The Transparent Hypnotist

 
Photograph by you-did

Somewhere on some bookshelf of my past, there is a NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) handbook. It is a hardback, well-kept, and treasured. I can see it sitting on the bookshelf and could walk right over to it, coffee in one hand, and pull it out of its resting spot with the other hand. I would like to do that now so I can have a lucid discussion of another handy tool called Eye Movement Integration(tm), but alas, the book is not on my current shelf. I move my eyes up and over as I recall that the bookshelf was in a totally different location from where I currently live or work and that book, where is that book? It is not in the box sitting next to the bookshelf, the one with all the books that will not fit. And for this moment I am desolate. 

Anyway, no point in dwelling. Someday the book will show up again, but that does not help me with today’s posting. Yes, Eye Movement Integration(tm) is indeed the theme, so I will have to go it alone without the book. Are you finding yourself looking back to the 10 Questions with Rebecca Batts and wondering where the reference to EMI was mentioned? No, it was not from Rebecca (whose favorite technique is progressive relaxation and visualization - we can talk about that another time if you would like). I was reminded about EMI in an article I mentioned yesterday on overcoming fear.

EMI as defined by the Free Dictionary (medical) is:

therapy in which the practitioner directs a client to recall a traumatic event, while leading the individual to move the eyes in a particular set of patterns to bring about healing and release from the trauma.

EMI originated in the work of Connirae and Steve Andreas in 1989 and has its foundation more in NLP than hypnosis. It continued in its legacy with the help of Danie Beaulieu, who wrote a book called Eye Movement Integration Therapy: The Comprehensive Clinical Guide. When thinking about eye movement in relation to NLP work, many of us tend to think of it more as a way to monitor another’s thought process, using it an an evaluation tool, rather than as one that is more therapeutic. EMI is the later and is based on the idea that eye movement accesses all the various sensory systems (could we call this reflexology of the eyes?). Guiding the eye movements of the client, the practitioner is able to help the client connect all the senses. With traumatic events, EMI practitioners believe that such occurrences are isolated in a person’s life, which causes all the problems both in actual neurology and thoughts. By incorporating eye moments, all the sensory systems are accessed. Though the event remains in the mind of the client, the goal is to lessen the emotional impact of it.

So how does EMI work?

The client thinks about the fear and responds to it by creating a statement that is the direct opposite of the fear, a statement that encompasses feelings of safety and security. Then the client thinks about the the source of the trauma (the event itself) or the root of their anxiety. As the client thinks about this, the practitioner slowly moves their fingers in front of the client’s eyes and has the client follow the slow movement (2).

The process has been well-described on Interlink, the National Board of Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists:

Finally, change occurs during the EMI procedure because there is a five-way division of attention as the client is being asked to concentrate on the numerous facets of the intervention collectively. First, the client is being encouraged to wrap him/herself in a sense of competence/security which is remembered, accessed and anchored from a past personal experience. Second, he/she is being asked to watch an imagined “younger” self going through a representation of the problematic experience on an imagined movie screen. Third, to bear in mind a desired positive belief and any positive learning the client discovers and wants to preserve into the future. Fourth, the client is being instructed to follow the therapist’s finger, or target, as it is being moved across the plane of the client’s face. Fifth, the client is being asked to scale his/her level of discomfort as a Subjective Unit of Distress (SUD) repeatedly.

Sources:

• Eye Movement Integration Therapy: The Comprehensive Clinical Guide
• (1) NLP Comprehensive book review by Dr Graham Dawes
• (2) NV Daily

Photograph by alfredo lietor

Sitting along in the darkness, she found herself wanting to blend in with the darkness, to become a part of it. She longed for the ability to be invisible, not noticeable, not even a shadow with some bit of distinction, but to merge with the absence of color. But the rapid hear beat, the sweaty-stickiness of her hands, and the idea of not getting quite enough air told her she was not at all merging with the night. Instead she was defined, something a part from that which could not be seen. The crawl space would not conceal her loudness of just being.

The little door concealed behind the bags of winter clothes would be found. Even on the extreme end away from that little door, she just knew she would be discovered and the terror of being detected would fade away into something so much more sinister. There would be pain, flashing through like the ice of cold steel. There would be the momentary warmth of blood, seeping out from imaged wounds, and then a gradual death. Perhaps that would be a release.

These were the thoughts (imagined by me) of a past client. Was she coming to me to deal with the trauma of some fear she had experienced? Was this during a time when her house was burgled by cruel criminals? Was it a fear of an abuser of some sort?

