The Transparent Hypnotist

Well, isn’t this nice. A space of my own. How odd, really. The space still echoes with newness, waiting to be filled with the sound of my personality. As I sat down, watching the snow fall this morning, there was a bit of something almost sad. Was it leaving the safety net of the known blogger interface or maybe it was just more like leaving an old friend (albeit one that occasionally stabs you in the back).

So, here we are on an esoteric Saturday. And what better way to acclimate ourselves here with a little hypnosis, a little art. To be exact, my focus today is Matt Mullican’s work in the Whitney Biannual 2008. This particular artist combines two forms of hypnosis in his work. The first is in the performance vein - he is a performance artist whose medium seems to be “trance.” Then on occasion, he creates a tangible piece of art while in the trance, so he uses hypnosis for creativity. Brilliant. He apprently can go on for hours and has been known to do such bazaar stuff as pace, drink coffee (weirdo - LOL), rant, chant, and create. I am being a little tongue in cheek, but perhaps his performances are actually a really positive concept - maybe showing a bit of reality in the world of hypnotic myth.

Sadly, I am no where near New York, so I cannot see his work first hand, but if any of you happen upon it, please feel free to comment your thoughts. Also on March 25, 2008, he will give a seminar on his process at the Whitney. I would love to see that. I would love to have a guest blogger who does go to it and reports back.

Source: The Whitney

Since returning from Hypnoticon earlier this month the subject of
evangelism has been often in my mind. No, not in the religious sense;
I'm thinking more about the ways that people extend themselves to
promote an idea about which they are passionate.

What does that have to do with hypnosis? Regular readers of this blog
may recall the poll from two weeks back, 'Would You Let a Stranger that
You Just Met Hypnotize You on the Street?' That poll (to which the
overall response was a heaping 'No' with a side of 'Maybe/It Depends')
grew out of discussion, some on the blog and some off, about the
walkabout trance experience at Hypnoticon. I didn't participate in that
exercise because I felt uncomfortable walking up to strangers and
saying, "Hey, I'm a hypnotist — can I hypnotize you right now?" What I
wrote to Ellie was that the idea made me feel like a hypnotic Jehovah's
Witness, metaphorically speaking, which led to the juxtaposition of
hypnosis and evangelism.

In a way, walkabout hypnosis exercises are a method of evangelizing —
that is, publicly promoting and advocating — hypnosis. But for those
of us who aren't bold or outgoing enough to accost strangers in the
street, aren't there other ways of achieving the same end? Some
hypnotists take to radio and TV talk shows to talk up the benefits of
hypnosis; others participate in events such as World Hypnotism Day; some
volunteer their services at hospices, hospitals, and other places where
need is high and resources often low. I give a presentation on hypnosis
to the Psychology class at my childrens' high school every semester.

So my Sunday Question for you is: what do you do to evangelize for
hypnosis in your community?

-MR

Location: Germantown, Maryland

Cyber Location: members.aol.com/marciadp

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

Part time until my daughter is out of college, and I plan to go full time then.

2. Do you specialize in any type of hypnosis?

Smoking cessation, stress management, pediatric hypnosis, phobias, etc.
3. Is there any type of hypnosis you do not do? Why?

No.

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

Yes, as pain management, stress management.

5. Describe your hypnosis office or work setting. I have two offices.

One is at a wellness center. The other is in my home - I converted my living room into an office. Two recliners, a sofa and two chairs.

6. Describe a typical day in your life.

First my day job as a tech writer, then home or the wellness center to get ready for clients.
7. Where did you get your training in hypnosis and are you certified?

The Hypnotherapy Institute in New Jersey. I am certified as a master hypnotherapist.

8. Most fabulous hypnosis technique you use?

Ericksonian techniques and parts regression therapy.

