Steve Roh’s Hypnosis Blog

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — With increased interest and awareness surrounding hypnosis among the general public, eight professional hypnotists have shared their insights in the newly published book “Real World Hypnosis: Insider Tips from Leading Hypnotists”.

Editor Steve Roh, owner of Center City Hypnosis in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, says that the book is intended to give people a glimpse into the practical application and uses of hypnosis.

Steve says, “Hypnosis is often misunderstood because of sensationalism and melodrama coming out of Hollywood and especially nowadays on the internet. The contributors to this book are working hypnotists with years of experience. This book is an effort to give the public a better understanding of how hypnosis can help them.”

The contributing authors are: Celeste Hackett, Debbie Lane, Wendy Merron, Robert Dunscomb, Marc Carlin, Deborah Yaffee, Garrett Buttel, and Tobin Slaven.

Each chapter addresses topics such as self-hypnosis, weight loss, smoking cessation, and sports performance enhancement– one chapter even describes how hypnosis can be used to end involuntary behaviors such as hiccups! Another chapter is intended to help hypnotists build their practices economically through wise use of money and budgeting.

Steve says, “I am grateful to these professionals for having shared their knowledge and expertise. By spreading the good word about hypnosis, more people will benefit from this powerful and valuable tool.”

“Real World Hypnosis” (ISBN: 978-0615239040) is published by Autarch Publishing and available through major online retailers.

Click here to purchase through Amazon.com.

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Google Scholar is a neat tool. Google describes it as:

…a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations.

It didn’t occur to me until just now that Google Scholar could be an interesting source of information about hypnosis: http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=hypnosis&hl=en

These articles can be hard to understand unless you have a scientific or academic background, but fortunately most of them have abstracts that summarize the research in semi-plain English. It’s a good resource because it’s legitimate, peer-reviewed research and not just “stuff someone made up that sounds vaguely scientific”… you may have noticed that the latter is unfortunately common on the internet when it comes to subject of hypnosis.

PS. I don’t waste a lot of time trying to convince people that hypnosis is “real”. If, for some reason, a person refuses to believe that hypnosis exists in spite of the research done at places like Stanford University School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, the Mayo Clinic, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, etc. etc., then there’s little chance that I can convince them!

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No, that doesn’t mean 100 push-ups over the course of six weeks… that means 100 consecutive push-ups!

One Hundred Pushups is an interesting site that has the single-minded goal of training you to be able to do 100 push-ups by following a simple training program. I accept this challenge!

Like most modern humans, I need to work on building up my physical strength, anyway. Sometimes I wonder how I’d be able to handle myself if I ever ended up in prison. At the very least, it’d be nice to be able to change a 5-gallon water jug without struggling. Being prepared for these kinds of scenarios is part of prudent risk mitigation.

Plus, this is going to be an interesting exercise in self-discipline; this program requires only 30 minutes per week. As a hypnotist who helps people build mental strength to achieve their goals, I expect success. If I can’t manage to do this for myself, then I deserve a kick in the butt!

My starting point: I can do 20 push-ups at once before collapsing into a heap. Updates to follow…

Give it a try yourself, and feel free to post updates or comments below.

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Got one of those “I’m very strong-minded; maybe some people can be hypnotized but I doubt it would work on me” emails recently. The implication that only weak-minded people can be hypnotized indicates a misunderstanding of what hypnosis is.

All hypnosis is self-hypnosis. The hypnotist is just coaching you as you put yourself into a mentally relaxed but highly focused state of awareness. Since hypnosis involves strengthening a person’s ability to control their own mind, being ’strong-minded’ is good.

Sometimes hypnotized people can go through things like childbirth, dental work, and even surgery, using their mental abilities to ignore pain and discomfort; I would not call that sort of person weak-willed. Golf Digest magazine says Tiger Woods underwent extensive mental training including hypnosis– would anyone call him weak-minded?

Since the hypnotist operator is really just a coach or a guide helping the client enter hypnosis, a useful way to think about “hypnotizability” would be thinking in terms of “coachability”.

If a person is resistant to following a coach’s simple instructions (such as ‘please count slowly’), this can make things harder. This can happen if a person feels a need to demonstrate that they have the ability to resist the instructions, which of course they can choose to do at any time. But that attitude is not really a sign of having a strong mind, if you think about it…

Richard Feynman, the famous Nobel Prize winning theoretical physicist, was very hypnotizable, to the extent that he could be burned by matches without feeling pain. Feynman wrote that he found hypnosis to be “a very interesting experience”. Encyclopedia Britannica says he is “widely regarded as the most brilliant, influential, and iconoclastic figure in his field in the post-World War II era.”

