Don E. Gibbons, Ph.D. NJ Licensed Psychologist #03513

The New Center for Counseling and Psychotherapy, LLC

The New Center for Counseling and Psychotherapy, LLC, is located at 703 Mill Creek Road, Suite G #1, Manahawkin, NJ 08050. Telephone us at(609)709-2043 and(609) 709-0009. We will welcome you warmly and will work together with you to develop a plan which is individually suited to your goals, utilizing a variety of therapeutic approaches including cognitive behavioral, family systems, psychodynamic, humanistic, and eclectic approaches as well as hypnosis. We accept Medicare and most other major insurance. Weekend and evening office hours are available.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

What are the Legal Requirements for a Ph.D? NOTHING!


I can run off a Ph.D. degree on my computer and give it to you, and you can say that you have a Ph.D. and you won't be breaking any law. The only time they can prosecute you is when you offer your services to the public in a license-protected occupation. The same thing, of course, applies to certifications of all kinds. In New Jersey at least, a non-profit organization such as a church can hire you without having to comply without having to comply with formal licensing requirements, regardless of whether or not you have a real degree, or a phony one, or no degree at all.  There aren't any restrictions on forming an educational institution either. It is easy to incorporate "universities" with impressive-sounding titles, offering courses and degrees in all sorts of subjects, who may then group themselves into unsanctioned regional associations to accredit each other -- and they do! 

 I once met a man in the U.S. a few years ago who was offering a Ph.D. in hypnosis after only a few months of study, which created quite a stir in some lay hypnosis circles and made him a lot of money before the word got around. I subsequently had a telephone conversation with one of his "graduates," who was vigorously defending the academic content of her "doctoral program" from this man, which she had completed after a few months of study. I told her that I had no doubt that he had put together some good reading lists which incorporated a lot of sound psychological principles. But, having spent thirteen years of my life earning a "real" doctorate which was recognized by the proper regional accrediting body (and not one which had been organized by the diploma mills themselves in order to accredit each other), I assured her that a doctoral program such as the one she had completed would be so adulterated by comparison as to be totally useless in the real world. Her voice suddenly began to quaver. (I'm not sure she really knew what "adulterated" meant, and probably mistook it for something stronger!), and our conversation ended shortly thereafter. I don't know whether or not this guy is still around, but I haven't heard anything about him or his program in several years.
Whenever you hear someone say that they can paper the wall of their office with their academic degrees, or see an official-looking diploma signed by people who have a large number of degrees in several different fields after their name, this should be a signal to examine the situation further.(Just think how many years or decades it would take to actualy earn all those degrees!) Most of the people who signed my own doctorate, for example, used no initials at all after their name, and let the title of their position speak for them, as is often the custom.  
A legitimate degree which is recognized by established institutions of higher learning must be offered by an institution which is recognized by the officially recognized accrediting body in your locality, and no other. The best way to establish this is to call up the Registrar's office of an institution which you trust, and inquire as to the legitimacy of the accrediting body behind the college or university which you are inquiring about -- keeping in mind, of course, that the officially sanctioned organizations in some regions may also be more lax than in others.

 Of course, formal certification, credentialing, and professional licensing is no guarantee of character, nor is it always a guarantee of competence. On the other hand, there are many fine and capable people who have various types of alternative qualifications or the lack thereof, many of whom I count among my friends. On the other hand, there are at least some people with sterling credentials whose moral qualifications are less than honorable. All that can be conclusively said is that when it comes to professional qualifications, things are not always what they seem to be. 
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In no particular order, here are just a few the other practical applications of hyperempiria, or suggestion-enhanced experience, contained on this Blog,  You can learn how to:
See also the following print sources:

Gibbons, D. E. (2001). Experience as an art form. .New York, NY: Authors Choice Press.

Gibbons, D. E. (2000). Applied hypnosis and hyperempiria. Lincoln, NE: Authors Choice Press (originally published 1979 by Plenum Press).

Gibbons, D. E., & Cavallaro, L (2013).. Exploring alternate universes: And learning what they can teach us. Amazon Kindle E-Books. (Note: It is not necessary to own a Kindle reader to download this e-book, as the Kindle app may be downloaded free of charge to a standard desktop or laptop computer and to most cell phones.)

Gibbons, D. E., & Lynn, S. J. (2010). Hypnotic inductions: A primer. in S. J. Lynn, J. W. Rhue, & I. Kirsch (Eds.) Handbook of clinical hypnosis, 2nd ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, pp. 267-291.

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Friday, May 17, 2013

Cognitive-Behavioral Dieting: The Science of BEING Thin

Being overweight can be caused by a number of factors. When it is simply due to the habit of making bad decisions concerning food, then a cognitive-behavioral approach such as the one described here may be useful. However, you should not make any changes in your regular eating habits without first consulting with your physician.  

It is widely recognized that most diets simply do not work for most people most of the time. The reason for this is not the food, but the dieters themselves.  Because they have not learned to think like a thin person, they go back to making the same bad choices that made them overweight in the first place.

