What is hypnosis?
Have you ever driven down a highway and realized that you had passed many exits without realizing it? This is the experience of being in hypnosis or in a light trance. You were totally aware of what you were doing, and your attention was highly focused so you drove safely minding all the rules of the road. Yes, you were in a highly suggestible state - perhaps a relaxed state with a focused attention. In sum, that is an hypnotic state.

How does the mind work?
Your mind consists of three parts:  the conscious, subconscious and superconscious.  The Critical Factor, the gatekeeper between the conscious and subconscious, develops around the age of six or seven.

You are most familiar with your conscious mind, the part that receives all the sensory information.  It is your logical mind - about ten percent of your mind.  Its job is to look, listen and learn; to analyze and criticize; to accept or reject.

There are characteristics of the subconscious mind which are critical to communicate effectively with it:

• The subconscious mind stores all our memories- especially things said or done when we were in an emotional state.
• It acts out our emotions.
  • We move toward our most dominant thought.
  • Whatever is said to us, through us, or by us for 30 consecutive days, becomes a subconscious habit.

• Its main function is to protect us by controlling the

  • Parasympathetic nervous system,
  • Heart rate,
  • Endocrine system.
• Whatever is in our mind, shows up in our bodies somewhere.
• It does not understand negatives.
• It is very literal; it does not understand jokes or double meanings of words.
• The subconscious is the seat of creativity.
  • It creates our dreams.
  • It can solve problems.
  • It is the center of our intuition.
    

  It sends memories, especially memories of highly emotional events, to the conscious mind to match up with incoming information. If the subconscious mind has stored information that it received during a highly emotional state such as, "Don't go into the water; you might drown," it is highly likely that when you approach water, that subconscious warning still informs the conscious mind, even though "that was then and this is now." 

  "So how does that work?" you might ask.

  Let's follow an example of how these mind parts interact.  When little three-year-old Tommy was playing on the beach one day, his mother shouted, "Watch out, don't go too far out into the deep water.  You might drown!"  Tommy had no Critical Factor to filter that comment realistically.  So that warning was recorded in Tommy's subconscious, as were many other comments by children and adults.  Now when the adult Tom goes near the water, the subconscious is still sending the message, "Better watch out!  If you go near the water, you might drown!"  Little wonder that grown-up Tom never learned to breathe in the water.  As a matter of fact, the parasympathetic system produces more adrenaline so Tom has a small twinge of panic, a knot in his stomach; he's ready to flee.  So you see, even when the programming in the subconscious mind no longer serves Tom, it still runs his life. Clearly, this message played over and over for years triggered by the image of water.

  Because the subconscious is very literal with no sense of humor, many times it distorts memories to match incoming information. For example, if you say to yourself, "I need a break," the subconscious thinks, "Break, I can arrange that!"  Next thing you know, something actually breaks.

  In addition, the subconscious mind does not understand negatives. Once I said to myself many times, "I'm not going to buy anything.  I'm not going to buy anything. I need to save money."  The next time I walked past the shops, I went in and bought something.  My subconscious mind heard only "Buy anything!"  Of course, I was moving toward my most dominant thought forgetting that my subconscious did not hear "not!"  This "not" program ran my life and blocked my goal.

  Now imagine, how many "not" programs still run your life thereby creating blocks to many of your goals. You are probably not even aware of them.  However, you are frustrated about not being able to reach particular goals. To complicate matters, frustration causes "knots" in your body.  Remember, what you think, shows up in your body somewhere. 
  

  During hypnosis, the Critical Factor is relaxed and new programming can be inserted into your subconscious mind.  Other negative programs, thoughts and beliefs can be cancelled.  Imagine!  Reverse those "nots"' in your mind and untie the "knots" in your body!

What about the superconscious mind?
The third part of the mind is the superconscious.  That is Spirit, Source, The Creator of All That Is - whatever term serves you.  ThetaHealing™ connects to Creator to heal emotional and physical issues.

Is hypnosis safe?
This power is very safe. 

• You are always in control.  You are never "under" someone else's control.
• You will never do anything against your moral code or against your will.
• You will not divulge secrets.  Hypnosis is not truth serum.
• You can come out of trance anytime you wish.  You will not get stuck in trance.
• You will never be brainwashed - because you are in control.

Who can be hypnotized?
Everyone can go into trance - if they want it, choose it, and able to maintain a focus.  Strong-willed, intelligent people are very good candidates.  Only in certain cases of mental disability is it impossible to be hypnotized.

Does this stuff really work?
There are three things that will make hypnosis work.

First, you must have the desire to change, obtain, or do something.  Whatever it is, you have to want it enough to taste it.  There cannot be any condition or any conflict about your intent.  If there is conflict, it will sabotage you.  When in hypnosis, you actually ask your powerful subconscious mind what and where the blocks are.  I guide you to release these blocks so your intention is clear and powerful.

Second, you must imagine, sense and feel that you already have your stated goal.  When you are in trance, I have you imagine, sense, and feel already having whatever it is you want.

Third, you must program your subconscious mind. After all, that is the part of your mind that runs you.  We do this in trance, and then it is your responsibility to do your "change work" to reinforce these positive thoughts at home.

In sum, you must

• Choose it.
• Feel as though you already have it.
• Do your "change work."

Your thoughts create every aspect of your life: finances, health, relationships, and your work.

How do I find a good hypnotherapist?
There are several things you should check. First, ask about their hypnotherapy training. Does the person have extensive training or have they only attended a weekend or had a distance learning course? Have they had supervised practice for every technique?  Have they experienced these techniques themselves?  What areas of training has the person completed?  Suggestion therapy, core transformation, personal lie reversal, trauma reversal, pain management, parts therapy, natal regression, past life regression, and interlife regression are some examples.

Second, how much experience have they had?  Do they have references?

Third, is the language used by the therapist positive?  The subconscious mind does not hear negatives.  So, for example, if you have a session on motivation and a suggestion is "It is impossible to fail,"  the subconscious mind hears "fail" and says, "OK, I can fail." Better to say, "It is so easy to succeed..."  Negative affixes of words should not be used even if the sentence has a positive meaning. ("I am pain-free" is an example.) Simple, direct, positive statements are a must.

Statements must be in the present tense to be effective.  After all, the subconscious is very literal.  If it hears, "You will be getting healthier and healthier every day," you will always be in the process of getting there.  "Will" means it will always be in the future - out of your reach.  You want it now!   These language comments apply to any CD you buy.

Fourth, a hypnotist must work within the limits of his/her training. If clients need medical or psychological attention from a licensed mental health worker, a hypnotist, who is a not a licensed mental health worker himself, should work only with a written referral from someone in the medical field.

Fifth, use your intuition.  If the conditions above have been satisfied and the hypnotist "feels" right, he or she probably is a good fit for you.  If not, find another hypnotist, just as you would find another medical doctor or dentist.

Sixth, the prospective hypnotist should supply you with a Code of Ethics and an outline of obligations on the part of both you and the hypnotist.  There should also be contact information for a recognized hypnotherapy organization if you have a serious complaint.

There are many good practitioners.  Find a good match!

 

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Disclaimer:
Like the practice of medicine, hypnosis, self-hypnosis, guided imagery, meditation and Theta Healing^TM are not absolute sciences.    Hypnosis, self-hypnosis, guided imagery, meditation and Theta Healing^TM are for educational and self-improvement purposes and are not for the diagnosis or treatment of any mental, behavioral or physical ailment. Hypnosis and Theta Healing^TM are not substitutes for standard medical care.