Working4Me

Hypnosis found close in effectiveness to counseling

A recent study conducted with 246 men and women who desired to quit smoking apparently showed that hypnosis is similar in effectiveness to traditional counseling.

Further, the study showed greater effectiveness for hypnosis in a group that identified themselves as having experienced depression!

The study was conducted over one year by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and funded by the California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program.

It seems that a lack of research exists in this area. The design of studies is full of potential pitfalls as well, such as what script they hypnotist is using, whether or not they even use a script, their hypnotic technique, and more variables that can affect the outcome of using hypnosis to achieve any goal.

For more details on the study: http://pub.ucsf.edu/today/cache/feature/200806201.html

Miley Cyrus Demonstrates the Authority Trance

Anyone who begins a study of hypnosis in earnest will eventually learn of the various methods of hypnotic induction, and one of those methods is by using the perceived authority of the hypnotist. The client who perceives an authority or an air of confidence in their operator will often go into hypnotic trance more easily than with some unknown fellow off the street.

We're taught that if we observe a client who might respond well to authority influence, we might use more imperative language in our inductions to calibrate for a better response.

Unfortunately, authority is used frequently to coerce and persuade people to do things they would not normally do, and according to Miley Cyrus that's what happened in her Vanity Fair photo session.  The news report I saw quoted Miley as saying something to the effect of "You just don't say 'No' to Annie", referring to the photography legend Annie Leibovitz.

This, I claim, is a great teachable moment for parents of Hannah Montana fans. Use this as an opportunity to discuss authority with your kids - where is authority legitimate, where is it not, what are reasonable boundaries, etc. Authority has its place in society but it can clearly be abused. While it's not appropriate to resist all authority for the sake of resisting (polarity responding, anyone?), it's often important in our "uptime" to think critically about situations in our daily lives that might not seem important at the time, but may have remifications later on.

Miley, I hope you've learned something about coercion and authority.  You have a respected place in the hearts of many young people. Please use that responsibly to teach positive values and do not abuse it.

How to Use Motivational NLP While Exercising

Here are a few notes on using NLP to help with motivation in your daily exercise. I have been employing these concepts to keep my daily routine in place and I'm getting great results. Sorry it's not a very systematic, coherent article but it's meant to get my thoughts documented for further refinement later.

The old saying, "keep your eyes on the prize" holds true. With proper well-formed outcomes, it's hard not to exercise regularly because you'll always be able to see, hear, and feel the benefits of a healthy body. Build up that desired target state where you feel great because you're in such good shape, and then anchor a particular warm-up exercise to that state. Then use that warmup each time you exercise to "get your glow on" and fly through whatever exercise time will allow.

I suspect that a lot of chi kung (qigong) and yoga might work like this. Once you have efficient, well-refined biomechanics going on, your nervous system seems to recognize the physical benefits on an unconscious level and it keeps you going, perhaps even propelling you into mild euphoric states which are then anchored to and reinforced by the postures you're using.

Most people familiar with NLP and hypnosis will already have some simple trigger for the "motivated" state, since myriad techniques abound in virtually every book on the subject, even on TV... check out "I Can Make You Thin" sometime. If you encounter sluggishness or resistance once you've already begun your routine, or you're on a treadmill and don't want to stop and go back to your motivational warmup, just fire off your tried and true anchor from when you first started learning NLP techniques.

Another thought- if you're exercising by yourself, it's a great time to tune in to your self-talk. Either silence or make any desired changes to your internal dialogue while exercising. I remember a few times during Aikido training that the training was so demanding of my attention that the dialogue just shut off and great clarity of mind came about. Those moments were fleeting, but they provide reference resources that I can access in other situations. So use your solo exercise as a time to establish all kinds of internal states which you can access more easily at other times.

Question Yourself!

Some people might think that becoming more effective requires never questioning themselves.
I've encountered this proposition a few times, and I must say that I feel compelled to question it.

I'm reminded of the popular bumper sticker, t-shirt, or button that says "Question Authority!" Well, by what authority are they exhorting me to question authority? What authority specifically, and how specifically should I question it/them? 

Well, in this case specifically, I suggest questioning yourself by your own authority.  Confused yet? Let me elaborate.

When we notice our own internal dialogue, a common tactic is to try to go silent inside. A silent internal dialogue is frequently an indicator of flow state, so NLP, meditation, and hypnosis abound with techniques for silencing your mind.  But in some cases, it might be a useful tactic to "embrace and extend" your internal dialogue by questioning it with the NLP meta model. Can you see how that might be useful?

So when I say that I question myself sometimes, I am not committing the great "sin" against the American way known as "self-doubt", but I am literally asking questions of my internal dialogue.  Since it's part of me, of course it sometimes has interesting things to say.  So why not examine what it's saying by getting it to elaborate upon it's usually vague unspecified statements, and if consciously I think my dialogue is somehow disconnected from reality, I can reconnect it by using the meta model internally.

