Our minds are so amazing that they can do anything we wish and give us what we ask. Sometimes, though, results will be surprising.
When I started my practice many years ago, I had left business cards at a local car wash. Turned out the holder where I placed them was on a wall maintained by a small advertising company. The owner called me to tell me there would be a charge for leaving my cards. Since my practice was new and I could not afford a fee, we agreed to barter. Free advertising, in exchange for free hypnotherapy sessions.
The business owner; a lady in her mid-thirties, explained she had been deaf for two years. Even after spending $20,000 on doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists, they could not find anything physically wrong. The problem, they assured her, was in her head.
I asked a question that had not been posed: was happening in her life two years ago?
Her daughter is six years old, brings lots of energy, and loves to play with her daddy. Unfortunately, though, he had become seriously ill with shingles, a painful disease with no cure other than painkillers and time. He needed peace and quiet, and to remain relaxed to alleviate his pain.
Where Is My Pal?
Her daughter complained that she wanted to play with daddy but he said she was too demanding and too noisy. Incessant complaints went unabated until, unable to cope, the poor lady burst anger against her husband and daughter. She could not stand the shrill disagreements. t
The next morning, to her shock, she woke up deaf in her left ear.
This was a classic case of Hysterical Conversion, when emotional stress turns into physical distress. The disorder starts suddenly, perhaps with paralysis of an arm or leg, visual impairment, blindness, inability to speak, hearing impairment, deafness, seizures, falling down, numbness, double vision, difficulty swallowing, even severe trembling or seizures.
Treatment for this lady was swift, a single session. I hypnotized and relaxed her, taking her back to the day she became deaf. Visualize the scene, I instructed, but from a different standpoint, an observer to the situation. When she saw what had happened, heard what she had said, she smiled. With prompting, she acknowledged that the issue was two years ago, that her current situation and that of her now- recovered husband were very different from their predicament two years ago. When I brought her out of hypnosis, her hearing had been fully restored.
Letting go of the emotional issues plaguing her, she hears normally today with both ears.
The Path to Conquest
I was reminded of this when recently dealing with a mid-forties lady experiencing clenching of teeth and tinnitus. No real cure exists. But relaxation is useful. She is experiencing emotional issues, separating from her husband and looking for a new job in another country. The stresses cause her to clench her teeth, creating jaw pain, a 60 percent drop in her hearing, accompanied by the hissing sound associated with tinnitus.
Her resolution required three sessions. Once she had learned to relax her body and mind, she noticed the clenching vanished and the hissing lessened. No magic here, merely an ability to relax deeply, and allowing her to release the stresses for a few minutes, while under hypnosis. Once she mastered that learned to use the self-hypnosis to program her mind for success, her jaw eased and the tinnitus completely went away.
As I say over and over, “It is all in your mind.”
Do not hesitate to contact me by telephone, 310.204.3321, or by email at nickpollak@hypnotherapy4you.net. See my website at www.hypnotherapy4you.net