The Transparent Hypnotist

There is a moment that stops each of us and it either leaves us feeling kicked-in-the-gut guilty, patient-suffering glad, or appallingly apathetic. This moment is always a crossroad and is never kindly easy. It is a moment of change - not your change but someone else’s. And perhaps you think the answer is simple or perhaps you know the answer without hearing the question. But do you really? You maybe thinking, “Well Ellie, it is my business to help people change.” Maybe you have a conscious attitude that dictates that you help anyone in need. But here is the real question and what it all boils down too - what is your personal criteria for helping other people change? This brings on a whole subset of questions:

Do you help change only those who ask you for help?
Do you try to change those you feel need to change?
If you answered yes to the above, do you try to change those you feel need to change even if they do not want to change?

Well, do you?

After dealing with a loved one who has spent much time recently trying to change others on their opinions about various things (the price of tea, the way the moon revolves around the earth, and by the way is the earth really round?), I realized he was hell-bent on changing us all, like a preacher who is losing his congregation. It really bothered him that we were willing to hear him out (to a certain point before it became a time suck), but not concede to his point of view. And after much irritation, I realized the reality of the situation. He indeed was not being mean, he was just had not come to the consciousness that change is individual and is as fickle and frustrating as that congregation member who says the most righteous amens at Sunday Service but afterwords decides to have a quickly with the neighbors wife.

And this came up again the other day in talking to another health care practitioner, who is feeling the financial slap in the face for helping too many people who do not value her and her abilities. I mean this in that they expect a whole lot of free with no personal commitment. She is exhausted and guilt ridden for wanting to say “no.” She has given her gift away and been stepped upon. She sees the strife and anguish in many and reaches out to them. Now she is depressed and is getting to the point where she is in need of help herself.

All this made me think about the line of change. Hypnotist are in a world where their main role is to guide people over the line of change, but only those who want to change themselves. It is one of the covenants of hypnosis (and many alternative health modalities) - a person only makes the changes he or she wants to make. Many times to help us determine if we will be able to help a client, we ask them to rate their concern for their problem (change), with one being “not really a concern” to 10 being”I am totally concerned,” if the number falls below a six, many of us chose not to waste our time or the client’s time with hypnosis. We may listen and make sure that is the case (their answer) and decide from there.

So ultimately there are two important factors about the nature of changing others. The first is being available to others who need our help. The second is being able to accept that which we cannot change. This means accepting that others are who they are and it is up to them to change. Maybe they could be better if they changed the way we would have them change, but we need to just accept them as they are until they are ready and come to desire it on their won. If they choose or allows us to assist them in this, it is a beautiful thing. When we force it on them, it is dirty and ugly. And if we feel a surge of power in forcing them then maybe we really need to look within our own self and make some changes there.

Back to tea in the mornings. Years ago I heard that coffee is considered a “hot” beverage in the realm of Chinese medicine. This means that it has high acidity and can cause digestive problems. Tea on the other hand, is a “cold” beverage (yes, even when served hot). For those who have an imbalance of hot or digestive problems, cold is the way to go. So, back to hot tea it is.

In beginning the baby months of the New Year, I have seen two phenomenon in the world of change and resolution. The first is the ever increasing idea to not have a New Year’s Resolution. Hats off to those who go this route, unless of course your resolution has been well thought out and you are ready to make certain changes. Resolutions for the sake of having a resolution seem a bit doomed. So, if you are one of those lovely people who made a spontaneous resolution for the New Year, I also say hats off. (Yes I am fence sitting again). Do not tax yourself too much with the stress of change if you are finding it as such. Just let it be a source of inspiration and the door to perhaps a longer process of thoughtful change.

Now here is the other phenomenon that gets my goat. I have heard a lot about other people desiring to force change on someone else. Shame on you! Worry about yourself and rather than coercing or convincing someone else to change, be a support mechanism for change. State your view in a respectful manner (seriously, I mean respectful, no underhanded passive aggressiveness). If the person you want to change is doing something truly awful, express your concern and caring. You may not condone what they do, but it is up to them to change, not you. If they change because you want them to and this is the only reason, you may become the center of their resentment. If you truly cannot live with what they are doing, your only option may be to change yourself to deal with it.