For those of you who don't know the meta model of NLP, I highly recommend Bandler and Grinder's The Structure of Magic, and any number of other good NLP books or web sites that can get you started.

Musings on Why Diabetics Don't Take Better Care of Themselves

Devin Hastings has written a thought-provoking article on the American Chronicle web site covering the ins and outs of diabetes and how hypnosis might play a part in improving their quality of life. 

I'd like to point out and amplify his recommendation of Michael Yapko's books.  They are a treasure trove of information and, as you might imagine from anything I recommend, Yapko sticks to the solid technique and avoids faux mysticism and appeals to quantum physics.  I would expect nothing less from someone of Yapko's credentials, but with the deluge of Law of Attraction stuff out there, it's worth pointing out the value of the lack of "the secret".  :-)

Back to diabetes and hypnosis - in the specific diabetic cases where weight loss and exercise would be of benefit, it's possible that a good hypnotist could really help out.  Even simple motivation techniques designed to get people running, lifting weights, practicing martial arts, etc would be a boon; who wouldn't benefit from some exercise?  For specifics, check out Devin Hastings' article, which is a refreshing look at hypnosis among a sea of sensationalist media.

NLP Weight Loss Podcast

No, I'm not starting a podcast, yet.  I'm pointing you to this podcast, Weight Loss and the Mind. Here's the description from their own site:

Weight Loss and dieting are an epidemic in today's society. It is more a function of how we think than anything else. There are hundreds of diets and exercise programs out there. Yet 'yo-yo' dieting is a cliche. We all know that there is more to it. Why do we eat foods we KNOW add weight and inches to our waist and hips? Why do we sit in front of the tube for hours at a time instead of going for that wonderful walk in the park?The answer lies in our MINDS. Each podcast, Shane and Scott delve into a different topic related to using your mind to achieve that long-sought-after goal -- a healthy body.

I haven't had a chance to listen in depth, but the blog makes this podcast look worthwhile as far as hypnosis / NLP podcasts go, apparently focusing on using the mind along with solid exercise and habit control methodology - no quantum magic.

I've been embarking on a side project of reviewing hypnosis and NLP podcasts as I come across them. So far, I've found plenty of manifestation / "Law of Attraction" / quantum quackery stuff... and you know what I think of that. I'll highlight the rare, no new age nonsense gems here as I find them.

Hypnosis and Children - We Do It All The Time

Hypnosis and Beyond has a nice post about hypnosis and children. Sometimes in hypnotherapy training you're cautioned about using hypnosis with children, and of course caution is a good thing in all cases - make sure the parent is there, tape the session, etc.

But what are some of the ways that our hypnotic skills are useful in our daily encounters with young human beings? Children are learning machines! They are, consciously or unconsciously, modeling every behavior they see and hear, especially from adults. This brings to mind a great billboard I saw over the weekend. It has a picture of a little girl on it, with the text (paraphrasing): "Every time you yell at your spouse, she learns a lesson."   

Hopefully we, as adults, are conscious of the messages we are putting out when we're around children. They may notice things about our behaviors that we ourselves don't realize, just as though we were being modeled by an NLP expert.

One of the many ways that hypnosis happens with children on a daily basis is storytelling. I don't know if you have realized it yet, but storytelling is something hypnotists can do very well. And stories can carry unconscious messages, whether we know it or not. As you tell stories, to children or to adults, you might become more aware of the messages you're embedding in the stories, and whether your nonverbal behaviors are congruent with those messages... or not.

So, to boil this down to a nice list, here are just a few areas I propose might involve hypnotic communication with children, in nearly any context:

• Stories
• A mother's touch
• Your tonality when speaking to and around children
• Rhythm
• Nursery rhymes
• Television programming
• Religious services (if you want your kids to take it seriously, you better take it seriously)
• Metaphors and similes
• Everything you do or say around kids

Dr. Andrew Weil: For sugar cravings, hypnosis and stress control may help

Dr. Andrew Weil, pioneer in the field of integrative medicine, writes in the Tucson Citizen that sugar cravings may be helped by hypnosis, and the use of breathing techniques in order to reduce stress.

According to Dr. Weil: "Eating sweets can increase levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin,
which can help you relax, suggesting that some cravings are
stress-related. Studies at the University of California-San Francisco
reported last year that chronic stress may explain why some people
crave comfort foods."

Perhaps it's possible to ask your unconsious to help regulate your sugar cravings. The unconscious would have many resources at its disposal, most importantly the external behaviors that get us into trouble in the first place. Dr. Weil has suggestions for these behaviors as well, including choosing snacks with a low glycemic index, eating bitter foods, and he even recommends the supplement gymnema sylvestre.

For more information, visit the article itself on the Tucson Citizen web site, or visit Dr. Andrew Weil's own site.


