People shudder at the thought of mind control because they live under the belief that there is a “free will”. They are scared to think that they don’t have control. Yet the truth is we never have complete control.

Being the beasties that we are we’ve lived, died and evolved based on what gives us the most control. Control is important, vital to our survival, self image and self esteem. But, in many cases control is an illusion.

There are levels to how much control we do have and the things within our control. And while we don’t have control in many areas we will often deny that fact with a passion.

Being able to Control our own thoughts and emotions is one of the most difficult things anyone can do. But those individuals who know how people respond and react use that knowledge to control and manipulate us all the time. That’s why advertising is such a big industry.

While mind control may be an unpleasant fact it isn’t “bad” because as human beings wanting control we will resort to anything that gives themselves an advantage.

One factor in our evolution is determined by how much more in control we become. Perhaps the next level of evolution is to know that we can be controlled and are always under some subtle influence without our knowing.

How would we begin to evolve if instead of fighting the fact that we are subject to mind control we accepted it? This would be the difference between working to understand our limitations and denying them.

This is a fundamental difference between me and the PCT (Paranoid Conspiracy Theorists). For me that we are subject to mind control creates awe, not fear.

To make a personal evolution of sorts, the only thing you can do is know that people are using mind control on us all the time and try to be aware of it. We should also be aware that most of the mind control is so well executed it will likely pass right by us without even a warning.

On an individual level we should also use what we know of mind control to your advantage. This means making an effort to understand human psychology and our own personal psychology. Only then can we truly evolve beneath the omnipresent specter of mind control.

Why do people think mind control is “bad”? is a post from: Reference Education Center | biloxibridge.com

Celebrities like Paris Hilton or Britney Spears made the first page of many international publications, and not only once. Some of the famous people of this world had to suffer because of paparazzi, and in some cases, they even lost their lives because of indiscrete looks. Princess Diana is only one example in this respect. She got killed in a car accident while she and her friend were chased by scandal journalists. Is a human life worth all that? I suppose not. But time cannot be turned back, so it’s time to head for the future and try to avoid such catastrophes from now on.

But who decides which celebrities make news headlines and which ones pass barely noticed? Is mass media responsible for this? It is very hard to tell. Journalists, and especially tabloid magazines ones are searching for a particular type of news. They seek things that are blamable or shocking, and many times they chase misery. Happiness is not news. Misery is. If a movie star has troubles, let’s say she is stealing from supermarkets, this seems to be a hot topic for millions of people. Do you remember Winona Rider, to give you only one case of a star chased by media for her supposedly bad habits? How many other people steal from shops and nobody cares? Too many, probably.

One simple explanation for the love for gossip, and for the important place it occupies in humans’ life, is that most of the people live a dull, boring life, so they seek excitement in the life of others. This explains also the success recorded by reality shows. Who would have thought that a time will come when millions of TV viewers will watch every night for one hour or so how a bunch of people are eating, sleeping or taking showers in a house where they are like in prison, all time in the objective of cameras.

Have you noticed how appreciated the celebrity gossip websites are, how many readers they have and how many comments they receive on each article? This surely shows a huge interest for the private life of successful people, a desire to take models, and on the other hand to accuse and reveal ugly things from beautiful lives of remarkable people. Like sex, drugs and rock and roll, celebrity sells. Every hosewife has dreamed at least once to become a great dancer, or a famous singer, or a Hollywood movie star. Instead of that, here she is, at the age of 30 or 40, washing dishes and taking care of four – five kids who mess everything around the house and who are equal to an atomic bomb.

What Makes Gossip So Interesting is a post from: Reference Education Center | biloxibridge.com

Open responses are a much more productive method of communicating with a defiant teenager. These responses are nonjudgmental, and have no suggestions or solutions. The response is one of simply accepting what is being said. These responses reflect both the content and the feelings the child is projecting to you as the parent.
In the book Lets Fix the Kids by Dr. James Jones he gives an example of closed parent response and an example of open parent response.

Closed parent response
Teenager:
My science teacher gave me a C on that science project. I cant believe it!

Parent:
1. I told you to type it but you wont ever listen will you?

2. Dont complain; we get what we deserve.

3. Teachers arent unfair; what did you mess up this time?

These are called closed responses because they effectively close down communication between a parent and struggling teenager. They are usually put downs in the form of giving advice or criticism.

Open parent responses

Teenager: I cant believe Mr. Green gave me a C on my science project after I spent weeks on the stupid thing.

Parent: It sounds to me like youre very disappointed (feelings) only getting a C after doing that much work. (content)

Teenager: Besides that, he gave Don an A because he did the project Mr. Green suggested.
Parent: Have I got this right? You feel angry (feelings) because Mr. Green is being unfair. (content)

Teenager: Youd better believe it! Anyway I learned a lot from my project; it really was hard!

Parent: Then in spite of the disappointing (feelings) grade, are you glad (feelings) you stuck to your more difficult project? (content)

Teenager: Yeah! I guess I am, but I thought I was going to get an A for sure. Hey what is there to eat?

LISTEN!

* When a troubled teen asks you to listen to them and you start giving advice, you have not done what they asked.

