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Psychotherapy

Planning, practice and patience are the keys to eliminating undesirable behaviors!

Getting the most out of psychotherapy

Take steps to get the most out of your therapy and help make it a success

  • Make sure you feel comfortable with your therapist.
  • Approach therapy as a partnership. Therapy is most effective when you're an active participant and share in decision-making. Make sure you and your therapist agree about the major issues and how to tackle them. Together, you can set goals and measure progress over time.
  • Be open and honest. Success depends on willingness to share your thoughts, feelings and experiences, and to consider new insights, ideas and ways of doing things. If you're reluctant to talk about certain issues because of painful emotions, embarrassment or fears about your therapist's reaction, let your therapist know.
  • Stick to your treatment plan. If you feel down or lack motivation, it may be tempting to skip psychotherapy sessions. Doing so can disrupt your progress. Try to attend all sessions and to give some thought to what you want to discuss.
  • Don't expect instant results. Working on emotional issues can be painful and may require hard work. You may need several sessions before you begin to see improvement.
  • Do your homework between sessions. If your therapist asks you to document your thoughts in a journal or do other activities outside of your therapy sessions, follow through. These homework assignments can help you apply what you've learned in the therapy sessions to your life.
  • If psychotherapy isn't helping, talk to your therapist. If you don't feel that you're benefiting from therapy after several sessions, talk to your therapist about it. You and your therapist may decide to make some changes or try a different approach that may be more effective.
Overview in Psychotherapy by Mayo Clinic

Addiction

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Medical Hypnoanalysis takes advantage of the mind's natural ability to imagine and visualize. The client pictures himself or herself free from the habit, filled with new health, energy, and vitality. They can see themselves as looking healthier, more attractive, freer, and being more active.

The dangers of addictions including food, drugs, smoking, and gambling have been studied and analyzed for years. The detrimental effect on one's mental and physical health is now public knowledge. Many who have become addicted to gambling, food, drugs, or smoking are now looking for ways to quit.

Hypnotism has become a widely used source for opening the subconscious to directly deal with a problem. Hypnotherapy can reinforce changes to break the addiction cycle and help achieve positive responses. It is very useful in staying off drugs and alcohol.

Most addiction programs work at increasing the individual's strength to resist the desire to do the unwanted behavior. They rely on willpower. That is the worst method for quitting addictive behavior for most people. Willpower fluctuates like moods and emotions. One day it may be strong, the next day it may be weak.

Hypnosis Targets Addictive Behavior

The two principal reasons for addictive behavior are identification and replacement. Medical Hypnoanalytical treatment works at eliminating the desire to engage in the addictive behavior, whether it is from identification or replacement. Identification occurs when the addict indulges in the habit because he admires or associates with others such as parents, peers, or celebrities who have the same addiction. Identification addiction is the most common and the easiest to eliminate.

Replacement is when the addictive behavior takes the place of a previous habit (such as one of the other addictions), is used to replace something that is missing, (such as companionship, love, acceptance, self-esteem, security, independence), or when it fills a void created by anxiety or boredom. Replacement addictions often receive sensual gratification from their addiction. They enjoy the feeling of the addiction. For all types of addicts, addiction is both a physical and mental process. So to be effective, the addiction treatment program must address both aspects.

How does hypnosis work with addiction?

To address the psychological aspects of addictive behavior, the Medical Hypnoanalyst will include an evaluation of why the person started the addictive behavior. “What purpose does it serve in their life?” For the Identification Addict, suggestions can be given to help strengthen a person's perception of individuality, i.e., not needing to submit to the addiction to be accepted. For the nursing, your lungs replacement addict, a more detailed analysis of their motivation is required.

To address the physical aspects of any addiction, the medical hypnoanalyst may include hypnotic suggestions that change via increasing awareness and strengthening contact with reality. The individual can imagine the reality that the addiction is unappealing, bad for them, foul, and revolting in every sense of the word. This makes quitting easier.

