Blending

An article in the Reader's Diigest compares the effectiveness of hypnosis and meditation and comes out in favor of hypnosis. However,  Richard Nongard once observed that hypnosis was the same thing as meditation, and I agree; for both involve the actualization of the expressed or the implied suggestion that your conscious processes are beginning to function differently. It's just that the set of assumptions which you use when you are going into hypnosis is more efficient than the set of assumptions which you use when practicing meditation.

Research has found that the brains of meditators change with long-term practice; and many students of meditation seek out a respected guru for long-term training and personal growth. The aim of hypnosis, on the other hand, has been, "Find 'em, fix 'em, and forget 'em,"  although we might keep clients on your mailing list and send them a newsletter once in a while so that they will remember to tell their friends about you and consult you again when another problem arises in their lives.

Lisa Brown, who many of you will remember as a hypnosis virtuoso and frequent poster on HT before she migrated to Facebook as so many others have done, has continued to regularly work with practice partners in order to develop her hypnotic abilities even further.  I have a long-term retired client who, when she leaves my office, is forced to return to the "toxic soup' in which she must perpetually swim. Her mother in law is slowly becoming more and more demented. She only speaks Italian and refuses to learn English. She has stopped showering and will not allow herself to move to a senior care facility; her husband has had six strokes, and is not too much better than his mother; and her sister, who has a husband and children of her own, refuses to be of any help. She comes in to vent once a week, and I take her on a tour to the Multiverse where she dissolves in a lake of infinite, unbounded love, using time distortion so that it seems like she has been gone for an eternity. On the way back, borrowing from Rumi, I tell her, "We have been to Heaven. We are higher than the angels. And we will go back there, for this is your eternal home beyond the stars." Then, as she is about to emerge from hypnosis, I tell her, "You are among a gifted few, on the cutting edge of evolution, whose life is not limited to living in one universe at a time," and, "The lessons of these experiences will remain with you."

I am helping her to re-define herself.  She now sees herself as an advanced being on the cutting edge of evolution, with the ability to pre-experience the joys of Heaven and take these lessons back with her to bolster her life in the present.. Was she really there? Since I don't pretend to know what "truth" is, I have no way of telling But I believe that my job as a therapist is to help clients construct a reality that will help them to live better lives, regardless of whether it is true or not and regardless of the reality that I may construct for myself.  She is certainly able to live her life more effectively with this type of long-term hypnosis, which essentially the same asf long-term meditation.. 

You can find more information, as well as a script for multiversal travel, on my Blog, www.hyperempiria.blogspot.com.

Don

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Evolution did not come to a screeching halt when the first bipeds who could accurately be  labeled human joined the ranks of  the other primates. We have been developing the powers of our imagination in new and exciting ways ever since. However, the imaginatively gifted among us frequently need the services of a hypnotist who is able to function as an enabler, coach, or personal trainer to show us how to use these emerging abilities with confidence, because they are so different from the current patterns of thought which we are used to in everyday life  . 

In the hypnoverse, or the realm of everything that can be imagined  in hypnosis, whatever can be called into consciousness can ne experienced as a real event. You can selectively sample from the best experiences of every parallel lifetime you can possibly imagine, speed-walking on the path to enlightenment,  and you can directly explore the joys and wonders of the Multiverse itself.

If some of these parallel universes are ahead us in time, we are talking about pre-incarnation. If they are on approximately the same time line, we have co-incarnation. If they are behind us, we have re-incarnation. If we share a body with another personality, we have co-incarnation: and if we simultaneously share  the same body with several individuals, we have multi-carnation.

Kelley Woods recently e-maied me: "I'm reading The Tibetan Book of the Dead: Liberation Through Understanding in the Between, by Robert Thurman, The Dalai Lama, Karma Lingpa, Padma Sambhava and wanted to share this quote with you." So, the Tibetan lamas who can consciously pass through the dissolution process, whose minds can detach from the gross physical body and use a magic body to travel to other universes, these “psychonauts” are the Tibetans’ ultimate heroes and heroines."'

If we are able to choose from a theoretically unlimited number of situations in a theoretically unlimited number of lifetimes to experience as real events, regardless of whether they are  objectively"real" or not, then the possibilities for growth and improvement are virtually unlimited. The only remaining restrictions are the imaginative abilities of the participant and the participant's ability and willingness to follow the instructions and suggestions he or she is given. 

No one should make use of this following very powerful technology unless qualified to do so by virtue of his or her formal training and experience. Bur i0f you are properly qualified to do so, we  invite you now to join us in this fascinating exploration of parallel and alternate universes, and of the Multiverse itself, the universe of all possible universes. In the words of Sherlock Holmes in The Adventure of the Abbey Grange, "Come Watson, Come! The game is afoot. Not a word! Into your clothes and come!

Conventional Induction.

The following scripts should be used as a general guide, with considerable repetition and elaboration in accordance with the client's body language, much as one might repeat the verses and choruses of a song.

Just imagine that it’s a nice, spring day, and that you’re lying on a soft woolen blanket, on a sandy beach, by the side of the ocean. If you accept each detail of the situation as I describe it, without trying to think critically, your imagination will be free to allow you to experience the situation just as if you were really there.