* When a struggling teen asks you to listen to him and you begin to tell him why he shouldnt feel that way, you are trampling on his feelings.

* When a defiant teen asks you to listen to them and you feel you have to do something to solve his problem, you have failed him, strange as that may seem.

* Listen! Your teenager asked you to only listen, not talk or do, just hear him.

* Advice is cheap; you can get both Dear Abby and Billy Graham in the same newspaper.

* Your teen can act for himself. He is not helpless. Maybe discouraged and frustrated, but not helpless.

* When you do something for your teen that he can do for himself, you contribute to his fear and weakness.

* But, when you accept as a simple fact that your teenager does feel what he feels, no matter how irrational, then you can quit trying to convince him and get about the business of understanding whats behind this irrational feeling. And when thats clear, the answers are obvious and he wont need advice.

* So, please listen and just hear your struggling teenager. And, if you want to talk, wait a minute for your turn; and Hell listen to you.

Sources: Lets Fix the Kids by Dr. James Jones. Text was slightly modified to fit a teenager.

What is true listening? is a post from: Reference Education Center | biloxibridge.com

Recently, as I was daydreaming about elephant trekking in Thailand, I began to think about an old video that is used in the addictions field entitled, The Elephant in the Living Room. This is a rather silly story of a family that pretended to function normally with a real life elephant walking around in their living room. It exemplifies the dynamics of the co-dependent, dysfunctional family that continues to enable the alcoholic family member and deny the presence of alcoholism in the family.

Try to imagine having some quality family time – conversations, watching television, or just relaxing all together when the elephant continues to tramp around the living room, bumping into things and knocking them over. It smells bad, eats a ton of hay and bananas daily, it takes up half the living room space, and it makes loud trumpet noises all day long. Then try to imagine convincing your children, friends, and other family members to keep it a secret, or that the elephant does not really exist. The idea is that if you just pretend long enough that its not really there, and its not really an elephant, that it may just go away by itself. Some things like the common cold, poison ivy, and stress headaches usually due subside with time. Chronic diseases and life-style addictions (e.g., alcoholism, drug addiction, obesity, gambling, etc.) on the other hand continue to progress with time. Just ignoring a chronic problem rarely makes it go away for good, because of the continued negative consequences that effect everyone involved.

My initial purpose in writing this article is not only to proclaim that the elephant is real, but that it wont be ignored despite our best efforts to do so. Lying about it makes the elephant bigger and stronger, and it will continue to dominate the house. If we admit and acknowledge its existence, we can take the first step out of denial and onto the road to recovery. The it that I am referring to is what I call Poly-Behavioral Addiction. Secondly, I want to introduce the Addictions Recovery Measurement System (ARMS) as a progress tracking measurement tool for clinicians. In a sense, this system simulates the old elephant masters steering instructions to me. Dig your heels into the elephants neck, and hold on to its forehead, kick right to go right and left to go left, and if the elephant stops to eat bananas, you must use the hammer on his head, because with his thick skin, nothing else will get his attention.

Behavior medicine experts and health psychologists must take into account the biological, psychological, and socio-cultural influences when considering an individuals health. They have long emphasized the role that multidimensional life experiences (e.g. traumatic life events, the negative effects of stress on the immune, endocrine, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular systems, unhealthy/ hazardous life-styles, and poor health choices in regards to adherence to preventive regiments, etc.), play in the occurrence, maintenance, and prevention of physical illness. In 1990, 50 percent of the mortality (over 1-million deaths annually) in the United States from the 10 leading causes of death was linked to addictive behaviors such as tobacco use, poor dietary habits and activity, alcohol misuse, illicit drug use, and risky sexual practices, (McGinnis and Foege, 1994).

Some experts in the medical field are presently purporting that Americas number one health problem is no longer heart disease or cancer, but a deadly condition labeled Syndrome X. This condition is described as a combination of several metabolic problems such as being overweight, having high blood pressure, being insulin resistant, and/ or having abnormal cholesterol levels that are all related to a poor diet and a lack of exercise. The sum is greater than the parts in this syndrome. Each metabolic problem is a risk for other diseases separately, but together they multiply the chances of life-threatening illness such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and stroke, etc. They indicate that up to 25% of adults presently have Syndrome X, and the ranks are growing considering for example that 30.5% of our Nations adults suffer from morbid obesity, (100lbs., or more above ideal weight, or BMI = 30 >), and that two thirds or 66% of adults are overweight (BMI = 25>). Considering that the U.S. population is now over 290,000,000, some estimate that up to 73,000,000 Americans would benefit from some type of education awareness and/ or treatment for a behavioral addiction. This fact does not take into account the 25% addicted to nicotine, the 13.4 % (NIMH) with alcoholism, and the multiple millions of others who are addicted to mind-altering substances, and other behavioral addictive disorders such as pathological gambling, pornography, and extreme religious addictions, etc.

