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.

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 to solve two very different problems like smoking and weight control 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!

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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!

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.

Weight loss by hypnosis is a useful model for explaining how hypnosis works in general.

Lots of people have tried quickie weight-loss approaches, or hoped that joining a gym would motivate them to get in shape. The problem is that these approaches are kind of backwards. They don’t deal with the problem, which is usually related to a person’s fundamental beliefs about food and exercise.

For example, sometimes people subconsciously carry these illogical beliefs:

• Ice cream or pizza will help me forget that I am sad, lonely, bored or angry.
• Exercise and going to the gym is something that only athletes and “jocks” do, not me.
• Eating everything on my plate means I’m being a good boy or girl.
• Food means fun and being with friends and family, just like all those big dinners we used to have.

Rationally, these beliefs don’t really make sense. But your behavior is not driven by your rational mind, it’s driven by the beliefs in your subconscious. Popping a diet pill or trying a new diet won’t change what’s in your mind, which is where the problem, and the solution, is.

Hypnosis works by changing what you think, feel and believe, as long as you want those changes. Once we correct the wrong thinking you have about food and exercise, then it becomes natural for you to eat healthy and to enjoy physical activity.

A major part of the weight loss work we do is about improving a person’s self-worth via hypnosis. So many people do not value themselves enough. Being out of shape leads to a vicious cycle of a declining self-image.

This recent article from ABC News is about a woman who lost 500 pounds, not with hypnosis, but simply because she realized that she had value as a human being:
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=3945436 .

Three years and 530 pounds later Makin is keeping the weight off. She wants people to know that crucial first step is realizing the weight is not the problem.

“I’ve heard so many times, I said it myself, if I could only lose 40 or 50 pounds, I’d be so much happier. I’ve found on this journey that the opposite is true.”

Unless you focus on what’s going on inside and start to feel better about yourself you won’t be able to stop the cycle. “The key is to find contentment and value in yourself by reaching out and doing something not for you, and the weight will come off as a side effect.”

In this society, it’s not surprising that people start using food as something more than “just food”. Page through any “women’s magazine” like Better Homes and Gardens, and notice all the happy families, almost deliriously happy because they are eating delicious processed food products… “served with love by Mom.”

TV commercials program us to believe that we can have a fantastic time stuffing our mouths with fatty, greasy, salty food product, and washing it down with a sugary soda. All the while, being surrounded by sexy and interesting friends!

No wonder we see the following trend:

Hypnosis can help you buck this trend because it works from the inside out. In the end, all you have is yourself and your mind. If your mind is not “in shape”, then you could own a hundred ThighMasters or BowFlex machines, read about yet another diet program, and you’ll still be spinning your wheels.

One of my role models has always been Mr. Spock from the old Star Trek series, the half-human, half-Vulcan science officer of the starship Enterprise. Did you know Spock wasn’t a full Vulcan? (Yes, I am a nerd) His mother was a schoolteacher from Earth.

For a long time, I removed the words “emotion” and “feeling” from my vocabulary so that I could become more like a rational Vulcan. For example, I trained myself to always use the term “I think…” instead of “I feel…”. Of course, I often fell short of the ideal of Mr. Spock, and many times went off and did very un-Vulcan things.

Eventually I recognized that even Mr. Spock could not ignore his human nature if he wanted to achieve his full potential. To do so would be illogical. As a recent article in the Economist put it:

“Rationality has its place. In the end, though… it is Captain Kirk, the emotion-ridden human, not Mr. Spock, the emotionless Vulcan, who has the nous to run the spaceship.”

Aside from wondering what the word “nous” means, this leaves us with the question of how to effectively use the subconscious and intuitive aspects within all of us.

This article from USA Today “Study: Emotion rules the brain’s decisions” describes how it’s becoming more evident that rational thinking is not what determines real-world behavior.

One of the most frustrating and puzzling things for people is that they find it so hard to make changes that they “know” are good for them. They keep trying to “talk sense” to themselves, and get more and more frustrated with how it’s just not working.

Even if you like to think of yourself as an analytical and rational person, if you find that your conscious mind isn’t helping you achieve your goal, then maybe it’s time to consider a different approach using a tool like hypnosis in order to directly modify your emotional, irrational thoughts/feelings/behaviors. That might be the logical thing to do.

This story from CNN, headlined “Man sues IBM over firing, says he’s an Internet addict”, highlights the growing problem of people who are allowing their overuse of computers and the internet to negatively affect their lives. Now, unlike the endless streams of legal talking heads on the all-news networks, I am not going to give my opinion about the specifics of this case. Aren’t you relieved?

However, for a hypnotist, what is interesting about this case is that the fired internet addict is claiming that the source of the compulsive computer use was a trauma he suffered in the past. If you are familiar with Cal Banyan’s The Secret Language of Feelings, the computer addiction can be viewed as just another way of distracting yourself from painful emotions.

The CNN article quotes from a Stanford University study that has a similar way of looking at this new addiction:

Stanford University issued a nationwide study last year that found that up to 14 percent of computer users reported neglecting work, school, families, food and sleep to use the Internet. The study’s director, Dr. Elias Aboujaoude, said then that he was most concerned about the numbers of people who hid their nonessential Internet use or used the Internet to escape a negative mood, the same way that alcoholics might.

As technology develops, it seems that people will never run out of new ways to distract themselves away from their emotions. Fortunately, hypnosis can help people face their feelings and learn to react to them in a more effective way, rather than using internet chat rooms, games or blogs as a way of numbing themselves temporarily.

This recent article in the NY Times should be of interest to all hypnotists: “In Clue to Addiction, Brain Injury Halts Smoking“.

It seems that scientists have identified a specific region of the brain, called the insula, that acts as a gateway between the unconscious nervous system and the conscious rational mind. This region can take signals coming from the nervous system, and translates these into emotions that are associated with behaviors formed by the conscious part of a person (ie. “I am going to buy a pack of smokes”).

People with a damaged insula reported instant loss of craving for cigarettes, even if they were heavy smokers. Luckily, these people did not lose their natural desire for things such as food, breathing or sleep. It seems only learned behaviors or habits like smoking are affected by this insula damage.

This adds an interesting dimension to commonly understood models of why hypnosis is effective, where the mind is viewed as being divided into unconscious, subconscious and conscious roles. It would be good to see if any studies show hypnosis has a direct affect on this insula region of the brain.

Even though smoking cessation is a bread-and-butter issue for professional hypnotists, I somehow doubt that voluntary insula damage will become a popular method of quitting smoking anytime soon. But eventually, scientists will surely be able to solve this bad habit with some sort of technical solution. In fact, I would think that theoretically all human problems that hypnotists typically address would eventually be solvable using some sort of technology that directly modifies the brain. But cultural and social barriers would make that sort of thing only appealing to the ultra-bleeding-edge of society. After all, many people are still frightened about the possibility of a hypnotist “messing with your mind” just by using words!

Then again, maybe society will decide that certain addictions or behaviors are so harmful, that in those cases it will become mandatory to submit to insula modification.

Things are definitely going to get interesting in the years ahead!