Technorati Tags: hypnosis

ABC News Reports on Psychedelic Magic Mushrooms

Quite a surprise from the Google News site- the ABC News web site has published a Reuters article covering recent research into the beneficial effects of psilocybin mushrooms. Apparently 60% of the volunteers who received an extract of psilocybin reported a "full mystical experience".

But the interesting part  to me is the two month followup:

Two months after getting the drug, 79 percent of the volunteers said they felt a moderately or greatly increased well-being or life satisfaction, according to the report published in the journal Psychopharmacology.

Maybe we can't try and tease too much out of a wire story, but the  percentage of people from the study reporting a moderate or great increase in wellbeing evidently (according to this article) exceeds the apparent percentage of people who reported a mystical experience.

But other than this weird observation, perhaps we can ignore the means used to achieve a peak experience in this case and focus on the concept that peak experience can have lasting positive effects.
 
So are thosse of us using positive psychology, NLP, hypnosis, or even exercise and martial arts just chasing a high? I've heard that accusation leveled against  peak performance seekers many a time. Perhaps now, with research like this, we can begin to back up scientifically the lasting benefits of our personal mind tech.

Hypnosis and Catholic Christianity

Jimmy Akin, a well-known Catholic apologist who holds the 2005 award for Best Apologetics Blog, today wrote a pretty good overview of the morality and safety of undergoing hypnosis from a Catholic point of view. Well, it's on a Catholic apologetics blog (an excellent one, at that), but really this can apply to any form of Christianity.

While he has reservations over whether altered states of consciousness even exist (he's actually pretty accurate in mentioning that hypnosis isn't too different from any other relaxed, focused state), he addresses the common fear of demonic exposure when he lays it out about as straightforward as I've ever heard it said:

On it's face, there's nothing supernatural about any of this, and that would make me wary of claims that one is opening oneself to the demonic.

I tend to take whether someone is open or closed to the demonic at face value: You're not inviting demons to influence you unless you're inviting demons to influence you. Since there is nothing overtly demonic about hypnosis (e.g., each hypnotic session does not begin with a prayer to a demon) there is no overt invitation to demons to influence you through it.

I'll add my two cents by addressing the new age hypnotists. Anyone who's been reading this blog knows that I'm advocating a highly ethical hypnosis practice that takes great care to keep clear of any religious or new age philosophy. No sane person would willfully invoke evil when doing hypnosis, but well-meaning new age folk will oftentimes slip in content that will convey their worldview to the client. They may not even realize they are doing it, but recall how powerful presuppositions can be!

Or on the flip side, a hypnotist from one of the more well-known religions might presuppose something that's so contrary to the worldview of the client, that the client won't even go into trance.

If you're confused by what I'm saying, go and review Richard Bandler and especially John Grinder when they write about the ins and outs of content-free hypnosis. Off the top of my head, I believe John Grinder's Whispering in the Wind goes into some depth on this matter of getting out of the clients way as much as possible.

Back to the Jimmy Akin topic- yes, classical hypnosis can be quite safe when practiced ethically, but do choose your hypnotist carefully. Certifications and medical degrees are not necessarily an assurance at this point; the best approach is to get a feel for the kind of person they are by checking references and discussing any concerns you have up front. And of course, you can affirm to your self, perhaps by using a self-hypnosis technique on your own, that your unconscious knows best what suggestions are ecological for you and which to discard as irrelevant.

Update: Jimmy has a follow-up post about the moral implications of hypnosis for Catholics here.

New Book on Milton Erickson

I just learned of a new book about Milton Erickson and his unique approach to psychotherapy and hypnosis. Titled Milton H. Erickson, M.D.: An American Healer, it's edited by Bradford Keeney and Betty Alice Erickson.

I'm quite looking forward to getting this, as it not only profiles Erickson and his work, but it even includes a DVD containing previously unseen footage of him working.

As of this writing, it's available at Amazon for a pretty deep discount. Buy now, you probably would jump at the chance to learn more about Milton Erickson.

Technorati Tags: hypnosis, erickson, hypnotherapy, nlp

NLP Tips by Jamie Smart, back online!

I'm happy to report that Jamie Smart, of Salad ltd. in the UK, has begun posting his NLP tips online again. He had been sending them out only over email recently, without an online archive. I've added some of those email-only newsletters to this site because they had such great content (and he gives permission at the end of the emails).

Now, you can head over to his site and read them online. I encourage you to do so, this is a very valuable resource.


I own a copy of his 6-CD set, NLP for Business and Personal Success, and highly recommend that as well.


Technorati Tags: nlp, achievement, psychology

Joseph Riggio: Dr. Sigmund Freud vs. Friar William of Ockham

Joseph Riggio has published this article on his site. I'll be pleased to toss him a link  because his stuff, at least what I know of it, is great! Here, he presents a discussion about the conscious/unconscious distinction and its relationship to today's understanding of neuroscience.