To compound this healthcare crisis, the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) both continue to seek verification of quality healthcare, as healthcare disciplines typically have no common ruler that standardizes outcome measures. The outcome measurement research data in their comprehensive medical center inspections therefore, remain a primary focus. In many states, outcome evaluations are legislatively mandated with future appropriations tied to the demonstration of treatment program effectiveness. To add to the confusion, there are differences in the definition of outcome that relate to two paradigms:(1) Our present healthcare system is set up to focus on acute care rather than chronic illnesses. It focuses on a Unitary Syndrome model in which the sole marker of treatment response or success is specific symptom-reduction.(2) Healthcare consumers are increasingly advocating for a Multidimensional model that takes into account an array of life-functioning domains that influence patient treatment progress. Evidenced-based meta-analysis studies also purport the prognostic power of life-functioning variables to predict outcome as well as their importance for treatment planning over a unitary model that has had little empirical support.

My goal in writing this article is not only to educate and make others aware of these complex issues, but also to offer strategies and practical tools for clinicians to utilize in attacking these problems.

The Addictions Recovery Measurement System (ARMS) was developed in an effort to help healthcare providers to:

1. Provide the highest quality of patient care that improves patients overall health

2. Document health risk reduction effectiveness and medical care cost reductions

3. Comply with the U.S. Preventive Services Task Forces evidence-based prevention assessments and recommendations for early detection of diseases

4. Support the U.S. Department of Healths Healthy People 2010 national initiatives

5. Comply with JCAHO and CARF standards for outcome measurements

6. Help change the current health care system from a traditionally symptom-reduction focused model to a holistic multi-dimensional prevention model

7. Maintain treatment efficacy and integrity for healthcare program viability

The ARMS is a standardized multidimensional integrative program that offers a combination of twelve primary clinical and innovative assessment and measurement tools to assist providers and consumers of healthcare services with the following seven objectives: Initial Intervention Diagnosis Prognosis Treatment Level of Care Recommendations Progress Management Discharge Determination and Outcome Measurement. The ARMS patient progress tracking system also includes a performance based holistic health and wellness non-confrontational point system. It provides a uniform administrative device to impartially screen, monitor, and re-assess a patients initial bio-psychosocial medical condition for prognostic indicators, treatment progress indicators, and subsequent treatment outcome indicators. This motivational measurement system can track patient progress in six (PD) Progress Dimensions from admission to discharge to coordinate continuity of care given to the patient by multiple providers simultaneously. The ARMS incorporates a comprehensive prognostication system of instruments with a treatment progress and outcome measurement system that visually displays a patients journey from enrollment to recovery. The goal of treatment outcome measurement is to yield more effective, targeted, and clinically validated treatments to match individual patient needs through continued research.

The Addictions Recovery Measurement System is equipped with an arsenal of assessment tools and prognostic, progress, and outcome measurement instruments to help you fight the War on poly-substance and behavioral addictions. We must consider that over 440,000 Americans are dying each year from nicotine addiction alone, (e.g., thats 1205 daily, etc.), costing $75 billion in direct medical costs. We must consider that 300,000 adults a year are dying from obesity (e.g., thats 822 daily, etc.), with $117 billion we spend on obesity related diseases annually, (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1994). We must also consider the 100,000 deaths annually related to alcohol use (e.g., thats 274 daily, etc.), with the 184.6 billion we spend for this problem, (Tenth Special Report to the U.S. Congress, June 2000). Just these three lifestyle addictions mentioned alone are causing 840,000 deaths annually (e.g., thats 2301 daily, etc.), with total costs of $376.6 billion annually to the U.S. taxpayer. We must conclude that we can no longer afford to ignore the elephant in Americas living room, the multidimensional problems related to individuals suffering from multiple behavioral addictions. A call to ARMS is in order to fight and stop the top killer of Americans: Poly-behavioral Addiction.

For more info: http://www.geocities.com/drslbdzn/Behavioral_Addictions.html

James Slobodzien, Psy.D., CSAC, is a Hawaii licensed psychologist and certified substance abuse counselor who earned his doctorate in Clinical Psychology. He is credentialed by the National Registry of Health Service Providers in Psychology. He has over 20-years of mental health experience primarily working in the fields of alcohol/ substance abuse and behavioral addictions in hospital, prison, and court settings. He is an adjunct professor of Psychology and also maintains a private practice as a mental health consultant.

What is the Addictions Recovery Measurement System? is a post from: Reference Education Center | biloxibridge.com

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)) IV-TR (2000), published by the American Psychiatric Association, defines personality traits as:

“(E)nduring patterns of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and oneself that are exhibited in a wide range of social and personal contexts.” (p. 686)

Laymen often confuse and confute “personality” with “character” and “temperament”.

Our temperament is the biological-genetic template that interacts with our environment.

Our temperament is a set of in-built dispositions we are born with. It is mostly unalterable (though recent studies demonstrate that the brain is far more plastic and elastic than we thought).

In other words, our temperament is our nature.

Our character is largely the outcome of the process of socialization, the acts and imprints of our environment and nurture on our psyche during the formative years (0-6 years and in adolescence).

Our character is the set of all acquired characteristics we posses, often judged in a cultural-social context.

Sometimes the interplay of all these factors results in an abnormal personality.

