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My Hypnotherapy Experience

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    My Hypnotherapy Experience

    Hello,

    I've posted in the Abs forum that I've started seeing a local hypnotherapist recommended by my doc, who is a specialist in addictions. I decided to do this because I had gotten a little bored with the CD's and actually was falling asleep every time I listened to them. I guess all the mystery was gone? I knew what was going to happen? I was snoring by the time I got to the bottom of the "eskeylator."

    Anyway, I thought I would start a thread here just to share my experience with a hypnotherapist one-on-one. This may not be an option for a lot of people, and it's a first for me, but I thought it might be of interest.

    A good portion of the one hour session is actually spent just talking. The therapist (I'll call him Sam) wants to know what it is that drinking accomplishes for me. Q & A, just like in regular therapy. ("What I hear you saying is ...... is that right?") Anyway, "we" came to the realization that one of the major benefits I got from drinking was that it made me forget to be afraid. Especially in social situations. It made me forget to be afraid of talking to people, of being myself, of letting my guard down, of letting others see the real me. In other words, it didn't make me more sociable, it didn't give me any conversational skills, it didn't make me a more likeable person. It just made me forget to be scared, so that my strengths could come out. The strengths were there all along. What needs to happen is to find a way to forget to be afraid without alcohol.

    So then comes the actual hypnosis. Unlike the sessions on the CD's, there is no long, drawn out relaxation period. Sam just asks me to take a deep breath and close my eyes as I let the breath out. He goes directly into a scenario. As he talks, his voice is melodic and relaxing. My breathing becomes slow and regular. I am completely aware of everything going on. I don't feel much different than any other time I would just be sitting in a chair with my eyes closed, except that I am extremely relaxed. I listen. I imagine the scene he describes. And after about 10 minutes, he says that I can start to come back to the room we are sitting in, and take a deep breath again. When I am ready, he says that I can open my eyes. Here is the weird part: when I open my eyes, I feel completely disoriented. It is the same feeling as when you've been on a boat and then you're suddenly on land again. You need a few minutes to get your land legs back.

    So I look around the room, in a bit of a daze, and he looks at me with a knowing smile. He then does a very strange thing. He asks me a question completely unrelated to anything that has gone on. "Have you ever seen a pelican, Mike?" "Yes," I answer." "It's the ugliest, most graceful bird I have ever seen," he says. And then he makes small talk for another 5 minutes before ending the session.

    I don't quite understand what is happening, or how. It is different than the self-hypnosis. It is more like what I have experienced when undergoing acupuncture. When I underwent acupuncture, I had a reaction that made me feel as if I had been shot up with intravenous valium. Just a tremendous sense of well-being and relaxation. That is the only way I can describe it.

    Time will tell if this has an effect on my recovery. In the meantime, it is definitely an interesting experience. I will keep you posted. My next appointment is in two weeks.

    Mike
    "Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance." -- Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)

    #2
    My Hypnotherapy Experience

    Definately keep us posted if this has an effect on your recovery! I'm very intrigued...
    Sometimes I wonder...."Why is that frisbee getting bigger?"...and then it hits me.

    Comment


      #3
      My Hypnotherapy Experience

      sounds like a smart man to me!

      Comment


        #4
        My Hypnotherapy Experience

        wow. i'm interested

        Comment


          #5
          My Hypnotherapy Experience

          I'd love to know how this goes for you....Thanks for keeping us posted.
          I don't care who you are...Your not walking on water while i'm fishing..
          One drink is too many... A thousand is never enough...Sober since July 2nd 2009

          Comment


            #6
            My Hypnotherapy Experience

            Thanks Mike

            Really appreciate you sharing this. Keep us posted!

            RJ
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              #7
              My Hypnotherapy Experience

              My Hypnotherapy Experience

              Add me to the "keep us posted" list.

              Helen

              Comment


                #8
                My Hypnotherapy Experience

                i swear i think i know the point to that but i dont want to say been driving me crazy! look more than five hours later and im still thinking about it lol

                Comment


                  #9
                  My Hypnotherapy Experience

                  I am intrigued by this too.

                  Waves
                  Enough is enough

                  Comment


                    #10
                    My Hypnotherapy Experience

                    Mike,
                    I'll be curious to see if this helps with cravings. A friend of mine went to a hypnotherapist to stop smoking. She smoked 3 packs a day for 20 years and never touched a cigarette after her therapy.
                    Keep us updated.
                    Janet

                    Comment


                      #11
                      My Hypnotherapy Experience

                      Quick update:

                      Went to two social events over the weekend. This is a bit unusual for me, as I have been isolating myself quite a lot over the last year or so. I tend to drink at home alone, and when not drinking, I don't go out because I have social anxiety. When I do go out, I often feel self-conscious if I haven't had a drink.

                      This weekend was different. I was a little nervous leading up to the events (one was a party, the other was a dinner party) but once I got there I felt completely at ease. I was relaxed and had no trouble at all conversing with people -- whether I knew them or not. I even found myself making jokes here and there.

                      Although people were drinking at both events, I had absolutely no temptation to drink.

                      Occasionally the thought of a pelican came to mind! (?)

                      All righty --

                      Mike
                      "Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance." -- Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)

                      Comment


                        #12
                        My Hypnotherapy Experience

                        Maybe, it's like that old advice that people give, if you're afraid to speak in front of a group of people to picture them in their underware....you now picture them as ungraceful birds!? Don't know but glad it's working!
                        Sometimes I wonder...."Why is that frisbee getting bigger?"...and then it hits me.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          My Hypnotherapy Experience

                          How very interesting, Mike......the pelican part!
                          Can't wait to hear how it goes next time!

                          Nancy
                          "Be still and know that I am God"

                          Psalm 46:10

                          Comment


                            #14
                            My Hypnotherapy Experience

                            Pelican

                            This is interesting.

                            Tell me what you thought about the pelican as it relates to your original post:

                            "So I look around the room, in a bit of a daze, and he looks at me with a knowing smile. He then does a very strange thing. He asks me a question completely unrelated to anything that has gone on. "Have you ever seen a pelican, Mike?" "Yes," I answer." "It's the ugliest, most graceful bird I have ever seen," he says. And then he makes small talk for another 5 minutes before ending the session."

                            I like the social ease thing.

                            Tell us more, if you have time please.

                            Helen

                            Comment


                              #15
                              My Hypnotherapy Experience

                              Well, I have a couple of theories on this.

                              One is that he was suggesting a potential opening line for me to use when starting a conversation with people that I meet for the first time. You know, that awkward pause, when you first meet someone and don't know what to say?

                              Another is that he might have given me the suggestion that instead of thinking of myself as ugly or awkward, I should see myself as beautiful and graceful. Each time I might start to become uncomfortable in the social setting, the idea of the pelican would pop into my mind, and I would become more at ease, more confident. (This actually was what I felt when I thought of the pelican. My breathing became deeper, more regular, and I felt more relaxed immediately.)

                              And maybe it was both.
                              "Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance." -- Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)

                              Comment

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