No, this was a phobia. She experienced these ideas often as a child, when her parents would at first bring in new babysitters, and eventually it blossomed into something unmanageable. No one new could come into her living domain.

It seems timely to share this since this week we have been discussing the idea of fear and phobia. In talking about this topic through behind-the-scenes emails and such, the question was bridged about what is the difference between fears and phobias (especially when doing circle therapy). In looking at the first paragraphs of my client’s scenario, her experience could be interpreted as fear (before knowing it was a social phobia) if had she been hiding from a perpetrator of some sort who made her feel threatened (someone had broke into her house or someone was specifically coming to beat her). Fear is an emotional response to a danger or threat. It comes from an external source and causes feelings of wanting to avoid something or escape the danger (1).

Phobias are a bit different in that they are more irrational or their causation stems from a fear gone wild (2). In my client’s instance, she would have the fear reaction to anyone unknown entering the house, be it Girl Scout selling cookies or the girl next door coming over to babysit. She had developed a persistent, irrational fear of a specific thing - people coming into her house and causing her harm.

Phobias are often classified into three direct types (though they are considered anxiety disorders - we will cover that on a different day). These include social phobias (as in my client example), specific phobias, and Agoraphobia. Social phobias deal with responses to other people and social situations. Specific phobias have something that triggers the phobia. This is the rodent, bug, water type phobia. Agoraphobia is experienced by those who have irrational fears of leaving their living space (3).

It is fairly clear-cut in my example and there are of course fine lines that can blur the reality between fear and phobia, but it is good to know where the dividing line is between the two. The fear of flying, for instance - fear or phobia? Both maybe? I guess it would be the perceived threat of immanent death that causes the fear (stemming from either having known someone who was involved in a plane crash or watching the news). Yet, there are statistics that say that flying is safer than being in a moving car…so then the fear is more irrational. Hmmm…

What are your thoughts?

Sources:

1. Ohman, A. (2000). Fear and anxiety: Evolutionary, cognitive, and clinical perspectives. In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland-Jones (Eds.). Handbook of emotions. (pp.573-593). New York: The Guilford Press.
2. Edmund J. Bourne, The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook, 4th ed, New Harbinger Publications, 2005.
3. AllPsych Journal | Phobias: Causes and Treatments

Princess in Training – that is what the t-shirt said. And there I was, all of four-years-old (try 10) in the middle of Buckingham Palace. Granted at this time, I might have been a rival of Princess Di’s, both of us, running-nose young and into our mini tea sets. Did the shirt make me feel important? Yes, yes it did. If the shirt said it, it must be true. And I thought this. I was on top of the world pretending the castle was mine (until my Da said, “Ellie come along, we must stay with the tour”). Deep sigh, I was as far from being royalty as I am now. This last thought was compounded when someone on the tour pointed at me and began to laugh.

Since then I have not had a huge fondness for t-shirts. LOL. That really is not true, as I spend much of my non-professional time in either yoga wear or hiking grab. In those worlds, t-shirts can make or break an anticipated sweat and release (not to be vulgar).

In looking at Crazy Dog t-shirts, I realize this first week or so of 2009, I have been caught up in a time of great seriousness, longing, waiting, and frustration. I mention this because, it took a few moments for any silliness on the Crazy Dog site to engage me, but as I scrolled through the silly designs, a smile began to flicker and my partner was finally forced to ask, “What are you laughing at?”

In answer to his question, I described the snakes on an inclined plane motif (the image above). He crinkled his brow at me and said in reply, “Ellie, you have an odd sense of humor.” Touché. But, beyond the quick chuckle of the shirt, it seems an apt solution for a client I am expecting to see in the near future. She is one of my hiking buddies and has a tremendous fear of snakes. Just from watching the teaser for the movie Snakes on a Plane, she refused to travel by flight for the past year. I am not exaggerating. I love this t-shirt because it is a great “reframing” of the concept (I am actually going to work on her fear of running into a snake while hiking). It makes light of the fear, shows it in another format. I may just have to buy it (heck shipping is on sale for $4 currently) and give it to her after a fearless hike.

Now wondering what on earth I am going to ask about for this Sunday’s Question? Hmm, favorite t-shirts (yeah, I kind of like that, so feel free to share yours)? Or maybe something more academic like – what is the most creative use of reframing have you incorporated in your practice or life? Your choice.