And, for those who I know who engage in this behavior - coercion or underhanded manipulative nastiness, none of you, not one of you, is in a position to expect change from others. Work on yourselves. For the energy you expend engaging others to change, the energy would be better spent opening yourselves and finding kindness and more self-esteem.

Sorry. But I think with the start of 2008, it is best to get that out in the open. Touch love, really.

And soon, we will move back into the more studious discussions of forms of hypnosis.

When you think to yourself, do you want a cup of coffee because it is warm and comforting or do you want a cup of tea because it is refreshing, your decision is based on a series of analytical processes. For instance, I am drinking tea this morning because my analytic prowess’s say that I am too lazy to make a pot of coffee. LOL.

When I learned about various hypnotism theories, it was stressed that there is an analytical scale on which everyone can be charted. Finding out a client’s place on this chart would help the hypnotist know what sort of induction to use that would benefit the client. If the client was found to be very analytic, relaxing in general might be difficult for that person, so progressive relaxation would not be the best way to begin to bring about a state of hypnosis.

The Analytical Scale
On one side of the analytical scale is a person who is a hundred percent analytical, which seems to mean totally rational and not so prone to uses of the imagination. On the other side is the exact opposite of this. It is a person who is extremely creative and very imaginative. Often this is shown as a line chart, but I think the idea of scale is much better. A scale has to balance and it creates a whole. In a line chart, this does not matter and so how can a person be balanced?

Testing for the Analytic Client
Sounds ominous, does it not? Really, it is very simple stuff that is more fun than not. This sort of thing may also be called testing for hypnotizability (is that even a word?), which is often done during stage hypnosis shows. Perhaps you have seen or experienced the whole “clasping your hands together and not being able to separate them” phenomenon?

The Old Balloon and Sand Bag Test
One of the most famous test is that of closing your eyes, holding your arms straight out in front of the body, one palm turned up and the other down. Imagine or think about a balloon being tied to the wrist of the hand that is facing upwards. It is light and airy and begins to pull that arm upwards. Now, on the other wrist facing downwards, a bag of sand is looped over it and the weight drags the arm down. Mind you, the hypnotist guides you through this, also employing his or her voice to give the suggestions of the balloon pulling the arm up and the bag of sand pulling the other down. You are then asked to open your eyes and look at your arms. If the balloon arm is higher than then the sand one, it is believed that you are able to bypass the analytic side of your mind and use your imagination to image the weight changes. If your arms remained the same, it may mean that your analytic mind kicked in and said something to the affect of “there is no balloon or bag of sand, so why move the arms?”

So, what does this all mean? If the hypnotist believes that you are more analytical, the suggestion work of the session with revolve around giving your conscious mind tasks to focus on and occupy it while the hypnotist inputs the suggestions.

Also, confusion may be added into the mix on purpose to help bring about a new state of consciousness. What these procedures do is more of less catch you off guard and move you rapidly into a hypnotic state. They work on an element of surprise. Another confusion techniques is to overload the conscious mind to a point where it basically gives up critical thought processes and essentially takes a coffee break.

Where Words Fail
Some hypnotist use a form of hypnosis they term analytical hypnosis. To the transparent hypnotist, this would mean using the idea of keeping the mind focused on certain activities to create change. However, in researching this a bit, it sounds more like a hypnotherapy process of analysis, rather than analytic process. So, I will not be discussing “analytical” hypnosis because I disagree with the terminology, though I may cover the same concepts under a different title.

What say you?

Last night I in indulged in a pumpkin-spiced latte (sans whipped cream). It splashed out of the cup and oddly, it was orange. I figured it would just be coffee with pumpkin-pie spice added to it. Apparently not. It is not often that I actually indulge in much other than coffee and tea, but I have been craving this for a few days and it was one of those times where one really needed to indulge in something positive.