What is Personality? is a post from: Reference Education Center | biloxibridge.com

You know, I still meet people that believe that experiencing hypnosis is like being unconscious. I always reply, What would be the point of that? Spending money and time to be unconscious in someone elses company?? If I wanted you to be unconscious we would simply bash you over the head! So it is important that you also know that hypnosis is not about being unconscious and that you have the correct expectations about the hypnotic experience that you are going to have, should you choose to invest in one of our products or experience hypnosis for yourself with a hypnotist.

In order to understand hypnosis, it is important to understand and differentiate between our minds. By that I am referring to our conscious mind, where we are now and just below that level of awareness is our unconscious mind (also known as the subconscious mind, for the purpose of easy understanding they are the same thing).

The conscious mind is where we usually spend most of our waking time, you know that internal dialogue we have that thinks hmmm, what shoes shall I wear today that is your conscious mind. Your conscious mind basically does four things;

Firstly, your conscious mind analyses. What is that? Well that is the part of us that looks at problems, analyses them and tries to create solutions to those problems. It is that part of us that makes decisions all day every day shall I open the door?, Shall I have something to eat, even though they are automatic behaviours, we make a conscious decision about whether or not to do these things.

The second part of our conscious mind is our rationale, the part of us that, especially in western cultures, always has to know Why things happen and Why we behave in particular ways. This can cause us so many problems as we give any problems more and more credence and power. More conventional and traditional methods of counselling or psychotherapy are often very much concerned with looking at causes of our problems and it is my opinion that all this does is teaches us why they happen as opposed to giving us the skills required to changing unwanted habits and behaviours. The more we think about why we do things the more we seem to embed the unwanted behaviour into our psyches!

The third part of our conscious mind is will power, that teeth-gritted determination that so many of us are proud to demonstrate. How many times have we used our will power alone to make changes and found that our will power weakens and that change is temporary or non-existent.

The final part of our conscious mind is your short-term memory. By that I am referring to the things that you need to remember to function on a day-to-day basis, so that when your phone rings you know to answer it rather than stare at it wondering it is, or ensuring that you cross the road without being run over.

That is the conscious part of your mind, it is logical, rational and analytical, a bit like Mr Spock from the Start Trek series and as much as it pains me to say it, our conscious mind is frequently wrong about things.

Your conscious mind is wherever you happen to be pointing it at any given time. I am sure you have been in a busy, noisy environment, such as a restaurant or a bar and have been engaged in a conversation with another individual, and all the sounds going on around you just seem to blend into the background. Then someone else ten metres away can punctuate their sentence with your name and you pick it out as if it was being spoken to you. This illustrates that unconsciously, you are aware of many, many pieces of information every second of your life, sounds, colours, thoughts etc, yet your conscious mind allows you to focus upon what is pertinent or relevant to you at that moment.

If you take that conscious awareness and point it inside of yourself instead of outside into the world, you begin to become aware of your inner self, your unconscious self, which is the part of you that we work with in hypnosis.

Your unconscious mind is tremendously powerful and automates as much behaviour as it possibly can so that we do not have to think about it. For example, there was a time in your life when you had to be shown how to tie your shoelaces, and you concentrated on doing this. I suspect that by this stage in your life you know how tie your shoelaces very well and you dont even think about doing it, you just do it. I have a lonely Auntie who as a boy, my mother would ask me to phone on a weekly basis as she thought this would make her happy and I vividly remember hearing her lighting up a cigarette and heavily exhaling the smoke while on the phone, she didnt even think about what she was doing, she just associated smoking with being on the phone.

We are amazing learning machines and we learn behaviours and habits and then our unconscious mind automates them and does them on auto pilot so that we do not have to think about doing them.

Your unconscious mind has within it all your long-term memory. Just about every blade of grass that you have seen in your entire lifetime is stored away in your long-term memory that serves as an amazing storage centre. These memories affect us in varying ways, some more than others. Sometimes our ability to remember them is not as fluid as we need, as it is often not necessary to have all our memory in the forefront of our minds. For example, right now you are unlikely to be thinking about everything that happened to you on your last birthday, however, me just mentioning it, you can dig into your unconscious, long-term memory and remember.

Another example is if you have ever seen a live stand up comedy show. You watch the comedian and laugh (or not as the case may be!) heartily as you listen to lots and lots of jokes. Then when you leave the venue, you can remember none of them, or one or two at best! Then, a week later, a friend that you were with can say to you do you remember such and such a joke from last weeks comedian and you think oh yeeeaaah! as you bring that information out from your long-term memory. You know that you know the joke, it was just not at the forefront of your conscious mind, it was tucked away in the deeper unconscious.

Your unconscious mind knows more about you than you consciously that you know. Sound confusing? Well, just think, you are currently breathing, your heart is beating (I do hope!) you are digesting, your body is regulating its body temperature, it is doing a range of wonderful things without you having to consciously think about it. You are not sat around thinking I really must remember to breathe. We are not machines, there is an intelligence within us that knows how to do these things, and it is that intelligence that we tap into with hypnosis.

Your unconscious mind is where you get your gut feelings, your instincts and intuition that communicates with you sporadically from time to time. Like when sometimes, someone can be saying all the right words to you, but you get a different feeling about them.

