Flight Fright

From Yahoo! Answers

Question

I am looking for hypnotherapy for fear of flying?

Anyone knows someone good in London?
and not very expensive if that's possible, please..

My Answer:

Hi Maya

I've treated lots of people for fear of flying. (I won't use this to plug my own service, but you can watch me talk about a case here:)http://www.youtube.com/downloadtherapy#p…

Instead, let me explain a few things.

1) For hypnotism to work it takes a good hypnotist and a good hypnotee
2) If you get that combination you can lose your fear of flying very quickly
3) If you are not a good hypnotee, it doesn't matter how good the hypnotist is
4) If the hypnotherapist is no good, it goesn't matter how good a hypnotee you are
5) There's no way of knowing whether you will be a good hypnotee until you get with a good hypnotist
6) You CAN tell whether a hypnotherapist is likely to be a good hypnotist by checking the FAQs on their website
7) If they say something like "Hypnosis is completely natural, you are in control all the time and you cannot be made to do anything you wouldn't usually do," they are not doing hypnotism and you are wasting your time

Best wishes

Barry Thain
Clinical Hypnotist

Source(s):

http://www.mindsci-clinic.com
http://www.downloadtherapy.com

Quick and Easy Hypnosis

From Yahoo! Answers

Question

What kinds of hypnosis are there?

I'm doing a project to see what kinds of hypnosis works best for me. I've already practiced self-hypnosis, which was easy, but now I need to find a new form of hypnosis that doesn't require any special training. I just need a simple, easy technique. If you could send me a link or something, that would be great, thanks!

My Answer:

Hi Beebee

Hypnosis is brain surgery without knives. (And if it isn't brain surgery without knives, it isn't hypnosis.) Are you sure you want to do that on the basis of a 'link to a simple, easy technique'?

Perhaps you'd also like quick and easy links to general anaesthetics or DIY appendectomies.

If you want to find out about hypnosis, visit a hypnotist. Preferably one who has had special training.

Best wishes

Barry Thain
Clinical Hypnotist

Source(s):

http://www.mindsci-clinic.com
http://www.downloadtherapy.com

Hypnosis, Day Dreams and Sleep

From Yahoo! Answers

Question

How is hypnosis different from the sleeping state?

and what is the relation between the two?

Attempting hypnosis, I once went into a state which is similar to dreaming in which my mind wanders rapidly without the guidance of my consciousness. I was wondering whether I was simply drifting off into sleep or whether I was actually in an effective state of hypnosis.

Surfing the web, I also discovered that many of the inductions for hypnosis are similar to those used for meditation and am wondering also how those differ as well.

My Answer:

Hi George

Day dreaming is day dreaming and hypnosis is hypnosis. I'm afraid anyone who thinks they are both the same doesn't have any idea what at least one of them is.

You cannot hypnotise yourself. I know 'self-hypnosis' is a well known phrase but so is 'snake oil'. And I say that as a clinical hypnotist with nearly two decades experience who works both privately and also for the National Health Service here in the UK.

You see, I can hypnotise you and make you for get your name, but I cannot hypnotise me and make me forget my name. And if I, having done some 17,000 hypnotic inductions, cannot do self-hypnosis, who can?

By and large, the people who peddle 'self-hypnosis' are peddling 'self-relaxation' and it looks like that is what you experienced. It's called the hypnogogic state and it's something we all pass through more or less as we shift from being awake to being asleep. It has nothing to do with hypnotism or hypnosis.

As for the difference between hypnosis and sleep, well, I hope you really want to know :)

If you think of consciousness as a spectrum from being fully awake and alert to being fast asleep, then relaxation is something one passes through on the way. The passage is characterised by a reduction in three elements of awareness; ‘vigilance’, ‘selectivity,’ and ‘responsivity’. As a person becomes increasingly drowsy they stop anticipating expected stimuli, it becomes increasingly difficult for them to attend to specific, actual stimuli, and stimuli have to be very much stronger to elicit a response. Deep relaxation is, therefore, characterised by diminished alertness, a lack of specific attention, and inhibited responsiveness. (I’m not making this up. Donald Lindsey calls it the ‘activation continuum’.)