As far as positives go, I guess when you learn something or have something reinforced this is positive in itself, but sometimes it just does not feel that way. I know you are probably thinking, “Ellie, get to the point.” And you are right. Ellie has become a little lax in her intake procedures again.

What I have been doing is just scheduling appointments. I talk to people on the phone or via email, get the information I need there to outline their upcoming session. And that is that.

What happens when you do you schedule appointments this way? You get no shows.

How should it be done? Basically at the time of the phone call inquiry, when I make the appointments, I need to immediately also send the perspective client the intake form to fill out and send back before the appointment. This really cuts down on the number of no shows.

What else could help lessen the no shows? Do as the medical world does. Call a day before and confirm that the client will be there. I used to think this was like baby sitting or policing, but it is really not. In the hectic, overbooked world we live in, it never hurts to send a reminder.

Do you have any tried and true methods that help decrease the number of no shows?

It has been a good day all in all and now I can breathe for a moment. The coffee is good.

Earlier I posted about Dick Sutphen’s view of brain washing and how certain churches use specific methods to relay their messages. Like Dr. Singer’s seven tactics to create mind control, Dick Sutphen has six conversion tactics.

Conversion tactic 1: Meetings are held in places where participants have no contact with the outer world. Everything is regulated by those in charge included eating and using the bathroom. This creates tension. Also in tactic one, Sutphen offers another piece of information that should perhaps be a tactic to itself. It is the idea of keeping an “agreement.” Participants vow or are bullied into vowing they will keep their agreements. Then they agree to finish the training, etc.

Conversion tactic 2: This I think could be part of tactic 1. It is the idea that the schedule is one that creates fatigue, both mentally and physically. There is no opportunity for reflection or relaxation.

Conversion tactic 3: Tension is increased

Conversion tactic 4: An element of uncertainty is created, often by putting people on the spot.

Conversion tactic 5: Words are then used that are often not really known by the participants. This is similar to insider information, using words the the elite know and use. Mean spirited language may also be used.

Conversion tactic 6: There is no joy until the conversion happens. Once there are signs that this has happened then humor may come into play.

I am a little vague on some of these because Sutphen does a great job disseminating all this and more. I also do not want anyone to think I am giving instructions for brain washing. It is merely good to know how things work. It gives you more of a choice at various times.

Interestingly enough, I noticed yesterday that Moira Noonan who I quoted yesterday in the posting about the Catholic Church’s stance on hypnosis, was at one time very active in the New Age Thought Movement and was a hypnotist. Later, she completely admits to having several “conversion experiences” and renounced her New Age Ways. I find all this relates. Did she experience the conversion tactics mentioned above? What is real with her and what is not?

Click here to read Dick Sutphen’s Article.

IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF MAN, NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN BRAINWASHED AND REALIZED, OR BELIEVED, THAT HE HAD BEEN BRAINWASHED.

Dick Sutphen

It is a tea day.

And as I wait for a last batch of laundry to finish before heading out, what a fitting background to discuss brain washing. Yesterday we discussed coercion just a bit - serious mind manipulation to force one to do things against their will. Then there is conversion. Dick Sutphen uses this word to define brain washing, especially of the religious variety. He points out that conversion and hypnosis are two different things, though they can be used together powerfully.

Sutphen thoroughly dissects revival brain washing techniques and they do have some elements of hypnosis. Starting out, the stage is set and ready before the first person enters. It has much to do with the music, which usually has a rhythm rate of 45 to 72 rhythm beats per minute. This rhythm, like that of the human heart can create an open state of changed consciousness such as that of alpha. This also becomes a conditioned response, which is repeated at each service. (In alpha, people have a heightened suggestibility rate). Then the officiating religious figure will speak using a voice roll, this is the same one many hypnotist use during inductions, often monotoned and repetitive. There is a build up process to increase expectations and excitement. There may be examples of others being “called by the Spirit” or something dramatic. And rather smartly, the collection plate is passed around (while someone in the background repetitively says things like”Give to God”). Soon after, the famous Hell and Damnation preacher begins his part, creating fear and/or excitement. People testify as to the spiritual influence of their beliefs, a healing session is opened and some actually experience healing (much like hypnosis).

