New programs from RelaxNow

 

 

Very excited. RelaxNow will be an exhibitor at the FEAT DFW Autism  Conference February 4th & 5th. We will be premiering our new RelaxNow for Older Children and RelaxNow Atmospheres programs at this event.

Ideomotor Response (Your own personal truth detector)

 

 “Ideomotor phenomenon: is a psychological phenomenon wherein a subject makes motions unconsciously.”

The ideomotor response is an interesting tool used by hypnotherapists and others. It uses involuntary muscle movement to facilitate gathering information from the unconscious mind.

A simple method, that requires no trance at all, is to use a pendulum. This is something you can try for yourself. Find something that can be used as a pendulum, a necklace, or even just a small weight tied on the end of a string. Sit comfortably so that you may rest your elbow on your leg, the arm of a chair, or on a table. Just place yourself in a position where you can hold forearm and hand steady and motionless. Gently grip the pendulum between your thumb and forefinger so that it can hang straight down and move freely. Don’t move it, just let it hang there.

Now you must “set” the pendulum by letting your unconscious mind know what motion means to answer yes and what means to answer no. (You only have to do this once, the “set” will last a lifetime.)

Relax as much as you can and start thinking the word yes over and over. As you are thinking the word yes, just imagine the pendulum swinging front to back. Important: Do not swing the pendulum just think about it swinging. Very soon the pendulum will start swinging front to back seemingly all on its own. Once it is moving steadily front to back, start thinking the word no over and over and imagine the pendulum swinging left and right. Once again, do not physically do anything to make the pendulum change direction or affect it in anyway. Just keep your arm and hand relaxed and steady and imagine it changing directions and then wait for it to happen.

Continue using just your mind to change the direction of the pendulum from left to right to front to back several times. You may even add a non-response; if the answer to a question is unclear pendulum will swing in the circle. After you can reliably change the motion of the pendulum using just your mind, put it down, walk away and do something else for a while.

You now have your own “personal truth” detector. If you are ever in doubt of what you really think about something you can use the pendulum. You can write a question on piece of paper and hold the pendulum over it and observe its motion. Or you can just hold the question in your mind. Just remember you must simplify the question down to its essence and have it in a form that can be answered with a yes or a no.

This is just one kind of ideomotor response. There are many others. In a hypnotherapy setting (or any talk-therapy) it can be as simple as telling the client that his/her index finger will move for a positive response and the middle finger will move for a negative response. Then have the client sit back, close his/her eyes and discuss his/her issues. You can see if the ideomotor response is contradicting the verbal responses. This can help pinpoint where the motivations of the unconscious mind contradict and work against the desires of the conscious mind. The client may be adamantly telling you how much she desires to: lose weight, quit drinking, relieve chronic pain, etc. But the fingers are screaming no, No, NO!

Wes Graham C.C.Ht.

Hypnosis and Autism, a new project

As so often happens, the greatest of projects can start from the smallest of things; a chance meeting or in this case a random bit of dinner conversation. Over the Christmas holidays, my wife and I were having dinner with a couple we have known for close to 20 years. The wife, Sheila S., runs a school for children on the autism spectrum. She is also a well-respected consultant to both the parents of autistic children and to their teachers. During the course of the evening the talk turned to “her kids.” She mentioned that she had started doing something she called “Relaxation Time.” She would have the kids lie down and she would quietly tell them to “let your feet go to sleep, your legs, etc.” Those of you already involved with hypnosis will recognize as I did that she was unknowingly doing a basic fractional relaxation hypnotic induction. I was instantly hooked, and I asked if I could observe one day and she agreed.

While watching Sheila go through her Relaxation Time routine with the kids I observed that some of the kids were truly drifting into a very light trance state. I immediately saw the potential to do some good here if I could devise a way of developing a deeper trance state in children whose sensory perceptions and mental processes can be profoundly different from my own.

