The Transparent Hypnotist

Location: Boise, ID
Cyber Location: www.IdahoHypnotherapy.com

1. Are you a full time hypnotist, part-time or hobbyist?

Full time, 15 years.

2. Do you specialize in any type of hypnosis?

Smoking, Pain, Medical, Birthing, Sports, Academics, Testing, Fears, Regression, Timeline, and a whole lot more. See my web site www.IdahoHypnotherapy.com

3. Is there any type of hypnosis you do not do? Why?

I don’t do much weight reduction, mainly because I don’t enjoy it. I have stopped doing most addiction and alcohol work, because I did too much of it and got burned too often.

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

Yes. Currently working on patience, weight management, pain control and health issues.

5. Describe your hypnosis office or work setting.

I have an office attached to my home in a peaceful setting in the Boise foothills.

6. Describe a typical day in your life.

Wake up. Prepare 2 small children for school. See clients. Prepare meals. Bathe children. Read stories to kids. Sleep. Sorry - most days are pretty routine. We like ballet, concerts and movies when we get the chance, and playing in the park is always good. Some Sundays, I speak in Church (Religious Science). We like Idaho outdoor activities - especially fishing.

7. Where did you get your training in hypnosis and are you certified?

National Guild of Hypnotists Board Certified. Training from too many sources to list, but including Charles Tart, Rick Boyes, Karen Alexander, Gerry Kein, Sean Longacre, Mike Preston, Gil Boyne, Charles Tebbetts, and Ormond McGill. Started learning in 1966. First formally certified in 1994 in Boise by the national Board for Hypnotherapy and Hypnotic Anesthesia.

8. Most fabulous hypnosis technique you use?

Ormond McGill’s Trust and Love Hyponotherapy. And my Dancing Pigeon Technique.

9. Worse moment ever in a hypnosis setting that ended up being a valuable learning experience.

The first time I was required by my teachers to invent an induction method on the spot. It took 5 minutes of mental paralysis and 5 seconds of inspiration. It proved to me that when the client wants to go into hypnosis, nothing can stop them from going there.

10. Any words of advice to potential clients or other hypnotist.

The essence of all healing is shining love into a difficult situation. Every client knows where they are stuck and what they need to get past to get free. Our job is to connect clients with their own healing resources and then get the heck out of their way.

My hypnotic sensei, Marcia Proctor, likes to compare hypnotists to Obi-wan Kenobi. Not because we’re wise, patient, and speak with a cool accent, but because to our clients we’re often the last resort. Or, as the movie put it, “Help me, Obi-wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.”

One of the questions I like to ask in pre-talk is what other methods the client has already tried to address whatever issue they’ve come with. I get all kinds of answers, depending on the situation; the one answer I never get is, “I haven’t tried before.” We’re never the first choice.

And of course that puts the pressure on, doesn’t it? Being the last hope means that if we don’t succeed nothing will — at least, that’s often the client’s perception. But like a good Jedi we set aside the fear of failure and trust our instincts. We listen, we choose metaphors that will resonate with this particular client for this particular situation, and we weave it all into a stream of soothing, helpful patter that, if we believe in ourselves enough, will have the desired effect.

Another thing we have in common with the Jedi masters is that we are often placed in the role of mentor to our clients. We don’t just give them suggestions to become a nonsmoker, we also become their coach in the process. And since I make a point of teaching self-hypnosis to all of my clients, I also become a sort of hypno-sensei to them as they experiment with self suggestion. Like Obi-wan, I’m teaching my padawan clients to use the force in their own way, and a lot of that is getting them to believe that they can.

I wonder whether Sir Alec Guinness ever went to a hypnotist.

<MR>

(Side note: for those who’ve posted comments in Ellie’s absence, they’re not lost — I simply lack the authority to release them from moderation.)

Sometimes no matter how much you plan in advance, it’s necessary to improvise.

Case in point: I’m getting a late start in my guest blogging stint because of the need to keep up with my day job (yes, I’m one of those part-time hypnotists) and a flurry of extra housecleaning in preparation for a visit from some friends. So while I’ve been thinking about blog topics for a week now, assembling a coherent post has proven more difficult than expected.

