Second Trances Hypnosis

Using Hypnosis

Hypnosis is an extremely versatile tool. Virtually any problem that is rooted in thought process or behavior can be helped by hypnosis. A number of physical symptoms can also be relieved by tapping the power of the subconscious mind. When judging whether hypnosis can help with any particular need, I look at two main criteria:

1. Is this an organic problem? If you are looking for relief from a physical illness or injury, you need to be visiting a physician. With the approval of your doctor, hypnotherapy can be used to help with symptoms in some cases. It's always important to see a physician first, though.
2. Is this a mental illness? If so, I'd be professionally obligated to refer you to a psychologist or psychiatrist. Hypnotherapy is not a cure for mental illness; it is a tool that mentally healthy people can use to make changes in their habits and behaviors.

Having said that, there are hundreds of practical applications for hypnosis. The ones I focus on are:

Stress Management

Doing IT work for 15 years gave me a lot of personal experience with stress -- my own, mostly. As a result I take a particular interest in helping those who are feeling the affects of prolonged or acute stress. Whether it's job-related stress, relationship stress, or just being overworked and underappreciated, I can help you to manage your sources of stress and prevent it from spoiling your enjoyment of life.

To begin with, I'll teach you how to use self-hypnosis as a sort of emergency pressure release for those times when things just seem overwhelming. We'll work on improving your sleeping habits because good sleep is essential to managing stress levels. If there are specific people that aggravate things for you, we'll discuss strategies for dealing with the challenges those people present so that you can break the old patterns.

Hypnosis for Students

Two of my four children are done with school, one is in high school now, and one will be starting high school in a couple of years. I've had a lot of first-hand experience with teens and the kinds of challenges they face in today's school environment.

Students who learn self-hypnosis gain self-confidence and the ability to focus more readily. This leads to better concentration in school, better retention, reduced test anxiety, and a host of other side benefits like higher self-esteem. So I make it a point to teach self hypnosis to as many students as I can, even if they don't seem to need help in school.

For students who do have performance problems in school, I have an array of things I can help them with. If test anxiety is a problem, I help the student learn to relax during the exam and focus his mind on the subject. For students who are bright but lack motivation, I help them to work smarter instead of harder by harnessing their subconscious minds' ability to absorb and retain vast amounts of information, which improves recall and can help make study time more effective. For a student who knows the information but has a difficult time recalling it, I can help her to find alternate ways of unlocking the file cabinet in her mind when she needs to.

Smoking Cessation

Getting someone off cigarettes is a special thrill because it quite literally saves a life. However, the golden rule of hypnosis still applies: I can't make you quit smoking if you don't sincerely want to. If you do truly want to become a nonsmoker, though, the program I use is extremely effective in helping you to do that. In one two-hour session, we will:

• Find out what will help motivate you to remain a nonsmoker for life
• Discuss what got you started smoking in the first place
• Review some of the scientific data on the affects of smoke on the body and how quickly the body can recover from those affects once you become a nonsmoker
• Use Parts Regression Therapy to locate the part of your mind that keeps you smoking and assign it the new task of helping you to remain smoke free
• Use anchors and triggers to help you overcome the cravings that come during the early stages of the process
• Teach you self-hypnosis so that you can avoid falling prey to stress and new bad habits as you adjust to being a nonsmoker.

The program I use was originally designed by Terence Watts and expanded by Marcia Proctor. Most people never smoke again after that one session. I am so confident in this program that I offer up to three free follow-up visits within the first year if you think you need them.

Other Uses of Hypnosis

The topics above are my main focus, but there are hundreds more real, viable, useful applications. Hypnosis can also help you with:

• Fears and phobias -- Do you dread going to the dentist? Do you break out in a cold sweat at the idea of speaking to a group of people? Would you rather pack yourself into a box and get shipped across country than fly? Hypnosis can help you to overcome these and other common fears that may be limiting your career or life choices. One or two sessions is usually enough.
• Unconscious habits -- Florida hypnotherapist Debbie Lane was able to help a teen who'd been suffering from hiccups for 38 days straight. Nail biting and negative self talk are also unconscious habits that hypnosis can help eliminate from your life.
• Better sleep -- If you think you have insomnia, see your doctor before you do anything else. If your sleep is being disrupted by a nonmedical cause such as chronic tension or stress, then hypnosis can help you to go to sleep more easily and stay asleep.
• Headaches -- If your doctor agrees, hypnosis can do wonders with chronic headaches caused by tension, stress, or minor physical ailments. It can even be used to help prevent and minimize migraines, but only with the cooperation and approval of your doctor.
• Anger Management -- Very often people who fly into rages are really just reacting to a buildup of stress. Hypnosis can help you to recognize when that pressure is building and release it constructively, or at least discreetly, before things get out of control.
• Weight Management -- I make it a personal policy not to do formal weight management sessions. There are state regulations about it for one thing, and if you've looked at my photo you can see that I have some work to do myself in this area. What I can do is help you to stay motivated to follow whatever weight control plan you and your doctor have designed and to handle the emotional baggage that often accompanies a weight problem.
• Motivational Coaching -- Do you just need a little extra kick in the mental pants now and again to keep you moving toward your goals? Again, hypnosis and self-hypnosis can help with that.
• Self Hypnosis Training -- All of my clients learn self hypnosis. It's just something that I believe everyone should know how to do. If all you really want is to learn how to use hypnosis for yourself, then I will happily teach you to do it.

Even now I've barely scratched the surface of what hypnosis can do. If you'd like to talk about a specific type of problem, please call or email me. We'll discuss what may or may not be possible and you can decide whether you'd like to try hypnosis.