So if some smarty-pants implies that only weak-minded simpletons can be hypnotized, consider Feynman, who was not only an undisputed genius, but a true maverick and fearless free-thinker. And can you think of anyone mentally tougher than Tiger Woods?

PS. It’s great to work with athletes and performers, because they are used to working with coaches, trainers and instructors in order to gain a competitive edge.

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One of the ways that hypnotists can help people is by helping them get a better perspective on things, so that they can see the bigger picture.

For example, if you think about it, any human who happens to live in the US in the 21st century has pretty much won the lottery of being in the right place at the right time. Relatively speaking, in comparison with the entire global population, we are the Paris Hiltons of the world in terms of material wealth and comfort.

With that in mind, I’m pleased to announce a trial run of a new referral bonus program that could help impact people’s lives around the world.

You may have heard about Kiva.org or micro-financing in general. Kiva allows individuals to make $25 loans to low-income entrepreneurs in the developing world (microfinance). By doing so, individuals like you provide affordable working capital for the poor (money to buy a sewing machine, livestock, etc.), empowering them to earn their way out of poverty.

Instead of just giving someone a handout, I really like the idea of making zero-interest loans to people who are striving to build sustainable growing businesses. Helping to increase global prosperity is a good long-term investment!

Here is the deal: if you’re an existing client, for every person you send to us who becomes a new client, we’ll send YOU a $25 Kiva gift certificate. Then, you can use that gift certificate to choose a business to finance. $25 goes a long way in some parts of the world!

Please make sure that the person you refer mentions that YOU sent them.

I’m going to run this new referral program as a trial and see what response is like. I hope people take advantage of this opportunity. If you’ve studied the nature of wealth and habits of successful people, you may have noticed that one of the fundamental principles of generating wealth is spreading some of it around, keeping it in circulation by giving freely. Sounds like a paradox but it seems to work!

Click on this flyer to learn more about Kiva. They have received great press in publications ranging from The Wall Street Journal to NPR to BusinessWeek.

Here is an example of a Kiva entrepreneur whose life you can change:

YOU’VE INVESTED IN YOURSELF…
NOW LET’S INVEST IN THE WORLD!

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I’m pleased to accept the honor of being named Vice President of the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the National Guild of Hypnotists. It’s going to be great having the opportunity to help the profession grow.

Here’s some information about the NGH:

The National Guild of Hypnotists, Inc. is a not-for-profit, educational corporation in the State of New Hampshire. Founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1951 the Guild is a professional organization comprised of dedicated individuals committed to advancing the field of hypnotism…

Established in 1951, the Guild has grown to over 12,000 members, with over 100 local chapters in 65 different countries. A growing percentage of our members have academic credentials in other fields, including medicine, psychology, counseling and nursing.

The National Guild of Hypnotists has been acknowledged, even by other professional hypnotism groups, as the number one association in the field. We invite you to share in the prestige and recognition membership brings, by joining the nation’s premier hypnosis organization.

NGH members are required to participate in continuing education and training in order to constantly improve their skills. As you can imagine in a field involving human behavior, there is a never-ending amount of new things to learn.

I’m also glad to have renewed my membership and support of the National Federation of Hypnotists. The NFH is chartered as Local 104 of the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) of the AFL-CIO.

You’re probably as surprised as I was to learn that there is a union for hypnotists!

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I have heard the following from too many people:

“A friend went to one of those group seminars and all they did was tell him to relax, and then they tried to sell him a bunch of products. What’s that about?”

Well, this recent report from the Better Business Bureau sheds some light:

http://tinyurl.com/2ep4nv

“The Better Business Bureau serving Dallas and Northeast Texas has received complaints from across eight states for Changes International Inc. The company promises ‘QUIT SMOKING & LOSE WEIGHT in one brief HYPNOSIS SESSION’ and offers a 100 percent money back 10-year guarantee if the hypnosis doesn’t work.

Until confronted by The Better Business Bureau, the company attempted to instill trust in consumers by falsely claiming in online and print advertising that they were ‘the only organization of our kind endorsed by the Better Business Bureau.’

Complainants report paying more than $250 for the hypnosis seminar and a set of CDs, and allege that the hypnosis is ineffective and that the company doesn’t honor its refund policy.”

For most professional hypnotists, this is not surprising news.

If someone really expects life-changing results from sitting through a generic hour-long pep-talk along with dozens of other people, then I wish them luck. I work with many clients who have tried that before.

Some of these seminars are run by people who travel from town to town using made-up titles, calling themselves “Master” and “Elite” practitioners, promising absurd success rates which can’t be proved, and guaranteeing results. Good luck trying to get a refund once they have left town.