A friend of mine, Dick Dyzel, had a similar problem during his show last weekend at The Comedy Spot in Arlington, VA. Dick has been an entertainer and TV personality for … well, longer than it’s polite to say, and in the past year or so has branched out into stage hypnosis.

This past Saturday there was supposed to be a large bachelorette party attending his show, which should have made for a lively crowd and a very entertaining show. As show time approached, though, he had maybe 10 people in the audience and 8 chairs for volunteers on stage. A few more people wandered in as he was getting started, but the bachelorettes never did show.

So Dick adjusted. After his opening he asked for volunteers and got about five people, most of whom came from a group seated in the second row. He began doing a progressive relaxation induction, and people on stage began to relax and settle down. He moved into a modified Dave Elman mode, having the volunteers open their eyes and then close them again in the classic fractionation exercise. As the volunteers opened their eyes, though, their friends in the second row started waving and giggling and catching their attention. Four of the five came completely out of trance and left the stage, leaving Dick with a single teenage boy to work with.

So Dick adjusted. He pointed out, in a very professional and upbeat way, that the show would be a lot better with at least a couple of volunteers. A couple of people responded, and he ran through the induction again. This time all three of his volunteers worked out and he was able to complete the show.

This sort of thing is not limited to stage hypnotists, though. One day I was well into a smoking cessation session. I’d regressed the client to that first cigarette expecting him to remember coughing and choking and hating the taste, only to find that he was that one person in a thousand who actually enjoyed his first cigarette. Oops! So much for that negative anchor I was going to use; time to adjust.

Then there was the time I agreed to do a telephone session. I’d worked with this person before and she just needed some reinforcement and was out of town. So I made sure she had a headset for the phone and began my induction. A minute or two into it, as she was dropping nicely into trance, I heard a thud! and became aware that I could no longer hear my client breathing — she’d dropped the phone and in the process pulled out her headset cord! I had to wait for her to realize I was no longer there, come out of trance, and find the dropped phone before we could try again. This time she put the phone on an end table and we had our session successfully.

We’ve all had things like this happen to us, yes? I’ll admit that I even enjoy them sometimes, after the challenge has been meet and the desired result achieved. That need to deal with the unexpected is what makes working with the mind so much fun, after all.

And sometimes we get lucky. Dick, for instance, had a friend in the audience who was a hypnotist, someone he knew would go into trance easily and be very responsive, and who was willing to change his own plan by volunteering when the first wave abandoned the stage. Considering the other volunteer was my 14-year-old son, it seemed like the least I could do.

<MR>

by Joshua Houghton, NGH Certified Hypnotist

When I first got started in hypnosis I went around to everyone I knew asking to hypnotize them. Most of the people said no, but a few of them agreed to “try” hypnosis. These people knew nothing about hypnosis, but being a confidence newcomer I didn’t feel I had to educate them on hypnosis. I figured all I had to do was copy some youtube video’s I’ve seen.

I knew I could hypnotize someone and emerge them from hypnosis if I just followed the videos I had watched. Looking back on this situation I think I may have been to confidence in myself, which can blow up in your face sometimes. I walked up to the guy, told him to press on my hand, close his eyes and the moment he started to apply pressure to my hand I yelled “sleep” in a deep voice. As I yelled sleep I knew I was going to be successful. I glanced up to see what a person in hypnosis looks like in real life and got a surprise. His eyes were wide open; he looked at me and said did it work? My hurt ego took a moment and answered “no, it didn’t work and I’m not sure why”.

I spent a week studying the videos and had followed what I had seen the hypnotist do on the video. I had no idea what was wrong and was about to chalk it up to he was one of the few people who couldn’t be hypnotized. Wow, I had a really big ego back then and I had some nerve assuming this was the case when this was my first attempt at hypnotizing someone. Due to a lack of financial means I couldn’t afford formal training. My education came from all the free e-books floating around and many of the youtube videos. I assumed that hypnosis was just as easy as yelling sleep and that’s not the case. There was more going on behind the scene then I realized.