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

I was working with a 14 year old with Khron’s Disease, who was having problems with having bloodwork drawn. Her mother told me it was the needles. Taught the girl self hypnosis and the magic spot technique. She was able to achieve trance easily, did a pinch test, and she never felt it. The following week, she was back, and the mother and grandmother were there, saying she became combative, and still fought having the blood drawn. I finally asked the mother to let me talk with the girl (very much in a child state). The girl said, yes, she was able to do what I taught her. I asked her why she was having a problem at the doctor’s office. She said it was the rubber band that hurt - the tourniquet. She really wasn’t worried about the needle. I got her back in hypnosis and talked about the tourniquet. I asked her to imagine that when the tourniquet was used, it was like a big teddy bear hug squeezing her tight, helping her to get better soon. I learned that with children, the parents really don’t always know. Never take the parent’s word for it. No matter the age of the child, get the child’s input.

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

The mind is so powerful, so fascinating, and to use it for a larger potential is exciting.

You will have to forgive me while I leave behind the world of positive thoughts and put on my clinical cap for a moment. Often I try to bring you the latest studies involving hypnosis, but today I bring you news that does not. Yet it is important and can benefit us.

Several studies have found that there is a link between smokers and Type 2 Diabetes. Smoking apparently increases the risk for the disease. And I do not know about you, but diabetes is a great fear for several of my weight loss clients, so I suspect it may help motivate a few smokers to give up that habit as well.

When the University of Lausanne compared 25 such studies, there was a 44% increase of the diabetes risk for smokers, compared to non-smokers. According to the Journal of American Medical Association, the more cigarettes smoked, the higher the risk. The numbers are pretty scary.

Source:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/91541.php

–
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Happy day to all of those who are celebrating the holidays and to those just celebrating the advent of yet another day!

For every one else…well…just enjoy nice thoughts for a positive day.

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Subscribe for $12/year to eliminate these short "message tags" and the
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Well, I was away from web access this weekend, but still posted through email…only to find that the post never went through! Sorry about that…They should be there now. See you tomorrow.

So here is today’s Sunday Question:

Should I continue asking and discussing a Sunday Question?

Is it of interest? Or is it better to ask questions through out the week? Is the Monday Poll taking care of interactiveness of questions? Do you have a preference?

___________________________
Sent by Ellie Blunt via the free Email Scheduler service.
Register now at http://www.emailschedule.com

Every now and then, you just have to let loose. Speeding along (within the legal limits – of course!), coming home late at night from a journey, there is nothing as wonderful as cranking the vehicle sound system up to keep the energy flowing. This was the case for me a few days ago.

I had been to dinner with friends earlier and we were discussing Esoteric Saturday. The topic of System of a Down came up and I was asked if I had heard their CD “Hypnotize. I had not, so I found myself propelled into the night, listening loudly to edgy, harder (this is not Elton John after all) riffs and lyrics.

I had to go to the lyrics to understand them and this is the part of the CD and song “Hypnotize” that references our art.

Why don’t you ask the kids at Tiananmen Square Was fashion the reason why they were there. They disguise it, hypnotize it. Television made you buy it. I’m just sitting in my car And waiting for my…She’s scared that I will take her away from there Her dreams and her country left with no one there. Mezmerize the simple minded Propaganda leaves us blinded. I’m just sitting in my car And waiting for my girl.

But perhaps you would like to listen to the song, too. So I have included it.

Visit the band’s site at http://www.systemofadown.com.

___________________________
Sent by Ellie Blunt via the free Email Scheduler service.
Register now at http://www.emailschedule.com

So, here is this blog that I share with you on a daily basis, and you probably have it figured out that I am a prolific journaler. Yes, I even have a private journal that not even you get to read. Sometimes I do share snippets from it, but that is the joy, it is completely up to my whim. It is definitely my own form of therapy, uncensored (un-spell-checked - you can just imagine).