The crowd was sitting before me. They were quiet, so quiet I was not sure they were even really breathing.  There were no smiles.  No friendly faces. My little quips landed like water balloons that not only missed their target, but did not explode; just a dull, unsatisfying, slushy thud. The silence echoed. When I finished my talk, there was a very long pause where there should have been polite clapping.  Nothing.  Then one amorphous hand shot up, rigidly straight like the bayonet of a rifle.  The question came out, each word staccato like random gunfire.

“How does it feel, Ms. Blunt, to be a fraud?”

Now before you do the really nice thing and maybe comment about how I am a not a fraud (okay, is it really wrong to fish for comments?), you should probably know that this  has never happened. It is based on my own occasional phobia of public speaking. It was from a passage in my journal. Maybe some of you can even relate.  God knows, I have enough clients that walk through my door that can sympathize.

Okay, so now you think I have this horrible fear before I talk in front of a group.  But that is not correct, either. Through the miracle of a little self-hypnosis, I always get by it. Whenever I feel the pangs of nervousness about such a thing, I take a few moments out of my day and go through the self-hypnosis process.  Sometimes I do it directly, working with positive visualizations and sometimes I use a CD that I made for myself.

But I noticed something interesting the other day. Two of us were scheduled to speak to a women’s group. The other speaker and I were having coffee before the meeting and she mentioned feeling completely agitated about having to speak (her topic was on gardening). She asked if I could help.  So, I did, I took her through a fifteen minute session and she did great in her talk.  And so did I. In fact, I did much better than I do even with my own self-hypnosis.

It seems as though, after several years of being in the hypnosis profession, that I have trained myself to go into a fairly significant trance when working with clients.  I actually go deeper than I do when I am not working with someone else.  Maybe it is actually saying the words that does it.  Interesting phenomenon.

Today I was going to rail about governmental mind control and human rights. You know, stop bad governments from using mind control techniques on its people. I figured it would tie into theme of the blog since we have covered ideas about mind control and how they are not hypnosis. So, I sat down with the last bit of Irish Breakfast tea and began to look for sources. What I found instead were conspiracy theory pages, some very poorly designed and written diatribes, and some that there so well done, I could not tell if there was or was not evidence to support the claims.

Then I caught myself and was appalled at my behavior. I do not have to write a piece with research information that is well documented. I do not have to have “expert” quotes embedded in this. Instead, I need to write about human rights from my own experience and knowledge.

So, I visited Billy Warhol’s blog billiondollarbaloney.blogspot.com, where he has posted a piece entitled Shut the Hell Up!! - MSNBC Keith Olbermann to President Bush!!. Before I go on, let me phrase that my Nan raised me to never discuss politics, religion or sex in public forums. Just listen, she said, you will learn much about other people and they will never notice that you have not said a word. I have pretty much lived by this and find it hard to break out of the mold.

However, I found myself conflicted today. I have my own opinions about Keith Olbermann and I do so want to express them. However, after a morning of being ensconced in conspiracy theories, I have found myself wrapped and tangled in something more than my upbringing. I found myself tangled up in a pervasive sense of fear. Now in my line of work, I have always thought of fear as the enemy. It gets in the way of progress. But now, I am wondering if I am not wrong to feel apprehensive.

Do I exercise my human rights, those that the US Constitution empowered us with, especially the right to free speech (and by the way, do we even have a constitution anymore or is it just boat for tourist to visit)? Do I dare flex my mental muscles even with thoughts that might not fit a fascist government? Might Orwell and his big brother know what I really think? And if so, what will become of me? Will my blog get fingered and red marked, monitored by men in black, and one day, an ordinary day, while I am posting and drinking tea, will they burst into my house, and take my mighty keyboard away and throw me into some dark, wet , hell hole until I have been brainwashed and speak their language? That’s what those conspiracy theories say.

Or maybe, just maybe, I am already suffering from subtle manipulation or brainwashing. Perhaps it has creeped in like an uninvited guest that looks vaguely familiar so we do not ask it to leave. Somehow instead of feeling proud of our individual rights, something has caused a certain questioning of what is safe and what is not. There is that fear again. I do not believe its pervasiveness really has much to do with a few pages of negativity that I read this morning. I think it is more than that. You read about bloggers being arrested for being critical of their governments in the Middle East. To those who do not live in oppression, maybe this seems insane (well, it is insane), but how far away are really from that? Evolution can go one of two ways - forward or backwards. Will democracy fail and will we all find ourselves in such a world where we live in a tangible state of fear? This would be devolution.