Cognitive-behavioral psychology is the study of the relationships between thinking, feeling, and behavior.  Unless we develop the habit of taking all three of these into account in the same way that thin people do, we will be living on a perpetual yo-yo of dieting to lose weight and then gaining it back again unto a ripe old age.  Cognitive-behavioral therapists like to use a form called a thought record in order to examine just what goes on in the mind when we make those habitual decisions that keep getting us into trouble by eating the wrong things. Here is what one looks like, You can make copies for your own use by using the print command on your computer.

I'm going to take the liberty of using an example from my own life to illustrate how the CBT Thought Record might be used. After hurricane Sandy, we re-located our practice from Long Beach Island to the highway on the mainland which provides access to the island, which is a major tourist attraction in New Jersey. The stretch of highway nearest our office contains a string of fast-food restaurants, each one next to the other, with a convenience store at the end which sells pre-packaged salads and other healthy snacks. In the six months that we have been in our new location, I haven't been able to resist the temptation to pull in and get lunch at a fast-food place before I reach the healthy food at the end of this gauntlet. Here are my responses to the seven columns in the Thought Record form, with the column headings printed in italics and my responses in standard type.
  1. Where were you? Passing several fast-food stores on the way to get a salad.
  2. Emotion or feeling. Food craving.
  3. Negative automatic thought. I could stop and get a taco or a double whoppper with cheese.
  4. Evidence that supports the thought. They will taste a lot better than the salad.
  5. Evidence that does not support the thought. I'm already getting fat.
  6. Alternative thought. There's a health food store with tasty sandwiches across the highway.
  7. Emotion or feeling. Relief (100%)
If I had not used the CBT Thought Record to put my thinking, feeling, and behavior under a microscope, I would quite probably have been content to continue to make the wrong decisions every time I had lunch. My evidence for this statement is the frequent stops I used to make at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant close to where I completed my psychology internship, instead of looking for a nearby alternative, which also resulted in a noticeable weight gain.

Of course, there are a lot of other habits that I'll have to work on using the Thought Record Form. Last night, for example, I bought two pints of ice cream at the convenience store! But, as Confucius said, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." And cognitive-behavioral psychology has provided a map to the destination.

CBT can be augmented by the use of other procedures alsong with it.  See, for example:
How to Get Thin and STAY Thin with Self-Hypnosis and Visualization
How to Eliminate Late-Night Snacking

Print and Online References

Beck, J. S. (2008).  The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person. Birmingham, AL: Oxmoor House.

www.beckdietsolution.com

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In no particular order, here are just a few the other practical applications of hyperempiria, or suggestion-enhanced experience, contained on this Blog,  You can learn how to:
See also the following print sources:

Gibbons, D. E. (2001). Experience as an art form. .New York, NY: Authors Choice Press.
Gibbons, D. E. (2000). Applied hypnosis and hyperempiria. Lincoln, NE: Authors Choice Press (originally published 1979 by Plenum Press).

Gibbons, D. E., & Cavallaro, L (2013).. Exploring alternate universes: And learning what they can teach us. Amazon Kindle E-Books. (Note: It is not necessary to own a Kindle reader to download this e-book, as the Kindle app may be downloaded free of charge to a standard desktop or laptop computer and to most cell phones.)

Gibbons, D. E., & Lynn, S. J. (2010). Hypnotic inductions: A primer. in S. J. Lynn, J. W. Rhue, & I. Kirsch (Eds.) Handbook of clinical hypnosis, 2nd ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, pp. 267-291.




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Monday, May 13, 2013

How to Combine Self Hypnosis and Meditation

"As a rabbit, I am an expert in meditation."

 Imagine a rabbit on the edge of a field of grass, who happens to spot a fox looking at him from the other side of the field. The rabbit freezes, and a moment later the fox disappears from view. The rabbit calmly goes back to searching for the nearest tender blade of grass. But if that rabbit had the brain of a human being, he might well have been anxiously wondering, "What if that fox has a burrow in the next field? What if he comes back to get me?" But of course, there would be nothing that the rabbit could do about it.

 Meditators, through dilligent practice, can learn to "switch their brains off" when anxiety can serve no useful purpose. Similarly, they can learn how not to unduly depress themselves with regret over things which cannot now be changed, and to calm the fires of anger when rage can serve no constructive purpose.

 Meditation can be even more effective for relieving anger, anxiety, panic, and depression when it is combined with self-hypnosis.  The following video by +Richard Nongard provides an example of how the two techniques can be used together.  

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In no particular order, here are just a few the other practical applications of hyperempiria, or suggestion-enhanced experience, contained on this Blog,  You can learn how to:
See also the following print sources:

Gibbons, D. E. (2001). Experience as an art form. .New York, NY: Authors Choice Press.
Gibbons, D. E. (2000). Applied hypnosis and hyperempiria. Lincoln, NE: Authors Choice Press (originally published 1979 by Plenum Press).

Gibbons, D. E., & Cavallaro, L (2013).. Exploring alternate universes: And learning what they can teach us. Amazon Kindle E-Books. (Note: It is not necessary to own a Kindle reader to download this e-book, as the Kindle app may be downloaded free of charge to a standard desktop or laptop computer and to most cell phones.)

