Episode 113
In this episode, we visited with Master Certified Hypnotist, Aura Walker and learned about the art of hypnotherapy, which she was quick to point out, is not the hypnosis you might see on a stage in Las Vegas. Aura holds a masters degree in Transpersonal Counseling and Psychology from the Buddhist based Naropa University (1998, Boulder, Co) and is also a certified master level hypnotherapist (2006, Hypnosis Motivational Institute in Tarzana, CA).
She currently has a private hypnosis practice in Mar Vista at the Oasis Healing Center Oasishealingcenter.com). She can be contacted at: aura@aurawalkerhypnotherapy.com, or abwcontact@aol.com.
Hypnosis
Hypnosis comes from the greek word meaning sleep (Hypnos, also the name of the God of Sleep seen above)and refers to an altered state of consciousness characterized by natural state of “hyper-suggestibility.” Meaning a person in hypnosis is recording information deeply into their subconscious “hard drive.”
Although some individuals experience an increase in suggestibility and subjective feelings of an altered state of consciousness, this is not true for everyone.
What Triggers Hypnosis?
Uncontrolled hypnosis is triggered by repetitive actions (too long at computers, too long driving, or working on an assembly line, or other repetitive actions for more that 30 minutes). Additionally, low blood sugar from not eating properly, lack of sleep, and emotional and physical overload are just a few common triggers. Which means that most of us are existing in a constant state of hyper-suggestibility. Can't you just hear advertising executives rubbing their hands in glee?
History
There is some history dating back at least to the 1700s of the use of "mentalism" and other methods some of which are now labeled as 'hypnosis'. The first recognizable practitioner of hypnosis was Franz Anton Mesmer (the originator of the term mesmerize), an Austrian physician of the 18th-century who attempted to use the power of suggestion to cure illnesses.
Mesmer was a bit eccentric and his habit of conducting his Paris healing sessions while dressed in purple silk and holding an iron rod did not add to his credibility with mainstream physicians. It seems he was all the rage with the ladies in King Loius VIX's court in France.
Naturally, this did not endear him to the gentlemen of the court who put together a blue ribbon panel to investigate him. The illustrious Benjamin Franklin was one of the committee's members and they found that there was no scientific support for his claims. He ended up being discredited and largely fell from public life.
The term hypnosis came from a Scottish physician, James Braid, who used the Greek word for sleep to create the term.
In 1843 he published Neurypnology: or the Rationale of Nervous Sleep, is first and only book-length exposition of his views. In this book he coined the words hypnotism, hypnotize, and hypnotist, which remain in use. Braid thought of hypnotism as producing a "nervous sleep", which differed from ordinary sleep.
He completely rejected Franz Mesmer's idea that a magnetic fluid caused hypnotic phenomena,because anyone could produce them in "himself by attending strictly to the simple rules" that Braid laid down.
Fast forward to the 1960's and meet Dr. John Kappas, something of a modern day John Braid.
He founded the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 1968. Dr. Kappas literally defined the profession of hypnotherapy in 1973, when he coined the term a "Hypnotherapist" in the Federal Dictionary of Occupational Titles. That definition of a hypnotherapist remains in use today.
HMI has earned the distinction of being the first hypnotherapy training program to become nationally accredited, by an accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, in Washington, D.C.
Theories About How Hypnosis Works
Some theories of hypnosis attempt to describe hypnotic phenomena in terms of brain activity while others concentrate more on the phenomenological experience. In either case, a fundamental distinction is between "state" and "non-state" theories of hypnosis.
State theorists believe that an altered state of consciousness is a core part of hypnosis, whereas non-state theorists believe that more mundane psychological processes such as focused attention and expectation are sufficient to explain hypnotic phenomena.
The precise definition of what constitutes an altered state of consciousness is a matter of some debate.
One physiological definition of hypnosis states that the brainwave level necessary to work on issues such as stopping smoking, managing weight, reducing phobias, improving athletic performance, etc., is the alpha state.
The alpha state (7-14 HZ., seen below) is commonly associated with closing one's eyes, relaxation, and daydreaming.
Another physiological definition states that the theta state is required for therapeutic change.The theta state (4-7 HZ. seen below) is associated with hypnosis or surgery, hypnoanesthesia (the use of hypnosis to numb sensation of pain), and hypnoanalgesia (the use of hypnosis to decrease sensitivity to pain), which occur more readily in the theta and delta states.
Anesthetics, sedatives and hypnotics disrupt neuronal synchrony, thought to underlie theta waves, in both humans and animals, as well as in simple neuronal circuits.
Placebo
This theory suggests that individuals are playing a role and that really there is no such thing as hypnosis. A relationship is built depending on how much rapport has been established between the "hypnotist" and the subject.
Clinical Studies
In 1996, the National Institutes of Health technology assessment panel judged hypnosis to be an effective intervention for alleviating pain from cancer and other chronic conditions.
A large number of clinical studies also indicate that hypnosis can reduce the acute pain experienced by patients undergoing burn-wound debridement, enduring bone marrow aspirations and childbirth (all excruciatingly painful).
An analysis published in a recent issue of the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, for example, found that hypnotic suggestions relieved the pain of 75% of 933 subjects participating in 7 different experiments.
Another research example, employing event-related functional MRI (fMRI) and EEG coherence measures, compared certain specific neural activity "...during Stroop task performance between participants of low and high hypnotic susceptibility, at baseline and after hypnotic induction".
According to its authors, "the fMRI data revealed that conflict-related ACC activity interacted with hypnosis and hypnotic susceptibility, in that highly susceptible participants displayed increased conflict-related neural activity in
the hypnosis condition compared to baseline, as well as with respect to subjects with low susceptibility." (Egner et al., 2005)
(Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) appears to play a role in a wide variety of autonomic functions, such as regulating blood pressure and heart rate, as well as rational cognitive functions, such as reward anticipation, decision-making, empathy and emotion.)
Skeptics dispute the significance of such findings, claiming that such changes cannot be shown to be particular to the hypnotized state, and that any other action such as daydreaming is also likely to alter brain activity in some manner.
However, recent studies have shown that hypnotized subjects suggested to experience auditory hallucinations demonstrated via PET scans, regional blood flow in the same areas of the brain as real hearing, whereas in subjects merely engaged in vividly hearing noises, this did not occur.
The subject is still a matter of current research and scientific debate. And reading about it will probably make you feel like you are getting very sleepy.
That's all for now,
Your Intrepid Green Health Live Host
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