Fibromyalgia (FMS) is a frustrating and seldom understood illness. It is a collection of confusing and often contradictory symptoms which come and go and vary in intensity. It’s chief characteristic is widespread pain in the muscles, ligaments and tendons. It is also characterized by stiffness, fatigue and non-restorative sleep. While it is not life threatening, it is life changing. It can be as debilitating as rheumatoid arthritis. 25% of all FMS sufferers become disabled and 36% of all social security disability payments currently go for fibromyalgia. It is a chronic illness with a hefty price tag. It accounts for 10% of all visits to physicians. Yet, there are no effective conventional medical treatments for this chronic illness.
FMS is particularly frustrating because the sufferer appears healthy and normal on the outside but feels miserable on the inside. Eight times more women are affected than men. It strikes all races, all ages, all socio-economic levels and all educational levels. It is often found in the company of other related illnesses such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), spastic bladder (urinary urge incontinence), chronic fatigue, headaches, migraines, allergies, myofascial pain syndrome, mitral valve prolapse and more.
Traditional treatments aim at improving the quality of sleep and reducing pain using a cocktail of medications. Unfortunately, the side effects of the medications can be as debilitating as the illness. Recent research confirms that a multi-disciplinary approach which includes cognitive behavioral therapies, such as hypnosis, provides the greatest relief from symptoms and the best prognosis for a return to more normal levels of functioning. This approach includes improving the quality of sleep, proper nutrition, physical conditioning and deep relaxation combined with positive mental imagery (techniques used in hypnotherapy). By combining therapies, the patient can frequently return to a healthier state and a more active lifestyle while lessening or, in some instances, eliminating the need for medications, especially pain medications.
“In a study published in the Journal of Rheumatology, 40 refractory fibromyalgia patients (FMS patients who had failed to relieve their symptoms with traditional medical treatments) were randomly assigned to treatment with either hypnotherapy or physical therapy. The patients in the hypnotherapy group showed significantly better outcomes with respect to pain reduction, fatigue on awakening, sleep patterns and global assessments. In addition, those patients who received hypnotherapy showed a significant improvement in their overall levels of discomfort and were able to reduce their levels of pain medications. The authors concluded that hypnotherapy was effective in relieving the symptoms of Fibromyalgia.” — Melissa Roth, C.Ht., Ph.D., Alabama Hypnotherapy Center
This and similar studies corroborate what has been found at Alabama Hypnotherapy Center where they have been using and teaching hypnotherapy for the relief of FMS symptoms for over four years. Over 96% of FMS patients have shown significant and lasting improvement in their overall symptoms, especially in the areas of pain reduction, improved sleep patterns and increased energy levels. In addition, they have been able to reduce or eliminate their pain medication levels between 30% and 100% (average of 46%). All clients have been able to significantly increase their levels of daily functioning. Even more importantly, they have been able to maintain these improvements even after their hypnotherapy sessions end. FMS clients have averaged a 46% reduction in pain medication usage. Trained certified Fibromyalagia hypnotherapist David Grinstead uses the Alabama Hypnotherapy Center FMS regimen and works as a team member with your personal physicians to help you return to a more normal state of health.
HEALING IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)
IBS is a frustrating and often debilitating chronic illness characterized by diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, bloating and spasms. Conventional medical treatment includes a variety of medications, a high fiber diet, fiber supplements and behavioral changes. Unfortunately, this regime has not been proven adequately effective for a high percentage of sufferers. In addition, many people find the side effects of the medications to be more noxious than the IBS Symptoms. Either reason results in poor compliance. And, of course, when your stop taking the medications and supplements, the symptoms return.
However, hypnotherapy has been proven highly effective in alleviating IBS symptoms. Over 25 years of solid scientific research has demonstrated hypnotherapy as an effective, safe and inexpensive choice for IBS symptom alleviation. Hypnotherapy routinely produces positive results in over 80% of the people who use it. It has been so overwhelmingly successful for IBS symptom alleviation that Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD, chair of the National Women's Health Network in Washington, DC, says that hypnosis should be the treatment of choice for IBS cases which have not responded to conventional therapy.