How many hypnotists ask that their hypnotee ‘concentrate on the sound of my voice’, demanding constant vigilance. How many times have we read that hypnosis is a state of heightened concentration on a single point, or ‘a mind locked around a single idea’. That is, a state of heightened selectivity. And how often do we use hypnosis to produce instant responses, even if only as tests? Every day.

So whilst relaxation is a state of reduced vigilance, selectivity and responsivity, hypnosis is the exact opposite; a state of increased vigilance, selectivity and responsivity.

On the other hand, stress (or, more accurately, an exaggerated and inappropriate expression of the stress response) is the result of innervation of the parasympathetic nervous system from the limbic structures in response to a perceived (real or imaginary, acute or chronic) threat. Reducing that stress (by inhibiting the response or diminishing the stimuli) doesn’t necessarily mean having to make the subject drowsy. That’s one way of doing it, but not the only way. There are plenty of cool, wide awake people going about their lives.

I suspect inhibition of the parasympathetic nervous system is conducive to hypnosis, and may well be manifested in a reduction of physical tension. Any relaxation, however, that diminishes selectivity and responsiveness would appear to be, by definition, counter-productive to hypnosis.

I doubt either inhibition of the parasympathetic nervous system or relaxation of the muscular-skeletal system results in hypnosis, though either or both may or may not be contemporaneous with hypnosis.

Let's stick with the simplest characteristic shared by sleep and hypnosis; responsivity.

The organism runs a default state of responsivity (from the reptilian/inner/unc~ brain/mind) which fluctuates up and down the arousal continuum from next to nothing while fast asleep during the night, to full on while wide awake during the day.

When the organism wishes to vary from the norm, it will do so by changing postsynaptic currents. If you want to wake up and get with it at three in the morning, your alarm clock will trigger an increase in the Excitatory Post Synaptic Currents (EPSCs) sparking all sorts of processes, including responsivity, so that they overcome the default Inhibitory Post Synaptic Currents (IPSCs) and reach the axon threshold. Similarly, if there's nothing much doing at 14:00 and you decide to take advantage of some restorative, protein-building down-time, you'll increase the balance of IPSCs over EPSCs for the same variety of processes, including responsivity, and have a nap.

There is no natural continuum for hypnosis as far as I know. It is brought about deliberately, and is characterised by refined responsivity; that is an absence of responsivity to normally perceived stimuli and a heightened responsivity to the stimulus which is the hypnotist. That refinement is brought about by the different levels of EPSCs and IPSCs in various component systems of sleep and hypnosis.

The responsivity/selectivity/vigilance elements of the arousal continuum are not original thought on my part. They are taught components in the study of neuroscience, as are postsynaptic currents.

Hypnosis and day dreaming are neurologically different, having distinct characteristics in terms of responsivity, selectivity and vigilance. Day dreaming inhabits a specific location on the arousal continuum. Hypnosis is possible over a wide (and some would argue, the entire) span of the arousal continuum. You cannot be day-dreaming and fully alert, or fully asleep at the same time. You can be hypnotized and fully alert, or drowsy, or day dreaming. Day-dreaming is a degree of arousal. Hypnosis is not.

I'm sorry if that's more than you wanted to know.

Best wishes

Barry Thain
Clinical Hypnotist

Source(s):

http://www.mindsci-clinic.com
http://www.downloadtherapy.com
http://www.youtube.com/downloadtherapy

Redesignating Sexuality

From Yahoo! Answers

Question

I'm homosexual but afraid of gay people?

I'm a 19 year old male, and I'm attracted to men, but wish I was attracted to women instead.

