Hypnosis: Beyond Mumbo-Jumbo

Arianna Huffington, while speaking on Bill Maher's show last week, made a wonderful point about the over-medication of kids today and I couldn't agree more. In this pharma-crazed culture we are overlooking some of the most effective means of natural calming and focusing and the best of all may be hypnosis. That's what I do as my life's work and it's great for kids. Many people unfortunately are completely confused by this amazing modality.

Whenever I speak before a large corporation I begin with the same "gotcha" question. I start by asking the audience to raise their hands if they've experienced hypnosis.

Invariably, a few hands go up. Some people explain that they were hypnotized for smoking or weight loss. I then proceed to point out that in fact, everyone in the audience has been hypnotized many times in their lives, maybe tens of thousands of times in actuality. We have all experienced hypnosis.

Quizzical expressions follow, as the audience attempts to understand. And that is my perfect opportunity to start the dialogue about this most misunderstood of mental and physical health subjects. Most people don't realize that hypnosis is a naturally occurring state, and that all of us by necessity enter into a level of what I call organic trance at different times of the day. It is necessary for us because thinking tires our minds and we need to take an occasional break and conserve energy.

Every time you daydream or immerse yourself in the storyline of a good book or movie to the exclusion of everything around you, you are in light hypnosis. Or, perhaps you're driving and get to your regular exit -- but have no idea how you got there. There you were, flawlessly operating a heavy piece of machinery but unaware of your time in that vehicle. Familiar?

Mumbo-Jumbo?
Hypnosis. The very word conjures up misconceptions; the average person may believe that hypnosis lies somewhere between Vegas and Voodoo.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

First recognized by the American Medical Association in the 1950s, hypnosis is the most under-appreciated and misunderstood mental and physical health modality, yet it offers amazing hope for extremely powerful physical and emotional transformations for adults and kids alike. It's not just for weight loss and smoking. It can help your kids concentrate, remove fears, be better athletes, and improve social skills, to name a few.

The definition of hypnosis I use most often is "a state of deep relaxation coupled with intense focus and concentration." Sounds oxymoronic, right? How can one be relaxed and focused at the same time? It seems as if one must display deep concentration to do certain things well. But think of the times you played tennis as perfectly as you ever had, or were at that party and were in that wonderful charismatic state of "being on". Everything came together. You were in the "zone", a place of simultaneous relaxation and concentration -- a light site of hypnosis.

Hypnosis results from a process that relaxes the conscious, analytical rational part of our thinking, and that allows the subconscious or the "hard drive" of the bio-computer to absorb positive suggestions that can alter our behavior and attitudes -- if those suggestions are in agreement with our belief system. The subconscious accepts all that it sees, hears, feels and experiences without any critical filtering. In other words, it simply records and never sorts through what it records to see if those recordings make sense for our happiness or health. Emotions often get intertwined with these "tapes" -- and voila! Irrational behaviors that may be antithetical to our self-interest show up. We then explain or "rationalize" them away with our rational thinking part.

How Hypnosis Can Help Kids
Hypnosis works wonderfully for kids. Because children have less subconscious clutter on their "hard drives" by virtue of being younger, they can derive major benefits that can be long-lasting. Kids are frequently in a hypnosis-like state of free association as they pretend play and have stream-of-consciousness fun. They all love the experience. Here are some examples of kid subjects I've worked with recently:

A couple who read of my work with kids came to me with their six-year-old son, Ryan (all names have been changed), who was having serious difficulties at school. Ryan was fighting and biting other kids in his kindergarten class. The teachers at his private school were so frustrated with his behavior, they were close to removing him from school. Medication was being considered.

Upon meeting Ryan, I saw a delightful child who needed some strong and positive self-imagery to alter this pattern. Ted, Ryan's dad, described the change. Simply put, Ryan's behavior turned around almost immediately. A year of other therapy didn't put a dent in his aggression. Hypnosis worked amazingly well.

How did I do it? After finding out that his favorite superheroes were the Power Rangers, I easily placed Ryan in hypnosis, and within a few minutes I had him in the fantasy of a Power Rangers conference in which they were discussing the addition of a new team member. The Rangers, I told him, wanted a new member who had to be well behaved and play nicely with all. This obviously lit Ryan up, and I had him hypnotically repeat that he would play nicely with everybody. The fantasy worked. Ryan's teachers (unaware of the hypnosis) immediately reported a dramatic change in his attitude, and he's been great ever since. He's cooperating because he knew the Rangers want him in the group.

