By: H.D. Johns, Ph.D.

All of the books on dog training remind me to remember that my dogs think of me as
another dog. A lot of the success of training depends on whether they see me as a
superior dog or a subordinate dog. If they see me as top-dog they will tend to obey my
commands, come when they are called and want to be with me. If they see me as an
under-dog they will be less responsive to my controls and may ignore my overtures. In all
of our interactions they will deal with me as though I were another dog.

An old Russian proverb says that if an ox thinks of God, he thinks of him as a bigger ox.
That may explain why when children try to conceptualize God they imagine him as a
male parent or as an old man with a beard. It also may explain something of the way
human beings see other human beings: that is, we tend to think of other people as having
the same thoughts, feelings and behavior that we have, and we can't imagine why
everyone hasn't done as we would have done in a given situation. In other words, we tend
to think of other people as "other dogs."

As a psychotherapist I am often confronted with a person's behavior which, to me is,
obviously self-destructive. Why does a person repeat old behavior patterns that
precipitate trouble for him or herself as well as for others? Why, for example, does a
woman who divorces one wife-beater select another abusive male as her next spouse? I
wouldn't do that. In order to be of help I must see that person as different from me.
I dislike cluttered kitchens. I can tolerate some stains on my counter-tops so long as they
are kept free of unnecessary things. My friend, on the other hand, doesn't seem to mind
clutter but is a fiend for cleanliness. We clash because neither of us considers that we are
people with different experiences in our backgrounds who feel and react differently to
stimuli such as clutter and cleanliness.

Then too, like dogs, we tend to think in terms of a hierarchy of importance and power. In
psychological terms this is known as transference and counter-transference. We put
people in power categories. Some people we see as authority figures and others we see as
secondary to ourselves and treat them accordingly.

I take a reverse lesson from my dogs. I understand (usually) that they are dogs, more
interested in food than I am --- More interested in chasing squirrels than I am --- More
creatures of conditioning than I am. I apply that lesson to my friends and loved ones.
They are not made in my exact image. They are different from me in the ways they think
and feel and act.

The lesson is that there is no one else in the world exactly like me. So, if I tend to think of
people as "other dogs," I need to consider, at least, that there are many different breeds of
dogs with different characteristics. So I will not expect a Chow-chow to think and act like
a Golden Retriever!

Excerpted from:

What I Need to Know about Living I Learned from My Dogs
Copyright (c) 1998, H. D. Johns, Ph.D.

Posted by Ron Klein at 1:51 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Becoming certified by the National Board for Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists (NBCCH) has been well worth the investment. When contacted by potential clients, I always inquire as to how they heard about my services. More than half have said they found me via the free NBCCH web listing or because the NBCCH staff provided my phone number when they called the NBCCH office directly looking for a qualified Hypnotherapist. Due to the numerous referrals I have receive from the web listing provided by the NBCCH alone, I quickly recover my investment in becoming certified and my annual renewal fees. Also, I have seen substantial increases my revenue from the hypnotherapy services I provide.

Importantly, many of my clients say that they feel more comfortable contacting me when they see that I am a National Board Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist. I display my NBCCH certificate in my office, as well as the NBCCH logo on my website. I firmly believe doing so helps me to quickly establish a sense of trust and professionalism with my clients. My advice to any who are considering joining the ranks of the professionals certified by NBCCH, is to do so ASAP. And, keep your certification current so you can continue your NBCCH benefits
--- it will benefit you greatly!

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"I couldn't wait for success
so I went ahead without it".
Jonathan Winters

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Review

By: Judith E. Pearson, Ph.D., L.P.C.

An article in the Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research documents a study on the beneficial effects of hypnotherapy in the treatment of bulimia. The article, entitled "Guided Imagery Treatment to Promote Self-Soothing in Bulimia Nervosa: A Theoretical Rationale" appeared in the April 1998 issue. The researchers were Mary Jane Esplen, R.N., Ph.D. and Paul E. Garfinkel, M.D., F.R.C.P.C. of Mount Sinai Hospital of Toronto, Ontario. The study was partially supported by the Ontario Mental Health Foundation.

Bulimia has several symptoms; among them, an impairment in self-soothing. Bulimia patients seem lacking in the ability to regulate their tension through internalizing earlier soothing or comforting experiences. The current theory among researchers is that those with bulimia use binge eating and purging in attempts to numb tension and assuage emotional distress. This study tested the hypothesis that guided imagery, through hypnotherapy could facilitate self-soothing for subjects with bulimia.

The reasoning was that:
1) Guided imagery occurs within the context of a therapeutic relationship,
2) Guided imagery evokes the relaxation response,
3) Through guided imagery, a therapist can act as an "external" source of comfort,
4) The specific words of the guided imagery process can be tailored to the context of the illness,
5) Guided imagery can enhance self-awareness.

Hypnotherapists have long used guided imagery for mental rehearsal and eliciting insight. The authors note also that bulimia patients have been found to be significantly more hypnotizable than normal age-matched populations or those with anorexia. This study sought to establish the possibility that hypnotherapy could be beneficial as part of a multidimensional treatment program for bulimia.

The hypnotherapy process incorporated a soothing voice tone by the therapist, soft music, soothing imagery with suggestions about pleasant physical sensations and emotions, dialog about relaxation and imagery, and metaphor. During the early stages or treatment, the therapist made suggestions to create a sense of safety, to promote use of imagination, and encourage participation and creativity on the part of the listener.

The authors assembled six guided imagery exercises for the study. Two familiarized subjects with guided imagery, focusing on relaxation and inner awareness. The other four promoted self-exploration. The article includes a script for the first exercise, called "Creating an Inner Sanctuary."