Being gay seems so alien and disgusting to me - I've grown up in a small town and the only other gay person I met was this hugely feminine guy who was into all the stereotypes - fashion, pop music, art, shopping, hanging out with girls, etc. (I'm not like that at all).

I really want to have a relationship, but dating a man just doesn't seem to work with me. To me being gay seems like something temporary that people do when they're young before becoming permanently single or marrying someone from the opposite sex. I admit I watch too many shows on TV with stereotypical gay people, and I've developed a fear of gay men over 30. I'm afraid that I'm going to become a drag queen or pedophile some day if I stay gay.

Not to mention that being gay is a sin that I'll burn in Hell for if God turns out to be real.

Can homosexuality be cured through hypnosis or any other type of therapy?

My Answer:

Hi

What an interesting question.

Before I answer that I want to address all the comments along the lines of "You are born gay and that's that!"

If only it were that simple, but, frankly, that stance is almost as lazy an uninformed as "Gays can be cured." It just isn't so black and white.

In very simplistic terms it works like this.

We all start out as female templates. All of us.

If we are supposed to be male we get one burst of androgens that causes us to develop male genitalia, and then a second burst that determines our sexuality and makes us fancy girls. This all happens in the womb and is not a lifestyle choice.

If we don't get the first shot of androgens but do get the second, we end up basically male, fancying women but with female genitalia.

And if we get the first shot of androgens but not the second we are still basically male and have a penis, but fancy blokes.

Equally, if we are meant to be women but happen to get the first shot of androgens we manifest as women who fancy men but have dicks.

And if we are meant to be women and get the second burst of androgens we are women who have dicks and fancy girls.

Confusing, eh?

But it's worse than that.

You see, these androgen hits are not binary. It's not the case that you either get them or you don't. You might get no hit at all, a weak, hit, a regular hit or an overdose. In fact, of course, you might get any dose from nil to max and all points in between. And that means anyone can find themselves on the cusp, not definitely feeling like they fit in one camp or another.

So it simply isn't the case that people are either hetero-,homo- or bi-sexual. The can be neither-sexual, or any-sexual, or mostly-this-but-vaguely-that-sexual. At which point you have to make a choice about what you feel most comfortable with, and you may have to do some research first before making that choice.

Now to answer some of the specifics of your question.

The bit of the Bible that rails against homosexuality most is the Old Testament Book of Leviticus and it's just as vitriolic about prawns and mildew. In this respect, at least, I think God is not your main concern.

I don't think you want hypnosis to cure you of homosexuality. I think you want to know whether hypnosis can make you more attracted to women, and that isn't the same thing at all. It CAN make you more attracted to women, without making you any less attracted to men, or it can make you less attracted to men too, BUT ... I have no idea how long it would last. It is certainly possible in the short term, but I've never left anyone with changed sexual orientation for more than a couple of hours.

But I don't think hypnosis is a viable option for you anyway. If your town is so small as to have only one or two homosexual men, the chances of it having a good enough clinical hypnotist to do what you want are very slim indeed.

Best wishes

Barry Thain
Clinical Hypnotist

Source(s):

http://www.mindsi-clinic.com
http://www.downloadtherapy.com

Hypnosis and Weight Control

From Yahoo! Answers

Question

Can hypnosis really help with weight control.?

I like eating food, and when i eat i like eating a lot of food. I want to know if with hypnosis it will make my love for excessive amounts of food go away. i'm hoping that it makes dieting easier to keep.

My Answer:

Hi Brandon

Life is too short for diets. If the Kentucky Variety Meal is what tickles your taste buds, having to eat salad and fruit is just a form of torture. You may endure the torture until you achieve your target weight, but then you'll breathe a huge sigh of relief and celebrate with KFC. Before you know it, you'll be back where you started.

A good hypnotist will use hypnotism to change your reality so that you don't want unhealthy foods and do want (and like) healthy foods. When you actually DON'T want KFC and really, genuinely and naturally DO want to eat healthily then you don't have to diet. You can eat what you want because you only ever want to eat the right foods, in the right quantities, at the right times, for the right reasons, and you are totally content and satisfied with that.