Once an addict has achieved success in a Medical Hypnoanalytic Addiction Treatment Program it is still necessary to reinforce the programming that led to quitting. Addictions are a habit that is acquired and built over time. It can rarely be eliminated in just a few sessions. Even though they may have stopped the addictive behavior temporarily, the behavior pattern remains. Fortunately, it fades with disuse. Hypnotic conditioning with cassette tapes can be used to reinforce the changes until they become permanent.

Gambling

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MN State Funds Available for Gambling

Lack of money for treatment does not have to be a problem. State funds are now available for treatment services for compulsive gamblers and their families.

The Gambling Crisis in Minnesota

An Interview with Bill Ronan, LICSW Gambling Counselor

      How many people in Minnesota gamble?
      Gambling is a part of the lives of a vast majority of Minnesotans.
      What exactly is problem gambling?
      In short when a persons' gambling is out of control.
      Are there a lot of people who are problem gamblers?
      According to the National Research Council, it is estimated that approximately 0.9 percent of the adult population in the U.S. has a gambling problem.
      How many problem gamblers there are in Minnesota?
      Approximately 1-3% of the adult population has a problem with their gambling.
      What types of gambling cause the most problem gambling?
      Most researchers and mental health professionals believe that different types of gambling cannot be said to “cause” problem gambling.
      Who becomes a problem gambler?
      Problem gambling crosses all social-economic levels, cultures, races, ages, and gender.
      What makes a practitioner of Medical Hypnoanalysis?
      The practitioner of Medical Hypnoanalysis requires knowledge in psychology, psychopathology, and psychotherapy. Medical Hypnoanalysis is dynamic, short-term, and directed.
      How can you tell if someone has a gambling problem?
      Some signs that may indicate there is a gambling problem are:
  • Increasing the frequency.
  • Increasing the amount.
  • Spending an excessive amount of time.
  • Being preoccupied.
  • Gambling creates a special and intense pleasure.
  • Continuing to gamble despite negative consequences.
  • Gambling as a means to cope.
  • “Chasing” - the urgent need.
  • Borrowing money to gamble.
  • Bragging about wins.
  • Frequent mood swings.
  • Gambling for longer periods or more money than originally planned.
  • Secretive behavior.
      • Can problem gamblers be helped? Does treatment work?
      Yes
      Treatment consists of many different components.

Smoking

The Smoke-Free Forever with Medical Hypnoanalysis Program at Applied Behavioral Health Care is based on the best research available on hypnosis-assisted smoking cessation without weight gain. Our goal is to help you become permanently smoke-free. Rather than go for the “quick fix,” we choose to reach permanent cessation.

Motivation is the key. The more motivated you are to quit, the more likely it is you will quit. Do not confuse your conscious desire or motivation to quit with your subconscious (Autonomic Nervous System) addiction. Your desire to quit, not the current ability to quit is the key. This means smoking cessation is your #1 conscious priority.

A combination of hypnotic smoking cessation techniques is better than any single technique. Single-session hypnosis does not work significantly better than a placebo in the long run! While one-shot group or individual hypnosis sessions may help you quit, your chances of relapsing back into smoking are about the same as if you had stopped smoking without hypnosis. Sadly, there is a better than 50% chance you will relapse, and you probably already know this from your own experience.

Post-cessation treatment is the key to staying smoke-free forever without significant weight gain. Follow-up sessions after you have stopped smoking are the single best guarantee that your treatment will “stick” for the rest of your life.