At Alabama Hypnotherapy Center, their work with IBS Clients has resulted in a reduction of symptoms for 93.7% of their clients and 86% have become symptom free within the course of therapy. Melissa Roth, the developer of the program, has remained syptom free since 1996 from severe, debilitating IBS symptoms. This is a program done in conjunction with your personal physician and is not intended as a replacement for traditional medical treatment.
Conventional medical treatment has been inadequate in alleviating IBS symptoms for most people. However, hypnotherapy combined with traditional medical treatment can provide dramatic relief for most sufferers. Most of their clients, with the help of their personal physicians, have been able to reduce or eliminate most or all of the medications and supplements they were taking for IBS symptoms.
Trained certified IBS hypnotherapist David Grinstead uses the Alabama Hypnotherapy Center IBS regimen and works as a team member with your personal physicians to help you return to a more normal state of health.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
CAREER ADVANCEMENT: Learn to Set Goals & Achieve Them
One of the most valuable suggestions which can be implanted through hypnosis consists of only eight words: “What your mind can conceive, YOU can achieve!” There is no more important message, for the statement can be applied to any goal, physical, mental, or spiritual.
The mind is a powerhouse, capable of accomplishments beyond the most vivid imagination. To achieve the potential implied by the above statement, four elements are necessary.
DESIRE: The goal must be important. It must be really wanted. A casual expression such as “I’d like to…” is not nearly sufficient. The desire must be deep and permanent.
BELIEF: It is vital to believe that the goal is achievable, however improbable it may seem. Belief, also know as faith, is a powerful force, capable of performing miracles. This is not necessarily a spiritual requirement. The faith must be in the self.
EXPECTATION: Hope won’t do the job. Thinking that achievement of a goal would be nice is not sufficient. Expectation is required. Success is not a matter of “IF,” it is a matter of “WHEN!” There is no room for doubt.
DEMAND: Finally, it is essential that the goal-seeker demand of himself/herself the attitudes and actions necessary to full achievement. As the old saying goes, “There ain’t no free lunch!”
Given these elements, the fact remains: “What your mind can conceive, you can achieve.” The mind conceives through visualization, which comes easier for some people than others. Yet it can be learned and acquired—hypnotism can help in this—and the benefits last a lifetime. But it is essential to learn how to set and achieve goals. Implanting the procedures and techniques through hypnosis is very helpful.
GOAL SETTING PROBLEMS
Most people have dreams—of success, wealth, love, career advancement, resolution of problems or whatever. Few carry them through planning to achievement. Learning special techniques under the retention power of hypnosis can help in the achievement of dreams.
One of the major problems in setting goals and achieving career advancement has been described as the “Playpen Syndrome.” It begins virtually at birth, when young children are naturally very suggestible. They want to be liked. They learn from parents, teachers and authority figures that if they do what they are told, they will be liked. If they create problems, they won’t be liked.
Young children are placed by parents in a playpen where they are considered safe and out of trouble. They become comfortable in that environment. They are out of the way, they are fed, changed, watched—taken care of. And they are liked because they do not create problems. They are left in the playpen where their needs are met, they don’t get into trouble, and they are liked. But they are not encouraged to learn or achieve.
Many children grow up in a playpen. In sports activities they are allowed to play on teams regardless of their proficiency at the sport, without real motivation to improve. Later in a working environment unions cater to their needs, save their jobs regardless of their skills or lack thereof, determine their wages and benefits, fight their battles, etc. And the government itself provides the biggest playpen of all, attempting to meet needs and plan the future, without any incentive to become self-sufficient. The playpen syndrome fosters mediocrity, and it is promoted by people and agencies who want to avoid being bothered by ambition, creativity, new ideas or progress.
ESCAPE FROM THE PLAYPEN
Effective goal setting requires both a sense of completion and a reward. The major problem most people encounter in setting goals is that the goals are long-term in nature. A young, new employee decides to be president of the company. A student wants to be a doctor, lawyer, politician, even president. A goal-setter even less oriented decides the goal is to be a millionaire. These are accomplishment goals. Most people set them; excuses are easy, failure is frequent, there is no accountability.