Numquam ponenda est pluritas sine necessitate

[Multiples should not be posited without necessity]

Article Abstract: One of the primary theories of psychology for explaining cognitive and/or behavioral responses of individuals has been the premise of an Unconscious/unconscious first proposed by Dr. Sigmund Freud in the early part of the 20th century. This theory has continued to remain present in many circles and disciplines within psychology and therapy, often expressed in terms of an unconscious process. This article proposes an alternative explanation of cognitive and/or behavioral response of individuals that does away with any need to reference either an Unconscious/unconscious or an unconscious process. The technique of applying the simplest explanation possible using the current information from neuroscientific research forms the basis for the argument proposed by the article.

Ockham’s banner has been raised in quest to better understand and explain human cognitive and behavior beyond the “black box” of Frued’s Unconscious/unconscious and unconscious process, and stands ready for all comers …

William of Ockham a Franciscian Friar of the 14th century posed a precept which has long since become known as “Ockham’s (or Occams) Razor.” This principal given in the Latin form above is often presented as: “When considering two equally plausible explanations, choose the simplest one.” The idea being that when choosing from a set or sets of data the simplest, i.e.: smallest, set of data that explains and offers the highest level of accuracy in predicting the event/outcome will better serve the process of explaining what has happened or will happen.

In his explanation of human cognitive and/or behavioral responses Dr. Freud proposed an “Unconscious” that was a repository of historical data, mostly associated with stored psychical traumas. The primary process by which this occurs is referred to as “repression” as distinct from “sublimation.” Essentially repression occurs when an event is too painful to remain in consciousness and is the mind’s way of dealing with the psychic pain according to Freud. This hypothesis formed most of psychoanalytic theory and the practice of psychoanalysis that follows from this theory.

In essence what Freud suggested is that the stored information acts upon the individual ‘unconsciously’ generating psychodynamic responses that show up in cognition and/or behavior that is unexplainable to the individual. The effect is likened to the material stored in the Unconscious leaking into the awareness of the individual in unrecognizable ways, e.g.: slips of the tongue, also known as “Freudian slips.” This leads to neuroses and in more extreme cases psychoses.

The practice of psychoanalysis was designed to put patients back in touch with the traumatizing event creating “insight” that would eventually lead to a greater awareness of the patterns generated and acted out that were previously unconscious and beyond the influence or control of the individual. After gaining insight the individual would begin to gain greater awareness of themselves and their patterns of response and therefore greater levels of influence and control over their expressed behavior.

While the description above is rudimentary and rough, it offers a glimpse into the most basis aspects of psychoanalytic theory, without the details of practice - or “how” to address the issue of the Unconscious or gaining the required insight.

While many people don’t abide by purely Freudian constructs of the Unconscious or the precepts of psychoanalytic theory, these concepts still “leak” into their understanding of the unconscious – usually in the form of “unconscious process.” The form this often takes is that there is a complementary process that is occurring in the mind alongside the conscious process that is processing information outside of awareness. When the processing of the information that resides outside of awareness is complete it rises somehow to the level of consciousness and is experienced/expressed cognitively and/or behaviorally.

The idea of an unconscious process is present in the work of many therapists, including those using hypnosis, with the possible exception of the Radical Behavioralists. It is the essence of virtually all psychodynamic theories like those of Erikson, Horney, Rodgers, Maslow and others like the famous psychiatrist/hypnotist Dr. Milton H. Erickson, M.D. For the purposes of this essay I want to address the idea of an “Unconscious” as unconscious process from within the structure of Dr. Erickson’s use of the unconscious in hypnosis.

The most basic formulation of this process is that there is a constantly running mental process that resides outside of conscious awareness that can be referred to in shorthand as the unconscious. While this may not be the same as the repository of data that Freud conceptualized it is a constantly present factor in the behavioral expression of the individual.

What Milton suggested is that the unconscious as described in the paragraph above had patterns or programs that it runs in relation to the data being operated upon. His formulations were designed to repattern or reprogram the unconscious process through the application of hypnotic protocol or technique. His particular protocols were often conversational and metaphorical, designed to affect the repatterning/reprogramming proposed above.

The premise of a psychodynamic practice regardless of the specifics or the direction taken remain largely based on the premise of an Unconscious/unconscious that drives material into consciousness that show up cognitively, behaviorally or both. This proposes a mental process that resides outside of the ongoing conscious process or present process that is running as a result of the immediate physiological processes of the brain-body system.

These kinds of descriptions of mental process are largely based in dualistic theories of mind and brain/body being separate entities. That is the “mind” resides somehow outside of brain. This way of conceptualizing this material becomes more evident when the current theories of neurocognition are applied to the concept of the Unconscious/unconscious.