After much consideration I settled on a combination of an abbreviated traditional hypnosis induction and my Audio-Homeopathy techniques along with with subliminal reinforcements (to avoid over stimulation). I also needed to determine what would be best to use as a first hypnotic suggestion. I began to observe the classes on an ongoing basis and saw the first and foremost need these children had, at least in this environment, was energy management. The minds of these kids can sometime be overwhelmed by situations and sensory inputs that a person not on the spectrum might easily miss or ignore. I soon had a test program recorded and we began our first trials.

The first suggestion/tool I choose for this program was a relaxation trigger that the child could use on themselves or have an authority figure such as a parent or teacher use for them. I chose the words “Relax Now” as the trigger with the suggestion that: when the child says out loud or silently “Relax Now” he instantly relaxes “to an appropriate level.” Appropriate level is a key point. This suggestion is not an on/off switch to be “flipped.” It’s more like a throttle that the child can use to rein in his or her response to mental or physical overstimulation.

Right from the very first day the results were promising. About an hour after going through the Relaxation Time program, one of the students began to become agitated. Sheila S. used the Relax Now trigger and there was a small, but noticeable de-escalation. I honestly did not expect to see any results until the children had been through the program several times and was very pleased and more than a little surprised to see a visible result the first day. There was a noticeably calmer mood to all the classes after Relaxation Time that day. Sheila S. also reports a generally calmer demeanor in all the participating classes throughout the entire six months of our trial period.

I can’t emphasize enough that Relaxation Time is not a program to control children; it is a program for children to use to help control themselves. Others can assist, but when others use the trigger words the child is always the final arbiter of who they will respond to and how much they will respond.

The benefits of a program of this type are not limited to children on the autistic spectrum. I can see where it could be useful for children with ADD or any child that sometimes gets overwhelmed or has issues with focus.

Over the last six months we have had 25 students participate in the program and after several small modifications I am happy to say the Relaxation Time program is now ready for public release. I am currently working on the new website and I will soon have a link here on this page to where Relaxation Time can be purchased and downloaded. In the meantime please feel free to use the Contact Me link on this blog to ask me any questions you have.

Thank you very much,

Wes Graham C.C.Ht.

Psychosomatic is Not a Dirty Word

I want to reclaim the word psychosomatic. Many times when a physician, caregiver or therapist uses that word, regarding someone’s illness, condition or symptoms, that person believes that they are being accused of “faking it” That’s because, depending on the practitioner and/or their discipline, that could be exactly what they are thinking! But, it is getting better.

When the word was first coined in the 1860s, it really was a dirty 13-letter word doctors could use right in front of their ignorant patient to tell others “in the know” that the patient was a hypochondriac and it was all just “in their head.” Now, hopefully, those days have gone the way of leeches and bleedings.

The world of western style healthcare has, in the last few decades, really started to wrap their collective heads around the profound connection between mind and body. It is now accepted that some diseases have a physiological /emotional component. In some circles, my own included, the concept that all disease has a physiological /emotional component (if not cause) is being gradually accepted.

My personal belief is that the mind body connection is not a one-way street, but is in fact a circle or cycle. More exactly, in the case of ill health, it is a descending, self-amplifying closed feedback loop of stress, depression and disease.  Real, physical disease.

It’s a downward cycle:

• If you meet someone with a chronic illness you can bet good money that it causes them stress.
• If you meet someone with stress, you can bet they will eventually get depressed.
• But, if you meet someone who is profoundly depressed, who wants to take the bet that a chronic illness won’t just “coincidentally” find them?
• Then, if you meet that someone with a chronic illness you can bet good money that it causes them stress.

And so on.

One disease or condition may have a stronger emotional component than another and the components of the downward cycle are not equal. They don’t affect all conditions and disorders the same, but I believe all the components will always be present to some degree.  As far as how this concept applies practically, a downward cycle can start with any of the components; consequently, the repair can start with any of the components. This is particularly helpful when the disease, condition or syndrome is poorly understood by the medical community. If your local M.D. has a quick and effective solution, why not use it? If I have an infection that an antibiotic can easily cure, I use it (and I’m a real “alternative medicine” kind of guy.)