Your unconscious mind is a bit like a computer. Throughout your entire lifetime it has been programmed with all your experiences, relationships, interpretations of the world, influences and all this has culminated in your computer functioning with that programming. Hypnosis is simply a way of accessing that computer and updating that programming so that it becomes instinctive and intuitive for you to make the changes that please you.

Your unconscious mind is the seat of your emotions and where your behaviours exist and it is the part of you that we work with in hypnosis. Hypnosis is a way of us stepping over your conscious mind and accessing the unconscious mind to make powerful and profound changes.

Now, I am sure that you have experienced natural trance states many times before, in fact I know it. For example, when you have been driving in a car and thought to yourself ooh, how did I get here? or when you have been reading a book and youve turned the page and thought I have no idea what I have just read, I am going to have to read it all again. I can remember being at school watching my history teacher teach me, yet my mind was a million miles away wishing I was doing something else. All common experiences, daydream like states that we all experience, many times a day. The only difference between these naturally occurring states and those that we use in therapeutic hypnosis, is that with the hypnosis, you intend to enter the state, you are in control of it and it is just like a slightly amplified, deeper version of the state. That is it. Sometimes it is simply like sitting in a chair with your eyes closed, not the magical mystical or unusual experience that some people are led to believe it is.

It is important here to know that you cannot be made to do anything that you dont want to do. Very important. I had a guy that a doctor referred to me, came to see me and said to me my doctor told me come and see you as I have emphysema and am going to die of it unless I stop smoking. I said to him, well I presume you want to stop, he said oh, no, I love smoking, it is one of few remaining pleasures. I had to send him away as I cannot make him do something that he does not want to. Can you imagine if I could do that!! Wow. I could go and see my bank manager and make him give me million pounds without returning it! You never read about Baddy hypnotists making people rob banks or anything else absurd, because it cannot be done.

People usually then say to me ok Adam, I hear and understand what you are saying and it all makes sense. However, I have seen stage hypnosis and seen people dancing like chickens, are you telling me that they want to do that? I am saying that these people are not being made to do things that they dont want to do.

When someone buys tickets to a stage hypnosis show, they are being permissive to the notion that they are going to see hypnosis for entertainment; they expect certain things to happen. Secondly, when the stage hypnotist asks the audience who wants to come on stage the people that agree to do so or put their hands up are saying yes, I want to be hypnotised, they are not being made to do anything they dont want to do. The stage hypnotist ensures that the individuals on the show are receptive and follow a large number of compliance exercises and it begins to create the illusion that these people are doing things that they dont want to do, when they are not. The hypnosis can step over the inhibitions of the conscious mind, so that the individuals behave with more openness, they just cannot be made to do things they dont want to do.

Anyone can be hypnotised. I work with insomniacs, heroin addicts, schizophrenics, people experiencing chemotherapy, these are all people that are often convinced that they cannot relax or cannot be hypnotised, and as long as they want to, they all can and they all do.

All that is required is that you have an open mind, that you expect it to work and have progressive, motivated thoughts about the processes, follow the sessions and allow them to help you help yourself to make the changes you want and deserve.

Finally, at the beginning of the recorded hypnosis sessions and/or individual NLP or hypnosis sessions with me (I cannot speak for other therapists, we all do things differently) individually, you may be asked to do a number of different things with your mind and you can be forgiven for thinking, well, he asked me to do this, and now something else, and now another thing, what exactly am I supposed to be listening to? The simple answer is that you listen and follow as much or as little as you want to, remember that is your conscious mind thinking those thoughts and that is not the part of you that we are working with and making the change with. I am sure that there will also be times when youll be thinking hmmm am I in hypnosis, what am I supposed to be thinking or feeling. Again that is your conscious mind thinking that thought and does not matter what it is thinking. It can be attempting to follow everything that I am saying or just wandering off and thinking about whatever you like, just trust that your unconscious mind is absorbing all that you want it to.

There will be times in the sessions when you may be asked to imagine things. Imagining things does not have to mean visualising. If I ask you to think of a favourite place, you can imagine what it would be like, you dont have to be seeing a picture perfect cinema version of it in your mind. You can imagine, sense, think, or just know it without seeing it or picturing it in every detail. If I asked you to imagine the sound your feet make when you walk across gravel, you know the sound I am talking about and you can imagine it, but you are not necessarily hearing it in your ears, you can imagine it. That is all you’ll need.

So, hypnosis is not like being unconscious, it is almost like having heightened awareness, it requires you to want the change, have an open, positive mind, as best as you can, and allow whatever happens to happen, without trying to grasp at what you think should happen, just letting it happen.

I wish you all the very best with whichever hypnosis product, or with any consultative sessions you are considering having with any qualified therapist or any training you plan to attend and I just know that having come this far, you really can do it, and make the changes that you want to make with hypnosis.

What is Hypnosis? is a post from: Reference Education Center | biloxibridge.com

Psychotherapy is the use and application of psychological knowledge to help people understand themselves and begin to make appropriate changes, or to be comfortable with who they are.

