[img]560|left|Nicholas D. Pollak||no_popup[/img]It is not easy to determine what to write for any given article and often my mind struggles to find something that will hold a readers interest.
I see my clients on a daily basis all of whom have a wide variety of presenting issues. Most are resolved in a short time.
Some persons, though, refuse to accept the power of their own minds. They also decline to follow the instructions given to help them feel better.
As a hypnotist I spend a lot of my time with clients in the hypnotic trance. Amazingly, most of my time I am dehypnotizing my clients. Dehypnotizing?
Consider This Example
Say a client came to see me for continuing pain issues. He had seen me twice before. On the first occasion, he felt significant relief to the point that for the first time in three years he did not take any pain meds the entire day. He felt no pain. When he awoke the day after his session, pain returned in full measure. Back to his pain meds again.
After the second session, he claimed he felt no relief. His third session was dramatic. He had become so dependent on pain meds he was convinced it was the only route to relief.
This is where the dehypnotization comes in. His conviction about pain meds needed to be broken if he was going to have a life of significantly reduced pain. I hypnotized him. While in hypnosis, I had him increase and decrease his pain on command. This showed he could control his pain without meds. The session focused on teaching, introducing techniques that would have him eliminate his pain. We knew why there was pain. We knew his surgery had worked. Why did the pain linger?
When Pain Is Your Pal
Aside from the dehypnotization, he was more comfortable in his pain than not. This falls under the category of homeostasis, an innate desire for the body and the mind to remain the same.
This is an issue with many things, including addiction. It is difficult for addicts to end habits because their bodies and minds have become so comfortable.
The unusual feelings that course through addicts as they detox are signs of healing. The addict fails because the subconscious is so used to the way it feels on drugs that it is uncomfortable with the new sober feeling, and homeostasis results.
So it was for this client. He was happier in his misery than learning a new way.
Whilst under hypnosis he became aware of the difference in feeling to his back when completely relaxed. He enjoyed significant relief. It became critical for him to understand the new relief was of his own making. and that he had the ability to control and even defeat his pain.
Unsettling to him at first, I told him to break his drug regimen by exercising. He was asked to cut his pills in half, to do stretching exercises followed by a brisk 30 minute walk, a shower, breakfast and then his meds. He complied, and much to his surprise began to feel better.
We had broken his strict regimen. Soon his subconscious began to change, in line with the new, pain-free image that he had of himself.
The change was not easy for him. But with the hypnotic intervention, his understanding of how he changed his old beliefs and focused more clearly quickly resolved his issue. He is virtually pain free. Once again he is exercising and he is not taking drugs.
His life has changed. He and his wife are happier, and he can allow himself to look forward to a better quality of life.
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