I’m going to count from one to ten, and by the time I get to the count of ten, you’ll be resting comfortably in a deep, sound, peaceful state of hypnosis. So just relax and listen to my voice, as I begin the count from one to ten.

One . You can feel the warm sand beneath the blanket on which you're lying, and you can feel the gentle breeze blowing across your body, cooling you to just the right temperature, so that all you want to do is just keep drifting, and dreaming . . . and floating . . . on . . and on . . . and on into a deep, sound, beautiful state of hypnosis.

Two . You can hear the sound of the waves gently crashing upon the ocean shore. You can hear the sound of the gulls in the distance, and you can savor the freshness of the pure salt air, as you feel a heavy, relaxed feeling coming over you. You can feel your arms relaxing, you can feel your legs relaxing, and you can feel your entire body relaxing completely. As I continue to count and continue to talk, every word that I utter will carry you faster and deeper, faster and deeper, down and down, into a deep, sound, peaceful state of hypnosis.

Three . . . You can feel your entire body relaxing now . . . relaxing deeper and faster, and deeper and faster, all of the time.

Four . Sinking down, and shutting down . . . sinking down, and shutting down . . . sinking down, and shutting down . . shutting down completely. And the deeper you go, the deeper you are able to go. And the deeper you go, the deeper you want to go, and the more peaceful, and the more relaxing, and the more beautiful the experience becomes.

Five. Sinking and relaxing, and sinking and relaxing, deeper and faster, deeper and faster, all of the time. Relaxing so very deeply now that you can just let yourself go completely, as you continue drifting down and down, into a deep, sound, beautiful, blissful state of hypnosis.

Every word that I utter is carrying you faster and deeper, faster and deeper, down, and down, and down. And the deeper you go, the deeper you want to go; and the deeper you go, the deeper you're able to go, and the more peaceful, and the more beautiful, and the more enjoyable the experience becomes.

Six . Relaxing so very deeply now, as you continue drifting on and on, into a deep, sound sleep, a deep, sound sleep.

Seven. Sinking down and shutting down. Sinking down and shutting down. Sinking down and shutting down, shutting down completely.

Eight . And the deeper you go, the deeper you want to go. And the deeper you go, the deeper you're able to go. And the deeper you go, the more peaceful the more relaxing, the more beautiful, and the more enjoyable the experience becomes.

Nine. Sinking down, and shutting down. Sinking down, and shutting down. Sinking down, and shutting down. Shutting down completely.

Ten. Very deeply drifting, in a deep, sound state of hypnosis. And the deeper you go, the deeper you want to go. And the deeper you go, the deeper you are able to go. And the deeper you go, the stronger the effects of my words become.

Deepening (optional)

Now, as you continue sinking deeper with every word that I speak, and with every second that passes, you can imagine, or picture in your mind, a clock dial, with no second hand and no minute hand on the clock, just an hour hand. And the hour hand is set at twelve.

I’m going to move that hour hand back, one hour at a time, until it’s all the way back to one. And with each hour that I move the hand back, you’ll go twice as deep as you are right now, and you’ll feel twice as good as you do right now.

There is no end to the depth of experience you can have in deep hypnosis.There is no limit to how good you can feel, and to the benefits you can obtain from it. And the deeper you go, the deeper you're able to go . And the deeper you go, the deeper you want to go, and the more peaceful and the more beautiful, and the more wonderful, and the more enjoyable the experience becomes. So just let yourself go completely now, as I move the hour hand back, one hour at a time. ,

And now I’ve moved the hour hand back from 12 to 11, and you’re sinking down twice as deep as you were before. And the deeper you go, the more easily you are able to become aware of your Best Me -- of the person you are becoming.

And now I’ve moved it down to 10, and you feel twice as deep and you feel twice as good. But there’s never any sense of strain or overload, for the deeper you go, the deeper you want to go, and the deeper you go, the deeper you’re able to go. And the deeper you go, the more beautiful, and the more enjoyable the experience becomes.

And now I’ve moved it down to 9. Twice as deep, and feeling twice as good

.As I lead you deeper and deeper into hypnosis, your Best Me, -- your Future Self, -- the person that you are becoming -- will provide you with all the guidance and support that you need, in order to free yourself from the problems and limitations that have been holding you back. This guidance will enable these problems to be solved in just the right way, and at just the right time, for you to keep whatever is of value to the person that you will become and to release and eliminate whatever needs to be released.

8. Twice as deep, sinking down and down, and feeling twice as good, as you allow your Best Me to handle all of your problems in the outside world in the healing, caring light of your future.

7. Twice as deep yet again, and feeling twice as good yet again.

6. Deeper yet. Notice what that does, and notice how good you feel. And imagine how good you're going to feel, when we get all the way down to one

5. Twice as deep, yet again, and feeling twice as good yet again . . . . deeper . . . and deeper . . .And the deeper you go, the deeper you want to go . . . and the deeper you go, the deeper you are able to go . . . and the more beautiful, and the more wonderful, and the more enjoyable the experience becomes.

4. Deeper . . . deeper . . . deeper . . .

3. Twice as deep, and feeling twice as good . . .

2. Deeper . . . deeper . . . deeper . . .

1. Infinitely, and unbelievably deep, and continuing to go deeper with every word that I speak. Deeper and deeper, down, and down, and down.