Gibbons, D. E., & Lynn, S. J. (2010). Hypnotic inductions: A primer. in S. J. Lynn, J. W. Rhue, & I. Kirsch (Eds.) Handbook of clinical hypnosis, 2nd ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, pp. 267-291.


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What is "The Power of Suggestion?"

What IS suggestion, and why is its effect so powerful?
The Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptilibility, Form A (Form B was never completed), contains a script of a light hypnotic induction, followed by a list of twelve suggestions in increasing order of difficulty, from "easy" ones which almost anyone can pass, to more difficult items such as the inability to shake one's head "no" when challenged, or amnesia for most of the test items until after a prearranged signal has been given. Since its initial publication in 1962, the test has been used in dozens of studies all over the world, in order to give us a greater understanding of individual differences in suggestibility. 

 In a typical administration, in a class setting of about thirty people, there are there are from one to three high responders who obtain a perfect score of twelve on the test, one or two people who are just sitting there with their eyes open, looking around the room with a mixture of curiosity and boredom, and the rest manifesting varying degrees of responsiveness in between. Data of this type have been gathered by now at many colleges and universities around the world, and has yielded a great deal of useful information about differences between high and low responders. (I have collected some of it myself.)

 Now I would like to ask you to imagine that the Harvard Group Scale is being given to a class of introductory psychology students at the American University of Beirut, let us say, when a person dressed in a police uniform bursts into the room and says in a loud, commanding voice, "The city is under biological attack, and a germ cloud is headed this way. Take refuge in the basement immediately and await further instructions!"

 Even if such an announcement is a hoax (i.e., a cleverly-designed suggestion) thought up by a dissident student organization to disrupt the orderly running of campus activities, if it were to be conducted in a sufficiently convincing manner, everyone in the class -- including the instructor -- would probably dash for the exits and head for the nearest underground shelter.

Notice that under the conditions just mentioned, a high degree of responsiveness to the impostor's suggestions would occur regardless of how an individual student might have scored on the suggestibility test which was currently underway. Notice also that they would probably have been totally involved in the content of the impostor's suggestions: trembling, feeling frightened, weeping, crying out in alarm, and so on.

 Suggestibility, then, is a response to a total situation, which is grounded in our perception of reality itself. It only appears to be a trait of personality, because of the way our experiments are designed and carried out. But if a suggestion is believable enough, as in the hypothetical example just mentioned, individual differences in responsiveness instantly vanished as the entire class scrambled for the exits.

If some people respond to hypnosis poorly on one occasion and well on another, then something besides the mechanics of the induction must be at work. In order to eliminate the effect of these background variables, Lenny Cavallaro and I  have recently developed a technique to take clients into an alternate universe where time and space do not exist, so that we can define most of the background elements just the way we want to.
For example,we all long to return to the safety and security of a little infant tenderly nestled in its mother’s arms. At the opposite extreme, all phobias are basically rooted in a fear of not being, which is actually a fear of death. If the number of parallel universes is theoretically without limit, there is – somewhere – an alternate universe where we can bathe in an ocean of infinite, unbounded, and everlasting love, freed from the limitations of space and time, to satisfy these deepest longings, enhance our self-esteem, and overcome all our feelings of unhappiness, loneliness, anger, and despair.  Our recently-pubplished e-book, cited below (Gibbons & Cavallaro,2013), will show you how.  

 See also: How Hitler Did It: The Power of Suggestion Gone Wild 
                 Romantic Love, Kissing, Sexual Responsiveness,
                 and the Power of Suggestion
References
 Gibbons, D. E., & Cavallaro, L (2013).. Exploring alternate universes: And learning what they can teach us. Amazon Kindle E-Books. (Note: it is not necessary to own a Kindle in order to read this E-book, which may also be downloaded directly to a laptop or a smartphone.)

 Shor, R, E., & Orne, E. C. Harvard group scale of hypnotic susceptibility, Form A. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.


 

In no particular order, here are just a few the other practical applications of hyperempiria, or suggestion-enhanced experience, contained on this Blog,  You can learn how to:
See also the following print sources:

Gibbons, D. E. (2001). Experience as an art form. .New York, NY: Authors Choice Press.
Gibbons, D. E. (2000). Applied hypnosis and hyperempiria. Lincoln, NE: Authors Choice Press (originally published 1979 by Plenum Press).

Gibbons, D. E., & Cavallaro, L (2013).. Exploring alternate universes: And learning what they can teach us. Amazon Kindle E-Books. (Note: It is not necessary to own a Kindle reader to download this e-book, as the Kindle app may be downloaded free of charge to a standard desktop or laptop computer and to most cell phones.)

Gibbons, D. E., & Lynn, S. J. (2010). Hypnotic inductions: A primer. in S. J. Lynn, J. W. Rhue, & I. Kirsch (Eds.) Handbook of clinical hypnosis, 2nd ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, pp. 267-291.


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