For that to work, you need a good hypnotist and a good hypnotee. You either are a good hypnotee or you're not. As for the therapist, avoid all the ones who say you can't be made to do anything in hypnosis that you wouldn't normally do. They aren't hypnotists.

Good luck and best wishes

Barry Thain
Clinical Hypnotist

Source(s):

http://www.mindsci-clinic.com
http://www.downloadtherapy.com
http://www.youtube.com/downloadtherapy

The Shrinking World

From the British Society of Clinical Hypnosis Message Board

I treated a surgeon recently who was a secret smoker. His treatment was unexceptional so I won't dwell on that, but he said something I found really interesting.

He wasn't the least bit interested in the physical damage smoking was doing to him. As a surgeon, he said, he dealt daily with much worse damage than smoking could cause. His concern was how smoking was shrinking his world.

I didn't understand what he meant and sought an explanation.

"Well," he said. "Before I smoked I wouldn't give a second thought to getting on a plane and flying to New Zealand or Australia, but now, I don't think I'd want to go that long without smoking. In fact, I was invited to a conference in Mexico and I thought ten hours without smoking was too much so I declined.

"I could probably still manage New York, but I don't know how long that will last. And soon I won't be able to get to parts of Europe, or even France. And before long I'll have difficulty getting to the shops under my own steam, and then I'll be stuck in front of my television, in a chair with an oxygen cylinder strapped to it, and a mask on my face.

"I hate knowing that chair will be my world."

Best wishes

Barry Thain

Clinical Hypnotist

Revealing Deep Dark Secrets

From Yahoo! Answers

Question

Is it possible to reveal deep, dark secrets under hypnosis?

I have the opportunity to be hypnotized by a stage hypnotist. From what I've read, a person under hypnosis is submissive to the hypnotists's suggestions but still has his or her morals and safety concerns. It sounds fun!

My concern is, under hypnosis, is one in danger of revealing his or her secrets, or are secrets still safe without the barrier of the conscious mind?

My Answer:

Hi Bob

The five answers you have had so far are all wrong. I say that, speaking as a clinical hypnotist of 16 years experience, having done nearly 20,000 hypnotic inductions for real. I work in private practice but also as a clinical hypnotist with the occupational health department of my local hospital.

The first rule of getting into hypnosis, whether for therapeutic reasons or as a volunteer for a stage show, is 'choose your hypnotist carefully'. If they are no good then it isn't going to be a very satisfactory experience for you. If they ARE good (and if you are a good hypnotee) then they can do whatever they want with you.

That's not such a big issue when you are dealing with a reputable hypnotherapist because they use their skills to make you feel better. It remains a big issue with good and reputable stage hypnotists, however, because their objective is precisely to exploit their volunteers in order to make themselves look good.

It simply is not the case that in hypnosis you are in control all the time and cannot be made to do anything against your will. That stuff is only ever said by people who have no experience of hypnotism, I'm afraid. Often they think they do know because they've studied hypnotherapy, and spent thousands of dollars on their training, but most hypno-schools teach that relaxation is hypnosis. It isn't. Relaxation is a state of relaxation and hypnosis is a state of hypnosis. When you are relaxed you are in control &c. When you are hypnotised you may not be in complete control.

My advice (if you wish to keep your secrets secret) is to not take the risk of something slipping out by volunteering as a subject for the amusement of other people. You might be all right but you might not and it probably isn't worth the gamble.

For some insight into what actually can and cannot be done with real hypnotism you might take a look at some video clips I have on You Tube. Click the link in the sources below.

Best wishes

Barry Thain
Clinical Hypnotist

Source(s):

http://www.mindsci-clinic.com
http://www.downloadtherapy.com
http://www.youtube.com/downloadtherapy