And am I part of this decay process? By censuring my words, my thoughts and brushing them away like crumbs from my granola bar, am I am allowing myself to be controlled by fear, whether caused by inherent paranoia or a true threat? If it is paranoia, then this whole post is crazy. If it is real…

Here’s what it all comes down too - is the fear indeed a threat? Perhaps you are saying, my Ellie, you have an active imagination (true, true), but we now seem to be in a world where human rights seem to be faltering. Even in Mother America, supposed land of the free, do we take human rights for granted? Can we afford to do that?

And I will now begin to stop this babbling brook of words and as they slow to a trickle, perhaps you have read between my lines and gotten the message. Maybe not. Maybe you are wondering what I really think. Old habits die hard (thank you Nan). Caution is the word of the day, but Mr. Olbermann, today you are my hero.

Yesterday, a sad, sad, sad, thing happened here on the transparent hypnotist.  No, you will not find it in the comment section (yesterday’s comments rocked, by the way).  It was one of those behind-the-scenes things that can happen on a blog.  As you may be aware, I participate in a program called Entrecards.  It is a great way to get your blog noticed and to read many other great blogs.  The premise is that you build up so many credits by dropping cards so that you can use those credits to buy advertising on other’s sights.

But yesterday, I saw a blog I thought would be the kind of blog that I should advertise on.  Sadly (yes, get the tissues ready) my ad was rejected. Why, you may wonder?  It was rejected because the blog’s owner does not believe in hypnosis and therefore cannot endorse my blog.  I am not criticizing her. I appreciate her honesty and her integrity of only putting what she believes in on her own blog.  In fact, I suspect, she is a rather brave girl.

But, it is still sad that there are people who fear hypnosis.  Or perhaps she has tried it and it was a bad experience or it did not work as quickly as she would have liked. I get so wrapped up here that I forget that there are those out there who could still use a dose of education about how hypnosis works and all that.  And on the other hand, it is a good reminder that our work is nowhere near finished.

I was all set to just go with that, but then more yicky news pinged into my email.  In Atlanta (hang in there Josh), apparently there was a rapist who just went to jail (yea). The first article I read about it mentioned that he was a hypnotist.  So, I thought, great.  Here we go - more reasons for people to be afraid of hypnosis.  Crap.

But…interestingly enough, the media is not all evil on this.  Many have reported that this guy posed as a hypnotist (how do you pose as a hypnotist?) and a therapist.  Those whom have brought charges are both in their teens and were apparently were seeing him for coaching (that really sucks, too, as many of us consider ourselves coach).

In sipping the Darjeeling, I guess what it all amounts to is that there are good people and people who veer off from the good path. If you read other news, there are other rapists out there who are lawyers, doctors, insurance companies (wait, I mean insurance representatives) and blue collars. Perhaps I am just over sensitive on the usage of the word hypnosis.

It is all just so frustrating sometimes. Sigh.  My tea has gotten cold.

Source: 11 Alive News

If any of you are participating in events this week, it stands to be a busier week than normal. Please feel free to share what you are doing (you can even use the comment section for advertising your events).

When I was tabulating the poll responses just a little while ago, I noticed three of you cited “other” as your response to your biggest fear. Would you consider sharing the phobia (you can even post anonymously if you would like)? When I posted the list of choices, I wet through the ones that first came to mind and those of my clients, so I am curious as to what bothers you.

Personally (it is only fair that I answer this), my biggest fears fluctuate depending upon the situation. Sometimes it is a fear of not having a stable income - what will happen to me if things do not work out, sometimes it is dealing with rude people in the bank or grocery store, sometimes it is fearing that my blood sugar will drop too low at an inconvenient time. But, I suspect these are not so much phobias, as certain neurosis. Last week I told you about my sudden issue with walking on rough terrain on the edge of a hill. My partner says he thinks it is more of a fear of turning my ankle because I obsess over ankle support. What strange creatures we are.

Happy Monday after the time change. Has it affected you?

A new day; a new week; a new cup of tea.

My meditation weekend was very nice, though a little chilly. And I discovered something awful - really awful. I have a phobia. I never really noticed it ever before, but it reared its ugly head at me this weekend and has played havoc.

As a hypnotist who practices what she preaches, I use a lot of self-hypnosis. It has helped me maintain my weight, be motivated for exercise, and be more relaxed when public speaking to just name a few. But I did not see this one coming and it totally blinded me.

