The Transparent Hypnotist

Photograph by gutter (cc)

There it was before me – my web site on one screen, this blog on another. Normally, this would not seem particularly strange, but it was not the blog as you see it (I hope). Both were opened to my admin. panels - my private admin. panels. It looked as though I had logged on and was getting ready to either make some changes or write a post. My brain hastened to justify this. During a previous late night session had I left myself logged on to both and forgotten to log out? Sure, that was it. I breathed deeply. No, wait, the night before, my nephew and I had gone out for a late dinner. We had come home and I had gone off to bed. No, there was no blogging at all.

My nephew handed me a cup of coffee, “Still blurry, eh, Aunt Ellie?” I took the coffee and sat down at the laptop, still feeling even more hazy. Perhaps this was just a bad dream?

“Why are my web site and blog open to the admin. panels?” is all that I could manage for a good morning greeting.

He looked snarky, yes, that is the word – snarky, “Last night you didn’t seem to believe that I am a hacker, did you?”

The conversation from the night before came back in a dribble of memory. I had more or less passed by his comment, supposing it to be youthful bravado. My lack of belief now was apparently catching up to me.

Remaining calm and hoping that my original, life-long assertion that my nephew was not malevolent was still correct, I asked, “Did you do anything to my sites?”

He looked theatrically stunned, “Aunt Ellie, I am hurt. Do you believe I would do anything to your sites?” Visions of stop watches, swirls and such danced through my mind. I merely glanced at him with raised eyebrows (some times I can act like the elder I am supposed to be). He then hit a few keystrokes and the presentation part of the blog and web site took the screens. They looked normal. They looked like I had left them.

“It is what I do, Aunt Ellie, ” he told me with what seemed like sincerity.

“Great. Just great. My own nephew, is a cyber rogue. Hasn’t you father taught you better than this?” I asked feeling incredulous. Would my humble home suddenly become a haven of hackers, degenerates, and perhaps an infiltrating cyber cop?

He actually looked hurt, “You have it all wrong. Being a hacker now days does not mean I am going to wipe out people’s sites, leaving cryptic messages that will lead to my eventual demise. It does not mean spreading viruses. It means just the opposite. I am all about IT Security. I am the good guy.”

I did what I always do – I took a long, slow sip of coffee, using the pause to collect my thoughts. Nope. I was still puzzled. Hackers are the good guys now? My nephew continued to explain. Like everything, there is the bad side (the one which got the rise out of me) and the good side. He has learned how to hack into various cyber systems (apparently one of his preparatory teachers showed him how to do this - great). Instead of doing damage, he freelances himself out to various companies to hack into their systems so that that the companies know their security weaknesses. My nephew is what is termed as an “ethical hacker.” Apparently it is a new career field (or an old one and I am just a bit out of it).

He stilled snarky, “You out of all people should understand,” he tells me, “you are into behavior modification. You just need to modify your thoughts on hacking. And like you are a certified hypnotist, I am a Certified Ethical Hacker” Perfect. My own nephew preaches the good book of hypnosis at me.

Needless to say, I felt great relief from all this – but then my curiosity also became involved. Is this not the same thing as hiring robbers to rob your bank to see what happens? Maybe this is not a bad idea. As he showered, I looked up The International Council of Electronic Commerce Consultants (EC-Council). They deal with teaching students to understand hacking cycles, offer an interesting training modality (online e-courses), and provide subjects like security fundamentals, ethical hacking, penetration testing, computer forensics, disaster recovery and secure programming. Sounds more Batman than the Joker.

But the points remains - he still hacked my web sites. Was that ethical?

His response? “Sure it is. This is what ethical hacking is all about. Now you know you know your site weakness.” Hmmm.

Photograph by Sebastian Niedlich (Grabthar)

Quote of the Week

A lot of people have only seen hypnosis demonstrated on TV. Now they can see this unique phenomenon in person. It‘s like the ultimate reality show – from an article about hypnotist Rick Allen’s hypno show (thebeacon.net).

Scientifically Good

Ah, the literary opportunity to speak about the value of learning from children. Alas, I shall let it go and just say that we all can take a page from 19 children who were diagnosed with cancer and used self-hypnosis to deal with the side effects of certain treatments. The study, done at the Minneapolis Children`s Health Center, involved 25 children, of which 21 decided to try self-hypnosis. Out of this, 19 of those children experienced large relief by using self-hypnosis (Natural News).

