pain in childbirth, but to many other factors which may impinge upon women at the time of her transition into motherhood. Body-centered hypnosis aimed at addressing a woman’s unique concerns about her labor and transition to motherhood, statistically decreases the need for medication, even in those few cases in which interventions, such as pitocin, are necessary.

I use body-centered hypnosis to decrease tension about labor and birth and to resolve fears about the upcoming psychological transition to motherhood. This hypnosis is unique to each woman and is not a mass produced method. I support the individual woman in her process. It is not my goal that childbirth should be a certain way, natural or not, painful or not. Instead, my hope is to support the woman where she is in the context of her family history and culture. The result of this kind of support can be empowerment.

An authentic approach to childbirth must forgo ideas about how women should birth, and embrace, instead, a woman’s own desires. No method should dictate a woman’s experience or pressure her to believe based on another’s perspective. Instead it should be flexible enough to meet her individual needs and support her growth.

Lastly, we should keep in mind that any method is only as good as its failures. Exploring the failures of “hypnobirthing” will yield valuable insight into what is missing for women, rather than interpret their failures as not living up to the model requiring one right way to “succeed” at childbirth.

Gayle Peterson, PhD

Many thanks to Dr. Peterson for responding to my request. If you would like to learn more about the process and her methods, visit her website at www.makinghealthyfamilies.com .

This seems like a great topic to explore for awhile and for those of you who used hypnosis during your pregnancy (or your partner’s) or for those who facilitate hypnosis in such situations, please respond to this. I am fairly inexperienced in parts of this subject, so please do not hesitate to add your comments and such.

My experience is working with fears and phobias related to pregnancy, not the actual birthing process. With conception, there seems to be a certain amount of anxiety or self-esteem issues - will I be a good mother/father, I come from an abusive childhood and do not want that for my child, what if I am not healthy enough, how will I deal with the pain, and many more along this line. I have found that release techniques are great for this.

I looked up the subject of hypnosis and pregnancy and came across an interesting form of hypnosis that is a body-centered approach, as practiced by Dr. Gayle Peterson. I have written to her about explaining her approach for us as it sounds wonderful. Hopefully, I will hear from her soon.

She wrote an interesting snippet for iVillage about this. The premise is that using dissociative hypnosis (often used in pain management hypnosis) is not that helpful during labor because labor ebbs and flows, ever changing. Peterson’s model seeks to accept the pain,”diving” into it interestingly enough, rather than avoiding it.

Do any of you have any experience with this?