Nicholas Pollak

A friend called recently to let me know her stepfather had just suffered a heart attack. Eighty-eight years old and fiercely independent, he was hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer, too. During his five days in the hospital, he had the ulcer cauterized and two stents placed in his arteries. All things considered, he was doing well.

I received a call from a new client who lives 75 miles from my office and found me on the internet. He was doing research on his own panic and anxiety.

My wife and I were window-shopping in an upscale shopping mall late one day, and near closing time, we turned into a shoe store where I asked the young manager if he would like me to analyze his handwriting, for fun.

A neighbor recently asked me to help him to quit smoking. In his late 20’s, he is the grandson of a prominent business owner.

I recently was asked to visit with an 87- year-old man whom I had seen a year ago. At that time, I was asked whether he was physically able to continue to look after himself.

The theory of the mind, in brief, states that we are born with an empty subconscious mind. Of our total brainpower we only use 5 percent. Of that amount, 10 percent is our conscious mind, 90 percent our subconscious. By the age of 12, our conscious minds and behaviors are fully formed — though the brain itself still has a few years to go.

As much as I help others with their pain issues, I also have mine. I am lucky to have a lot of the skills necessary to deal with my back pain with minimum, if any, pain meds. Usually a single Tylenol in the morning. And that is rare.

"Stress is any change to which you must adjust."

I met a man in a parking lot recently who wanted to sell me some meat. “No, thanks,” I said, and then I asked if he wanted to buy some hypnotherapy.

The other day I received an email from a 71-year-old lady in Florida. I had met her daughter at a convention, and for fun, I analyzed her handwriting. Stunned at the accuracy of the analysis, she asked if I could help her mother, a shy person who always seemed to be sad. I said I could help, and I would be happy to meet with her via Skype, to hypnotize her.