I was happily walking along a trail, looking for a peaceful spot in the woods where the sun might shine down for a few moments and I came to a grouping of chaotic rocks. There were big rocks, small rocks, and gravel, all of which to be crossed over. I have decent hiking boots and was not carrying that much, so such a state in the landscape should not give me pause. But it did. I took a step onto the now very narrow trail and felt my foot slide. Mind you, on one side it was straight down. Yikes. I put the next foot in front of the other and it too did not seem stable. At that point, I looked around for another way around this pile and saw no trail. I would have gladly have gone an hour out of my way to not have to pass over this spot. I wobbled again on the next step and watched others pass me effortlessly. I felt myself growing warm even in the chill. My stomach began to ache. I tried to close my eyes and get a grip. No luck, pure fear.

It took quite awhile, but I did make it to the other side and past the rocks. But I began to wonder if this was not some way to help me have more compassion for my clients. I do not believe I have a “just get over it” attitude, but perhaps I have preached so much about hypnosis and phobias, it is now time to cut the crap and understand phobias a little better and what people go through.

And to top it all, when it was time to come back through that area, I had tried some self-hypnosis to get past it. It was not quite enough, thought it did help. I am now at the point where I need to make a recording and listen to it. I am sure I will keep you posted on the progress.

So, I think we will still keep the subject of phobias as a poll question. We had little response to last week’s phobia question, so I will just rephrase and see what happens.

Terror lurks everywhere apparently. It comes from the monsters in the closet or under the bed, standing on the rooftop edge of a tall building, being alone on the streets in a bad section of town, or just getting on an airplane. Perhaps you have had clients who have a flying related phobia or maybe you yourself have one. Well, presto chango, hypnosis is a fine way to handle it. A relaxing session, a glass of wine or a cup of coffee and you are good to go.

But, what if you have a flying phobia, are in the hospital with a critical condition and have to be transported? One of my weight loss clients has a parent in this situation. They need to move his 87-year-old mother to a healthcare establishment closer to where he lives (the commute on weekends is getting to him, he has fly in to see her). He would like his mother’s care to be closer so he could see her during the week and he feels the medical care she would receive in his city would be better than what she is getting currently.

So, the phobia kicks in. She is absolutely terrified of being coptered out. The idea of spinning blades, the noise, the construction of the helicopter are all enough to send her under the covers. He asked if I could talk to her, which I have. I am not local to her, but he thought just a telephone call might convince her to try hypnosis. No go. Seems there is a phobia there as well. But what I did learn is that her phobia is focused on the helicopter idea. When asked if she would fly on a regular airplane, she said that would be fine, but she is too sick just now.

Not one to just let it go, I looked into having her flown and it is doable (that’s right Mrs. –can’t really mention her name – no more excuses!). I had no idea, but there are air ambulance services out there for just this sort of thing. Airambulance.net arranges medical flights internationally. They fly a variety of planes, not just puddle jumpers, and are equipped and are a licensed Medical Intensive Care unit. Nurses or paramedics travel with her or if a respiratory therapist or doctor is needed, they will also make the trip. Basically, an ambulance will take her from her current hospital to the airport runway where she will be put on her flight, and once she reaches her destination, she is taken off the flight and ambulanced to her new hospital.

Done, dealt with, over. Out.

Today the coffee maker was reset after a short power outage. This morning the brew is dark and heavy (serving of coffee beans ground was maxed at ten and water was only six cups).

And as I am awakening much more abruptly (thank you coffee maker), it seems like the concept of adding in the random “In the News” segment is perfect.

So, lets talk about heights. Last Sunday (October 21) at the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena, Ratho, in Scotland, there was a pretty exciting event. The center hosted mass hypnosis for people suffering with acrophobia. Edinburgh-based Brain Train, Dawn and Gary Flockhart, did the hypnosis and NLP work. Once that was done, participants were taken 100 feet off ground level to the arena’s aerial assault course. Though harnessed, volunteers had to step off the platform (remember 100 feet off the ground level) into air, then face a twisted zip-slide, not to mention an obstacle course at the end.

There were 50 volunteers aged 11 to 56. Only three of the 50 did not attempt the aerial assault challenge after a thirty minute session. Using a method that involved imagining a picture of themselves in a frightened state, these volunteers were then told to focus on the fear that they experienced with this frightened state. Suggestions were given so that they would chant “sit and float” under their breath as a reminder to remain calm.

I had hoped a few of the participants would have blogged about the experience, but I have as yet to find them. The arena says that there were several success stories that came from that day. It also looked like a few people went through with it, but their phobias were not completely gone when they did the aerial Assault .

I invite any of the participants to comment and share their story (good or bad or if any of you have stumbled onto this blog). Also, if anyone else has any comments or knowledge of the event, please feel free to also post them as well.

Sources:
news.scotsman.com
www.adventurescotland.com