[img]560|left|Nicholas D. Pollak|remove link|no_popup[/img]I received a call recently from a gentleman who asked if hypnotherapy would help to “deprogram” him from some issues he believed he had been programmed for.

One word intrigued me, deprogramming.

As a hypnotist, people believe I would spend my time hypnotizing people. Partly true. Once a client is hypnotized, though, I spend a great amount of time dehypnotizing clients from beliefs holding them back from the life progress they want.

In a different word, deprogramming.

I was interested in what my caller wanted to accomplish. We made an appointment. The gentleman was a homeless ex-Vietnam vet,with a pocket full of credit cards. He believed the government and the military were keeping him under constant surveillance, that they had programmed him to act in ways contrary to his beliefs.

First There Was Silence

Talkative, very open about what had happened to him, he constantly heard voices that sounded like people talking about him via radio. The voices were vowing to watch him, ordering him to do things and to go places he did not want to visit. He spent chunks of time making sure he only did what he wanted. He tended to ignore the voices. He wanted them to stop.

He needed more than hypnotherapy. He continues to see a psychiatrist at the VA hospital who has helped him through troubled times, but the doctor has been unable to rid him of the voices.

A hypnotherapist can be limited in what he may accomplish with a client. That is why I write the following at the bottom of every page on my website,

“A hypnotherapist is not licensed by the state of California as a healing arts practitioner. Some conditions may require medical or psychological referral.”

“In addition to this there is one other thing that I am always watchful for, and particularly with this type of client. That is known as a ‘psychotic swing.’”

Hypnotherapists commonly forget that. When hypnotizing a client and his head starts to swing around – side-to-side or in a circle –the hypnosis must stop immediately. Further hypnosis may cause damage to the client’s sub-conscious. This is a psychotic swing, essentially meaning the client has major psychosis. He or she must be treated by a more qualified professional, an MD, a psychologist or a psychiatrist.

The Way It Was

I remember back 22 years, to my second-ever client. His family said he was irrational, that he frequently would leave home without telling anyone. For days, he would live on the streets, returning only when a family member went to find him. His family was becoming less inclined to pursue him, and so his absences were becoming longer. Every time, though, he would come back.

In the office, our conversation was strained. Only silence the first 10 minutes. Why? “I have nothing to say because the room is bugged,” he said.

“I thought you would say that before you came in, I had a team check and remove any bugs they found.”

After that, he began his story.

For half an hour, I listened. I knew soon enough I could not help him. His problems were greater than hypnotherapy. When I tried to hypnotize him, his head and upper body suddenly began to swing in circles. He emitted a guttural animal sound that rose in pitch and volume. I immediately brought him out of the hypnosis.

The bottom line is, some people I cannot help. I have said before a psychiatrist or psychologist will take 600 sessions to accomplish what a hypnotherapist can in six. But they can prescribe medications that sometimes are essential.

Back to the Vietnam Vet: When I hypnotized him, he did well. I gave him generic suggestions to help him to focus effectively. He told me he was feeling much better when he left.

Only one problem lingered.

How to rid my office of his body odor.

He had not bathed in weeks.

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