Hyperempiric Induction

Now the scene is changing, and we are standing on the top of a large mountain which is covered with clouds after a sudden spring shower. If you accept each detail of the situation as I describe it, without trying to think critically, your imagination will be free to allow you to experience the situation just as if you were really there.

One end of a large rainbow is touching the ground right in front of us. We walk up to this rainbow and prepare to enter the first band. As we go through each band one by one, each band will present you with a priceless gift, which you will be able to take back with you And the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is the treasure that your life is becoming as we explore the joys and wonders of the Multiverse itself..

First, we are entering the red band of the rainbow. Red is the color of strength and the color of love. Feel this strength and love flowing through you now, overcoming negative emotions, overcoming physical discomfort, paving over the effect of every bad thing that has ever happened to you, and filling and flooding every muscle, and nerve, and cell of your being with wave after wave of infinite, boundless strength, and confidence, and love, and power. [Brief Pause]

Each time that I lead you into hypnosis you go higher; each time you go faster, and each time you experience this happiness more beautifully and more intensely than you did the time before.

Orange is the color of happiness. Feel the happiness flooding through you now, filling and flooding every muscle and nerve and cell of your body with wave after wave of infinite happiness and boundless joy. Infinite happiness, and boundless Joy [Brief Pause]

Yellow is the color of healing. Each time you repeat this mindful hypnotic meditation, all of the healing processes throughout your body are considerably strengthened. As we travel through this band of yellow light, you can feel its healing warmth, flooding into every muscle, and every fiber, and nerve of your body, penetrating to the very core of your being.-- body, heart, mind, and spirit.[Brief Pause]

Now, we are entering the green band of light. Green is the color of renewal. The farther we go into the rainbow, the more your sense of the passing of time is slowing down. Regardless of the time we may actually have been away, it will seem as if we had been gone for an eternity. And the benefits of our journey will be increased in direct proportion to the time that it feels like we have been away together.

Now, we are traveling through the band of blue, which is the color of Heaven, and the color of Eternity. This is the true reality, and the universe from which we came is merely an illusion. This is your eternal home beyond the stars, and the spark of Divinity which is within you is nothing less than the energy of the Multiverse itself

You will always look back upon these journeys with fondness, even as you look forward to the next opportunity to return to them ,with ever-increasing anticipation; for each time that you embark upon these mindful hypnotic meditations you will be able to obtain even more benefit and more growth from the experience as it continues to change your life forever into a thing of wondrous beauty.

Next, we move into the purple band which contains the heightened mental and spiritual powers that are becoming yours in ever-increasing amounts, as your consciousness drifts higher. 

It's a wonderful feeling of release and liberation which you are experiencing now, as all of your vast, untapped potentials are becoming freed for their fullest possible functioning. And this feeling is going to continue growing and growing, like a snowball rolling downhill, until we merge completely into the Multiverse itself .

You are a child of the Multiverse, more highly evolved than the rest. And this is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to you.

Now we are entering the band of violet, which is the color of serenity. It’s only the separation from this infinite ocean of perfect peace, and calm, and tranquility, that is the source of all unhappiness, all depression, all anxiety, all loneliness and all despair. And now that this separation has been removed, it has brought you an inner peace, which is greater than anything that you have ever dreamt of, longed for, hoped for, or imagined, and far, far beyond the power of.the human imagination by itself to even begin to comprehend.

Finally, we have come to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, which holds the priceless treasure that your life is becoming as you continue to practice this mindful hypnotic meditation. Scoop it up and take it with you; for It contains everything you wanted from this experience, regardless of whether or not it was specifically included in the suggestions that you were given, and regardless of whether or not you were even fully aware of them yourself at the time.

Mindful Hypnotic Meditation

Now, as we step out of the final band of the rainbow and into the Multiverse itself, the beauty and the intensity of everything you experience is multiplied many times over. You have more senses than your usual five, and you can directly experience all the 11 dimensions of reality with a beauty and an intensity which is infinitely greater than anything that can be imagined in the universe from which we came.

All of the bands of the rainbow which brought us here have blended into one boundless ocean of perfect, infinite love which contains them all: strength, happiness, healing, renewal, peace, power, and serenity, more beautiful than anything you have ever dreamt of, hoped for, longed for, or imagined, and far, far beyond the power of the human imagination by itself to even begin to comprehend.

In the center of this infinite ocean of unbounded love, you are completely dissolving into the infinite love of the Multiverse itself (or the Creator Himself). And all of the happiness, all of the love,all of the joy, and all of the rapture that have ever been felt by all of the people who ever walked the face of the Earth, put together, have become a part of you, now, in these golden moments of delight -- infinite beyond infinity, and eternal beyond all measure of eternity: Infinite, boundless, eternal and everlasting, yours to enjoy and yours to be, now, in these golden moments, torn from the pages of time and space.

This is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to you, greater than anything you have ever dreamt of., hoped for, longed for, or imagined, and far, far beyond the limits of anything that you ever thought was even possible. It is the complete and total fulfillment of your existence: everything you ever were, everything you are right now, and everything you will be in the future, put together and endlessly multiplied over and over -- infinite beyond infinity, and eternal beyond all measure of eternity. Revel in it, glory in it, and enjoy the experience to the.fullest. (Pause.)