Activity goals form the foundations of success. They consist of what must be done to reach an accomplishment goal. They are short term in nature. They are steps to success. The student sets his first goal as achieving a creditable grade on his first test. Another goal might be passing a mid-term examination. Still another could be preparation of a final term paper that is outstanding—steps in earning entrance into medical school, from which, after completing numerous other activity goals, the accomplishment goal of doctor may be realized.
Each short-term activity goal, once accomplished, provides the essential sense of completion, and motivation to undertake the next step. And each such completion should be accomplished by a self-reward, self-recognition of the successful step. The step-by-step process of sequential short term activity goals completed and rewarded forms the pathway to achievement.
A model for success might be a follows: Set a realistic; achievable accomplishment goal. Determine its benefits for emotional motivation. Analyze the obstacles—if they exceed benefits, failure is assured. Determine the knowledge and skills required. Determine sources of help. Design a plan of action (activity goals). Set a deadline, which establishes accountability.
Goal setting can provide the ladder for escape from the playpen. Hypnosis can provide motivation, confidence, energy and insight. The ultimate prize: avoidance of mediocrity!
The mind is a powerhouse, capable of accomplishments beyond the most vivid imagination. To achieve the potential implied by the above statement, four elements are necessary.
DESIRE: The goal must be important. It must be really wanted. A casual expression such as “I’d like to…” is not nearly sufficient. The desire must be deep and permanent.
BELIEF: It is vital to believe that the goal is achievable, however improbable it may seem. Belief, also know as faith, is a powerful force, capable of performing miracles. This is not necessarily a spiritual requirement. The faith must be in the self.
EXPECTATION: Hope won’t do the job. Thinking that achievement of a goal would be nice is not sufficient. Expectation is required. Success is not a matter of “IF,” it is a matter of “WHEN!” There is no room for doubt.
DEMAND: Finally, it is essential that the goal-seeker demand of himself/herself the attitudes and actions necessary to full achievement. As the old saying goes, “There ain’t no free lunch!”
Given these elements, the fact remains: “What your mind can conceive, you can achieve.” The mind conceives through visualization, which comes easier for some people than others. Yet it can be learned and acquired—hypnotism can help in this—and the benefits last a lifetime. But it is essential to learn how to set and achieve goals. Implanting the procedures and techniques through hypnosis is very helpful.
GOAL SETTING PROBLEMS
Most people have dreams—of success, wealth, love, career advancement, resolution of problems or whatever. Few carry them through planning to achievement. Learning special techniques under the retention power of hypnosis can help in the achievement of dreams.
One of the major problems in setting goals and achieving career advancement has been described as the “Playpen Syndrome.” It begins virtually at birth, when young children are naturally very suggestible. They want to be liked. They learn from parents, teachers and authority figures that if they do what they are told, they will be liked. If they create problems, they won’t be liked.
Young children are placed by parents in a playpen where they are considered safe and out of trouble. They become comfortable in that environment. They are out of the way, they are fed, changed, watched—taken care of. And they are liked because they do not create problems. They are left in the playpen where their needs are met, they don’t get into trouble, and they are liked. But they are not encouraged to learn or achieve.
Many children grow up in a playpen. In sports activities they are allowed to play on teams regardless of their proficiency at the sport, without real motivation to improve. Later in a working environment unions cater to their needs, save their jobs regardless of their skills or lack thereof, determine their wages and benefits, fight their battles, etc. And the government itself provides the biggest playpen of all, attempting to meet needs and plan the future, without any incentive to become self-sufficient. The playpen syndrome fosters mediocrity, and it is promoted by people and agencies who want to avoid being bothered by ambition, creativity, new ideas or progress.
ESCAPE FROM THE PLAYPEN
Effective goal setting requires both a sense of completion and a reward. The major problem most people encounter in setting goals is that the goals are long-term in nature. A young, new employee decides to be president of the company. A student wants to be a doctor, lawyer, politician, even president. A goal-setter even less oriented decides the goal is to be a millionaire. These are accomplishment goals. Most people set them; excuses are easy, failure is frequent, there is no accountability.