It wasn’t until I ran across a certain video that a friend let me borrow that changed my future and gave me the tools for success. The hypnotist in the video mentioned how important it is to discuss hypnosis with the person before attempting to hypnotize them. The hypnotist on the tape made a statement that put it all into place for me. A person will only enter hypnosis based upon the fear they have of the subject. I had been trying to enter a locked door without the key to open it, now I had the key needed to succeed. The key to having a person enter hypnosis is called the Pre-Talk.

So the next question is what is a pre-talk? A pre-talk can either be a long or brief talk about what hypnosis is and addressing any fears the person may have about hypnosis. You basically address some of the rumors and myths about hypnosis and explain the truth to the person. You let them know they are not asleep during hypnosis, they can hear you speaking to them in hypnosis. Let them know they are in control and will never do anything against their moral or ethics. You want them to feel comfortable with hypnosis and give them the real facts. Society has programmed the general public to think hypnosis is something it isn’t. People think we perform some type of black magic or we control their minds. So you must become the expert and explain the truth to them.

It makes a lot of sense and looking back at the lesson I learned and I can’t believe I never thought of it before. Think about this for a moment. Would you sky dive off of a plane if you were afraid of heights? You might really want to experience it, but due to your fear you just can’t make that jump. Have you ever wanted to do anything in your life, but some fear held you back? If so, then you may have an idea about what might be going through the head of the person you are about to hypnotize. They don’t know what to expect and may be afraid even if they don’t tell you so.

The next part of the pre-talk to be honest is simple and is used more when using rapid or instant induction techniques. You must build up the person’s expectations of what to expect. You basically what to tell them that if they do exactly as you say nothing more and nothing less they will enter a wonderful relaxed, deep state of hypnosis and they will feel great. You want them to associate something good to the experience. Let them know how good it’s going to feel or how relaxed they are going to be when they enter hypnosis. Once you build this up all you have to do is one more thing. You must ask permission to hypnotize the person.

I usually use something called the hypnotic contract. I basically will tell the person that if they do exactly as I say nothing more and nothing less they will enter a wonderful state of hypnosis. If you do this for me I will make sure you are taking care of and no harm will come to you. If this is acceptable to you, are you ready to go into hypnosis? As you see I compounded the statement with repeating it twice and the final step is added right onto the end of the contract.

This makes the person feel you respect them by asking them formal permission. It also gives the person permission for them to enter hypnosis since all hypnosis is just self hypnosis. Once you have all of this in place all you have to do is perform your instant or rapid induction and watch the person enter hypnosis quickly and easily. A little tip to remember is to make sure you deliver your pre-talk with confidence. Confidence is a huge part of successful hypnosis. You will also find as you get better and better you will be able to get this pre-talk down within a few min.

In the beginning the mistake I made was thinking what I saw on the videos was all there was to performing hypnosis. Hypnosis isn’t magic, it’s a process. Once we understand that process we are able to use it much more efficient. I learned a lesson that day which was sometimes you have to make a mistake to succeed in the long run. The pre-talk is the most important part of what we do as hypnotists. The pre-talk allows us to educate people and make the client or person feel comfortable enough to enter hypnosis and feel comfortable with us. I recommend any beginner who is serious about the field of hypnotism to study hypnosis and learn the truth behind the rumors. This will help you in developing your own pre-talk. In the end just remember to eliminate fears, build up the clients expectations and get permission. Once you have done this you will find your success rate sore.

www.whatsonmybrain.com
www.southernhypnosis.com

Grand adventures await us this week. Are you ready? Have a nice hot cup of tea all set?

Thank Yous

First, let me start off by thanking Debbie Lane again for taking on the Sunday Question yesterday. And do keep up with her; I believe she mentioned she would be releasing a new CD in the near future. Her blog is at www.wisdomhypnosis.blogspot.com.

Guest Bloggers
I am on travel for the next little bit and rather than counting on coffee shops and time to keep up this blog, you will find others being transparent for me (though I will check in for quick hellos and such). Tomorrow Josh Houghton will be posting and then Michael Raugh will be handling the blog until next Monday. Also, our 10 Question Friday will be with Robert Hughes. So, please, continue to stop by and comment.