Here in the Multiverse, where you will spend Eternity, the total fulfillment of your existence is already an accomplished fact. And as we continue to return here to this, your home beyond the stars, it will change your life forever and turn each new day into a thing of wondrous beauty. -- in many different ways, and on many different levels, some of which you may already know and some of which you may not yet realize until they actually begin to occur.

You will not be able to bring the full intensity of this experience back with you, because it would be more than you could possibly bear in the universe from which we came.. But its healing effects will remain with you, turning each new day into a thing of joy, and paving over the effect of every bad thing that has ever happened to you in your entire life.

Because time does not exist in the Multiverse, it will seem like we have been gone for an entire lifetime, and the benefits of each journey will be increased in direct proportion to the time that it feels like we have been away together.

Return

Now we are ready to return to the everyday state of consciousness, by riding through the rainbow of delight that brought us here, in reverse order from the inside out. You will remain in deep hypnosis until we emerge together from the final band.

Just as before, each band of color will present you with a priceless gift which you will be able to take back with you, to make it easier for you to withstand stress and pain of every kind, and to counteract the effects of every bad thing that has ever happened to you.

The changes it has created will provide you with a source of deep Inner strength which will enable you to cope much more effectively with all of life's stresses and all of life's problems.

First, we are beginning to retrace our steps through the band of violet, the color of serenity. It's only the separation from this infinite ocean of boundless rapture, wonder, ecstasy and delight -- it’s only the separation from this ocean of perfect peace, and calm, and tranquility -- that is the source of all unhappiness, all depression, all anxiety, all loneliness, and all despair. And now that this separation has been removed, it has brought you an inner peace which is greater than anything you have ever dreamt of, longed for, hoped for, or imagined, and far, far beyond the power of human words to describe -- infinite, boundless, eternal, and everlasting. Yours to enjoy and yours to be, now, in these golden moments of delight, torn from the pages of time and space.

Next, we move back into the purple band which contains the indwelling mental and spiritual powers that are becoming yours in ever increasing amounts, as we continue to explore these alternate and parallel universes.

You love being hypnotized. And as you continue to regularly practice this mindful hypnotic meditation, it will continue to change your entire existence into a thing of wondrous beauty.

This is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to you. Whenever you have found a goal that you deeply desire, you will be able to act, think, and feel as if it were impossible to fail. For even if that particular goal is not achieved, whatever may appear to be a failure is merely a temporary setback on the glorious road to the complete and total fulfillment of your existence, which is already an accomplished fact in the Multiverse from which we  came.

Now we are traveling back through the band of blue, which is the color of Heaven, and the color of eternity. This is the true reality, and the.world from which we came is merely an illusion.

Regardless of how much or how little you actually remember these experiences -- and if you go deep enough, you may not remember anything at all -- you will always look back upon these journeys with fondness, even as you look forward to the next opportunity to return to them with ever-increasing anticipation. You will treasure the effects of this experience as it adds meaning and purpose to your life; and each time that we return, you will be able to derive new benefits from these experiences which will meet your needs even more effectively.

Now we are entering the green band of light. Green is the color of renewal: and each time that you return to this mindful hypnotic meditation, you will obtain even more happiness and more fulfillment from the journey than you did before.

Next, we are traveling through the band of yellow light,. Yellow is the color of healing. You can feel the healing warmth of this yellow light, flooding once more into every muscle, and every fiber, and nerve and cell of your body, penetrating to the very core of your being -- body, heart, mind, and soul. . .body, heart, mind, and soul.

Now, we are entering the orange band of the rainbow. Orange is the color of happiness. Feel the happiness flooding through you once more, filling and flooding every muscle and nerve and cell of your body with after wave of infinite happiness and boundless joy. -- Infinite happiness, and boundless joy.

Each time we repeat this mindful hypnotic meditation, you go deeper, each time you go faster; and each time, you experience this happiness more beautifully and more intensely than you did before.

Finally, we are entering the red band of the rainbow. Red is the color of strength, and the color of love. Feel this strength and love flowing through you now, overcoming stress, overcoming worry, overcoming depression and care, and filling and flooding every muscle and nerve and cell of your being with wave after wave of infinite, boundless strength, and love, and confidence, and power.

You will obtain everything you wanted from this experience, regardless of whether or not it was specifically included in the suggestions that you were given, and regardless of whether or not you were even fully aware of them yourself at the time; for your Best Me is always with you, guiding your path in the way that it should go.

Now, as we prepare to return to the everyday life from which we came, all of the dimensions of the Universe from which we originally left will reassert themselves, and all your sensations and perceptions will be exactly as they were before our journey began. Your mind will be clear and alert, and you will easily be able to concentrate on anything you have to do. But the benefits and the good feelings of these experiences, will remain with you, adding meaning and purpose to your life, making it so much easier to resist stresses of every kind, and filling your life with zest and joy. Know who you really are. Be who you really are.

By the time I get to the count of five, you will open your eyes, beaming with happiness and radiant with joy.

One. Getting ready to open your eyes now. Two. . .Three.. . . Four. . . Five. You can open your eyes now, wide awake and feeling wonderful!

How to Manage an Addicted Friend or Family Member

Addicts seem to have a Ph.D. in emotional manipulation.

