[img]560|left|Nicholas D. Pollak||no_popup[/img]Walking my dog along Short Avenue in Los Angeles the other day, I saw two men on the street. One was on the ground sorting through fliers, and the other was twp feet off the sidewalk, in the street, watching him sort. I asked them what they were selling.

They smiled and said they weren’t selling anything. They were asking for donations to help troubled teens quit drugs and gain a better education. This was a noble cause. Instead of money, I offered my services as a hypnotherapist. I promised to come to their facility and talk on the benefits of hypnosis in dealing with addiction. They weren’t authorized to agree to that, but they gave me a flier and asked me to call their office to arrange a talk.

The man who was on the street said “You’re a hypnotist, are you? Why don’t you hypnotize me right here and right now?” I asked what his issue was. I also checked that he was serious. He had bad pain in his ankles. Could I relieve it? (Quite overweight, the source of his pain was obvious.)

I made certain he understood the pain was an indication that something was wrong, that he must see a medical practitioner to ensure that the cause of the pain was treated. For now, though, I could relieve him of the pain.

May I Show You?

I asked him to take my hand. Within 15 seconds, he was in a deep hypnotic state. He was standing up so I made sure he had mentally anchored himself to the ground and not fall. He was an excellent hypnotic candidate, judging by the speed at which he went into deep hypnosis.

While hypnotized, I asked him to imagine his pain as a bright orange fire. The brighter and stronger the flame, the greater the pain. Now, I told him, change the color to deep blue, and, as he visualized the blue becoming a deeper and deeper, the more the pain eased.

He followed instructions well. When he came out of hypnosis, the relief was visible. He was absolutely astounded at how his pain was gone. I reminded him that he now had a technique for dealing with his pain. Whenever he was hurting, he should take a minute to relax and perform the visualizations I had given him. He was extremely grateful. He promised to see a medical practitioner and to use the pain reducing technique.

His partner was dumbfounded. He said he had heard some things about hypnotism but always thought there was no foundation in fact, simply a conjuring trick performed by the hypnotist. Needless to say, having witnessed me hypnotizing his colleague and seeing the relief on his face, he had a different view of what hypnosis is about. As one who liked to be in control, he opted to not try hypnotism.

This was exciting to me.

Whenever possible, I try to share the benefits of hypnosis with people I meet. Frequently, I need to debunk misconceptions. This time it was easy.

With so many misconceptions about hypnosis, it concerns me that medical insurance carriers still do not take hypnosis seriously. Rarely do they offer coverage for this amazing method of therapy.

All of us in the helping professions are somewhat insular in our beliefs when it comes to healing someone. Medical practitioners believe their medications and/or surgery will solve an issue. Chiropractors believe that adjusting a person’s spine will solve their issue. Psychiatrists believe talking for a year and delving into a person’s childhood will resolve the problems.

Crossing Over and Helping

Recently I wrote a long letter to the American Chiropractic Assn., asking if hypnotherapy could be included in their series of educational seminars. I would like to teach the benefits of hypnotherapy to their chiropractors, explaining how beneficial hypnotherapy would be in conjunction with their practice. I said I have spoken with 170 chiropractors. Over half had a great interest, and 20 of them later came to my offices, individually, to experience hypnosis.

Each felt that hypnosis. But it has been a month and a half since I wrote to the association and I have not heard from them, again validating my belief that no one wants to look outside of his own specialty to give a patient further help.

In a prior article, I wrote about one exception. An orthopedist sent me a client to help with pain control. The physician is amazed at how hypnotherapy has helped his patient. He is a person who knows the pain his patients suffer, and he is willing to push his medical understanding to try to find alternatives to help his patients feel better. I congratulate him on his foresight and his desire to help someone rather than keeping a client for his own enrichment.

This is rare.

If you have any questions please 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