Las Vegan Magazine of Las Vegas

Hypnotherapy can bring about self-awareness...

By Dr. Adele Zorn, FAACS

Dr. Adele Zorn, FAACS Many people have had good results using hypnosis to stop smoking, to help with eating disorders or other problems. For over 25 years as a practicing sex therapist, I have often used hypnotherapy and other forms of hypnosis such as guided imagery, psychodrama and gestalt. These are very suggestible forms of therapy and should not be taken lightly. When used correctly, hypnotherapy is an excellent tool for helping people. However, there have been unqualified therapists who have put unfounded suggestions in people’s minds about recalled sexual abuse which has led to counterattacks by the False Memory Syndrome Foundation.
A task force on traumatic amnesia found that memory can be recovered, but it is impressionable and may be affected by external influences. Regardless of how memory is recalled, it is necessary to have proof that the event actually happened.
Through guided visualization, the power of the unconscious mind is in an alpha state of increased suggestibility, and many people are able to go on a journey that can assist them in altering their behavior. While not always a cure, the journey can supply building blocks that can help in freeing feelings and attitudes that may be inhibiting. It can help a person understand conflicts and how to do something constructive to solving them.
Not everyone is an appropriate subject. Some people are more susceptible to being hypnotized than others. There are people who are right-brain dominant (the mind flows rather than concentrating analytically). Then there are those who are left-brain dominant (rational and logical thinking). When one is in an altered state of consciousness, verbal, rational and analytical thinking is set aside and attention is then focused on subconscious behaviors. Once these subconscious behaviors are understood the choice is within the power of the individual to take appropriate action toward taking charge of the condition thus allowing change to occur.
A specific case that comes to mind in my practice is that of a very intelligent 35 year old professional male who was so uncomfortable talking to a female that he was not even able to talk in an imaginary situation of gestalt. This therapy was done with an empty chair. The man was to imagine talking to a female who was in the chair. He started to shake and was unable to continue. I put him into a light hypnotic trance using a relaxation technique, soft music (I use Bizet’s ‘Pachobel’) and suggestions. He was then able to speak in a more comfortable manner. I gave him a post hypnotic suggestion, keeping the music in his mind, and after a while he was able to call a woman he had met at a church social.

Back

Another case was that of a female who was unable to become aroused. Under hypnosis, I was able to have her do guided steps of arousal in her mind and to tell her feelings as we went along. This too was successful.
There is an exercise in hypnosis where the person is suggestively guided to enter a special nerve center room with a master control that regulates all feelings and desires. There are panels in the room with dials and levers with different numbers. Gradually as the suggestions are given, the person comfortably turns the dials and levers in their mind according to their feelings. Post hypnotic suggestions and exercises are given so that the person can easily adjust a dial in their mind to regulate their level of desire and interest when conscious.
Subtle changes are almost imperceptible when they first begin, but with the awareness of being able to have control in an unconscious state, the person realizes that control can be attained in a conscious state. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Do the thing you fear to do, and the death of fear is certain." For many people this is only something they can face under hypnosis, and often his statement becomes convincing.
Sexual performance can be adversely affected by stress or emotional problems and may also include ignorance of sexual functions and physiology. For hypnotherapy to be successful, the patient must have a capacity for imagery and a desire to recognize and accept hypnosis as a safe procedure. In reality, the patients give themselves permission to create the pictures that will produce the interventions to gain control over the symptoms. When unconscious resistance to change is altered, the conscious mind no longer reflects fear, anxiety, or guilt. The conscious mind now can process, integrate, and restructure experiences. Hypnotherapy can bring about self-awareness allowing the patient to detach from the past and thus restructure the present.
The motivation needed to change is within oneself, and facing one’s inner self under hypnosis can be a catalyst for change. end

Dr. Adele Zorn is a Diplomate of the American Board of Sexology.