Overcoming Mental Barriers Through Hypnosis OLLI/Furman University ( PPS1315 ) The Science of Hypnosis

1. Overcoming Mental Barriers Through Hypnosis OLLI/Furman University (PPS1315)The Science of Hypnosis W. Jeffrey Kramer, DC, PhD, ATC, CWC, CHt, NLP Chiropractor / Hypnotherapist

2. Science of Hypnotism

3. Dr. Kramer’s Working Definition of Hypnosis • Hypnosis is a natural state of altered (heightened) awareness and selective hypersuggestibility whereby the individual (client) chooses to ignore the realities of the world around to focus their attention on the imagined world and accept suggestions that appears so realistic, the body reacts physiologically as if they are real.

4. Altered Level of Awareness

5. Natural State of Altered Awareness(Heightened) • Hypnosis is not sleep. • Sleep is an altered state of no or lowered awareness. • Sleep can be divided into stages based on brain wave activity and physiological state • Divided into non-REM and REM • Non-REM can be further divided into 4 stages.

6. Some Definitions • Sleep:Innate, biological rhythm and relaxation essential for survival • Sleep Deprivation: Sleep loss; being deprived of needed amounts of sleep • Microsleep: Brief shift in brain-wave patterns similar to those of sleep • Sleep-Deprivation Psychosis: Major disruption that occurs because of sleep loss

7. Sleep STAGES OF SLEEP • Non-REM • Stage 1: Quasi-REM (Warm-up for sleep) • Hypnic Jerk: Reflex muscle twitch throughout body that may occur in Stage 1 • Stage 2: Go between stage • Eye movement stops, heart rate slows, and body temperature drops • Spindles (burst of brain energy) • last about 10-15 minutes initially and 5-7 minutes thereafter. • Stage 3: Extremely slow brain waves appear (delta waves interspersed with some smaller and faster waves) • Stage 4: Almost exclusively delta waves • Stages 3 & 4 are considered slow wave sleep or deep sleep

8. Sleep STAGES OF SLEEP (Cont.) • REM • During this phase of sleep we expend energy, increased blood flow to brain, eye movement is rapid. • Brain is actively processing experience, sensation and information. • Theta wave are emanating from the hippocampus supporting long-term memory consolidation. • Release of certain neurotransmitters is shut down and as a result we cannot move our major muscles (paralysis) • Sleep is in 90 min. cycles where we move through stages

9. Sleep Figure 5.6 FIGURE 5.6 (a) Average proportion of time adults spend daily in REM sleep and NREM sleep. REM periods add up to about 20 percent of total sleep time. (b) Typical changes in stages of sleep during the night. Notice that dreams mostly coincide with REM periods.

10. Other Causes of Altered Consciousness • Drugs • Psychoactive Drug: Substance capable of altering attention, judgment, memory, time sense, self-control, emotion, or perception • Stimulant: Substance that increases activity in body and nervous system • Depressant: Substance that decreases activity in body and nervous system • Drug Tolerance: Reduction in body’s response to a drug • Psychological Dependence: Drug dependence based on psychological or emotional needs • Alcohol • Ethyl Alcohol: Intoxicating element in fermented and distilled liquors • NOT a stimulant but DOES lower inhibitions • Depressant

11. Conscious vs. Subconscious Mind

12. Waking vs. Hypnotic State • *Critical Factor is the part of you that cares to distinguish between reality and fantasy. • The goal of self-hypnosis is to temporarily “turn off” the conscious mind through relaxation, bypass the critical faculty (judgment of reality) and to directly address the subconscious mind.

13. Conscious Mind • Is very analytical • Is used to make decisions with • Is only capable of conducting one task at a time • Stores only a fraction of all memories • Blocks and rejects stimulants • Is slow at conducting various tasks

14. Subconscious Mind • Takes everything literally • Can conduct many, many tasks at one time • Stores everything we see, hear, feel, or read • Reacts rapidly • Is carrying out hundreds of tasks every minute of the day. • In many ways, it is like a 5 year old within…

15. Responsibilities of Subconscious Mind • Preserves or protects the body • Is a servant, follows directions • Is symbolic - gives words their meaning. • Is very literal in its translation of requests. • It is the 5 y/o child within. • Relates best to fantasy. • Does not process negatives. • Don’t forget to turn out the lights • Remember to turn out the lights

16. Which Level is Active? Test: • Say the ABC’s • Say the ABC’s backwards • Say the ABC’s by skipping every other letter. • Say the ABC’s by skipping the vowels. Your ability to say the ABC’s without event thinking much about it shows your ability to quickly recall information from the subconscious mind (autopilot), while altering the pattern (saying them backwards or by skipping letters) takes more thought or recall; this is the conscious mind working.