Many therapists have clients in their eighties who have turned themselves into paupers and are living our their retirement years in distress and torment because they are unable to resist the emotional blackmail of their alcoholic or addicted children. (It should also be noted that some people can become addicted to spending itself, for a variety of reasons.) At the other extreme, I have interviewed prison inmates whose families have decided to press charges because their children have stolen money and personal belongings from them in order to support their addictions. In the middle are the clients we see every week in our private practice, who have sought our support in order to learn the art of "toughlove" -- to say no to the demands of their addicted children or other family members, both for the sake of the addicts themselves and to preserve the clients' own financial and psychological well-being.

When the victims threaten to deny or withdraw emotional support, they are subject to a series of manipulative tactics from their addicted family members which may include anger, rage, threats of suicide or actual suicidal gestures, and promises that the abuser will never have anything to do with them again. These tactics frequently succeed because, as family members, the abusers often know their victims well enough to understand exactly what to say and which buttons to push in order to manipulate their victims into giving in. This only encourages further exploitation in the future. For this reason, you should never make a threat to an addict, i.e., "This is the last time you are getting one cent out of me!" that you are not prepared to carry out.

Victims of emotional manipulation need to recognize that addicts are not the loving, playful children, friends, or relatives they once were were before their addiction turned them into someone else. Victims need to see themselves as survivors of abuse, and to create healthy barriers between themselves and their abusers.  

Don't let an addict shame or guilt you into giving in!

While some people can come to these realizations on their own, in many instances they need the emotional support and encouragement of a therapist, and possibly the services of an attorney, in order to disentangle themselves.    

 

Here are just a few the practical applications of hyperempiria, or suggestion-enhanced experience, contained on this Blog,  You can learn how to:

• Keep your boss from driving you crazy  
• Learn deep relaxation hypnosis for falling asleep 
• Conquer anxiety and perform at your best
• Overcome depression
• Get thin and STAY thin 
• Improve academic performance
• Achieve your goals without using "will power"
• Recognize a personality disorder
• Motivate yourself for long-range tasks
• Learn to hypnotize yourself
• Explore Alternate Universes 
• Eliminate procrastination   
• Overcome perfectionism 
• LIVE the action of your favorite dramatic scenes
• Suppress the ravages of pain 
• Reap the  full benefits of meditation for personal growth 
• Master the art of hypnosis
• Facilitate meditation and prayer 
• Improve your psychic abilities 
• Re-create a mystical experience whenever you wish.
• Learn to Forgive Yourself and Others
• Discover the Most Important Things in Life
• Find Your Life's Goals and Values
• Talk to Your "Inner Healer" 
• The Blog contains many other examples of hyperempiria  for the enhancement of human potential, the ennoblement of the human spirit, and the fulfillment of human existence.

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.

Understanding Fetishes

In certain species of fowl, imprinting is the mechanism by which young chicks learn to follow their mother. There is a certain "critical period" shortly after birth, generally lasting from a few hours to a few days, during which time the newly-hatched chicks learn to follow whatever moving object they see -- which, of course, is generally their mother. When the process is allowed to operate as it should, the result is that the baby chicks become imprinted on the mother, and learn to follow her lead as they grow and mature. However, the biologist Konrad Lorenz demonstrated that when the chicks are allowed to follow a different moving object during the critical period for imprinting, such as a human being, they will follow the human as though it were their mother. Most importantly, however, when they become sexually mature, they will attempt to mate with the human, and ignore members of their own species!

Ducklings Imprinted on Konrad Lorenz

Can humans be imprinted during a critical period, by pairing various stimuli such as pain with early sexual stimulation, leading to the development of a fetish for pain when they become mature? And what about other types of fetishistic attachments?  Obviously, we cannot conduct research on questions of this type, and the infantile experiences of adults with a particular kind of fetish cannot be investigated retroactively.  The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association states, "Among the more common fetish objects are women's underpants, bras, shoes, stockings, boots, or other wearing apparel. . . . Usually the fetish is required or strongly preferred for sexual excitement, and in its absence there may be erectile dysfunction" (p. 569). But considering the variety of  fetishistic attachments which have been reported -- everything from the stumps of amputees to the softly blowing gases from an automobile exhaust pipe  -- and the difficulty in modifying such attachments once they have been acquired, it is at least possible to form the hypothesis that such attachments may have been acquired during a critical period in infancy by the accidental pairing of a stimulus with newly-awakened sexual responsiveness.

Do humans have a critical period for imprinting?

Therapy for fetishism usually involves corrective experiences to enhance the attractiveness of more appropriate stimuli, which may be incorporated into a program of experiential  hypnosis and reconditioning based upon a classical conditioning model.

Reference

American Psychiatric Association; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 2000.

Scroll down for a list of some of the most popular sites on this Blog. 
Below this list are the most recent Blog entries. 
For an easily accessible list of all Blog postings, see the list entitled, "Blog Archive" in the column at the right of this page.