Then there's Richard who, though bright, was flunking out of his senior year in high school. His mother said he was at the lowest emotional point that she had ever seen him. He had been diagnosed with ADD and was on Concerta. After a few empowering sessions that helped him see himself as a powerful individual, he immediately went on to finish his schoolwork. On his own he asked to stop taking Concerta, and now he feels focused, in charge and relaxed. According to his mom, Maria, "He's not the same kid I saw before hypnosis. Now he's happier, more self-confident and much less argumentative. He's working with himself, not against himself."

This case and others give rise to the question of whether certain kids may experience improvements in focus and concentration by seeking alternative means. The great thing about hypnosis is that it can help a kid improve without a drop of medicine. I often wonder if a young Leonardo da Vinci were alive today, would he be labeled with ADD and put on Ritalin? Bright multi-level thinkers are often confused with those who cannot think "properly" and we may be doing a disservice to them and their physical health. I do not believe that all ADD diagnoses are wrong, but many may be.

It's tempting to think that serious problems, especially those that affect the happiness of the children we love, must by necessity have complicated solutions. Contrary to that idea, however, my work in the field of hypnosis has convinced me that many of these challenges can be overcome easily and in a long lasting way by this very simple approach, tapping into a natural power that resides in each one of us -- even the youngest boys and girls. On a personal level, and as a proud father myself, I find it enormously fulfilling to be able to help these wonderful children overcome daunting problems and to achieve the happiness they deserve in life without chemistry and its side effects.

ROBERT PARGAMENT is a Certified Hypnotist and a Faculty member of The National Guild of Hypnotists and lectures on stress reduction and motivation with Hypnosis. He has appeared on WABC TV's Eyewitness News on radio and in many major publications including Parenting magazines. www.hypnosiswestchester.com.

Comments

[Wendy Packer]

As a registered nurse and consulting hypnotist working with adults and children I agree wholeheartedly with Bob Pargament. Hypnosis is a safe, natural, effective modality that has been around since the beginning of time. I became a hypnotist to assist my mother who suffered from chronic discomfort. The result that she achieved led me on my journey in helping individuals become the best they can be for the past seven years. The important message to the publc is that all hypnosis is self hypnosis. Hypnotists are mentors and guides, the client does all the work needed to either eliminate something from their life or create a change that will benefit them. Education is the key to both the general pubic and the medical community. I lecture on the truths and benefits of hypnosis along with assisting CAREGVERS a forgotten segment of our society. To learn more go to www.hypnonurse.com

[Matthew Stein]

As one who has used hypnosis and hypnotherapy on a number of occasions, as well as traditional therapy, I can say without a doubt that I have found hypnosis to be incredibly effective without any harmful side effects. Hypnosis helped me to get to the root of several personal issues, find healing, and gain resolution in just a few sessions. Whereas prior months of traditional counseling and group therapy had seemed to only make matters worse. I have never used anti-depressants or other pharmaceutical mood altering drugs, but I know several friends who have gone the anti-depressant route. Often they had positive initial experiences followed by a general deadening of their personality and creativity, gradually increasing depression, and in some cases strong suicidal urges, all of which are know side effects of anti-depressants. Like with the use of alcohol and recreational drugs, initially they felt better, but since the root causes/issues were never addressed and healed, it was a dead end.

I have seen hypnosis heal chronic pain, depression, anger, severe heroin addiction, relationship threatening personal issues, multiple phobias, post -traumatic stress disorders, etc. Don't knock it until you have tried it!

[ModernTimes1]

I think hypnosis of one person by another should be prohibited outright.
In my opinion this practice will be viewed with dismay by future generations. Same as we view now some of the medical practices of the Middle Ages. It is essentially psychic violence. Nothing less and nothing more.
There are many ways to enter the theta (4 - 7.5Hz) brain wave state by oneself.
Mantra meditation is one of the tools which enables a person to this state within minutes. Naturally, without manipulation from another person.

[westbrooks01]

Huh?

I was introduced to Guided Imagery a month ago, and it's changed me immensely!

If my guided imagery session were conducted by a human I trusted, like the author surely is, I would assume I would get the same benefit.

[ModernTimes1]

Guided imagery is not hypnosis. It is a lot closer in fact to self-hypnosis.
In addition, few, if any people, practicing GI enter theta state. Lucky if you get to alpha.