17. How Information Flows All information enters the subconscious mind, is analyzed through the filers of the conscious mind (“yes” or “no”). The core belief is represented as what one truly beliefs or feels about the event. This becomes the emotional attributes we assign to the event… good or bad.

18. Hypnosis and Brain Activity There does seem to be changed activity in the brain, however. The most notable data comes from electroencephalographs (EEGs), measurements of the electrical activity of the brain. Extensive EEG research has demonstrated that brains produce different brain waves, rhythms of electrical voltage, depending on their mental state. Deep sleep has a different rhythm than dreaming, for example, and full alertness has a different rhythm than relaxation. In some studies, EEGs from subjects under hypnosis showed a boost in the lower frequency waves associated with dreaming and sleep, and a drop in the higher frequency waves associated with full wakefulness. Brain-wave information is not a definitive indicator of how the mind is operating, but this pattern does fit the hypothesis that the conscious mind backs off during hypnosis and the subconscious mind takes a more active role. Researchers have also studied patterns in the brain's cerebral cotex that occur during hypnosis. In these studies, hypnotic subjects showed reduced activity in the left hemisphere of the cerebral cortex, while activity in the right hemisphere often increased. Neurologists believe that the left hemisphere of the cortex is the logical control center of the brain; it operates on deduction, reasoning and convention. The right hemisphere, in contrast, controls imagination and creativity. A decrease in left-hemisphere activity fits with the hypothesis that hypnosis subdues the conscious mind's inhibitory influence. Conversely, an increase in right-brain activity supports the idea that the creative, impulsive subconscious mind takes the reigns. This is by no means conclusive evidence, but it does lend credence to the idea that hypnotism opens up the subconscious mind.

19. Hypnagogia • Hypnagogia (from Greek hypnos "sleep" + agōgos "leading, inducing") is the transitional state between wakefulness and sleep (i.e., the onset of sleep), originally coined in adjectival form as "hypnagogic" by Alfred Maury. • The equivalent transition to wakefulness is termed the hypnopompic state. Mental phenomena that occur during this "threshold consciousness" phase include lucid dreaming, hallucinations, out of body experiences and sleep paralysis. The collective noun "Hypnagogia" was coined by Dr Andreas Mavromatis in his 1983 thesis (Brunel University) which was later published by Routledge (hardback 1987, paperback 1991) under the title "Hypnagogia" the Unique State of Consciousness Between Wakefulness and Sleep and reprinted in a new paperback edition in 2010 by Thyrsos Press. The term "hypnagogia" is employed by Dr Mavromatis to include both sleep onset and the transition from sleep to wakefulness; he retains, however, the adjectives "hypnagogic" and "hypnopompic" for the identification of specific experiences.

20. Hypnagogia Hypnagogia (from Greek hypnos "sleep" + agōgos "leading, inducing") is the transitional state between wakefulness and sleep (i.e., the onset of sleep). • Sights – See many different visual hallucinations: flashes of light, figures, etc. • Tetris effect – Individuals who were doing some repetitive activity before sleep, in particular one that is new to them, may find that it dominates their imagery as they grow drowsy … like an “after image.” • Sounds – may experience auditory hallucinations; hear sounds which vary in intensity from faint impressions to loud noises. • Sleep paralysis - a feeling of not being able to move; associated with feelings of being crushed or suffocated, electric "tingles" or "vibrations.“ • Other sensations - Gustatory, olfactory and thermal sensations in hypnagogia have all been reported, as well as tactile sensations (including those kinds classed as paresthesia), feelings of floating or bobbing, and out-of-body experiences. Perhaps the most common experience of this kind is the falling sensation, and associated hypnic jerk, encountered by many people, at least occasionally, while drifting off to sleep.

21. Selective Hyper-Suggestibility

22. REMEMBER:Two Very Important Points • ALL hypnosis is Self-Hypnosis AND • YOU are in control at all times

23. Selective Hyper-Suggestibility • Openness to follow or accept suggestions. • Suggestions must match with one’s ethics, morals or values. • As long as suggestions match with above, suggestions will be carried out as if they were within ones own thought. • Suggestions may be presented as positive or negative; mind works best with positive suggestions.

24. What is a Hypnotic Suggestion ? • The subject is guided to undergo changes in experience. • Types of Hypnotic Suggestions: • Ideomotor Suggestions – experience a motor movement. • Challenge Suggestions – subject is told he or she will not be able to do some particular thing and then is asked to perform the prohibited behavior. • Cognitive Suggestions – experience changes in sensations, perceptions, thoughts or feelings.