 

Here are some of our most popular sites:

• Deep Relaxation Hypnosis for Falling Asleep
• The Science of Thinking Thin: The Cognitive-Behavioral Diet
• How to Eliminate Panic Attacks
• How to Construct Hypnotic Suggestions and Autosuggestions Scientifically
• Is Hypnosis Dangerous? Some Hypnotists Are!
• Romantic Love and the Power of Suggestion
• The Power of Suggestion Gone Wild
• How to Recognize a Personality Disorder 
• How to Train Yourself Not to Be Angry
• How to Keep your boss from driving you crazy!  
• Premature Ejaculation Treated With CBT and Suggestion-Enhanced Experience
• How to Use Hypnosis to Commit a Murder (or Not)
• The Art of Small Talk
• How to Survive a Toxic Relationship
• How to Overcome Shyness with Cognitive-Behavioral Psychology
• The Science of THINKING Thin: The "Cognitive-Behavioral" Diet
• How to Get Thin and STAY Thin with Self-Hypnosis and Visualization
• FREE Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Instruction and Downloads
• Traveling Through an Alternate Universe
• The Evidence is in: "Free Will" is an Illuision!
• "Hypnotic Virtuosos:" The Next Step Upward in Human Evolution?
• What is Hyperempiria?
• How to Hypnotize Yourself Using the Best Me Technique
• Hyperempiria for Facilitating Meditation and Prayer
• Hyperempiria for Improving Academic Performance
• Hyperempiric Thrapy of Depression
• Hypnosis is Easy When You Know How
• Hyperempiria for the Relief of Pain
• How to Achieve Your Goals Withut Using "Will Power"
• Hypnosis: From Convulsions, to "Zombification," to Experiential Theater
• Hyperempiria for Children (or for the Child in All of Us) 

The Blog contains many other examples of experience as an art form, for the enhancement of human potential, the ennoblement of the human spirit, and the fulfillment of human existence.

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.

How to Overcome Flashbacks and Panic Attacks

Here is a list of grounding techniques which you can use immediately, to help when you have lost control of your surroundings in a panic attack. Grounding techniques work well not only with panic attacks, but also with flashbacks from PTSD.

First, look around you. Find five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell, and one thing you can taste.

It is also good in a flashback to ask yourself how old you are now, to differentiate from how old you were when the trauma actually happened.

One of the worst things about having a panic attack is how frightened you are about having the next one.

The following video by Babette Rothschild (herself a victim of childhood trauma) illustrates how to overcome panic attacks by focusing awareness on the perception of here and now rather than on the internalized memories of previous trauma.

After this basic level of security and safety has been attained, client and therapist can then collaborate in the construction of a therapeutic relationship which will increase feelings of confidence and self-esteem, overcome anxiety, depression, and despair, and bring forth an optimistic outlook on life which enables them change the narrative of their life story. (Levine, 1997; Naparstek, 2004; Rothschild, 2000; Scaer, 2007).  These new methods of treatment by the world's leading trauma researchers and clinicians constitute  ". . .a paradigm for understanding trauma's far-reaching psychological and physical consequences, without which, psychotherapeutic interventions remain extremely limited, and at times harmful to our clients." (emphasis mine). 

Procedures such as these are rapidly dealing a death blow to outmoded, Twentieth-Century notions of "healing" based upon regression to cause, which is about as sophisticated and as useful as trying to housebreak a puppy by "rubbing his nose in it." The puppy will usually stop sooner or later, but is that because of our treatment or in spite of it? And if the "training" is vigorously pursued, could the frustration and anxiety thus engendered actually make new learning more difficult? 

The following video from PESI Seminars features some of the world's leading experts discussing how recent breakthroughts in the treatment of trauma, dissociation, and multiple personality are making it possible for clients who have gone years without improvement to finally begin to change.  

References

American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, DSM-V, 5th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

Forward, S. (1997). Emotional blackmail: When the people in your life use fear, obligation, and guilt to manipulate you. New York: Harper-Collins.  

Forward, S. & Buck, C. (2002). Toxic parents: Overcoming their hurtful legacy and reclaiming your life. New York: Bantam.

Levine, P.A. (1997). Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.

Naparstek, B. (2004). Invisible heroes: Survivors of trauma and how they heal. New York: Bantam.

Rothschild, B. (2000), The body remembers: The psychophysiology of trauma and treatment. New York: Norton.  (Click on the link for a YouTube book review.)

Scaer, R. C. (2007) The body bears the burden: Trauma, dissociation, and disease. New York: Routledge.

"I Don't Have a Self:" Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality Disorder)

"Marlene," a 38 year old married woman with one grown daughter, was seated in my waiting room with her long blonde hair drawn across her face to form a curtain so that other people could not see her, although she could see out well enough to navigate her way into my office. As soon as she had entered, she brushed her hair back into a normal position with her hand.

Her mother had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder before Marlene was born,  but she consistently refused to take medication or go to therapy.  Both her mother and the man she lived with were confirmed sadists "George," her mother's live-in boyfriend,, was also a chronic alcoholic who would frequently quarrel with her mother and storm out of the house, only to return a few days later as if nothing had happened. 

One of the things the two "caregivers" quarreled about was how hard to hit Marlene

In order to "punish*  her. George used a multi-tailed whip which is commonly available at most S&M vendors, while her mother insisted upon using the palm of her hand because, she believed, that way she could more easily tell how hard to hit her her. "I didn't know I was being abused," Marlene told me. "I thought every kid was treated that way."

