- Behavior Modification
- Hypnotherapy De-Mystified
- What does Hypnosis Feel Like?
- Will I Remember Everything?
- What is Hypnotic Conditioning?
- Will I Lose Control?
- Will You Make Me Bark Like a Dog?
- What if I Can't Be Hypnotized?
- So You'll Teach Me How to Relax?
- Self-Hypnosis Explanation & Technique
- "Staging" & Hypnotic Depth Levels
- Deep Memory Process (DMP)
When most people think of hypnotherapy, they associate it
with behavior modification. Behavior Modification is exactly what it sounds
like: modifying behavioral patterns to improve one's life. Some examples
include:
* Stress Management * Eating
Disorders
* Eliminating Bad Habits * Mild
Depression
* Improving Memory Recall
* Insomnia
* Unhealthy Relationship Patterns
* Clearing Anxiety, Panic, & Phobias
* Weight Reduction (addressed separately)
* Smoking Cessation (addressed separately)
Hypnotherapy is a method that uses relaxation to access and
change the patterning (or programming) of the subconscious mind.
Ultra Depth® Hypnotherapy uses deeper states of relaxation than
traditional hypnotherapy. If you were to consider the deepest level that
traditional hypnotherapists normally use a depth of 5, then UD Hypnotherapists
are trained to start with level 5 and then move down to two deeper levels.
Why do we use such deep levels with UD?? Many hypnotherapists will tell you that
only a light level of hypnosis is necessary for changes to occur. This is true.
However, deeper levels provide greater/ more lasting results, and the depths we
use in UD are stages you go through every day before/ after sleep.
It feels like a wonderful state of relaxation. The word
"hypnosis" comes from the Greek "hypno" which means sleep. This is a misnomer
though - it was given this name because subjects often look like they're
sleeping, but most people are actually aware of everything that happens during a
session.
Most people remember their entire session easily. On the
occasions when people do not remember, it is because they have gone to the
deepest stage (called the Sichort State) of hypnosis. This stage is not usually
used for the initial therapy, so most subjects will not go to that state unless
they trust the Hypnotherapist and have practiced relaxing deeply at home with a
conditioning tape.
In order for a subject to get used to relaxing deeply, an
initial conditioning session (or sometimes a tape to work with at home before
the initial session) is used to allow the subject to practice relaxing to the
three deepest levels of relaxation. This makes any therapeutic hypnosis much
more effective.
Your subconscious mind is aware of everything that happens
whether you are awake, sleeping, or in hypnosis. Think back to a time when you
were driving on "auto-pilot". Your conscious mind was occupied with thoughts of
work, chores, family, etc., but your subconscious mind was always on guard,
making sure you stopped at red lights and took the correct exit. It functions
the same way in hypnosis. Your subconscious will always protect you, so you
don't have to worry about revealing where you buried the treasure!
Only if you don't pay for your session. (Just kidding.) That
is stage hypnosis, not therapeutic hypnotherapy. In a stage show, most of the
time the people that are up on stage are agreeing (consciously in the beginning
and subconsciously throughout the show) to do what is asked for the fun and
entertainment of it. The people are in hypnosis, but their subconscious allows
suggestions that it wouldn't under normal circumstances, since it is seen as a
game. In addition, many people attending hypnosis stage shows are under the
influence of alcohol, which as we all know, can make people do things they
wouldn't anyway!
Almost everyone can be hypnotized! The only people who can
not be hypnotized are those with severe mental handicaps. Now, many people don't
know how to relax right away, but that's the job of your Hypnotherapist!
Surprisingly enough, teaching clients to relax is one of the
biggest jobs of a Hypnotherapist. We live in a fast-paced, ambitious society,
where most people will tell you there aren't enough hours in a day. With this
lifestyle, is it any wonder that most people don't know how to relax? Even our
sleep suffers because we can't quiet our minds enough to truly relax!
One of the wonderful benefits of any good hypnotherapy program is that by virtue
of using the hypnotherapy, you will learn to relax more than you already are.