Smoke-Free Forever with Medical Hypnoanalysis Program at Applied Behavioral Health Care begins with a thorough Medical Hypnoanalytic evaluation of you and your motivation to stop, including an assessment of your past attempts and why you relapsed.

man breaking cigarette

Typical Smoking Cessation Session Plans with Smoke-Free Forever with Applied Behavioral Health Care's Medical Hypnoanalysis Program

      Session 1: 2 hours. Brief Medical Hypnoanalytic History Taking, discussions about hypnosis
      Session 2: 2 hours. Smoking Cessation Hypnosis.
      Session 3: 1 hour following the 2nd meeting where you should expect to quit (within 3-4 days): Medical Hypnoanalytic behavior strengthening.
      Session 4: (1 week later): Medical Hypnoanalytic behavior strengthening/follow-up.
      Session 5: (2 weeks later): Medical Hypnoanalytic Smoking Cessation Hypnosis for strengthening/follow-up, and other related issues (if needed) and relapse prevention.
      Session 6: (6 months later): Medical Hypnoanalytic Smoking Cessation Hypnosis final.

Weight Loss

Hypnoanalytically Enhanced Eating Awareness Training (H.E.A.T.)

man and woman running and smiling

We have found that many people become overweight when they begin to use food to satisfy an emotional need; to compensate for something they feel is missing in their lives. Hypnosis for Weight Loss - prescription card with fresh fruit on it emotional need; to compensate for something they feel is missing in their lives. Some people overeat to compensate for an unpleasant experience. Others eat to reward themselves, or possibly for entertainment. Some want to be noticed, and many use a large body to offset a small ego. Food can be used to compensate for a lack of love, to offset fear, to overcome frustration, to deal with boredom, or sometimes even to avoid sex.

Often, the reasons they began overeating are anchored in their past; some emotional event that caused them to begin eating for security, self-preservation, or protection. The memory of the event remains sealed in the subconscious mind, even if they have consciously forgotten it. For these people, dieting alone will not be enough to lose the weight and keep it off. They often view the diet as a short-term program, and look forward to achieving their weight goal so they can return to eating “normally”. Once they meet their goal, they reward themselves with the huge meals or heavy deserts that they have been craving; and the weight quickly returns.

Dieting never eliminates the subconscious need for excess food. It's just a form of self-torture they go through until they eventually give in to their subconscious desires. They may go up and down the scale continuously, never letting go of the desire for excess food.

A Medical Hypnoanalytic program, based on the principles of “Hypnoanalytically Enhanced Eating Awareness Training” (HEAT) will do more than just modify an individual's behavior. It addresses all issues which may be affecting their eating habits. The Medical Hypnoanalyst will ask: “When do you overeat? Where do you overeat?” and most importantly, “Why?” We will also help examine your self-esteem and self-confidence. We need to know if these areas require strengthening?

The HEAT sessions will help you to look back on your life, and locate the event (or events), which led to your current attitude toward food. This is the first step in eliminating the subconscious desire for excess food.

The second step will be to instill a new attitude toward eating, such as “I am satisfied with smaller amounts of healthy food”. Hypnotic conditioning with cassette tapes are used to reinforce the new attitude. When used for 30 days, the attitude becomes a permanent part of your outlook on life. New eating habits are formed, that will last a lifetime. The weight easily stays off, and the roller coaster ride is over.

ADD/ADHD

The therapeutic hypnotic state is a neutralizing and calming of organized brain activity. This leads to a stronger mental capacity when the muscles of a body are relaxed to form the muscles necessary for their next usage. However, the mental state produced by emotion is so similar to hypnosis it has been called “Accidental Hypnosis.” Its importance lies in the fact that during emotion, signals received from the external environment, from body sensations, or the individual's thoughts, can program the human-computer. By this mechanism, adverse symptoms, as well as a therapeutic benefit, can continue long after the original cause or treatment has disappeared.

The intentional production of therapeutic hypnosis depends upon the calming of brain activity. Decreasing the input to the human-computer can help accomplish this. Eye closure or limitation of vision decreases visual input. The disregard of all other sounds but the Medical Hypnoanalyst voice assists in decreasing additional auditory input. Relaxation decreases the number of signals the computer is receiving from the muscles. If the client can be so affected, there is a profound calming in brain activity. The triggering or suggested cues lead to the expected and therapeutically appropriate reflexes that can produce this state by using verbal signals, or suggestions which is the secret of hypnosis.