I have kept a journal since I was 16. A few journals have gotten me in trouble because others have felt a need to pry into them, which if you have ever had that happen, feels like a violation of the soul. For a while I would stop writing journals because of this and find myself feeling like something was missing from my life. It was. My words, my conclusions, my thoughts, they had no outlet. So, hence another journal would be started.

Often I find myself suggesting to clients that they keep journals to track their habits, patterns, and stresses. Surprisingly, several have admitted that they used to keep journals but had had experiences like mine and did not feel like they could keep one without it being read. (Shame on you if you violate someone by reading his or her journal).

So, I have been searching for a solution and may have just found one with MyTherapyJournal.com. It is online and secure (and you know, if those who feel a need to read your journal hack the system, well, maybe you need to face some truth yourself). The trick is to not let any one know your password (but you can change it if someone figures it out). The big plus, though it does cost a bit to have a journal here, is that the information is stored outside of your location. It cannot be happened upon accidentally.

Additional factors I like about this program are that it automatically graphs information, so you can see progress (or patterns). There are two ways it does this. There are preset questions you answer in your journal entries or you can customize the questions for your specific needs. How you answer these will be recorded on the Progress Graph(sm). It also tracks your mood.

There are several other factors that make this attractive as well. There is a key word search for finding information quickly, so if you want to look back on a particular issue, you can easily find your past entries. And for the visually inclined, one can upload photos to it and email entries that can be shared.

In today’s earlier post, we talked about the truth. It seems like this idea of a safe journal would really help one to understand personal truths, to plan out life accordingly, and see the growth process.

To visit MyTherapyJournal.com, please click here.

Here is an example of the Progress Graph(sm).

I am posting tonight because I am going out of town tomorrow and am leaving right around the time I normally have a cup of coffee with you. So, let’s call this a nightcap (even if it is still kind of early).

After my earlier blog today, I started thinking more about potential types of volunteering that would probably be satisfying, such as helping abused people rebuild self-esteem, etc. But then I thought more about Alzheimer’s patients. A couple I have known since I was a child both are both in the early stages of the disease. And what an amazingly helpless feeling I have about it. These are two brilliant people (as are a lot who suffer with this). However, their doctor seems interested to see what hypnosis could do for them. There may be potential for slowing it down or increasing memory capacity. I have read a few articles on the subject and someone out there feels that if you can motivate early suffers to increase their memory capacity by stimulating the idea of doing something fun (Sudoku has potential), it may give them some mental longevity. So, that is what I am currently pondering.

The more I have learned about Alzheimer’s, the more I am convinced that there are things we can do to help those with it. For all those What the Bleep people out there, remember all the talk about neurons? Well, get to know them. The Alzheimer Foundation has a very good description of the disease and how it works. Our power little friends, the neurons, nerve cells, are part of the process. These neurons communicate with others to form networks (clicky bastards, aren’t they). These networks take on job functions that help run our body and mind. The association relates these to the analogy of a factory that keeps us up an running, and like in the factory world, back up, system failures, and worse happen and communication breaks down. As the damage happens certain brain cells stop functioning and die, causing memory loss and eventual death. Scientists are still trying to learn where this process starts. I am hopeful.

A little outside the realm of actual hypnosis, there is another way to help the association on its quest for a cure. It is the Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk, which is the nation’s largest fundraising

effort, along with raising awareness, for Alzheimer care, support and research (go hypnosis, go!). They are currently looking for team captains and I thought I would share this with you. If you have an office or influence at one (for the corporate level), you may want to consider being a team captain for a Memory Walk . Team captains can also be members of the community, organizing a group of friends to participate, and these can be people of all ages. They are recruiting now so that captains will have plenty of time to set-up their teams. The Walks take place in the Fall in over 600 communities, so there is bound to be one near you. And if you take the time to see what is needed to do this, it has all been organized nicely and sounds like you would get a fair amount of support from the association.

The past Walks, since 1989, have risen over $225 million dollars, and remember that includes research. Research may include hypnosis, so we may learn how to help these people even more.