Since becoming a Certified Hypnotist, I’ve been asked a lot of questions about how hypnosis works. I wrote this blog in hopes of answering many of those questions.

What exactly is hypnosis?  Hypnosis is an induced state to take the brain from Beta waves to Alpha waves so the client is receptive to suggested behavior modifications. Hypnosis is best for clients who want immediate or near-immediate goals. It takes approximately 21 days to break an old habit and/or form a new one. Hypnosis can be used for a variety of things, including help to quit smoking, weight loss, motivation, beating addictions, fear of flying, anger, insecurities, self esteem, confidence, test anxiety, shyness, finding lost objects, overcoming phobias, past life regression, and many more ways.

Beta waves are the normal brain waves for a conscious person. When one goes into Alpha waves, their mind slows down slightly and they’re able to focus on one train of thought. A lot of people go into the Alpha stage when watching television. Other normal every day activities most people do that put their brain into Alpha waves are driving, playing video games, and using the computer. They are fully functional with Alpha waves, they’re just able to focus more.

There’s no danger with hypnosis. Even when we fall asleep, our eyes may close but our ears remain open and alert. If the client wants out of hypnosis, they can bring themselves out of it. They won’t cluck like a chicken if they don’t want to. The Hypnotist cannot suggest the client do something they don’t want to do. Hypnosis only works if the client truly wants to reach the goal. Also, no one has ever fallen asleep during hypnosis and was unable to wake back up.

Some people worry their IQ is too high for them to be hypnotized. That’s not the case at all! The higher your IQ is, the more receptive you are to being hypnotized. You simply have to sincerely want the change and be willing to follow through with your assignment / HW I give you between sessions, and you will have success.

Rarely a reaction occurs that we call an Abreaction. While under hypnosis, the client will scream or yell out. If this happens, I stop the hypnosis session and bring the client back to Beta waves.

What can you expect during your session? I’m going to have you sit or lay back, whichever is more comfortable for you. I’ll talk you down to the Alpha stage, and then I’ll make the suggestions that we agreed hypnosis could help you with. Afterward, I’ll talk you back up to Beta waves. You’ll hear some gentle music in the background. You may or may not remember your hypnosis session, and that’s ok either way. You may be aware and remain aware of everything I say while you’re under hypnosis, and that’s ok because you’re still under hypnosis. Some people remember everything, some people remember very little, but either way the hypnosis session works and helps them change their behaviors. When we’re done the hypnosis session, I’ll email you an MP3 of the hypnosis session we had and I’ll want you to listen to it once a day for 21 days and using headphones, plus follow through on any other assignment I give you to complete between our sessions.

Hypnosis has been used to successfully allow a patient to be operated on without any anesthesia. When Hypnosis is the only form of getting the patient to relax and feel no pain, it’s called Hypnosurgery. If hypnosis is used in addition to a local anesthetic or light anesthetics, it’s called Hypnosedation. Some women are even using hypnosis for pain relief during giving birth instead of using anesthesia and medications for pain relief.

Shape Magazine – November 2011 online issue – had a hypnosis success story where a US veteran had foot surgery, and after the surgery she found she needed to lose 30 pounds. She underwent hypnosis in 2011 and it was reported in a follow-up article 2 years later that she’s successfully lost the extra weight and has maintained her goal weight.

In 2012, the Huffington Post blog posted about a 90-year old woman who had a pack a day smoking habit who was about to successfully quit and maintain using hypnosis at the age of 64. She’s been able to remain smoking-free for 26 years now. She knows that even smoking one cigarette would restart her addiction all over again, but she’s not worried because she hasn’t had even one craving to smoke again since undergoing hypnosis.

If you sincerely want certain behaviors and beliefs in your life to change, and you’re willing to do the work, then hypnosis can work for you and you will achieve your goals.

If you have more questions about hypnosis and if it could benefit you, please contact me via my facebook page.

The past few months of my life have been filled with fascinating experiences that don’t come up in everyday situations. More than once I started formulating the blog post in my mind, or thought about how I could integrate a topic into a storyline for one of my books.

But then it dawned on me; these experiences involve other people that may not want to show up in my blog or my book. They may consider their lives and experiences private. They may consider their meltdowns private. They mau consider our conversations private, and the secrets they share with me, private.

As a writer, everything that crosses my path becomes brain fodder for a story or a blog. I see stories and characters in everyone and everything. Even things that seem mundane and boring, I can find a fascinating spark worth exploring in. I’m a writer, it’s what my mind does.’

So, I am writing this blog to put everyone on notice – I am a writer, and things that I experience in my life may end up in my blogs and/or stories. If I end up writing about you, it’s because I find you or the situation surrounding you fascinating. Please don’t get bent out of shape if you become a topic or part of a topic. Unless you really seem cool with the idea, I won’t use your real name or your photos in my writing, just the story / conversation / gist. Please understand and get used to the idea that, unless you specifically ask me not to, nothing is sacred and everything I experience is fair game to be used in my writing. It’s just one of the many perks of being my friend. 🙂

I write a lot of longer, multi paragraphs posts on facebook. I came to a realization today – those posts should be blogged instead of facebooked. Here are three recent ones.

I used to be afraid of Muslims. The fear started after 9/11 most likely, I can’t pin point it. But I can pin point the day the fear began to subside.