On the other hand, there are many afflictions that the medical and scientific communities really don’t have a grip on; they can’t really explain them and they can only treat the symptoms. In that case, we need to attack the other components of the cycle. Our bodies are amazing healing machines. We swim in a sea of pathogens; we defeat bacteria, viruses, mutated cells (cancers) every day and only fail when we are overwhelmed mentally or physically by the downward cycle.  We just need to break the cycle somewhere, anywhere, to turn it around and eventually turn it into an ascending loop of both mental and physical, health and wellness.

All disease is at least a little psychosomatic. Hell, in many ways life is psychosomatic. So let’s reclaim the word, it’s too useful a word to be left derogatory.

Wes Graham C.C.Ht.

A Bridge to the Unconscious Mind

Why is it always about breathing? Whether you’re in a karate dojo, a yoga class or a hypnotherapist’s office, they’re always prattling on and on about breathing. “Take three cleansing breaths.” “Imagine your breath going here, going there.” Why all this focus on a bodily function that’s as basic as your heartbeat? It’s because breathing is different.

Your conscious thinking mind, for the most part, has no direct effect on most of the functions of your autonomic nervous system. You don’t “think” about secreting cortisol from your adrenal gland, you don’t “think” about your heartbeat and most of the time you don’t think about your breathing, but you can. Right now you can choose to breathe faster, slower, hold your breath. Try holding your heartbeat. (Go on, I dare you.)

The unconscious mind. (We really need a better name for it, as it is not “un” conscious at all, but let’s save that for another posting.) Okay, moving on, the unconscious mind does have an effect. In fact, it could almost be said that the autonomic nervous system IS the unconscious mind, with what we typically call the unconscious “mind” being simply the portion of the system that regulates behavior like the hypothalamus regulates body temperature. (Among other things)

It make very logical sense that when we want to pass information from the thinking mind to the unconscious “operating system” and vice versa, we use the few functions that are under the control of both system (breathing, eye blinking) as a bridge.

The language of the unconscious “mind” is a visual metaphor so you will find everyone from the Hypnotherapist in his office, the Yogi on the mountaintop, to the Massage therapist giving chair massages in the mall, telling you to “focus on your breathing,” visualize it as this color or that. See it going here or there. Breathing is a bridge between the conscious and the unconscious. This bridge runs both ways. You can “inhale” a healing light as well as “exhale” stress or pain.

We live in a time when science and logic seem to be at war with ancient wisdom that has stood the test of time. In this day and age so many alternative practices are looked down upon as metaphysical and so much “woo woo voodoo,” but when we truly understand the logic behind these practices, they can make sense and are as much physics as metaphysics.

Wes Graham C.C.Ht.

Depth of Trance, Who is in Control?

It is a common misconception, based on the representation of hypnosis on TV and in films, that a hypnotized subject is like a zombie under the Svengali-like control of the hypnotist. This image is also reinforced by the routines of stage hypnotists, whose use of a deep somnambulistic (similar to sleep-walking) trance states make for an entertaining show. The therapeutic use of hypnosis is quite different. In a therapeutic setting the depth of the trance is not nearly so important and mostly at the discretion of the subjects, whether they know it or not.

The hypnotherapist is basically a facilitator and guide; it is the clients that are ultimately the judge of what they need. For some, the experience they require for positive change is a deep, almost hallucinogenic trance state and that’s what they will naturally go to. For others, a simple game of “close your eyes and make believe” is exactly what they need and that’s what they will naturally go to. Both extremes and everything in-between can and will work for the clients if the hypnotherapist just allows them to go where they need to go and then just helps them deal with what comes up.

As is often said, all hypnosis is Self-Hypnosis. Either consciously or unconsciously, it is always voluntary. The process of calling, setting the appointment and sitting down with a hypnotist is a significant part of the initial hypnotic induction. Yes, I, like most hypnotherapists, will start with some basic inductions and tests. This gives me a feel for how the client responds (where they want/need to go), but more importantly, it gives the client’s unconscious mind a reference point for the tools and experience of hypnosis that has already begun just by being there.