Activity goals form the foundations of success. They consist of what must be done to reach an accomplishment goal. They are short term in nature. They are steps to success. The student sets his first goal as achieving a creditable grade on his first test. Another goal might be passing a mid-term examination. Still another could be preparation of a final term paper that is outstanding—steps in earning entrance into medical school, from which, after completing numerous other activity goals, the accomplishment goal of doctor may be realized.
Each short-term activity goal, once accomplished, provides the essential sense of completion, and motivation to undertake the next step. And each such completion should be accomplished by a self-reward, self-recognition of the successful step. The step-by-step process of sequential short term activity goals completed and rewarded forms the pathway to achievement.
A model for success might be a follows: Set a realistic; achievable accomplishment goal. Determine its benefits for emotional motivation. Analyze the obstacles—if they exceed benefits, failure is assured. Determine the knowledge and skills required. Determine sources of help. Design a plan of action (activity goals). Set a deadline, which establishes accountability.
Goal setting can provide the ladder for escape from the playpen. Hypnosis can provide motivation, confidence, energy and insight. The ultimate prize: avoidance of mediocrity!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Manage Pain With Hypnosis
PAIN MANAGEMENT
Powerful Achievement of Hypnotism
GENERAL CLASSIFICATIONS OF PAIN
Acute pain is associated with the sudden outset of pain such as a broken arm, a cut finger, a burn on the hand and is generally more intense than chronic pain.
Chronic pain is usually of an ongoing nature such as back pain, arthritis, and intensity may vary.
THE PAIN EXPERIENCE VARIES BECAUSE
“The experience of pain is a combination of the type of pain, tension, fear, and anxiety. Often tension, fear and anxiety can intensify the experience of pain. Pain causes tension and tightening up of the affected area of the body. Our normal response to pain is to resist the pain by tightening up even more and becoming tenser. This increases the severity of the pain experience. By relaxation of the body there is a natural reduction of pain. By proper suggestion in the hypnotic state, the experience of pain can be reduced or eliminated for periods of time.” — Dr. Paul Durbin
My clients learn self-hypnosis and imagery and that way a person can ease their pain with it when necessary.
HYPNOSIS AS A HELPING TOOL
In the current climate of skyrocketing health care costs, hypnosis is proving invaluable as an aid in speeding recovery from physical and mental problems. Thousands of psychologists, dentists, and physicians in various specialties now have thorough training in hypnotic methods within their specialty areas. Professional organizations in clinical hypnosis provide extensive training and continuing education in hypnosis, and provide their members with specific ethical guidelines for the professional use of hypnosis.
APPLICATIONS AND TECHNIQUES
Hypnosis methods for achieving pain relief are numerous. Effectiveness can vary and the choice may depend on the condition and personality of the client. Suggestions may be direct or indirect, intersperal, or may utilize anesthesia, guided imagery, hypnoanalysis or other procedures.
As is so important in hypnotism, attitude is a major factor. It is important that the client accept that relief is possible. Constant pain needs to be approached on a different basis from interim pain. Constant pain is not to be relinquished completely even for a few minutes, since it is identified with the life force. The client likes to feel it is there, however reduced, even during times of sleep.
Physical pain is seldom constant. The hypnotist will determine if the client has experienced periods, however briefly, which were free of pain. It the client claims the pain is constant; it is more likely to be psychological in origin and may indicate a constant pain syndrome. Treatment will likely involve the establishment of rapport with empathy and appreciation of the value of pain. Hypnotic regression to the cause of the problem can lead to understanding and relief.
A hypnotist will not work with physical pain without being in communication with an appropriate physician, for the simple reason that pain is more a symptom than a condition. Pain indicates that something is wrong, somewhere, and that it is true whether the pain I physical or mental. It would be the height of folly to treat migraine headache only to have it turn out to have been a brain cancer. It is important to remember that some clients value t heir pains highly, just as a hypochondriac can be said to “enjoy poor health.” Through hypnosis clients frequently can be shown that they can control their pain and being able to do so they can diminish pain to tolerable levels or turn it off completely at will.