The Poll
On the poll front - it has been a bumpy ride. No more SodaHead for us. Check back in a bit. I have some other tricks up my sleeve.

The Turning Girl Controversy
And, as the turning girl has continued to create stir on my blogs (nothing like a good controversy, eh? LOL), perhaps I should recap the recent goings on. If you will recall, as it turns out, she is an optical illusion that I mentioned a while ago in my exploration of Betty Edwards’ Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, posted on The Unwinding Path. I posted the turning girl as a fun little experiment to illustrate points in Edwards’ book. The theory behind this particular book is based on the state of consciousness needed for competent drawing (much like a state of hypnosis). The original premise is that the asymmetry of the brain and how it functions is the reference to left-brain or right brain.

Well some of my readers have gotten caught up in it and have begun to debate brain science on this blog. A gentleman with a Harvard email address checked in. Yet, poor Nick, if indeed you are from Harvard, when attempting to email you, my note was returned saying there is no such address. Please check in again if you are reading this. Is it possible we have someone merely using the intellectual property of reputation the Ivy-league? Another, tending to agree with Nick, accuses me of passing on misinformation. So, I though it would be fun to get on the Ellie soapbox.

Science definitely has its place. It is ever changing. New things are discovered. Old ideas are disproved. Old disproved ideas are looked at and proven again. Science is not absolute. That is the beauty of it. We try so hard to pinpoint and grasp the tangible in our egoic needs for structure. But, we cannot rest on these structures. The foundation is air. We have to keep questioning and re-examining. If we did not continue to do this, we would still be using lobotomies to subdue those who suffer mental maladies, not to mention some of the harsher medications that were used for the same purpose.

And science suffers the same issues as everything else - how the results are spun. There are studies upon studies, one proving one thing, another saying something different (and the results may be the same interestingly enough). In the realms of current thought (and it is thought), the two hemispheres of the brain are different. They work hand in hand to create a balance of some sort. It may not be as pretty as logical and creative, but it depends what you read and whom you believe - or on personal experience. The methods Edwards (which is what we are talking about) uses to teach drawing consciousness work (unless you are determined to make it not work). There is a consciousness shift that occurs, much like that felt and observed in hypnosis. It is a different state of mind. It is valid. For those who want to read more about the studies, by all means, please do so. If you enjoy reading abstracts and such, more power to you. But to try to explain it and discourse about it to the laymen (who have every right to discuss what we will), if it takes ideas about left-brain and right brain to do so, it is a way to make it all understandable. For those who feel instead, that I am spreading ignorance, I am sorry you feel that way. In my way of seeing it, I am opening a door to more potential understanding. If we all sat down and bowed to what little we already know, we would be in stasis. Nothing more would be explored or learned. What a sad place this would be.

With St. Patrick’s Day so close, our thoughts turn to the luck of the Irish. I have been musing quite a bit about luck. Some people seem to be born under a lucky star, while others seem to have a cloud hovering over them.

I am one of the lucky ones! My life is truly blessed. I am married to a man who adores me and the feeling is mutual, I have two sons who are great students and fine young men. (I actually like them, even during their teens!) I love my work; could it be any better?

Funny thing, I know a woman who is married to her perfect partner, has two sons she adores and is worth millions, yet she believes she is unlucky and is probably one of the most negative people I have ever met. How can that be? I believe, and research has shown, that it is a result of our thoughts and behaviors.

Superstitions are often used as a reason, perhaps an excuse for why things go so terribly wrong. I have to wear this shirt or my team will lose. I spoke about my bad dream before I ate, so now it will come true. A black cat crossed my path; on and on and on. Yet, there have been experiments done to prove that other than belief there is no power in those old ways of thinking.

Rather than believing in old superstitions, move towards a rational view of luck. Lucky people recognize opportunities as they appear. They listen to their inner wisdom (intuition). Furthermore, they expect things to go well and are resilient.

So, my question today would be: What are you doing to create more good luck in your life?