Psychotherapy has several different theoretical models that have developed over time, the most commonly known being psycho-analysis. The therapy that I practise uses some of the best ideas from these differing schools of thought in order to help people achieve not only a rapid rate of improvement but also a lasting one. It has its basis in a cognitiveanalytical model that seeks to look at the process behind thought, and understand how it has developed, and of course how to change negative thought processes into positive ones.

Hypnosis
Hypnosis is a very effective method of treatment. It is a state of altered consciousness with increased and heightened awareness, which is often accompanied by deep relaxation; this in itself can be beneficial. Contrary to popular belief it does not involve becoming unconscious and has nothing to do with sleep.

Hypnosis cannot be forced upon people, but it is a state which people allow themselves to enter.

It is important to understand that, during hypnosis, people cannot be forced to do things that they would choose not to do. Hypnosis or “trance” as it is often referred to is similar to the experience of day dreaming, when you lose a sense of time and may without thought continue a task that routinely requires concentration, such as driving from one place to another but not actually remembering the journey. This is an example of an altered state of consciousness that we experience every day of our lives.

What is Hypno-psychotherapy?
Hypno-psychotherapy is the practice of psychotherapy with applied hypnosis being the primary approach. The United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy, the lead body for the provision of Psychotherapy in the United Kingdom, recognises the practice of hypno-psychotherapy.

Both hypnotherapy and hypno-psychotherapy utilise hypnosis in a therapeutic form, however an individual that only practises as a hypnotherapist may not have undertaken training in psychotherapeutic theory and practice.

For therapists to be able to register with United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy requires an extensive programme of 4 years training.

Short courses of study that are readily available may give an insight into the techniques and practice of hypnosis, but they do not in themselves enable the practitioner to be able to address all forms of presenting problems.

It is strongly advised that anyone seeking any form of therapy investigates the qualifications and registrations of the practitioners they approach for treatment.

A United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy registered therapist will always provide information relating to their qualifications and registrations if requested.

What Is Hypno-psychotherapy? is a post from: Reference Education Center | biloxibridge.com

Because of this, many people who get agoraphobia often take a year, and in some cases, many years, just finding out what is wrong with them. Since the panic and anxiety symptoms that come with agoraphobia are so physical, people who get agoraphobia commonly visit a succession of doctors trying in search of a diagnosis. Since medical doctors are not usually trained to diagnose agoraphobia, let alone anxiety disorders, agoraphobia has had time to become deeply rooted in most people before they know enough about the disorder to seek the proper treatment and being recovery.

In light of this, here are some basics about agoraphobia:

Agoraphobia is “anxiety about, or avoidance of, places or situations from which escape might be difficult (or embarrassing) or in which help may not be available in the event of having a panic attack or panic-like symptoms. (DSM-IV)

Agoraphobia is a type of anxiety disorder. The term agoraphobia comes from the Greek words agora (?????), meaning marketplace, and phobia (?????), meaning fear. Literally translated as fear of the marketplace, people with agoraphobia are afraid of open or public spaces.

In reality, most people with agoraphobia are not so much afraid of open and public places as they are afraid of having a panic attack in these settings, especially settings in which there may be no one to help in the case of a panic attack or actual emergency.

The most common symptoms of agoraphobia are:

1) Panic Attacks: Periods of intense fear, usually lasting about ten minutes or so (but sometimes longer).

2) Avoidance Behavior: Avoiding places and situations that are hard to escape from or that might be embarrassing to have to suddenly leave. Most commonly, this is because they fear having a panic attack or unexpected catastrophe and not being able to get help or get away.

3) Developing “Safe” People: People with whom the agoraphobic is highly familiar with and feels emotionally close to. Safe people are usually parents, spouses, children, or close friends and relatives.

4) Developing “Safe” Places: Places in which the agoraphobic feels psychologically comfortable. The most common safe place for someone with agoraphobia is his or her own home.

5) Scanning: Obsessive monitoring of one’s own body for strange or unusual symptoms.

6) Fear of being alone: This is related to the fear of having no one to help in the case of a panic attack or real emergency.

If you suspect that you or someone you know might have agoraphobia, dont waste any time in learning about the disorder. Research has shown that the sooner you start the recovery process the more likely your chances of a successful recovery are.

You can learn more about agoraphobia online at the Agoraphobia Resource Center website. The site was started by a recovered agoraphobic with the intention of helping others learn about and recover from agoraphobia. You can find it on the web at:

www.agoraphobia.ws

What is Agoraphobia? is a post from: Reference Education Center | biloxibridge.com

Because human behavior is so complex, an attempt to understand the reasons individuals continue to use, and/ or abuse themselves with substances and/ or maladaptive behaviors to the point of developing self-defeating behavior patterns and/ or other life-style dysfunctions or self-harm is enormously difficult to achieve. Many researchers therefore prefer to speak of risk factors that may contribute, but not be sufficient to cause addictions. They point to an eclectic bio-psychosocial approach that involves the multi-dimensional interactions of genetics, biochemistry, psychology, socio-cultural, and spiritual influences.