The more prevalent theories in current neurocognitive studies suggest that the brain-body system generates the processes of conscious awareness referred to as mind. In other words “mind” is an affect of the physiological processes of the brain-body system. Extending this idea of “brain” here to include the full neural system that is present in the body demands including, but not necessarily limiting it, to the brain, CNS, glandular system and other neural processes distributed throughout the body proper.

Another way of referring to this is that the mind is an affect of the processes of perception, conception and cognition distributed throughout the body proper. This suggests that there is no “mind” without the processes that are distributed in the body that generate the affect know as “mind.”

Using Ockham’s Razor it can be stated that all mental processes that become explicit in consciousness in the form of cognition and/or behavior are a direct result of the processes occurring in the brain-body system that generate the affect known as mind. What current neuroscience has begun to suggest is that these processes occur in whole-form patterns distributed simultaneously in the brain-body system generating the affect known as mind by the interactions occurring in the whole-form systemic patterns. The interactions that are distributed and occurring in the entire brain-body system at any given moment in time generate the cognitive and behavioral responses of the individual.

Using the premise stated above there is no need to propose or account for an Unconscious/unconscious or even an unconscious process displacing any need to resort to this conceptual form. The questions relating to the historical material that is “unconscious” for the individual but seems to effect the cognitive and/or behavioral responses can be addressed within the structure of the proposed premise sated above simply by accepting that this material is only present for the individual in the whole-form patterns that are provoked in relation to some data in the external environment or represented by the individual internally.

If cognition and behavior are the result of the interaction of the whole-form brain-body system in response to data, either sensory data in the environment or conceptual data conjured by the individual mentally there is no need to explain it by means of an Unconscious/unconscious or unconscious process. A simpler and more direct explanation would be that the brain-body system is patterned by exposure to external sensory stimuli and internally represented stimuli and the feedback loops that occur as a result. Over time these response patterns are habituated in regard to these kinds of stimuli and patterns of data. When these particular configurations of stimuli/data, or a configuration that is similar enough to provoke the habituated response patterns, are present the habituated response patterns run in the brain-body system creating the cognitive and/or behavioral responses experienced.

These habituated patterns are literally “out of mind” until the stimuli/data that provokes them into being are present, then the brain-body systems configures itself in response to the stimuli in the habituated patterns generating the cognitive and/or behavioral responses associated with those specific configurations. The habituated patterns of the brain-body system can then be said to be the result of the feedback loops generated in regard to the cognitive and/or behavioral responses within the environment. This is an ecological pattern where the inhabitants in a system are patterned by the system to respond as they do to the stimuli/data present in the system, and the system is patterned by the responses of the inhabitants within it as they respond.

This premise follows the tenants of the behavioralists with regard to “reward” theory. The responses that are rewarded are repeated and those that are not are extinguished. Certain types of behavior generate positive rewards within the system furthering the action of the individuals creating them, while others types of behavior generate no reward or negative reward extinguishing the repetition of the behavior. The fundamental factor is the sense of satisfaction or completion the individual experiences in regard to the expression of the specific cognition and/or behavior.

What occurs within the interaction between an individual and someone running a psychodynamic intervention with them is the provocation of the habituated patterns of cognition and/or behavior in response to the stimuli/data presented. Then the response is either rewarded or not, generating satisfaction and/or a sense of completion for the individual to the level they are capable of experiencing it in regard to the pattern they’ve run.

New patterns can be provoked and habituated in this way by manipulating the stimuli/data presented and the reward given or withheld. This results in potentially new response patterns in regard to familiar stimuli/data configuration in the system, generating new responses. The more accurately the habituated responses are provoked and manipulated the more effectual the repatterning/reprogramming of the cognitive and/or behavioral responses will be. This is especially true when the perceived reward for alternative cognitive and/or behavioral responses generates high levels of satisfaction and/or completion in the brain-body system of the individual.

One of the systems for intervening in the habituated brain-body system that shows extremely effective results in some cases is that of hypnotic protocol, especially in the hands of a gifted practitioner like Dr. Erickson. The advantage of using hypnotic protocol is the ability to effectively replicate the stimuli/data configuration that provokes the habituated response. Then by manipulating the various aspects of the stimuli/data configuration and the reward given or withheld in regard to the response provoked, the potential to reform the response of the individual become possible. This type of intervention has the potential of creating new responses that become installed al as a new pattern of “habituated” response to the familiar stimuli/data configuration.

Using the tenants of Ockham’s Razor it would seem that while it is difficult to categorically state what occurs in the “black box” of the human psyche, from the neuroscientific evidence available the proposition of a direct habituated response system to stimuli could effectively explain the cognitive and/or behavioral response patterns observed without the need to propose or defer to a Unconscious/unconscious. While more evidence will be required to state the case more definitively, for now it seems both reasonable and possible to construct a satisfactory means for building whole-form systemic cognitive and/or behavioral interventions without any need to resort to addressing the Unconscious/unconscious or unconscious processes.

