Working with a client who has Down Syndrome

I can't believe it's been over a year since my last blog entry. The time flies by so quickly.

The longer I practice hypnotherapy the more amazed I am by what it can be used to accomplish. I was contacted by a woman whose daughter has Down Syndrome, and had developed a morbid fear of snakes in her room. No where else. Just in her room. Why she had developed the fear is grist for another post. Regardless, my job was to help her overcome this fear.

Before her first session I did some research on the use of hypnosis on people with Down Syndrome. I was surprised to find that is is almost nothing available on the subject. After hours of searching I finally found two articles, one translated from the French (published at the University of Paris), and the other in Danish. Which I couldn't read at all.

So I was pretty much on my own. At her first session I spent a considerable amount of time getting to know the client, develop rapport and gain her trust. Although 44 years of age chronologically, she has the mental level of a fairly inquisitive 8 year old. She holds a steady job in the food service industry, and is quite a character.

I soon found that getting her to focus, relax, and keep her eyes closed was a bit challenging. We worked on that for a while, and I had her mother (who was with us in the room the whole session) agree to practice having her relax and keep her eyes closed, every day until our next session in a week. I also learned something very valuable: She loves a mug of hot cocoa.

The next session was considerably easier than the first. After chatting for a few minutes I promised her that if she cooperated, she would be given a big mug of hot cocoa at the end of the session. It worked like a charm. From that moment on she tried her best to follow all of my instructions.

During this session, after I'd had her close her eyes and relax, focusing her attention on my voice, I asked her if she could keep a very special secret all to herself. It was going to be my most important secret, but since she was my best friend now, I would share it with her. She agreed to keep the secret, and the anticipation she exuded was almost palpable.

I told her that I knew of a very special kind of whistle that, when blown, can't be heard by people, but was terrifying to snakes. When this whistle was blown, I shared with her, every snake who heard it slithered away, and would never come back. It scared them that much. And the best part was that on the way home, she and her mother were going to stop at the store and purchase one of these magic whistles so she could blow it in her room, and all the snakes would leave her house. She was thrilled! The session ended with a big mug of hot cocoa, as I'd promised.

The third session was used for reinforcement. On the way home from the second session her mother had stopped by a store and purchased a dog whistle. Of course my client had no idea it was a dog whistle. To her it was a very special magic "snake scaring" whistle. And sure enough, her mother informed me that after walking around her room blowing the whistle every evening, her fear that there were snakes in the room had almost disappeared. No more barricading the closet door, or piling things up in front of her desk to keep the snakes away.

After thoroughly reinforcing her belief in the power of the magic whistle, and a large mug of hot cocoa, off she went. Her mother has reported the results have been what we'd hoped for. The snakes are gone. If anything changes, I'll blog about it in the future.

Infidelity

Just finished helping a client get rid of his "need" for extra-marital companionship. Had to re-frame numerous childhood traumas, and shore up his self-esteem. Lots of anger to deal with, and the forgiveness sessions were intense. But the result was excellent. A better relationship with his wife, less stress, no fits of anger, a better self-image, and no more stepping out on his wife.

So much has happened...

...since I last blogged. Hard to believe it's been a year. One of my "early" New Year's Resolutions will be to blog more often.

The past year has seen the practice continue to grow, and the types of problems and issues that people ask me to help them with is amazing. Smoking cessation is still the most popular issue, but after speaking with clients, many come to the realization that unless they get the "tools" they need to control the stress in their lives, the odds of smoking cessation success will be diminished. So they ask me to help them relieve and control the stress and anxiety in the lives, and once they have a handle on that, we do the smoking cessation.

Impressions from the NGH Convention

This past weekend Baron and I attended the National Guild of Hypnotists (NGH) annual conference in Marlborough, Massachusetts. One would think that spending three days, sitting in lectures for about 12 hours each day would be immensely boring. Not in the least! The speakers were fascinating and informative, and we left on Sunday afternoon with a new sense of pride and exhilaration for the hypnosis profession. While each hypnotist/hypnotherapist has their own personal, unique style, their goal is the same – to enrich their clients' life with a positive outlook and help them make positive changes, by "tweaking" their subconscious mind!