Risk Factors / Contributory Causes / Influences:

1. Genetics (family history) is known to play a role in causing susceptibility through such biological avenues as metabolic rates and sensitivity to alcohol and/ or other drugs or addictive behaviors.

2. Biochemistry the discovery of morphine-like substances called endorphins (runners high, etc.) and the so-called pleasure pathway the mesocorticolimbic dopamine pathway (MCLP). This is the brain center or possible anatomic site underlying addictions at which alcohol and other drugs stimulate to produce euphoria which then becomes the desired goal to attain (tolerance loss of control withdrawal).

3. Psychological Factors developmental personality traits, vulnerability to stress, and the desire for tension and symptom reduction from various mental health problems and traumatic life experiences.

4. Socio-cultural/ Spiritual Factors cultural attitudes, marital, relational, legal, financial, and religious psycho-social stressors (etc.), along with the existence of a so-called drug culture that promotes the availability of alcohol and other drugs and/ or addictive behaviors as tension reducers and/ or pain relievers.

Family genetics, and bio-psychosocial, historical, and developmental conditioning factors are difficult and sometimes impossible to be changed within individuals. The standardized performance-based Addictions Recovery Measurement System philosophy incorporates a bio-psychosocial disease model that focuses on a cognitive behavioral perspective in attempting to alter maladaptive thinking and improve a persons abilities and behaviors to solve problems and plan for sustained recovery. Many healthcare consumers of addiction recovery services have a genetic pre-dispositional history for addiction. They have suffered and continue to suffer from past traumatic life experiences (e.g. physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, etc.) and often present with psychosocial stressors (e.g. occupational stress, family/ marital problems, etc.) leaving them with intense and confusing feelings (e.g. anger, anxiety, bitterness, fear, guilt, grief, loneliness, depression, and inferiority, etc.) that reinforce their already low self-esteem. The complex interaction of these factors can leave the individual with much deeper mental health problems involving self-hatred, self-punishment, self-denial, low self-control, low self-respect, and a severe low self-esteem condition, with an overall (sometimes hidden) negative self-identity.

There are many definitions for addiction as it is a complex phenomenon. The American Psychiatric Association avoids the term entirely. The World Health Organization defined addiction as a state of periodic and/ or chronic intoxication produced by the repeated consumption of a natural or synthetic drug. This state of intoxication is manifested by an overpowering desire, need or compulsion with the presence of a tendency to increase the dose and evidence of phenomena of tolerance, abstinence and withdrawal, in which there is always psychic and physical dependence on the effects of the drug (Gossop and Grant, 1990, p. 20).

Addictive diseases generally have been associated with substance abuse. More recently, the concept of addiction has been broadened to include behavior patterns that do not necessarily include alcohol or drugs. Bradshaw (1990) defines addiction as a “pathological relationship to any mood-altering person, thing, substance, or activity that has life-damaging consequences” (p. VIII). Arterburn and Felton (1992) define addiction as “the presence of a psychological and physiological dependency on a substance, relationship, or behavior” (p. 104). Shaef (1987) defines addiction as “any process over which we are powerless. Addiction takes control of us, causing us to do and think things that are inconsistent with our personal values, and which lead us to become progressively more compulsive and obsessive” (p. 18). She divides addictions into two broad categories: Substance addictions (e.g., alcohol, drugs, nicotine, and food, etc.) and process or behavioral addictions (e.g., gambling, food, religion, and sexual addictions, etc.).

Similar to alcohol and substance abuse disorders, process or behavioral addictions have personality factors that tend to characterize their etiologies, behavioral manifestations, and their resistance to change even though they do not involve a chemical addictive substance. For example, although most people can gamble occasionally, (e.g., Saturday night poker games, betting on major sporting events with friends, and/ or playing a slot machine while on vacation, etc.), an estimated six to ten million Americans lose control.

Pathological Gambling, according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR, 2000) is characterized by recurrent and persistent gambling behavior that disrupts family, personal, or vocational pursuits. It also involves continuous or periodic loss of control; a preoccupation with obtaining money for gambling; irrational behavior; and continuation of this behavior in spite of adverse consequences (Rosenthal, 1992).

People also develop dependencies on certain life-functioning activities that can be just as life threatening as drug addiction and just as socially and psychologically damaging as alcoholism. As noted previously 30.5% of American adults suffer from morbid obesity or being 100 lbs. or more above ideal body weight. Some do suffer from hormonal or metabolic disorders, but most obese individuals simply consume more calories than they burn due to an out of control overeating Food Addiction lifestyle pattern.

Hyper-obesity resulting from gross, habitual overeating is considered to be more like the problems found in those ingrained personality disorders that involve loss of control over appetite of some kind (Orford, 1985). Binge-eating Disorder episodes are characterized in part by a feeling that one cannot stop or control how much or what one is eating (DSM-IV-TR, 2000).

