Approaches

Hypnosis

Clinical hypnosis is a therapeutic technique that involves utilizing a hypnotic trance, a state of inner absorption, concentration, and heightened attention that allows access to the full power of the mind. It is a naturally occurring state of focused concentration we can harness to create desired changes and support the achievement of our goals. Hypnotic trance helps us get out of our own way by avoiding the critical censor of the conscious mind, which often defeats what we know to be in our best interests. 

The effectiveness of hypnosis appears to lie in the way in which it bypasses the critical observation and interference of the conscious mind by communicating directly with the subconscious mind, the mind of the body, creating a heightened receptivity to suggestion, and using the language of the subconscious mind, allowing the client’s desired intentions for change to take effect.

Practitioners use three common applications of hypnosis to support desired changes and goals: 

1. The first application uses creativity and imagination, as mental imagery is very powerful and different from simple visualization. The mind is capable of using imagery, even if it is only symbolic, to assist us in bringing about the things we are imagining.

    

2. The second application involves presenting ideas while in a state of hypnotic trance. In a state of concentrated attention, ideas and suggestions that are compatible with what the patient wants to achieve seem to have a more powerful impact on the mind, thus on manifesting desired changes.

    

3. The third application is unconscious exploration, which enables a better understanding of underlying motivations and provides insight into barriers or experiences that are associated with causing a problem.

Hypnosis is highly versatile and powerful, and it can be used in various ways to facilitate desired changes. For example, it can create a performance trance state, which refers to a heightened state of narrow attention and focus that allows access to the full power of the mind. This can be particularly helpful for performers of all kinds, including athletes, speakers, and artists. 

When hypnosis is applied to one’s performance, it brings your accessibility to the power of your mind to a whole new level. Hypnosis can be used to facilitate desired changes with tension, anxiety, blocks, barriers, and plateaus, clarity in thinking and decision-making while under pressure, pain management, return from injury, increased focus, distraction control, sleep disruption, stress, and relaxation before and during performance.

It is important to keep in mind that hypnosis is like any other therapeutic technique. Depending on the client’s needs and preferences, hypnosis may be an effective treatment in combination with other therapeutic techniques. When the decision is made to incorporate hypnosis into therapy, the goal of the hypnotic session is identified before inducing a trance state (or state of concentrated attention). Then, while in a trance, ideas and suggestions that are compatible with the identified goal are presented. After the planned intervention is completed, the trance state is ended with a re-alerting and orienting process, and the experience is discussed. Many clients notice some level of desired change immediately, while others notice change over time and with additional sessions. It generally depends on the nature and complexity of the identified goal and the type of hypnotic application used.

Hypnosis is regulated by law in some states and not in others. The level of training required to get certified varies greatly, resulting in a vastly different level of skill and knowledge about applying hypnosis from professional to professional. Working with a professional who is clinically trained as well as certified by one of the leading hypnosis organizations, such as the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH) or the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis (SCEH), is recommended. This assures professionals providing hypnosis have sufficient training to obtain the desired outcomes.

EMDR

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a therapeutic technique used in psychotherapy to alleviate distress associated with adverse life experiences and the traumatic impacts they cause. It is hypothesized that EMDR therapy facilitates accessing neural pathways or the traumatic memory networks that cause unwanted behaviors, negative thoughts, physiological arousal, and emotional distress.

According to psychologist Francine Shapiro, the developer of EMDR, “The goal of EMDR therapy is to process these distressing memories, reducing their lingering influence and allowing clients to develop more adaptive coping mechanisms.” The technique has been proven to help resolve the development of trauma-related disorders such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in soldiers and victims of violence or extreme distress.

When EMDR is used for addressing traumatic events, the client is asked to recall the traumatic event while simultaneously undergoing dual attention stimulation, which can consist of side-to-side eye movement, vibrations, tapping, or tones delivered through headphones. The clinician directs the process and makes adjustments as appropriate to prevent re-experiencing the distressing event. Once the distressing information is re-processed, the past incident or old thought no longer influences current responses in the same way, information processing is enhanced, and new associations with more adaptive memories and resources are formed, thus allowing a person to respond more adaptively.

EMDR can be used for more than reprocessing memories of traumatic experiences. It can eliminate negative beliefs, thoughts, and feelings or develop and strengthen positive ones. The technique isolates the thoughts and beliefs that disrupt performance or memories of poor performance or injury and targets them for reprocessing. Once the interfering elements are cleared, the desired self-supportive thoughts are identified, strengthened, or created. EMDR is highly effective in developing cognitive resources, such as increasing positive thoughts and beliefs and connecting and strengthening existing resources. This is crucial as self-belief and positive self-talk allow one to approach life situations with confidence.

Think of EMDR like you would updating the electrical wiring in your house. A switch may go bad or start sending too much energy through a circuit. Sometimes, you replace the switch, and sometimes you update the wiring. Most of us call in professionals to help with household electrical problems because they are specifically trained to address these issues.

Depending on the client’s needs and depth of distress, EMDR may be an effective treatment when combined with other therapeutic techniques. I frequently combine EMDR with hypnosis or regular therapeutic conversation.

The Flash Technique (FT)

The Flash Technique (FT) is a technique that was originally designed to be used during the preparation phase of Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) to reduce the intensity of disturbing memories and allow a client to tolerate the standard EMDR treatment better. FT is recognized for its effectiveness in reducing the effects of emotional activation
associated with adverse experiences.

Like EMDR, FT is also a restorative technique that impacts neural pathways to reprocess and resolve distressing activation connected to some past experiences. Since its inception, additional research has established that The Flash Technique
can be used as a stand-alone intervention or in combination with EMDR.

Most clients can benefit from the use of the Flash Technique. Most clients do not become significantly activated during FT processing because FT does not access the full strength of the memory or adverse experience. It is particularly helpful for clients who are hesitant to access their traumatic material, struggle with staying in the window of tolerance, become easily
emotionally overwhelmed or dysregulated, tend to avoid accessing memories or adverse experiences, or easily dissociate.

Much like EMDR, the Flash Technique works on updating the electrical wiring in the mind-body connection. It is recognized for its effectiveness in reducing the effects of emotional responses associated with adverse distressing situations or traumatic experiences and will update the neural networks to resolve distressing trigger activation associated with a variety of situations.

The Flash Technique may be an effective treatment for us to use in our work together. If you want to read about FT, the published research can be found on the Flash Technique research page.