Sometimes these kinds of guarantees require you sign a contract with conditions that are laughable:

• You must listen to the CDs you purchased at the seminar for 21 days, or the guarantee is void
• You must follow all the hypnotist’s “lifestyle change” instructions, or the guarantee is void. In other words, if the hypnotist told you to go to the gym every day, and you didn’t do so, you’re out of luck!
• You must sign up for more sessions in order to get your “money’s worth” - this is a classic use of “weasel words” that can be interpreted in any way that’s convenient to the practitioner

Are they for real?

Hypnosis is not like a magical pill. Just like anything else, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Unfortunately these traveling groups often leave behind a trail of disappointed people who may end up thinking that hypnosis in general is nothing but a fraud. This is bad for the long-term interests of the profession. Worst of all, it may cause people to not even consider hypnosis as a real option for solving their problems.

The sad thing is, there are ethical hypnotists who run seminars and group sessions.

But use caution when dealing with those who promise the moon and stars but disappear with the wind!

Sign up for our free newsletter to receive a free eBook and to learn insider secrets of hypnotists, what others are afraid to tell you.

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I like this quote by Marcus Aurelius, one of the greatest Roman emperors:

“You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”

People often create troubles for themselves because at some level they identify too much with their circumstances. Or they think that other people are always judging them, as if they were the center of other people’s worlds. They take situations personally even when they can’t possibly have any deeper meaning behind them.

Imagine someone taking a nap on a Sunday afternoon. Then a car alarm goes off outside. What is the “normal” reaction? Anger, cursing, wailing and gnashing of teeth.

What purpose does that anger serve? Did the car alarm go off in order to insult and disrespect the napper?

I’m not saying that I would remain calm if a car alarm woke me up from a nice nap. On the contrary, if there happened to be a brick and an open window next to my bed…

There is a tendency within all of us to take too many things personally. I think this contributes to the very common fear of worrying about what other people think. Also things like road rage.

In that quote by Marcus Aurelius, it seems like he recognized that a lot of stuff was just out of his control, and so he didn’t “sweat it”. It’s an interesting perspective coming from someone who was probably the single most powerful human on the planet at the time.

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The word is getting out. Today was the 4th Annual World Hypnotism Day and all around the world people are spreading the good news about how hypnosis can help change lives.

Center City Hypnosis was featured today on KYW Newsradio 1060AM, the most listened-to radio station in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. As awareness spreads, more people are waking up to their potential, and taking control of their own minds and their own lives.

Here is a PDF version of the story from the KYW website: You Must Believe! Friday is World Hypnotism Day.

Here is a link to the live KYW site You Must Believe! Friday is World Hypnotism Day (I’m not sure how long this link will be valid).

PS. It was fun being on KYW 1060. This radio station means a lot to me, and to millions of Delaware Valley residents, because it’s the station that every kid listened to during winter, hoping for their school to be announced as closed because of a snow day!

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Philadelphia Hypnotist Presents Free Workshop on 4th Annual World Hypnotism Day, Friday January 4th 2008

(Philadelphia, PA) – Every New Year, people across the Delaware Valley resolve to make a positive change in their life. But soon after, their motivation fades away and they find themselves back in the same old rut, feeling even more frustrated than before.

Why does this happen, and what can be done to make your resolutions stick? As part of World Hypnotism Day on January 4th 2008, Center City Hypnosis will be presenting a free workshop: “Using Your Mind for a Change”. During this free workshop, attendees will learn:

• Why willpower and positive thinking aren’t enough to make a permanent change.
• Why it’s difficult to change old habits and feelings, no matter how many self-help books you read, and no matter how intelligent you are.
• Why people eat too much, drink too much, or do anything “too much”.
• How you sabotage yourself every day, without even knowing it.

Most people try to change how they think, feel or behave by using a very limited part of their mind, their conscious willpower. We want to spread the word that hypnosis is a powerful and effective tool for change because it works directly with the subconscious mind, which is what really drives people’s behavior.

Hypnosis is becoming more widely accepted, as it’s being studied and used by leading medical institutions like Stanford University, the Mayo Clinic and Harvard Medical School. We want people to learn the truth about real hypnosis, not what Hollywood and TV would have you believe.

The free workshop on Friday January 4th 2008, World Hypnotism Day, will be held at Center City Hypnosis’ office in downtown Philadelphia – 1420 Walnut Street, Suite 908. There will be two hour-long workshops, one at 12noon and another at 5pm.

Attendees can pre-register by calling Steve at 267-303-0036 or visiting www.CenterCityHypnosis.com.

To learn more about World Hypnotism Day, please visit www.WorldHypnotismDay.com.

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