Fifty participants, diagnosed with Bulimia Nervosa, participated in the study. The randomized controlled trial compared subjects who received six weeks of individual guided imagery with a control group of untreated subjects. Scores on measures of eating disorder symptoms, psychological functioning, and self-reports about the guided imagery were obtained as dependent measures. It was found that guided imagery had substantial effects on reducing bingeing and purging episodes. The imagery group had a mean reduction of 74% in bingeing and a 73% reduction in purging. The imagery group reported improvement in attitudes toward eating, dieting and body weight, as well as a reduction in sense of aloneness and increased ability to self-comfort.

The full study can be found at the internet web site: http://jppr.psychiatryonline.org.

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I met a man yesterday or was it years ago.

He told me he was doing an eagle dance. As he moved into himself he could feel himself changing. The rhythm of the drum and his body became one. He was transformed into a golden eagle.

He climbed higher and higher. He turned and went back through time, flying through many nows. On occasional nows, he would descend, each time taking a gift.

He chose comfort on one stop, security on another, and competence on a third. He also picked up love, acceptance, gentleness, joy, and several other items. He then went back through the nows, descended to now, and, turning back into a man, stored all the gifts deep inside himself.

At the beat of the drum, he again was transformed into a golden eagle and took flight.

When he was above the clouds, he turned the other way again went through a series of future nows. It was there he saw his human-self building his dream. At each now, the dream looked different, moving like the ebb and flow of waves in the ocean, and growing stronger while pushed by the winds of change.

The eagle was pleased with his vision and returned to the dancing place and again was transformed.

The man then moved toward the vision, through the nows he dreamed, sharing his gifts along the way. He was full to overflowing. The more he gave away, the more the gifts grew, moving him toward his visions with greater and greater speed.

He told me he was enjoying his journey.

Robert D. Andrews, August,1993

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By: Carol Goldsmith

NLP is founded on a set of principles, or presuppositions, that have been described as useful fictions. Presuppositions don't have to be true to be useful! Therefore it can be useful to adopt the following frameworks to facilitate understanding, therapeutic change and personal growth.

1. People respond to their individual map of reality.

The most famous phrase in NLP is this: "The map is not the territory." Just as a map of Washington, D.C. is a representation of the city (not the city itself), a person's beliefs about the world are not the world. They are representations, or beliefs, about what constitutes reality. Everyone maps the world differently. Two witnesses to a car accident may give completely different accounts to police. And yet, each account is an accurate description of what that person experienced. Events and experience are two different things. Put another way, reality is relative.

2. The meaning of the message is the response you get.

What a speaker says is not necessarily what a listener hears. If your intention is to make yourself understood, then it behooves you to make sure that your audience is interpreting the message as you intended. Asking is the best way is to find out.

3. People work perfectly.

No one is wrong or broken. NLP's purpose is not to "fix" anyone. Its purpose is to help people determine what they want, identify what's getting in the way, and take action toward its achievement. The question is not whether people can succeed, but how.

4. People make the best choices available to them.

In any situation, people do the best they can. Think of a time in your life when things didn't go your way. Were you doing the best you could then, given the knowledge and resources available to you? Or did you go into the situation thinking, "Let me make the worst possible choice"? Undoubtedly, you made the best decision you could with what you had to work with. Had a better choice been available, you'd have made that instead.

5. Everything is an outcome.

Outcomes are the result of actions. The question is: Are you getting the outcome you want? If not, then it's useful to study the behaviors, thoughts, and beliefs that led to the unintended consequence. No doubt you've heard insanity defined as doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result. Vary the inputs and the outcome will differ. Keep at it until you get the outcome you want.

6. Failure is merely feedback.

The most successful people in history succeeded in "failing" more times than the average person. They even failed to see their actions as failures. Thomas Edison once told a reporter that he'd found 9,999 different ways to not invent the electric light bulb. Each experiment provided useful feedback that eventually led to success.

7. All behavior is useful in some context.

There's no such thing as a useless behavior or emotional response. Even undesirable emotions like fear have their proper place in life. Wouldn't you rather feel an appropriate amount of fear when you're walking down a dark alley, rather than be totally oblivious to any danger signs? Behaviors don't need to be eliminated. Rather, they need to be put in an appropriate context and managed accordingly.

8. Every behavior has a positive intent.

Behaviors are intended to benefit the person exhibiting them. Dig beneath the surface of the most destructive or self-sabotaging behavior, and you'll find that its core intention is positive. Smokers don't smoke because they want to get cancer; their intention is to relax or connect with other smokers. Suicide bombers don't blow themselves up because of low self-esteem; their behavior is linked to a higher cause. Find a positive way to meet the underlying need, and the offending behavior will change.

9. Choice trumps no choice.

People often get stuck in the Land of Either/Or. "Either I do this, or I do that." Two choices is no choice. It's a dilemma. The key to getting unstuck in your thinking is to brainstorm a list of options. Even a ludicrous option represents a choice.

10. People with the most choices lead the most fulfilling lives.

The Law of Requisite Variety states that the part of a system that exhibits the most choice controls that system. Said simply, flexibility is power. Exercising choice is like exercising a muscle. The more you do it, the stronger you get.

11. People have all the resources they need.

If it's possible for one person, it's possible for others. Every human being has all the resource s/he needs to achieve a desired outcome. Granted, there are differences between people in their talents, capabilities, and skills. But those resources are still available to us if we choose to cooperate. Anything that's possible in human experience is possible in yours.

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