I worked part time at Camden County College, and my boss Rosie was a Christian, I was a Pagan, and this other woman who worked with us wore the Muslim head scarf and was friendly enough, but in my mind she was one of those people, nothing like Rosie and me. She had a big smile every day and after a few weeks working together, she would ask us questions about our belief systems that we would answer.

One day, just the three of us were in the office, and my Muslim co-worker said she had something she wanted to share with us. She took her scarf off and revealed long, gorgeous past her waist curly black hair. She said she could show it to us because we were both good women of our faiths, and that made us good women in her faith. She went on to explain to us how sacred and sensual hair is viewed in her belief system, and that’s why they kept their hair private. Her hair was just beautiful, and I reached out and touched it, and she reached out and touched mine, and we locked eyes and both giggled.

She became my co-worker and friend that day, and was no longer just the Muslim woman who worked in my office. We were both engaged and planning weddings and had all kinds of thoughts and dreams about marriage. She had traveled the world and brought photos in to show me of the places she’d been. We had a lot more in common than we had differences, and I’ve thought about her often over the years. We lost touch after we stopped working together, and I wish I could remember her first name, but she touched my life in a healing way. She taught me not to be afraid of people who were different than me, and she taught me being a Muslim does not equate to being a terrorist.

I just wanted to share. Thank you for reading.

I received advice from my daughter’s therapist on how to spot a potential pedophile, and I want to share these insights. I was told to avoid dating men who fall into one of these three categories. I was told that yes, there are harmless non-pedophile people who will also fall into these categories, but she doesn’t want me to take the time to try to differentiate. If a man shows one of these three signs, he’s no longer considered dating material for me.

What is his relationship like with his mother? No relationship is ever perfect, but a man should love his mother and talk about her with respect, even if his mother is a fall down drunk. A good man will say, “My mother had her issues, but she did her best and I love her for it.” A man who is waving a red flag will say, “Do you know what my mother put me through!?” Studies show 99% of pedophiles have turbulent or distant relationships with their mother.

Was he physically or sexually abused as a child? I always thought only sexual abuse was a red flag, but the therapist said both are. She said if he was abused AND he received therapy for the abuse as a child, then the therapy cancels the abuse out if he doesn’t exhibit the other two signs. But if he was abused as a child and received therapy as an adult, he was abused as a child and never received therapy, or he was abused as a child and received therapy but disrespects or is distant from his mother, etc, then there’s the red flag. Studies show 99% of pedophiles were physically or sexually abused as children and didn’t get help in time.

When we start dating, is he trying to bond with me, or with both my child and me? A healthy man will only try to bond with the woman until he knows he wants to be around long term. He otherwise shouldn’t show much of an interest in the kids. Early on in the relationship, when he does cute things like brings you flowers, he should NOT also bring a gift for the kids. He shouldn’t call and ask how the kids are doing (unless he knows something very specific happened, like they went to the ER, etc.) He won’t try to make dates that involve the kids unless the date is celebrating a birthday or holiday. Wanting to take you and the kids to the zoo on a random Saturday during the first 6 to 9 months of dating is weird, and therefore a red flag. Studies show 99% of pedophiles try to date both the mother and the child early on in the relationship.

For whatever it’s worth, my ex waved all three of these red flags.

Day 30: My Hopes for My Blog (Day 30 of 30 Day Blogging Challenge)

My biggest hope is something I blog about will touch someone or help someone in such a way that I could make a difference, even if that difference is simply letting someone else know they’re not alone.

I’d also love to take my writing from an amateur level to a professional level. I’d love to get paid to write. It’s such an enjoyable and easy task for me, and it would be a dream come true if I could bring in money via writing. I’m researching freelance writing to see if I can get my foot in the door that way, and then I’d love to move into getting some articles published in magazines to getting paid to write my own content such as a blog or a book. I’m hoping this blog will help me write more often, but also get my writings seen by others.

Thanks for following me through this 30 Day Challenge! 🙂

Day 29: A Confession (Day 29 of 30 Day Blogging Challenge)

The only proof left over are the scars on my arms and thighs. I did it all throughout my teens and twenties, and I was able to hide it until I was 21. No one knew, and if anyone suspected, they never asked any questions. It was my safely guarded secret – I was a cutter.

It never had anything to do with wanting attention, and it wasn’t about wanting to die. It was about so much pain on the inside that I couldn’t sooth, so if I cut, it bled out and then I could treat my wounds and feel better. It was almost euphoric to be in so much pain I couldn’t cry and then feel it rush out of my body.

I attended therapy for several years, and I learned my cutting was a symptom of something much deeper – sexual abuse I had suffered as a child and preteen. I didn’t have words at that age to describe the amount of pain I was in, but cutting gave me intense relief that I otherwise didn’t feel from the black hole eating me alive from the inside out.

Why do People Cut Themselves?

Iris

Day 28: Most Embarrassing Moment (Day 28 of 30 Day Blogging Challenge)

Placeholder – I’m going to have to come back to this one. Nothing sticks out in mt head. I don’t embarrass easily.

Day 27: What’s In My Closet (Day 27 of 30 Day Blogging Challenge)

This is where I have to let you in on a little secret – I’m not a girly girl. I don’t have numerous pairs of shoes and a large closet of dresses and fancy clothes. In fact, I don’t even have a bedroom closet. It’s true! I live in an older house split into two apartments, and my bedroom does not have a closet. My husband and I simply have dressers for our clothing.