While Friar Ockham’s precept alone may not have killed Dr. Freud’s most basic premise, with some help from the current generation of neuroscientists he may yet deal it a mortal blow.

©2006 Joseph Riggio, Ph.D. and the Applied Behavioral Technologies, Inc. • jsriggio@josephriggio.com/http:/www.josephriggio.com • All rights reserved. • May be reproduced and distributed in whole without modification or editing of any kind whatsoever and must include this copyright notice in full, without charge or cost for such distribution.


Technorati Tags: hypnosis, nlp, psychology, mind

Hypnosis Christmas Wishlist 2005

Since it's three days until Christmas, this is really more of a wishlist for 2006, but here it goes anyway, in no particular order:

1. Richard Bandler's new time distortion DVD
2. The Complete Works of Milton Erickson

A Pzizz machine

Conversations with Milton H. Erickson, Volume II: Changing Couples

Taproots: Underlying Principles of Milton Erickson's Therapy and Hypnosis

Just a few things off the top of my head. I had considered the Journey to Wild Divine biofeedback game but it has mixed reviews on Amazon. I'd like to get a peek at it sometime, though.

Have a blessed Christmas!

November 17th is the Great American Smokeout

Just a reminder that the Great American Smoke Out is coming up in the next couple of weeks

If you wish to quit smoking, now is the time. The holiday season is coming up, and many of us are feeling loss over relatives and friends who have passed on because of the effects of smoking on their health. Instead of becoming one of those people- become someone who will enjoy your healthy lifestyle. Get whatever help you need- enlist your friends, relatives, your local hypnotist, acupuncture, massage, prayer - and you will succeed.

Drink healthy amounts of water, eat healthy, and you want to change the circumstances around your old habits so that you can create new habits. Perhaps a nutritionist can assist with a regimen that will help you along.

For hypnotherapists and / or NLP practitioners, this is a great opportunity for developing your practice while helping the community.

People all over the United States will be refraining from smoking for just one day, many of whom will continue the endeavor and never smoke again. Make yourselves available to those that need your help this year. Perhaps offer a special rate for smoking cessation, or maybe hold a seminar for some group work.

Is the iPod Nano the Ultimate Hypnosis Mind Machine?

Today we're going to take a look at the options we have in terms of hypnotic trancework on the go. With the advent of highly portable digital audio
players and electronic audio files, we're now free of some of the limitations of listening to CDs or cassettes for doing autohypnosis.

If you're reading this site, chances are pretty good that  you like me  have a sizeable collection of hypnosis tapes and CDs that either
take up a bunch of shelf space in your home, or even more likely, clutter up your living space. I propose that a simple solution to this
comes in the form of Apple Computer's iTunes software.

iTunes will run on Windows and on Macintosh, and you'll find its interface is the simplest of all the digital music library programs
on the market. Converting your collection will be easy- simply pop the CD in your CD-ROM drive and click the Import button in iTunes. Yes, it's that simple.
You can then easily organize your hypnotic tracks by author, by subject, by length, etc with the use of playlists. Now you're free to pack those CDs up in a box in your closet,
where they will be out of your way and you can now use that free space for hypnosis and NLP books instead.

Now that your collection is digitized, it's not exactly portable unless you've done the importing on a laptop. For the ultimate in portability,
check out the latest in digital music players, the iPod Nano. The Nano has several distinct selling points:

Battery life
Short charging time
Lightweight
Color screen for viewing imported images
Durability
Style

The iPod Nano can hold 2- or 4- GB of audio. Now, there are plenty of players on the market that hold up to 60 GB, but for our purposes
we're looking for durability and battery life so this is where the Nano will shine because it uses flash memory instead of a hard disk. Flash memory
has lower power consumption and is more resistant to shock than hard disks, although recent reports indicate that the first batch of iPod Nanos may require screen protectors due to scratching.

You can sync your iTunes library with the iPod Nano similarly to the import operation above: easily and automatically.

Additionally, you can sync music and audio books (including hypnosis audio books!) that are available for purchase right from the iTunes Music Store.
The pricing you'll get by downloading these audiobooks will be cheaper than purchasing CDs in the local book store, and you're not burdened by a physical box
laying around your home or office.

If you're a fan of binaural beats, you can download the bwgen software (again, available for multiple operating systems at bwgen.sourceforge.net) and create your own
binaural beat audio tracks for use on the iPod.

Free Hypnotic Language Patterns Course

Note: I am in no way affiliated with Salad, I simply recommend them because of their consistently high quality of product online.

Jamie Smart, of Salad Ltd. has once again outdone himself. Visit his site now to sign up for his 1-year free hypnotic language course, and download his eBook "The Top 10 Secrets of Conversational Hypnosis". I almost missed the blurb for this when reading today's edition of his NLP tip newsletter, which I also highly recommend. But I've signed up and already I'm happy that I did- the Top 10 book is excellent.