Williams (1993) suggests that religious addicts experience three of the same symptoms as other addicts: craving or the need for a fix; the loss of control; and continual use. Johnson and VanVonderen (1991) define Religious Addiction as the state of being dependent on a spiritually mood-altering system. In a change intended to encourage mental health professionals to view patients religious experience more seriously, the DSM-IV included an entry entitled, Religious or Spiritual Problem (Steinfels 1994). One type of psycho-religious problem involves patients who intensify their adherence to religious practices to an obsessive-compulsive and sometimes delusional mental state of mind. I personally had the unique opportunity of writing my doctoral dissertation on religious addiction entitled, Hawaii and Christian Religious Addiction. During that process, I discovered a significant relationship between self-appointed, authoritarian church leaders and religious addictive beliefs, behaviors and symptoms (Slobodzien, 2004).

Likewise, Sexual Addiction affects an estimated three to six percent of the U.S. population. Sexual addiction takes many forms to include obsessions with pornography and masturbation to engaging in cyber-sex, voyeurism, affairs, rape, incest, and sex with strangers. Though solitary forms of this addiction may not be overtly risky, they can be part of a pattern of distorted thinking and identity conflict that can escalate to involve harming the self and others. An example of a Sexual Disorder (NOS) or Not Otherwise Specified in the DSM-IV-TR, (2000) includes: distress about a pattern of repeated sexual relationships involving a succession of lovers who are experienced by an individual only as things to be used. The defining elements of this kind of addiction are its secrecy and escalating nature, often resulting in diminished judgment and self-control (Carnes, 1994).

The fundamental nature of all addiction is the addicts’ experience of helplessness and powerlessness over an obsessive-compulsive behavior, resulting in their lives becoming unmanageable. The addict may be out of control. They may experience extreme emotional pain and shame. They may repeatedly fail to control their behavior. They may suffer one or more of the following consequences of an unmanageable lifestyle: a deterioration of some or all supportive relationships; difficulties with work, financial troubles; and physical, mental, and/ or emotional exhaustion which sometimes leads to psychiatric problems and hospitalization. Addictions tend to arise from the same backgrounds: families with co-dependency including multiple addictions; lack of effective parenting; and other forms of physical, emotional and sexual trauma in childhood. Since it is impossible to expect treatment for one addiction to be beneficial when other addictions co-exist, the initial therapeutic intervention for any addiction needs to include an assessment for other addictions.

Poly-behavioral dependence is the synergistically integrated chronic dependence on multiple physiologically addictive substances and behaviors (e.g., using/ abusing substances nicotine, alcohol, & drugs, and/ or acting impulsively or obsessively compulsive in regards to gambling, food binging, sex, and/ or religion, etc.) simultaneously.

For more info see: Poly-Behavioral Addictions and the Addictions Recovery Measurement System

http://www.geocities.com/drslbdzn/Behavioral_Addictions.html

James Slobodzien, Psy.D., CSAC, is a Hawaii licensed psychologist and certified substance abuse counselor who earned his doctorate in Clinical Psychology. Dr. Slobodzien is credentialed by the National Registry of Health Service Providers in Psychology. He has over 20-years of mental health experience primarily working in the fields of alcohol/ substance abuse and behavioral addictions in hospital, prison, and court settings. He is an adjunct professor of Psychology and also maintains a private practice as a mental health consultant.

What Causes Poly-Behavioral Addiction? is a post from: Reference Education Center | biloxibridge.com

Language is such a powerful tool that, in skilled hands, it can be used to persuade, motivate, seduce and even harm.

That’s right, in skilled hands (or mouths?) language can even create addictions and depression.

This power comes from learning what are called hypnotic language patterns.

Hypnotic language patterns came out of the studies of hypnosis, psychology and sales. When language patterns were first discovered the psychotherapy community realized that they could be used inappropriately. They then made a sincere effort to limit instruction of language patterns only to psychiatrists willing to pay $2000 for the weekend training.

These language patterns entered the popular culture with weekend long seduction seminars that began to spring up to teach lonely and clueless men how talk women into an uncontrollable state of arousal.

Now before you start to roll your eyes in disbelief let me tell you that these language patterns did just that! There are scores of now satisfied men who will attest to their power.

An example of these seduction patterns is one in which the man simple begins talking to a woman about emotions and feelings that precede arousal. There is nothing lurid or suggestive about this because it’s not about arousal or sex itself. At an unconscious level it sets the stage for warm tingly feelings that might elicit a tilt of the head, a smile and a flirtatious glance.

Seduction is only one side of how language patterns are being used. They are of course very useful in sales and influence and many a politician have hired speech writers who training in these powerful tools. Ronald Reagan wasn’t known as The Teflon President without reason. He could woo and amuse the most uninterested audience by using language. Likewise in spite of the scandals around him Bill Clinton always was able to be liked as a person.

In recent years there have even been language pattern trainings that emphasize how to use language to induce guilt, depression and suicide. While these trainers have been condemned for turning to the dark side there is no limit of people wanting to learn.

These language patterns often begin by painting the dark picture of the future and describe feelings of hopelessness and despair.

But the genie is out of the bottle now and people who want power, whether it’s to help or to harm, are attending seminars and trainings as well as reading the many books on the subject.

To conclude, never underestimate the power of words. They are used on you in ways that you might never imagine.

What are hypnotic language patterns? is a post from: Reference Education Center | biloxibridge.com