Wes Graham C.C.Ht.

The Message is now available on Google Play

The Message is now available on Google Play as well as on iTunes and  Amazon.com. The new link is at the bottom of the page.

In this world you can have anything you want; the hard part is knowing what that truly is.

The Message is a guided meditation with a nice long hypnotic induction. The purpose of The Message is to open a channel of communication with an individual’s own unconscious mind.  To help that individual to discover what their unconscious mind is really trying to tell them.

While The Message does not employ many of my Hypno-Energetics technics, it does use some of the latest wild crafted sound I’ve recorded. I’ve also included a bonus track, a subliminal loop to play while sleeping. It contains positive affirmations for self-esteem and self-confidence.

Download it from Google Play http://bit.ly/1dXUyTf

Download it from iTunes   http://bit.ly/14LFfIb

Download it from Amazon.com  http://amzn.to/1cQIjuG

Ethics and the Placebo Effect

To the best of modern understanding, warts are caused by a virus.  They can be removed by freezing or they can be cut off surgically, but they often return.  Did you know that there used to be a safe and effective method for “healing” the common wart?  The patient would go to his family doctor.  In his office, the physician would have an impressive piece of equipment.  The patient would insert the hand or foot with the wart into the machine.  The doctor would switch on the device, lights would flash, the machine would vibrate and, sometimes, a small electrical current would give the patient a tingling sensation. The doctor would switch off the device and inform the patient that there wart had been “killed” and that it would simply slough away over the next week. And the majority of the time that is exactly what happened. The wart would fade away never to return.

Now, with modern eyes we can see that this machine was a hoax and the old timey doctor was simply fooling the patient. The warts only went away because of the placebo effect.  But wait a minute, THE WARTS WENT AWAY, something a modern doctor cannot do.

Of course we don’t want to return to the days of snake-oil salesmen and doctors actively lying to their patients. That being said, we must take away from this the fact that there are healing abilities within the human body that are not well understood, but are observably under the active control of the mind at some level.

In modern drug studies, typically half of the patients are given a new medication and half an inert placebo such as a sugar pill, and they are not told who gets what. In almost every study some of the placebo group show improvement and the studies are judged by the ratio between the two groups. For the most part, modern medicine ignores these effects.  Since they can’t be quantified, synthesized, bottled and sold, these results are just an annoyance to the” business” of medicine. There are even documented cases of spontaneous remissions from the most ghastly of cancers and diseases that “just went away.” These cases are miraculous to the individual involved, but useless to the scientific model of medicine and are just treated as aberrations in their statistical models.

These self-healing abilities are very real and a tremendous underutilized resource for anyone facing medical challenges.  We’ve seen that the so called “placebo effect” can be activated by just the 50/50 hope that you’ve received some new wonder drug.  The question is, how to activate it without relying on trickery and ethically questionable practices?  In fact, I would postulate that is this information age it would impossible to pass off a “Magic Wart Machine,” much less any mystical cancer cure.

I believe that the hypnotic state could be used proactively, and with a person’s knowledge and consent, to activate this self-healing ability, this “Placebo Effect” and turn it into a reliable tool.  This is especially true if used in a Hypno-Energetic format, where the alternative medicinal practices of Asia, with their centuries’ long track record of success, can be brought to bear.

It has been well documented that a subject in trance has active control over functions that are normally controlled by the unconscious autonomic nervous system. Functions such as:  pain, blood pressure, body temperature and even blood flow. It is certainly not a stretch to believe that the hyper-focus of a well induce hypnotic state could place the physiological functions activated by the placebo effect under the active control of the conscious mind.

Think of the increase in the effectiveness of a medical treatment plan if it had the full cooperation of the body’s self-healing mechanism. It would give people (with the cooperation of their physicians) the flexibility to reduce or render unnecessary some medications or treatments and could assist in the mitigation of the harsh side effect of those that continue.

I have the greatest respect for the advances in medical care over the last century and I absolutely do not consider this a replacement for modern medical care, but it can be a powerful adjunct to it.