And now a moment of totally seriousness. Not. Today in my esoterically mindful coffeeness, I looked up “animal hypnosis.” Silly, silly, silly. So, I have embedded the first one I came to because it is really odd (and just too cute).Also, Happy St. Patty’s Day to all of you who celebrate it. I owe a huge thanks to izea.com for sending me a surprise care package of toys just for today. I do not know quite what to make of it, but since being the States, this is a holiday I too shall embrace. I would love to learn how to do that coin trick where you roll coins between your figures. I almost think that would have the makings for a nice little induction. At least it would be a great party trick for today.And tomorrow is going to be special (actually the next week or so is) as I welcome Debbie Lane as a guest blogger for the Sunday Question. Please check in, answer her question, and make her feel welcome!

Cyber Locations:
www.silviahartmann.com
www.hypnodreams.org
Free Energy Dancing Demo
Project Sanctuary

1. Are you a full time hypnotist, part-time or hobbyist?

I used to be a full time hypnotist and I used to teach hypnosis, now hypnosis has to take its place in the overall scheme of things, which includes energy healing, energy psychology and creativity development.

2. Do you specialize in any type of hypnosis?

Yes. My original training was in NLP hypnosis (Ericksonian plus) and I developed what I call Energy Hypnosis through my research. The main feature of Energy Hypnosis is a different form of trance state, which keeps the conscious mind on board and creates a “coming together” of all aspects of the mind - resulting in a state of brilliant clarity that is not unlike lucid dreaming.

I think that I probably went into this because I’m a child abuse survivor and I truly hate nothing more than waking up and knowing that SOMETHING happened - but I don’t remember what!

That aside, lucid awareness states are just so fabulous and powerful, delightful, they can really change your perception of what you can be, can do, can experience just by the virtue of entering into them.

3. Is there any type of hypnosis you do not do? Why?

I find all hypnosis fascinating, and I believe there is a time and place for all forms of hypnosis. In my general work, which is with personal development, I want to achieve the “crossroads state of lucidity” because that’s the most powerful state for change and learning. If I was on an airplane and a passenger had a heart attack, I would most certainly go to the older forms of hypnosis, which take the conscious mind right out of the picture, and a very deep delta trance to stabilize the client until the plane had landed!

Covert, non-consensual, power hypnosis all are skills that you never know when they might come in handy one day. If you were abducted by a serial killer, wouldn’t you like to know just what to say and how to say it so they’ll untie you and drive you home?

I am a GREAT believer in knowing as much about any field as possible, and not leave out anything. For example, I’ve studied Speed Seduction, which is something, a lot of people, especially women, find terribly a-moral and “want nothing to do with it”.

I say, “If you don’t know, how can you protect yourself? How do you know when something is being done to you?”

I think there should be LOTS AND LOTS more general hypnosis education that includes ALL the hypnotic phenomena and applications - I think we should KNOW.

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

Funny you should ask that …

I’ve recently spend a year researching the effects of aromatherapy essential oils on people’s states, states of mind, emotions, and productivity. In the course of that I came across a very useful pattern, which revolves around giving oneself post hypnotic suggestions on the inbreath (in this case, matched to the general structure/frequency of the essential oil you are inhaling).

This has been wonderfully useful and something I thoroughly enjoy.

If you count the unguided meditations of Project Sanctuary, which I do EVERY day without fail, then definitely - I use self-hypnosis all the time, in many different contexts, in many different ways.

It’s amazing. I LOVE hypnosis! The other day I was down with a cold and went into this thing where alien healers were massaging my energy system. It’s just wonderful when you can do that, when you’ve had enough experience and practice with trance to make something like that become completely real, and all your symptoms and aches and pains simply disappear and you’re having this blissful experience instead.

Oh - and if you count as self hypnosis to listen to a hypnotic induction on your mp3 player as well, then - gee, I do do a LOT of self hypnosis. And I enjoy every moment of it, and can sincerely say that it has VASTLY improved how much I enjoy my days, and my nights

5. Describe your hypnosis office or work setting.

I don’t see hypnosis clients now, but I can describe my lovely studio in the garden, sound proofed and stuffed full of interesting instruments and synths and sound systems and strange objects I use for the background music in the hypnosis programs I create.

