Asthma

I recently carried out much research into the studies of asthma, ranging from what it is, what causes it, through to what can be done about it. I found considerable evidence in the scientific research papers to say that there is a large psychological and psychosomatic element to asthma.

I believe I can work with anything psych (mind) or psychosomatic (mind-body) within my hypnotherapy. So this set me up nicely to have a little experimentation, to get some test clients in, to see just what can be done. As usual when I do experimental work, the sessions are free for my clients though they are treated with the professionalism, respect and attention I give all of my clients.

Interestingly, all but one of my clients developed asthma at some time in their childhood – they weren’t born with it, it was a condition which developed later in life. This suggests that there was a later trigger point, which could be psychological rather than innate (genetic). I work with that presupposition in mind.

I carried out a similar approach with all to form a baseline for my experimentation. These were not carried out under strict ‘scientific double blind study’ testing, although, as with every element of my work, I would love for someone to design and sponsor some proper testing!

With most clients I carried out a single two-hour session, and a couple had two two-hour sessions. I worked on the potential psychological origins of asthma, the potential of the mind to learn to not have asthma therefore guiding the body, and also to use the mind-body connection to reverse any asthma attacks that did happen.

Some of my clients haven’t had a single asthma attack since our session(s). Some have had attacks, though of a reduced number and reduced intensity. I am awaiting longer term feedback from two of my experimental clients – although interesting changes have been reported in the interim. Of note is that all of my test clients have reported positive results. This suggests strongly to me that a form of psychological intervention will help asthmatics on some level.

Here’s a testimonial from one of my clients, a lady in her thirties, following our first session:

“I have suffered with Asthma since the age of 16, during this time I have been hospitalised with various Asthma attacks. In April this year I booked a hypnotherapy session with Gary.

During my session with Gary he explored the reasons as to why I have Asthma; he created an Asthma attack and taught me how to control it.

I have gone from using my inhaler at least 3 times a day to only using it once or twice in two months, if I feel an Asthma attack coming I now have the tools to combat it without the use of Inhalers.

I have been absolutely amazed by the success of the Hypnotherapy session and can honestly say that I never thought that Hypnotherapy to combat my Asthma would have this level of success.

I would Highly recommend Gary, he achieves excellent results and from just one session!!!

Thank you Gary”

Now, I’m not saying I can help everyone or even anyone in just one session. The results that individuals get vary – one person’s asthma is unique to them, and every person’s psych is different. I am also not saying I can ‘cure’ asthma, and I definitely don’t diagnose anything. In fact I hate diagnoses full stop. I just work with what I am presented with, and if it is psych or psychosomatic I could be able to help. Should you consider that you have asthma or any other condition you shouldn’t throw away advice from licensed medical practitioners. Hypnotherapy works on a complimentary basis, and you should take care to consider all of your options, and also how to combine your options.

It is worth taking careful note too that the Royal Society for Medicine is calling for hypnosis to be made “a standard part of the NHS toolkit.” (RSM 6 June 2011)

I’ve found my experimental work very eye opening and have led to me asking many more questions than I’ve answered. The best thing though is that all of my test clients are reporting positive results from this experimental work. I’m currently in the process of carrying out experimental work with clients reporting crohn’s disease, and I hope they get similar results too...

Crushed By The Power Of Your Mind

I’ve been a bit slow with my blog posts lately, I’ve been very busy studying, working with clients, and I have a lovely new husky to keep me busy! So it’s time for me to get back up to speed and regularly blogging.

Lately I’ve been doing a lot of street hypnosis. This is for the purposes of perfecting my skills with hypnosis, so I can be a better hypnotherapist. It is also a lot of fun!

Some people think that street hypnosis is immoral or wrong, yet let me assure you that I do street hypnosis only to perfect my skills as a hypnotist, never to embarrass anyone, never to humiliate, and do it to show the power of my subject’s mind. It is always about the experience of the subject, not those who are watching. I think of it like padwork for a fighter, or revision for someone about to take an exam.

The sort of simple skits I use are living statues, sticking hands and feet to things, hypnotic steals (I always give back!), hallucinations such as me being invisible or becoming someone else, speaking Chinese as their first language, forgetting their own name…and a whole host of similar.

I believe that if you can’t create phenomena, then you aren’t hypnotising. For me it is about bending reality so much that a person believes, and then experiences. So the more hypnotic phenomena I can produce, the better hypnotist I will be, and therefore the more effective tools I will have at my disposal as a hypnotherapist. This is especially true in respect to some of the psychosomatic work I do, and especially in work like pain management.

I recently saw an incredible piece of work by Anthony Jacquin (www.headhacking.com). He just told someone to close their eyes, and, with his hand in a claw grip and without touching them, in fact being several feet away, and apparently just using his intent (like he was pretending to be Darth Vader), he proceeded to squeeze their neck until they had trouble breathing, at which point he instantly released them. No induction. No set up. No physical contact. It was performed ‘cold’. The effect was amazing. Put ‘force grip hypnosis’ into Youtube and see for yourself.

I worked and worked at retro-engineering this effect, as I believed if I could do this I would be better than the average hypnotist! With a little help, I had the methodology in place. Time to practice!

So off I went, and what better subjects than my personal training clients…

The first two attempts I messed up myself through being over-eager, and then I got it going with the third. I actually achieved the ‘force grip’ effect! What a result! It felt like an incredible achievement. Without a hypnotic induction I had a client create the psychosomatic feeling of having their chest compressed, hard enough so that they could only just talk, all without touching them! Their mind believed, and their body created the effect.

At that point I realised just how powerful the mind-body connection was – I wonder if you could imagine how many psychosomatic conditions are created this easily? If the power of the mind creates this effect in the body, what else can it create? And therefore, as a hypnotherapist, how much can I help reverse this to help free people from psychosomatic conditions?

I’ve since replicated it several times. One of my subjects has reported to me:

“My experience with Gary’s phantom throat grip was very interesting and a demonstration of the power of mind over matter. Gary, without once touching me, just using the volume of his voice, was able to make me to feel pressure on my throat, to the extent where swallowing became difficult. The strangest thing was, I knew of course, that Gary was not in physical contact with me, but oddly, the more I thought about this, the more it seemed to affect the pressure on my throat. It was an extremely odd experience but a great demonstration of the power of suggestion....”

Anthony Beckley

(Anthony has given his permission to use his name)

I’m really interested in how far I can take this within a performance setting. I’ve already got a methodology in place and being developed in practice to create the precise circumstances to drop someone into hypnosis right in the middle of sparring (kickboxing or grappling). I am now looking at whole ways of working where I can hypnotise someone during fighting and get them to take a count, or submit through tapping, all without touching them after I drop them into hypnosis. And when I can beat someone just using the power of their own mind to create the physical changes I need – I’ll have discovered the ultimate fighter’s Nirvana!

Of course, I’m also developing the cross-over into my hypnotherapy work too. And when you think about it, if I can get Anthony to have that feeling (as per his testimony above), imagine what work we can do with your issues in hypnotherapy