When Marlene was a toddler, her mother would keep her  awake for extended periods, in order to have somebody to talk to while she was in a manic phase. When she was groggy from lack of sleep and her mother's mania was at his highest, her usual method of keeping her daughter awake was by molesting her.

With this "training" from infancy, when Marlene was old enough to play with the other neighborhood preschool children, spanking games and sex play in which she played the the starring role quickly became the neighborhood sport. She did develop a close bond with one of her playmates, an effemimite boy who was constantly beaten by his father in order to "make a man out of him " One day, when the abuse had become intolerable and both of his parents were away, the lad took his father's loaded shotgun, put the barel in his mouth, and pulled the trigger. Some neighbor women heard the shot, and rushed to call the authorities and to swab the bloodstains off the walls and ceiling before his parents returned. The bucket that they used for cleaning up the bloodstains belonged to Marlene's mother, and was  stored beneath the sink in Marlene's bathroom. She would later have to wash her hair in the sink directly above this bucket, which her mother refused to replace because, "Buckets cost money."

When Marlene was in high school, her first boyfriend used to take her out in a car with a few other boys and time them with his watch while the others took turns having sex with her.

In college, Marlene eventually came to room with  a sadistic student who introduced her to usung marijuana, and she quickly became dependent upon it. 

She first began therapy when she was in in her late twenties.  Her "therapist" was one of those warped individuals who had taken up his profession in order to prey upon vulnerable people  Almost immediately, he began to blur the boundaries between client and patient. The therapy hour was often devoted to her showing him various yoga positions, and to the two of them practicing these positions together. Thoroughly aware of her need for abuse, the therapist went to great lengths to be highly critical of anything she did to improve herself or to express her strong artistic inclinations 

Given her masochistic tendencies, this kind of "therapy" produced the intended result, and the two soon began a twisted sexual relationship. Marlene was required to wear a skirt with no hose or underwear every time she came to the office, regardless of how cold it was, but they were actually intimate only when it suited him. Whenever she would try to kiss the therapist on the mouth, he would draw back, because he was "Saving it for his wife."

Their relationship was 

discovered four years later, when her therapist's wife found some home-baked marijuana brownies in a desk drawer and confronted her husband about it, whereupon he confessed. The last year of Marlene's "therapy" consisted entirely of her begging him not to abandon her, and his insisting that she seek out another therapist, which culminated in her appearance at my office just before his wife was ready to put her foot down and institute divorce proceedings. 

Marlene remained steadfastly unwilling to give me the necessary permission to report her previous therapist to the State licensing board.  Perhaps sensing that I would be hot on his trail, her former therapist closed his practice and moved to another State. 

I eventually realized that each time that she arrived for be an appointment,  Marlene was in a state of cannabis intoxication and when questioned, she admitted as much.  l told her that I could not make house calls for obvious reasons; and neither could I accept responsibility for allowing her to drive to my office through city traffic in a high state of marijuana intoxication. She was not willing to seek therapy for her cannabis dependence. I reluctantly informed her that unless she could assure me each time that she came to my office that she was not "high," I would no longer be able to see her. 

 Since she was not able to make a commitment of this type, and she would not make a similar commitment in a referral to another therapist, I had no choice but to discontinue treatment and close the case. 

Needless to say, Marlene had chosen a sadist for her husband. Beset by numerous fears, she is now too fearful to venture out, and her husband is all too willing to indulge her cannabis dependence in his home-built "dungeon."

Hypnosis and the Fundanentalist Experience of "Salvation"

If you don't respond well to suggestion,
then you won't have a "Salvation" experience.
And if you don't have a "Salvation" experience,
then no matter what ELSE you do, you won't get into Heaven!

Carrollton, Georgia, is a small to medium-sized city located approximately fifty-five miles west of Atlanta. It is regarded by both students and townspeople as being part of the "Bible belt," and most (though certainly not all) of the churches in the area have a Fundamentalist Christian orientation. Fundamentalists take quite literally the scriptural statement, "For by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2: 8-9). The "salvation sermon" first leads the prospective convert to feel the tremendous burden of guilt which one bears for one's past misdeeds and failure to repent; and this is followed by a great wave of joy as the convert feels his or her sins being "washed away" and is "born again" as a "new creature in Christ."

This salvation experience, however, is not considered to be voluntarily attainable, since it is the result of  "grace," or the unmerited favor of God. Should an individual seek to join a  Fundamentalist congregation merely because one is convinced of the truth of Christian teachings, many members would be inclined to doubt that he or she is truly a member of the "elect of God" and, not being able to have such an experience, is probably fore-ordained to burn in Hell regardless of what kind of life they may be leading.