Also, congratulations to Jamie on meeting his goal of 10,000 newsletter subscribers.

Hypnosis for Pain

Tampa Bay's 10 carries a Consumer Reports overview of hypnosis's use in pain control. It's a pretty light overview, but the site's article and video story are worth passing around as an introduction to hypnosis from the objective media.

To see the story, visit Tampa Bay's 10 web site at http://www.tampabays10.com/aroundthebay/aroundthebay_article.aspx?storyid=17913

Doug O'Brien Updates Site with Betty Erickson's Autohypnosis Technique

Doug O'Brien has updated his ericksonian.info site with some real gems. (I'm not affiliated with Doug O'Brien in any way; I am mentioning this purely because his site is useful and informative)

Under both Scripts and Transcripts he has new content relating to the "Betty Erickson Special", the autohypnosis induction technique which I first learned from Bandler and Grinder's book Tranceformations, which I highly recommend.  If you can't track that book down, however, do check out www.ericksonian.info which offers high quality information on Ericksonian hypnosis.

The transcript is from a seminar in which O'Brien teaches the technique: http://www.ericksonian.info/BETTY%20Transcript.html

And there also is a well-written self-hypnosis script outline which highlights the structure of the technique: http://www.ericksonian.info/BETTY.html

As O'Brien recommends, it's interesting to make a daily practice of self-hypnosis, and this technique, for me, leads deeper and deeper every time. You may even find that after some practice you can just go into trance without needing the script, which is also an interesting and pleasurable experience.

Update to Hypnosis's Effects on the Brain

ScienceDaily.com has more detailed coverage on the Cornell University study in which subjects' ability to read was temporarily inhibited by hypnosis, leading to certain areas of the brain having lowered activity levels.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20050808-12582300-bc-us-hypnosis.xml

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20050808-12582300-bc-us-hypnosis.xml

Chameleon effect demonstrated by AI

Wired News writes of a recent Stanford University study that seems to give additional credence to the pacing and leading strategy that Richard Bandler and John Grinder (codevelopers of NLP) modeled from Milton Erickson's hypnosis. Pacing, in NLP terms, refers to the hypnotist meeting the client at his model of the world, for instance, using similar language and even subtly mimicking their facial expressions and body posture in order to be more persuasive or create a feeling of ease known as rapport. The postural and facial mimickry is also referred to as mirroring, or in the case of this study, as the chameleon effect.

69 students were placed into a virtual reality simulation in which a human figure delivered a persuasive pitch.  Half of the volunteers received the pitch while the figure mimicked their eye and head movements after a 4-second delay, while the other half acted as a control and received realistic movements recorded from other students.

Students on the receiving end of the mirroring largely rated the avatar as friendlier than those who got the non-mimicking avatar, and were more persuaded by their message.

The study's results are to be published next month in the journal, Psychological Science, and are available now in PDF.

Hypnotic Trance and Effects on the Brain

Findings that appeared in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, from a study undertaken at Cornell University, may indicate some of hypnosis's effects on brain activity.

Subjects were asked to identify the text color of word appearing on a screen while in trance. The words displayed were color words, such as "red", "yellow" or "black". The text color was set to a different color than what the displayed word represented, for example: red and green. In fact, just setting the text color for those examples was a bit confusing to me, as I instinctively wanted to move the mouse pointer to the color matching the word!

Scientific American relates that "Highly hypnotizable individuals had better accuracy and quicker reaction times compared to those previously identified as being less responsive to hypnosis. The imaging data indicated that the hypnotizable subjects showed reduced brain activity in both visual areas and the anterior cingulate cortex, which is involved in conflict monitoring."

References:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=000CC0C2-5EE6-12C0-9EE683414B7F0000
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/107/108700.htm

Review - Pzizz 1.5 for Mac

I don't know why I hadn't heard of Pzizz before its v1.5 announcement appearing on MacNN, but I'm quite excited by this product!  Orginally a hardware device, Pzizz has been implemented in software form on the both Mac OS X and PC platforms. What does Pzizz do? It assembles audio tracks from a built-in library of audio snippets in order to create unique powernap experiences for the user.

To elaborate, Pzizz takes layers of audio- a binaural track for syncing the brain's waves, relaxing music, and a voice track compiled from snippets of hypnotic inductions read by NLP Master Trainer Michael Breen. Each time you use Pzizz, the resulting NLP power nap is a unique experience because the software varies the content of each playback.

The cool thing about Pzizz is that it allows an MP3 export which you can download to your favorite digital music player, every day if you like. I've been spending a lot of time and money on collecting hypnotic and motivational audio programs for my MP3 player, but only one of those so far (other than Pzizz) was suited for power napping. This software makes that very easy and adds flexibility to the process.