It’s like entering another world, very inspiring. It is a very creative and satisfying process, from the original concept all the way through to the final production, writing and delivering the inductions, and creating the soundscapes to go with them.

At the moment I am working on my personal take on Past Life Regression. I don’t like to repeat something that’s already been done well, there is no point in that, and there are thousands of past life regression programs already out there. But the other day, I got this idea of a space being, a swarm of stars, sliding through the multiverse, and every star was a life. I loved that vision and thought, ok, now THAT’S a contribution, that is a different thing. I can record that.

Just writing this, how lucky am I that this is my WORK? To sit and drift and wonder and work the sounds and tapestries around the star being …

Wow …

6. Describe a typical day in your life.

Gee … I go with the flow these days. I write articles, answer email, I paint, I always have a research project going, I moderate the Project Sanctuary group. I have phone conferences with people. Sometimes interviews. Apart from that, I shop, cook, party, watch TV and play guitar!

7. Where did you get your training in hypnosis and are you certified?

My original training was with the American Board of Hypnotherapy. But there’s a lot more going on with hypnosis through the NLP trainings I’ve taken as well. I’m a certified Master Practitioner. At one time, I was also a member of the National Guild of Hypnotists. That was all very interesting but I’d say my real learning was from the clients back then, from teaching hypnosis classes and the research at the time. Which I guess is still continuing today.

Energy Dancing is an interesting case in hypnosis research. I’ve noticed that it is much easier to get people into wonderfully profound trance states when they’re up and about, through movement and focus on energy flow in the body. It feels real good too and is fun to do for the hypnotist Energy Dancing belongs to EmoTrance, but is very much hypnosis in nature. Just more upbeat and energizing.

8. Most fabulous hypnosis technique you use?

Ooh that’s a difficult question.

Energy Dancing is pretty fabulous. But then, so is energy hypnosis in general. I find conversational hypnosis pretty fabulous too, and all the general and strange hypnotic phenomena are all fabulous as well!

I think probably the Project Sanctuary format of people getting their own energy minds to create their own perfect experience and meditation is the most fabulous of all. Because it’s under a person’s own control and it goes with you, wherever you are. And of course, it is the generator that creates all the hypnosis programs, techniques and ideas I’m using.

All right, Project Sanctuary it is!

9. Worse moment ever in a hypnosis setting that ended up being a valuable learning experience.

Tehe … many spring to mind!

All right, this one.

During a course, we were practicing deep trance identification. My practice partner was a slight man, very friendly and nice, and when it came to choose who they wanted to identify with, he chose some kind of dragonlord from a TV Sci-Fi show.

I thought, fair enough, asked him to create the matrix construct and step into it, three, two, one, you ARE the dragonlord …

This slight man changed in the weirdest way and became very scary indeed, complete with demonic voice and freezing cold energy in the room.

I thanked the dragonlord for his appearance and asked for the original person to re-emerge.

Three, two, one…

“SIMON’S NOT COMING BACK!”

In a voice straight from the demonic hell dimensions. I nearly had a heart attack. I could see newspaper headlines, “I want my Simon back,” sobs mother after hypnotherapy session goes horribly wrong…

I tried three more times, each time the same thing happened - Simon was NOT coming back.

Oh dear…

Eventually it dawned on me that I had forgotten to tell him to step BACK OUT of the construct in my hurry to get rid of the scary dragonlord.

Heart beating high and palms more than sweaty, I ran through it one more time - and yeah, that was it. The missing instruction to reverse the movement.

Simon was back, and had no idea of what had just happened…

The moral of the tale?

There is more to people than they show you on the surface, and do be careful with your instructions. They are taken VERY literally…

10. Any words of advice to potential clients or other hypnotist?

All I can say is that hypnosis is FABULOUS. It gets better and better, the more you know about it, and the more you do it - from both ends, at that. Hypnosis is really exciting, so much more to learn about it, and what an amazing tool to find out more about people and their wonderful minds!