One of the big decisions we made at the conference was to be trained and become certified in 5 Path Hypnotherapy, taught by Calvin Banyan. Cal is one of the world's most respected and successful hypnotherapists, and his "Five Path Advanced Transformational Hypnosis ™" course will enable us to increase our skills and assist our clients overcome subconscious issues that have prevented them from leading fulfilling lives.

Another big change in our business model... we will be offering Free Initial Consultations, for anyone that calls and wants to live a more positive life, but is unsure or uninformed about hypnosis. Call today for your free consultation at 717-525-7408.

Convincing Some Doubters

Yesterday, Robin and I were invited to give a presentation to a home care provider company which is considering partnering with us. The care providers themselves are subjected to a stressful working environment (it's part of the job...), therefore they can benefit from the stress reduction techniques that we offer. The clients for which they are providing care, who are experiencing many issues, from anxiety to pain management, may also benefit from the hypnotherapeutic techniques.

I was told that there would be a few "doubters" in the group, so after showing the Pre-Talk entitled "The Truth About Hypnosis," which is the PowerPoint presentation shown to all new clients, I did an impromptu hypnosis demonstration right there in the restaurant. (It was convenient that our group were the only people in the restaurant.) Robin asked one of the male waiters, a young man of about 18, if he would like to be hypnotized. He immediately accepted the offer.

After establishing that I'd never before met this person, and that he'd never been hypnotized before, he made himself comfortable in a big chair, I sat down next to him in another chair, and used a "quick" induction technique to let him enter a hypnotic state (commonly called a "trance") in about 2 minutes. After having him test his eyelids, and establishing that he could not open them no matter how hard he tried, his hypnotic state quickly deepened. I then demonstrated a few things with him, such as having him forget the number 7, "gluing" his hand to his leg, having him feel as if he was in a very cold room (he was shivering), having him open his eyes and give a detailed description of a clock on the wall (which did not exist), and finally, asked him to stand up and shake someone's hand, but he couldn't walk because his right foot was stuck to the ground.

After bringing him out of the hypnotic state he described feeling "euphoric" while in trance. When asked what his thoughts were when he had tried to open his eyes but couldn't, he said he was "shocked." As for when he couldn't lift his hand from his leg because it was "glued" there, he said that was very strange, and that he'd tried very hard to lift his hand, but couldn't.

After the demonstration there were no longer any doubters in the group. Robin and I were deluged with questions about various issues which hypnotherapy may address, and everyone was in agreement that our services would be very beneficial for both the care providers and their clients.

Getting Ready for the NGH Convention

Robin and I are getting excited about the upcoming National Guild of Hypnotists annual convention in August. It's held in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Three days of wall to wall seminars and courses by some of the world's leading hypnotists. So much to learn! So little time! Imagine being in the middle of over 1,000 hypnotists, from all over the world. It's mind boggling. Having to choose which seminars to attend, and which we have to miss, from the hundreds of offerings was the hardest part. Now, the sweet anticipation of picking up new techniques and protocols from the best practitioners.... This is going to be great! We really enjoy expanding our knowledge, so we can offer Inception Hypnotherapy's clients the best help possible.

Good News for Stroke Survivors

The "rule of thumb" in the medical community is that whatever recovery has been accomplished within 6 months after a stroke, that's all that can be done. Very little improvement will be seen after that point. Which is why stroke survivors are urged to utilize every possible course of therapy as quickly as possible, to regain as much functionality as quickly as possible.

Hypnotherapy has the potential to dramatically improve functionality, and therefore the quality of life, after that 6 month window. Utilizing a process known as neuroplasticity, improvement has been demonstrated.

Robin and I are excited to be studying protocols developed by Don Mottin, a stroke survivor as well as a hypnotherapist, so we may offer our services to stroke survivors. Don had a stroke, and after 6 months was told he'd never walk again. He then developed the hypnotherapy protocols which worked so well for his own rehabilitation, and has since gone on to improve the quality of life for many stroke survivors who'd been told there was no hope for further improvement. Don, by the way, is walking again, and has resumed his globe-trotting career.

Being able to offer hope and help to people is one of the reasons Robin and I love our work at Inception Hypnotherapy.