When I power nap without any MP3 aid, the process takes between 10 and 20 minutes. The shorter time spans don't really seem to result in deep sleep, more like an energizing, restful deep meditation but they are very effective. I plan on writing about my techniques here in the future, so stay tuned.  In the meantime, Pzizz definitely gets you there with the aid of technology.

My first impression of Pzizz on Mac was how clean it's user interface is. It's every bit as easy to use as any Mac software, with a playback control reminiscent of iTunes. You're simply asking Pzizz to think up a new trance induction on the spot, and then you can either play it live (which can be done with the demo version) or record directly to MP3 for carrying around on your player.

Then just slip on your stereo headphones, sit back or lie down, and off you go. At this point you're already floating deeper inside, guided by the music and by Michael Breen's excellent trance induction. And sure enough, you awaken at the end of the audio track very refreshed and rested due to the excellent positive suggestions incorporated in the software. Really, although this software is very clever and novel in how it takes prerecorded snippets and reassembles them uniquely every time, we're basically experiencing the classically reliable (according to my experience) results of basic hypnosis!  That, to me, is why this application feels so elegant.

Pzizz for Mac is absolutely on my list of apps to register. And if it's scriptable through Applescript, I can think of some seriously cool things to do with it!  After registration and further experimentation I will share those ideas here if they are possible to implement.

I haven't gotten into the mind machines with their strobing lights and coordinated binaural beats as they are so often very expensive, but Pzizz seems to be an obvious choice because of its low cost and because, essentially, it's using hypnosis straight-up which in my experience is one of the best ways to relax and energize.

Good Introduction to Hypnosis

Jamie Smart's newsletter this week covers some common myths about hypnosis. If you don't already know about Jamie Smart, I recommend you check out his site. Although I haven't attended any of his trainings because he is in the UK, I have given his CD set "NLP for Business and Personal Success" a thorough listen and believe me, it's worth the investment. He seems to radiate hypnotic language patterns through everything he says in that recording...

From the newsletter: "I did my first NLP Practitioner training with Richard Bandler, Paul McKenna and Michael Breen. As you can imagine, there was quite a strong emphasis placed on hypnosis and the power of hypnotic communication. It was only after I finished the training that I found out that hypnosis is a dirty word in many circles (including some NLP circles, believe it or not), so I thought it might be useful to put some of the myths to rest, and start giving people an insight into the power of hypnosis."

His newsletter is tremendous reading; I've been a subscriber for some time now and I'm always excited to see it arrive.  Thanks, Jamie for such a useful resource! If I find myself in the UK for an extended time I'll be sure to check out his live trainings.

Forensic hypnosis employed in DC

NBC 4.com in Washington, DC reports on several court cases which have successfully employed forensic hypnosis. It's interesting and nice to see a media outlet treat hypnosis with some respect, hopefully dispelling rather than encouraging the common myths.

While forensic hypnosis is sometimes associated with false memories, it's clear from this article that properly-employed hypnosis techniques may allow the client to dissociate from painful situations for better recall, and along with the enhanced visual/auditory/kinesthetic memory that a trance state brings with it the police can help crime witnesses pull out small but helpful details when making their case. Worthy of note is that, as pointed out by this news story, a lot of times witnesses may be able to remember details as small yet significant as license plate numbers, helping along investigations or prosecutions as necessary.

More info:
http://www.nbc4.com/news/4521637/detail.html

Hypnosis found to ease childbirth

Researchers in South Australia compared 77 first-time mothers who learned hypnosis to prepare for childbirth against a control group of 3000 first-timers and found that only 36 percent of the hypnosis group had epirudals administered, compared to 55 percent of the controls. 

The article, linked below, also referenced other recent brain-imaging studies which found lowered activity in the area of the brain responsible for the emotional response to pain when trance was induced. 

It will be interesting to see more of these studies, particularly the ones involving brain imaging. It seems like common sense that if looking at shapes on a monitor can trigger visible changes in brain activity, then hypnotic induction of altered states of consciousness should do the same!

More info: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=49909

Self-hypnosis and Allergies

A recent study at the University of Basel, Switzerland, shows promise for allergy sufferers using self-hypnosis as a treatment.  Interestingly, the methodology of the study put self hypnosis in the form of very basic relaxation techniques against a control group who simply had an appointment with a physician to talk about their allergy. In this way, it seems that although this study could not be blind by necessity, the researchers came up with a clever way of getting a comparison.

According to NewScientist: "Volunteers allergic to grass or birch pollen who learned self-hypnosis reported a reduction in symptoms - such as a runny nose. Furthermore, fewer doses of “rescue medication” were needed to treat attacks, although this result was not statistically significant. Laboratory measurements also showed that hypnosis improved nasal airflow."

Also of interest: additional testing indicated that immune response was not directly affected in this study, but the NewScientist article alludes to other studies that implied that hypnosis may in fact aid immunity. 

More info: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7313