25. Susceptibility to Hypnosis • Age • Sex • Intelligence • Occupation • Personality • Only three things are required for a client to successfully achieve an adequate hypnotic state: • Marginal degree of intelligence • Ability and willingness to follow • instructions • Some degree of imagination

26. Ignore Reality

27. Choose Your Reality “I reject your reality and replace it with mine.” Adam Savage MYTHBUSTERS

28. Choose to Ignore Reality • Since all hypnosis is self-hypnosis and the individual is in control at all times, it is only through that individual’s choice to participate that they will allow themselves to be hypnotized. • This is much like daydreaming, but to greater depth. • Like reading a good book or getting sucked into the storyline of a good movie, such that you ignore all other activity around you.

29. Focused Attention

30. Focused Attention on the Imagined • Again, this is a transfer of focus from the real life around to the imagined through a series of relaxation techniques and suggestions. • Some call this a misdirection of focus.

31. Accept Suggestions

32. Accept Suggestions • In such a state of hypersuggestibility, one is more open to accepting suggestions given by the hypnotist. • How suggestible are you? Let’s do the Lemon Exercise.

33. Lemon Exercise • “Close eyes, and imagine you are in front of your refrigerator…” • “Now open your eyes and notice the amount of saliva in your mouth. It increased, didn’t it?” • “Did you see, smell or taste the lemon?” • “Do you really have a lemon in your hand? No, of course not, but you salivated as if there were one. That’s how hypnosis works. We create images in your mind and your unconscious mind responds as if those images are real.”

34. React Physiologically

35. Body Reacts Physiologically • Since the body is directed by the mind, and the mind believe what information it is feed while one is in a state of hypersuggestibility is reality, the body will respond to those suggestions as if they are real. • Normally, much data is passed to the mind through the senses (special and general). In a state of hypnosis these are turned down, allowing input from hypnotist suggestions to dictate reality. • The whole field of Psychoneuroimmunology is based upon this theory of how the mind affects body. • Stress response is another great example of this process in action.

36. Homeostasis A healthy body operating at its highest potential is resistant to infection and is quick to respond to stressors with appropriate adaptive changes to establish balance. This organismal maintenance of balance and health by continual adaptation is termed homeostasis. HOMEOSTASIS = BALANCE

37. Psychoneuroimmunology This shows the physiological changes (adaptations) the body will undergo during times of increased stress. Stage of Resistance General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) Alarm Reaction Sage of Exhaustion

38. Parts of Hypnosis

39. Two Components of a Hypnotic Procedure It is useful to think of a hypnotic procedure as consisting of two phases or components: • Hypnotic Induction • Hypnotic Suggestions

40. Hypnotic Induction

41. What is a Hypnotic Induction ? • An introduction to hypnosis in which the subject is guided through suggestion to relax, concentrate, and/or to focus his or her attention on some particular thing. • Usually consist of some form of progressive relaxation. • Some hypnotists believe the purpose of the induction is to induce an altered state of consciousness. • Other hypnotists believe the induction is a social cue that prompts the subject to engage in hypnotic behaviors. • Either way, you are relaxed and open to suggestions.

42. Induction • Your getting veeeeeerrrrry sleeeeeepy. • 3 keys to successful induction • Vocal Inflection (where you put emphasis) • Question – up • Statement – neutral • Comand – down • Vocal tone (soft, relaxing voice) • Temp/Speed (slow and pause frequently) • What you say is not nearly as important as how you say it.

43. Other Considerations(Environment, Tools, Levels of Trance)

44. Hypnotic Environment • Temperature – 73-75 degrees • Light • Colors • Noise • Odors • Climate • Physical condition of subject • Drugs & Alcohol • Emotions • Audience

45. Tools: Eye Fixation

46. Tools: Eye Fixation

47. Tools: Eye Fixation

48. Assessing the Depth of Hypnosis: • Subjective: • Ask the subject to rate the depth: • on a 36 point scale • low/medium/deep • Objective: • Light: relaxation/eye fluttering/limb catalepsy • Medium: Partial amnesia/simple post-hypnotic suggestion • Deep: Bizarre posthypnotic suggestions/hallucinations

49. The Five Levels of Hypnosis • The Waking State • The Light State • Somnambulistic State • The Hypnotic Coma • Hypno-Sleep Notice: The level of hypnosis is not related to the degree of success.

50. V.A.K.O.G.Demonstration