From a scientific point of view, it may be postulated that the degree to which an individual is able to have a salvation experience such as the one described is a function of the degree to which that person is suggestible, and therefore there is a direct relationship between the ability to be "saved" and the ability to be hypnotized. After giving a questionnaire to high and low responders on the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility (Shor & Orne, 1962) concerning the nature of their personal religious experiences, De Jarnette and I (Gibbons & De Jarnette, 1972) found  that there was no significant relationship between hypnotic susceptibility and a previous change in denominational preference, or between susceptibility and the perceived religiousness of one's father. However, the low-susceptible subjects were less likely to perceive their mother as being moderately religious or deeply religious. Comparing high- and low-susceptible "saved" Protestants with high- and low-susceptible "unsaved" Protestants, the "saved" group contained significantly more subjects who were highly susceptible to hypnosis. In follow-up interviews, the reasons for the differences between high and low-suggestible subjects became glaringly apparent. The high susceptibles said things like, "I began to feel a warm tingling glow inside of me. The next thing I knew, I was down in front of the altar, and I was crying," or, "It was like the Hand of God came down and touched me. I felt so happy. I never felt joy like I felt it that day." But when the few low-susceptibles who indicated that they had been "saved" were asked about their experience, they said things like, "I had been going to that church for about six months, mainly because my girl friend went there, but I never 'went forward.' Then one day the preacher invited all those who had accepted the Lord to put up our hands, and we both put our hands up and that was it." 

If relatively enduring changes in personality and behavior can result from the suggestions contained in a "salvation sermon," then people who respond well to suggestion should also be able to experience such changes in response to strongly worded suggestions of a therapeutic nature. This research has provided the foundation for the development of the script for multiversal healing meditation presented elsewhere in this Blog  After first taking my clients "down" into hypnosis and then :up" into hyperempiria (Gibbons & Lynn, 2010) and dissolving them into the infinite love of the Multiverse, the universe of all possible universes (Gibbons & Woods, 2016), fundamental changes in deep-seated beliefs concerning the self, the world, and the future which are the professed aim of cognitive psychology (Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979) can sometimes occur in a single session, occasionally accompanied by tears of joy, as was the case with a high school senior whom I hypnotized a few days ago.  after taking her in hypnosis to the multiverse, I told her with considerable elaboration that she was dissolving into the infinite love of the multiverse itself  When she emerged from hypnosis, she expressed surprise that she found herself wiping tears from her eyes. The next time I  saw her, she told me that she wanted to pursue a college degree in hypnosis; and after I told her that no such program existed and we had discussed the situation she decided to major in social work instead.

 In summary, it would appear that people who respond well to suggestion and are ready for a meaningful life change which is in accordance with their preexisting beliefs and values may find that either  a salvation sermon or a hypnotic trip to the Multiverse can provide the catalyst for such a transformational change to take place. I now routinely use the script for

Multiversal Healing Meditation for the alleviation of many forms of anxiety, depression, and stress-related ailments.

References

Beck, A. T., Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F., & Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive therapy of depression. New York: Guilford.

Gibbons, D. E. & De Jarnette, J. (1972). Hypnotic susceptibility and religious experience. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 11I2), pp. 152-156. 

Gibbons, D. E., & Lynn, S. J. (2010). Hypnotic inductions: A primer. In Ruhe, J. W., 

Lynn, S. J., & Kirsch, I. (Eds.) Handbook of Clinical Hypnosis, 2nd ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Assn.

Gibbons, D. E., & Woods, K. T. (2016). Virtual reality hypnosis: Explorations in the Multiverse.. Amazon Books

Shor, R. E. & Orne, E. C. (1962) Harvard group scale of hypnotic susceptibility, Form A. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

  

Avoiding the Triggers for Anger, Anxiety, Fear, and Depression

In ancient Greece, if you were anxious, fearful, or depressed, you would consult a philosopher. The philosopher would probably begin by asking you what you believe about life. When you came to an idea which appeared to be incorrect, he would debate with you until you had cast out this irrational perception or belief. When this was done properly, your  anger, depression, fears, and anxieties would be gone.

In today's culture, whenever you find yourself feeling angry, anxious, depressed, or fearful, you can use a table like this one to write down what was going through your mind at the time, and to figure out how you might be able to see things differently. You can use the print command on your computer to print off as many copies as you want, for use in different situations.

Frequently the negative beliefs and perceptions that are dragging you down are held by others. The same approach can be applied to a friend or family member that is driving you crazy.  Here are a few additional tips to use with  a boss that is driving you crazy. 

Sometimes a friend, family member, or boss is difficult to change because they have a personality disorder, or what is popularly referred to as a toxic person, or an energy vampire. Unlesss they can be persuaded to seek psychological help, the best thing to do is often to stay away from them or at least to recognize them for who they are so that you do not blame yourself for their problems. 

Finally, what you think is also strongly influenced by what you do -- or by what you don't do! In addition to buiilding up youf resistance to stress by getting plenty of sleep, a good diet, and regular exercise, here is a link to a list of activities which can also help you to get escape from the cycle of anxiety, anger, depression, and despair. They can also strengthen the bond between you and your friends or romantic partner when you do them together. If at all possible, surround yourself with positive, upbeat people as you undertake them. 

"First they ignore you. Then they disagree with you. Then they fight you. Then you win." -- Ghandi

The progress of scientific revolutions is less violent, but sometimes no less heated, than political ones. I highly recommend the excellent outline and study guide  for Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Kuhn, 2012),  which has recently been published in its fiftieth anniversary edition. (In my opinion, the outline reads better than the original!) Of particular relevance are Pajares' notes on Chapter V, X, and the chapters which follow it.

As Shakespeare said in his play, The Tempest, "The past is prologue" -- or, as a New York cab driver reportedly phrased it, "Brother, you ain't seen nothin' yet!"

Reference

Kuhn, T. S. (2012). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 4th ed. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press