However, for those of you who are looking to be able to relax or meditate more
deeply on your own, self-hypnosis training is invaluable.
There are many methods of self-hypnosis. Most people learn
simple techniques from books or the internet. Here is one such technique:
1. Get into a comfortable position where you will not be disturbed for a few
minutes.
2. Close your eyes and take three deep breaths, each one longer and slower than
the one before.
3. Loosely curl your fingers in to your palms, and state the following
affirmation in your mind:
Every day, in every way I am better and better.
4. Repeat the affirmation silently 10 times. Every time you say the affirmation,
uncurl one of your fingers. This way you don't have to think about the counting,
and your mind is more free to make any necessary changes.
Pretty easy, right?
That technique and others like it are helpful if you are just beginning to learn
to relax. However, many people want to achieve a deeper lever of relaxation so
that their changes are easier and more lasting. And since UD Hypnotherapy is all
about relaxing deeper, there is a way for you to achieve deeper levels of
relaxation with just a little training and practice.
In Ultra Depth® Hypnotherapy, we call our
method of Self-Hypnosis "Staging." It trains you to go to the three deepest
levels of hypnosis (called Somnambulism, the Esdaile State, & the Sichort State)
on your own using only one word for each level, and one word to bring yourself
to full waking awareness.
Once you have completed the staging process, you will be able to instantly bring
yourself to whichever level of hypnosis you desire, depending on your desired
results. Here are some examples of what's available at each depth:
Depth 1 -
Somnambulism - receiving suggestions and making positive behavioral changes,
regression therapy, accessing suppressed memories;
Depth 2 - Esdaile State - excellent for pain management, full-body anesthesia,
etc.;
Depth 3 - Sichort State - conscious mind completely gets out of the way, so
subconscious is able to give information and make necessary changes without
conscious interference, (often subject does not remember what takes place in
this stage, may think they fell asleep).
Deep Memory Process is a technique developed by Roger Woolger,
PhD. that combines Jungian Analysis, Psychodrama, and Shamanic Healing
(including Soul Retrieval/ Spirit releasement) to heal clients through
catharsis. The goal is to help clients to be fully in their body, without the
need to detach from circumstances that happen around us.
It can be used to release ancestral issues/karma, clear personal issues
(including: fears/phobias, anxiety, emotional eating to "insulate" self,
unhealthy relationship patterns, etc.), and heal unexplained physical problems.
DMP is a much more physically active process than hypnotherapy. Instead of the
client laying in a recliner, couch, or massage table, the client lays on a
padded mat on the floor. This facilitates the psychodrama, by allowing the
client to move freely (which may include kicking, hitting, pushing objects
[props] away, etc.). This allows the client to physically release negative
memories that are held in the body. Often after a DMP session, the client's
muscles will be more relaxed, their posture better, pain gone, etc. as a result
of releasing the negative energy held in the body.
Deep Memory Process is also quite useful in treating traumatic events. The
client is able to fully release traumas affecting their body, mind, and
emotions, and gains a fuller idea of what makes them unique. The more you learn
about yourself, the better able you are to cope with whatever situations you are
presented with.
In a Deep Memory Process session, clients may experience "stories" that are not
their own. This is where the term Deep Memory comes from. Carl Jung called these
stories the collective unconscious, a memory base common to all humans based on
our collective experiences. Many people believe that these stories are from our
past lives, when we incarnated in other times and places. Others refer to these
stories as cellular or ancestral memories as well, implying that the stories of
our ancestors are stored in our genetic coding. Still other people (including
many psychologists) refer to these stories as therapeutic imagining, meaning we
make up a story to explain what we're going through by attaching it to other
people/places so it's easier for us to deal with.
It doesn't matter how you perceive these stories, if you have negative emotions
weighing down your body, you'll benefit by removing them!
Written by Dr. Ayunifer L. Johnson, MHt, CRM, LBLT.
Copyright © 2005 Center for Inner Power, Inc.
Last modified:
08/30/06
![[Company Logo Image]](images/LogoWithWords.jpg)