I have never actually seen a revival dissected before, but it is fascinating.

Well, I must break for a little while. Stay tuned…

This post is based on Dick Sutphen’s The Battle for Your Mind.

Coffee is on and I am still blurry eyed, but pretending to be ready to go.

So, here we are. We have discussed using self-hypnosis with the Silva Method (or in general) for gaining control over one’s own mind and how a hypnotist does not control another’s mind. Thanks Michael, for pointing out how Mythbusters did use unethical means in their hypnosis portion of the show (see his comment on yesterday’s post). But let us move on to a bit of a darker horse, so we know it if we see it.

What is mind control exactly? According to F.A.C.T.net Inc. (Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network) the world of academia definition of mind control:

refers to all coercive psychological systems, such as brainwashing, thought reform, and coercive persuasion.

This definition is based on Dr. Margaret Singer’s definition of coercion:

Coercion is defined as, “to restrain or constrain by force…” Legally it often implies the use of PHYSICAL FORCE or physical or legal threat. This traditional concept of coercion is far better understood than the technological concepts of “coercive persuasion” which are effective restraining, impairing, or compelling through the gradual application of PSYCHOLOGICAL FORCES.

It is in the later interpretation that hypnosis begins to play a roll in all this, but it is just a tiny part of a larger system. It alone is again nothing more than giving a suggestion. It is the factor in the mind control process that I believe may be the weak link. One always has free will, so the hypnotic process may or may not work for various individuals based on the wording, etc. (one suggestion may work for one person, it may not for another).

But, we cannot let it off here, though. Those who are engaged in mind control know this about hypnosis. So the odds are stacked to make “the suggestion” take. This is through means of psychical and psychological manipulation. These are described as tactics. Dr. Singer list these as follows.

• TACTIC 1. The individual is prepared for thought reform through increased suggestibility and/or “softening up,” specifically through hypnotic or other suggestibility-increasing techniques such as: A. Extended audio, visual, verbal, or tactile fixation drills; B. Excessive exact repetition of routine activities; C. Decreased sleep; D. Nutritional restriction.
• TACTIC 2. Using rewards and punishments, efforts are made to establish considerable control over a person’s social environment, time, and sources of social support.
• TACTIC 3. Disconfirming information and nonsupporting opinions are prohibited in group communication.
• TACTIC 4. Frequent and intense attempts are made to cause a person to re-evaluate the most central aspects of his or her experience of self and prior conduct in negative ways.
• TACTIC 5. Intense and frequent attempts are made to undermine a person’s confidence in himself and his judgment, creating a sense of powerlessness.
• TACTIC 6. Nonphysical punishments are used such as intense humiliation, loss of privilege, social isolation, social status changes, intense guilt, anxiety, manipulation and other techniques for creating strong aversive emotional arousals, etc.
• TACTIC 7. Certain secular psychological threats [force] are used or are present

So, we cannot completely exonerate hypnosis techniques in the process of mind control, but it is not the major player. It alone, especially used in a clinical setting, is not one and the same. Mind control is a long-term process using manipulative devises - coercion. It breaks down a person. Hypnosis builds up a person, empowers one to make the changes one seeks.

It is nothing but rush, rush, rush, this morning. So, my attention is somewhat out of focus for the moment.

So, I thought I would quickly sum up why hypnosis alone is not brain washing for those who may be thinking it is the ends to the means. There seems to be a lot of teenagers (at least they sound like teenage boys on the phone) who are fascinated by the concept of being able to force others to do their bidding. I admit in high school it would have been very pleasant to have snapped my fingers and make my Calculus professor believe all my wrong answers were correct. But alas, had I perfected my hypnotism skills back then, I still would have struggled with the subject.