Seemingly endless periods of tests which prove inconclusive, often accompanied by conflicting diagnoses, can instill levels of fear which may be dealt with through hypnotism. Guilt, anger or other emotional problems often enter into the picture when accidents are involved as source conditions.
Negative attitudes must be dealt with, and again the capability of hypnosis to modify trends of thought becomes important. In difficult cases the power to cope can be programmed into the client’s mind, possibly together with cues to make the process more or less automatic.
In dealing with pain situations, teaching the client the use of self-hypnosis techniques can be highly beneficial, reinforcing the programming that has been done in the case.
Powerful Achievement of Hypnotism
GENERAL CLASSIFICATIONS OF PAIN
Acute pain is associated with the sudden outset of pain such as a broken arm, a cut finger, a burn on the hand and is generally more intense than chronic pain.
Chronic pain is usually of an ongoing nature such as back pain, arthritis, and intensity may vary.
THE PAIN EXPERIENCE VARIES BECAUSE
“The experience of pain is a combination of the type of pain, tension, fear, and anxiety. Often tension, fear and anxiety can intensify the experience of pain. Pain causes tension and tightening up of the affected area of the body. Our normal response to pain is to resist the pain by tightening up even more and becoming tenser. This increases the severity of the pain experience. By relaxation of the body there is a natural reduction of pain. By proper suggestion in the hypnotic state, the experience of pain can be reduced or eliminated for periods of time.” — Dr. Paul Durbin
My clients learn self-hypnosis and imagery and that way a person can ease their pain with it when necessary.
HYPNOSIS AS A HELPING TOOL
In the current climate of skyrocketing health care costs, hypnosis is proving invaluable as an aid in speeding recovery from physical and mental problems. Thousands of psychologists, dentists, and physicians in various specialties now have thorough training in hypnotic methods within their specialty areas. Professional organizations in clinical hypnosis provide extensive training and continuing education in hypnosis, and provide their members with specific ethical guidelines for the professional use of hypnosis.
APPLICATIONS AND TECHNIQUES
Hypnosis methods for achieving pain relief are numerous. Effectiveness can vary and the choice may depend on the condition and personality of the client. Suggestions may be direct or indirect, intersperal, or may utilize anesthesia, guided imagery, hypnoanalysis or other procedures.
As is so important in hypnotism, attitude is a major factor. It is important that the client accept that relief is possible. Constant pain needs to be approached on a different basis from interim pain. Constant pain is not to be relinquished completely even for a few minutes, since it is identified with the life force. The client likes to feel it is there, however reduced, even during times of sleep.
Physical pain is seldom constant. The hypnotist will determine if the client has experienced periods, however briefly, which were free of pain. It the client claims the pain is constant; it is more likely to be psychological in origin and may indicate a constant pain syndrome. Treatment will likely involve the establishment of rapport with empathy and appreciation of the value of pain. Hypnotic regression to the cause of the problem can lead to understanding and relief.
A hypnotist will not work with physical pain without being in communication with an appropriate physician, for the simple reason that pain is more a symptom than a condition. Pain indicates that something is wrong, somewhere, and that it is true whether the pain I physical or mental. It would be the height of folly to treat migraine headache only to have it turn out to have been a brain cancer. It is important to remember that some clients value t heir pains highly, just as a hypochondriac can be said to “enjoy poor health.” Through hypnosis clients frequently can be shown that they can control their pain and being able to do so they can diminish pain to tolerable levels or turn it off completely at will.
Seemingly endless periods of tests which prove inconclusive, often accompanied by conflicting diagnoses, can instill levels of fear which may be dealt with through hypnotism. Guilt, anger or other emotional problems often enter into the picture when accidents are involved as source conditions.
Negative attitudes must be dealt with, and again the capability of hypnosis to modify trends of thought becomes important. In difficult cases the power to cope can be programmed into the client’s mind, possibly together with cues to make the process more or less automatic.
In dealing with pain situations, teaching the client the use of self-hypnosis techniques can be highly beneficial, reinforcing the programming that has been done in the case.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