Good

I have mentioned it before and I will mention it again - using hypnotism in the birthing processes. Need more validation for it? Check out the article called St Albans mother’s praise for alternative birthing techniques in the St. Albans and Harpenden Review.

The Bad (is this really cool?)

Did you know Justin Timberlake is a hypnotist? Interestingly enough he taught Ciara all about it (The Press Assoication).

Ugly

• This week’s news has brought a few mentions of hypnosis in conjunction with court cases. It all just makes me shake my head – not so much because it denigrates my profession, but rather because of the situations involved. Take for instance the case of Kiplyn Davis, who was murdered and there are two men in prison because of it (not because they may or may not have killed Davis, but because they perjured themselves in court). One apparently used a polygraph test. Here is where hypnosis comes into the mix. The court hearings that are currently underway are about trying to find out if  lie detector tests are admissible. The expert hired to testify about polygraphs sites an instance where another person used self-hypnosis to thwart the system. Good grief (The Daily Herald).

• Self-hypnosis also appears in another murder case, but in a more positive light (though I suspect it is meant to create a tone of something more sinister). Apparently, a person accused of murdering his family, used self-hypnosis to deal with  stress. All I can say, is if indeed he did kill his family, he should have used self-hypnosis a lot more and perhaps he could have worked through the issues (stuff.co.nz).

• Then there is the case of a murdered prostitute. One of the witnesses was hypnotized to remember details of the murder and reported how she found the body of the victim (looking through a letter-box). The psychologist involved has made a reference to the fact that the witness may have seen more but is blocking out the memory. Then the witness said she really was not in a state of hypnosis. Again – good grief (guardian.co.uk).

Entrecard

It is the begining of a new month and also time to thank those entrecarders who have faithfully dropped their cards here. I did things a little differently this motnh and gave credits to 20 top droppers rather than people who were here everyday for the month. I did this because of the new system bumps and glitches that people experienced. Change can be difficult for some.

Here are a few special thank yous, though. Please click on the image above and visit the blog ik.my. They have visited here faithfully for three months. Also check out Septagon Studios who has been a vistor here most everyday for four months (and is on my blog roll this month). You guys rock!

Photograph by daveelmore(cc)

Mum is horrified. She says for a person who is invested in healing others, I have single-handedly caused her recent bout with high-blood pressure.

How have I done this (so you do not make the same mistake when dealing with your mother)?

I announced my ten-year goal to the family – I plan to take several months off and hike the Appalachian Trail. Please note - this is my ten-year plan, so I am no where ready to just leave comfortable society behind, shut down the practice and go. I understand that it will take a lot of planning and my success will be in the fine details.

I am sure Mum envisions me, heavy pack, blistered-feet, shivering in the cold, and all alone on this journey. She may have a point even. There are several legends along the trail that involve single matrons making their way across it all alone. But, I shall not be one of them. No, my partner plans to do this with me and several others are thinking about doing it too, or at least doing various parts of the trail with us. So much for solitude.

My ultimate goal with it? I plan to incorporate it into my career. I need to do it once for experience sake, but then I want to lead groups, incorporating hypnotism, positive thinking, and making it an even greater personal transformative process for those who travel with me. Yes, this may play into my abused people program (that has sadly been put on the back burner), but I think it would be wonderful to help those who have related fears (creepy crawlers, height, etc.). And not to mention, I think it would be a wonderful way to start a weight-loss program. It would totally reset old-habits. Anyway, these are just some thought bumping about in my mind.

All this also depends on the state of the Appalachian Trail, though. That is why, on this Sunday Question post, I am taking a moment to tout The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), caretakers of the trail. It is a volunteer organization that does trail maintenance and is a general trail advocate. They have offices and visitor centers spaced out along the trail and provide trail updates to hikers, among other safety concepts.

Here is the thing, CommuniCause.com is sponsoring a charity contest. You can vote for your favorite charity and the winning one will receive a $25,000 social make-over. I of course, am supporting the ATC and encourage you to vote for them, but it does not matter as long as you do vote for whatever charity you feel passionate about. In the case of the ATC, they are already pretty suave with their web site, but I can imagine with the help of $25,00 in the social marketing context, they can provide more hiker services (sounds crazy and insane, but I plan to use an iPhone up there or whatever the current technology provides in ten years) like twittering about the trail in various locations. It can also help them fundraise, which is an important element for a volunteer non-profit.

Anyway, now that I have spoken (written) my peace, what charity are you supporting? Here is your chance to provide even more awareness for your cause.