The key to hypnosis is suggestibility - the acceptance of suggestions given during a hypnotic session. It is a person’s free will to accept or decline such suggestions. For there even to begin to be the semblance of mind control, there has to be a lot more manipulation than just suggestions. If I suggest that you become my slave and you do so, you have chosen to do this.

This is the challenge for the modern clinical hypnotist. It is finding a route for the suggestions to be accepted by the client. This is why there is not a 100% sucess rate to the profession. Sometimes it is hard to find the right way to input a suggestion that the client’s subconcious mind will accept.

So, if you are in a trance and someone suggest that you do something totally against your free will or that you do not accept, you simply will not do it. A good resource for this is the Mythbusters‘ TV show. In season five, they put this concept to test - can hypnosis make you do something against your will - and they busted the myth.

Hence with all this in mind, another person cannot control your mind. Hypnosis is not the same thing as mind control.

It is finally cooling down here. The tea in my cup feels wonderful as it goes down, warming everything on its journey. But it is the sort of morning where one could easily sleep it all away.

Mind control. Hypnosis. Am I propagating that they are one in the same? No. They certainly are not. So, for anyone reading this blog who may be new to the idea of clinical hypnosis, hypnosis has nothing to do with mind control…and yet (Dr. Knight are you rolling your eyes?) it does.

Hang on before getting all upset, you hypnotist out there. First let me start by saying a few years ago I heard about a program called Silva Mind Control (now the Silva Method). It has been out there for awhile, but I had never paid much attention to it, avoiding the whole idea of mind control. I got into hypnotism not as a need to control others, but to help them help themselves. So I figured this program was to be avoided.

Duh. I finally became a little brighter and met some hypnotists who were trained in the Silva Method. Mind Control. I was totally off base with this program. It is not about controlling other people’s minds, but having control over one’s own. Brilliant!

Here’s what the Silva Method is all about:

The goal of the Silva Method is to teach you how to use more of your brain and activate the untapped areas of your mind.

This system seems to utilize self-hypnosis, meditation, visualization, relaxation and on and on. So, I think it is interesting to put the idea of self mind control out there. So many people feel they have no control over anything, even their thoughts and feelings. Just think how empowering this would be. And isn’t that what we do?

If anyone had anything to add about this method, please do add it. I have only cursory experience.

The coffee just is not black enough this morning.

Since we carried lucid dreaming forward last week, I think this week we will carry through the weekend concept of mind control, what it is, what it does and does not have to do with hypnosis, and whatever other tangents strike my fancy (or yours depending).

The article about the gentleman who claimed to be hypnotized by robbers and gave them $1000 is what is has brought this to my mind. First let me say, it was not my diagnosis that hypnosis was involved, nor I have read anything other than what I posted as my source. He stated that he was hypnotized to give up the money. This is definitely the darker side of the art, which has led me to thoughts about being manipulated to do things against one’s will - sounds like mind control (whether sort term or long).

This led to my Sunday question about your thoughts on mind control and what it is or isn’t, and if you wanted to talk about hypnosis in regards to it that would be fine as well.

For those who believe that I am perpetrating a myth or anything negative about hypnosis, I fear that you have misunderstood. This blog is all about exploring various concepts, right or wrong, but what is out there in regards or relation to hypnosis (including sister-modalities, business, or how it affects my life or yours). And maybe it is taboo to put hypnosis and mind control together, but I think not.

Here is why: when a client sits down in my chair, they very often have either no idea or preconceived notions about what they are going to experience. Some have done some well- founded research and end up telling me my pre-talk. But the ones seem to believe very strongly in the idea that hypnosis is mind control, and that some how, I will do some technique that will turn them into zombies and will cause them to be different. They will come out and voi-la, presto chango. They will be someone else. It is as though they come in believing that they are going to hand over their minds to be to brain washed, essentially. So, I think it is good to have an open discourse on the subject and how what we do is not brain washing, but perhaps it is also just as well to have open discourse on what mind control really is.