I really don’t think we’ve begun to scratch the surface of what can be done with hypnosis for people and for humanity in particular. There is TOO MUCH FEAR about the processes of hypnosis. If you do lots of it, you get more used to the strange effects and phenomena, and it becomes ever more fascinating.

If you’re a hypnotist or a client - just be glad you’ve found this fabulous thing. Enjoy it. Allow it to awe you and delight you. Push the envelope and also play with it.

As far as I am concerned, it’s probably one of the most interesting and useful things I’ve ever learned, both as a trancer, as well as a trancee.

How’s that for over intellectualizing something? LOL. I have begun the perusal over the topic of hypnotizing animals. Though I mentioned in an earlier post about a rambunctious cat that relaxed when he was around humans who were in the Alpha state, this is not what often immediately comes to mind when one thinks about animals being hypnotized. It is usually the old deer in the headlights.

So, is it true that indeed the lights are hypnotizing said animal? Andre M. Weitzenhoffer does not think so, as he wrote in his book The Practice of Hypnotism. He list ten ideas as to why what we tend to call animal hypnosis is not related to human hypnosis. I will paraphrase a few:

1. Muscles changes that occur in animals (the rigidity?) do not occur in humans when they are hypnotized. He also cites Charcot’s experiments as having similarities, but mentions that those ideas have been done away.
2. Immobility (tonic rigidity) is what happens to these animals during this state. Humans do not necessarily do this and can move during hypnosis. Also, the immobility last until the state is terminated.
3. Within animals, this is not a state where suggestions can be applied.

So, there you go - Weitzenhoffer feels that in terms of the deer in the headlight analogy, this is not hypnosis. I would tend to agree.

However, it does not explain my cat experiment, so perhaps I will continue on in this research.

Source: The Practice of Hypnotism

Suddenly it seems that the turning girl has received much attention, so much so, I decided to address her again (not dress her…anyway). I posted her originally on the Unwinding Path and then on this blog. Here I just mused about using her for an hypnotic induction, but on the other, I mentioned that she could be used as a right brain/left brain test.

Seems I caught the attention of Nick, who has a Harvard email address (that does not seem to work) and is rather passionate about the mind studies. I thought I would share his comment here.

Please keep in mind, Left/Right brain theory is NOT considered fact and is in the realm of pop psychology. Currently, no MRI scanning nor any established study has reinforced this theory. The disparity between direction perception occurs because of depth interpolation, and is not a phenomenon associated with any Left/Right brain neurology.

I don’t like to do this, but misconceptions about neurology has lead to widespread ignorance of the elegant mechanisms at work. In fact, Left/Right brain psychology is a GROSS oversimplification of a truly astonishing process, a bit like saying Monet just painted lilies. There is so much more to it than simple pop psychology. Please, respect your brain and don’t shorthand it.

I can appreciate his sentiment, but I also have much to say about this. First off, perhaps this she (the turning girl) is a bit of an over simplification of concepts, but what it does do, is generate interest. It is a tool for getting people thinking and you cannot beat that. Not everyone is highly motivated to read the academic versions of brain theory, so this sort of thing, be it pop or not, shows a truly amazing thing that may spark someone to go into mind studies or any number of positive things.

In discussing this with my partner, he made an interesting point about Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Since Betty Edwards wrote the first edition, she has changed her pre-talk about on brain shifts, and I suspect it was because of the world of academia crashing down on her. However, with that said, her methods work. I challenge any intellect to go through her process along with me on the Unwinding Path.

Also, when it comes to the brain, there is so much we do not know. Theories come into vogue, shift, change, and evolve. As I said, I appreciate Nick’s comments. And currently, there is no REAL proof about left and right brain modes (with exception of testing as mentioned in “Drawing” but I think that was done before brain scans were used).

Thanks to Jack’s comments sending us to Gabbro B-Sides, who explains the spinning girl phenomena a whole lot more. The effect is what is known as bistable perception. It is an optical illusion. A little bit of a let down, eh? Me, too. But it is a valid optical illusion and it did get us thinking. And you never know, we may see her again in a more psychological setting.