Photograph provided by di_the_huntress (cc)

She sweated. Seriously, she actually sweated as she read through the induction for the first time. It was a simple progressive relaxation and a pre-created suggestions for forgetting my name. As she lurched about in a halting voicing, I could not help but open my eyes and see what she was doing. She was so stressed out, I wondered why she was taking a course in hypnotism. So, I stopped her, gave her a pep talk and then asked her why she was taking the class. It turns out, she was a nurse and wanted to find ways to potentially sooth and help some of her patients. Very noble. We continued on and for a moment I forgot that my name was Ellie Blunt. 

She and I still talk. Depending on the circumstances one of us ultimately becomes a cheerleader for the other. It is one of my most satisfying relationships, and one in which I find myself always learning something new.

Recently, her world has been somewhat revolving around swine flue phobia (I was wondering if that topic would make its way to these post). She says the phobia is so much worse and rampant that the actual manifestation of symptoms. I asked her how she was handling that - are people seeking her out for hypnosis to deal with the flu? Not exactly, but she is doing a community program on being prepared for the actuality of it, and yes, there is a group hypnotism aspect to it. Brilliant! As she reminded me, most people are afraid of catching it, so it is not really a deep set phobia. With a few behavior modifications, people can protect themselves against it (wash your hands, you!). 

That really started me thinking about the fact that prevention seems very doable, but I also realized I do not know that much about swine flu and the like. So, I looked up nursing resources on the web and found Scrubs, the nurse’s guide to good living. Its audience targets nurses and is a not-so-sterile-or-clinical resource. Instead it is the lighter-side, like the Real Simple of the nursing world. It is upbeat and seems like it would apply to any level of nurses no matter how long they have been in the field. Interestingly enough, the first header is “mind” (YES!), directly followed by the headings health, beauty and style, not to be left in the cold but the other headers of work, love, money, and news and entertainment.

You know, I might have once brushed sites like this away with the mental broom of “it is not relevant to me.” But the truth is, all things can be fairly relevant to a hypnotist. Everything can be a source of inspiration or a site of learning. I have my nurse colleague to thank for this and helping me be more open, realizing that things that affect the nursing industry are often the same in clinical hypnotism. For instance, there is an article on swine flu prevention called What Nurses Can Tell Patients About Swine Flu. Very apt and very timely. And the things is, the articles are written in an informative, easy to understand way, instead of filed with esoteric medical terms that one can get lost in reading (if you are not a medical professional). In other words it skips scholarly and goes for the meat and potatoes of the subjects. Some of my professional colleagues would probably be appalled at my words here, but there are only so many hours in a day. Reading with a dictionary as a reference tool can get really old.

My friend agrees. From our swine flu conversation, the conversation moved to actual scrubs - do I think institution green goes with her eyes?

Location: Salt Lake City and Park City, UT
Cyber Location: www.scientificmindcontrol.com

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 full time hypnotist.

2. Do you specialize in any type of hypnotism?

I specialize in conversational hypnotism (Eriksonian) but I am comfortable with more traditional methods too.

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

I stay away from past-life regression, mostly because I am not convinced it is real. I am pretty much a “skeptic” philosophically speaking.

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

Absolutely. In fact, I believe everyone does without necessarily knowing it. Our “identity” is the biggest trance of them all!

5. Describe your hypnotism office or work setting.

My practice is in a professional medical building between Salt Lake City and Park City in Utah. The offices do have rather stark walls but we do have comfortable chairs!

6. Describe a typical day in your life.

Hm, a lot of reading, writing, working with clients, and enjoying time with my wife and daughter. Of course, I make some time for fitness and fun as well.

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

I am an auto-didact mostly. I had dabbled in hypnosis since being introduced to visualization as a teenage oncology patient but I didn’t begin serious, deliberate study until a few years later in 1993. By 1997 I was creating mischief and adventure for myself with hypnotism every single day in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

However, I did finally get certified by the International Association of Professional Conversational Hypnotists once I decided to begin a practice. As a prank, I didn’t tell the others at the certification about my past experience with hypnosis so they were all quite amazed when I was fully hypnotizing strangers later that night at the bar after just day one. A creative hypnotist with a sense of humor can be quite fun.

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

I am a huge fan of embedded commands.

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

Any abreaction is horrible, luckily I’ve learned how to navigate the minefields (or “mindfields” as the case may be) deftly in my many years of play and experiment. Perhaps one of the most akward was when a girl I had done hypnotic work with experienced “transference” post-hypnotically…

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

Have fun, be sincere, and be honest. The rest will take care of itself!