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We just received an email from LiveScience.com regarding some interesting studies about the limits of memory. We suggest you get on their distribution list to be emailed each time new articles are published.
To read the article, CLICK HERE.
Monsters and Magical Sticks, There's No Such Thing as Hypnosis?
by: Steven Heller, Ph.D. & Terry Steele
New Falcon Publications, Tempe, AZ, 1987
There's No Such Thing as Hypnosis? This may appear to be a strange title for a book written by a man who has been in the field of clinical hypnosis for many years. So begins this delightful little book on hypnotherapy. Heller's point is both that there is no such THING as hypnosis - it is not a thing you can hold - and that in our everyday communications we are constantly hypnotizing and being hypnotized. Throughout the book he gives examples of clients whose problems are characterized as trances into which their family and friends have inadvertently put them. In a meeting with Erickson Heller asked, "Would you say that you perceive all presenting symptoms and complaints as being metaphors that contain a story about the "real" problem, and that your basic approach is to build metaphors that contain a story about the possible solution?" "Exactly!" replied Erickson. You might overlook this slim volume because of its small size, only 188 pages, and because of its seemingly flippant title, but you would be making a mistake.
The first four chapters talk about everyday experience seen as learning/hypnosis, and how often unpleasant memories are hidden from our conscious minds. Chapters five and six deal with beliefs and representational systems, including a discussion of eye accessing cues.
Heller has a light touch and shows frequent flashes of humor. For example, when he explains his view that lead and preferred systems are dependent on the circumstances he writes, "I am now going to go out on a limb. I hope that you will refrain from sawing it off while I am perched upon it." He is of course on solid ground, as he offers numerous case histories illustrating each subject and teaching his insightful and compassionate approach to change work. Subsequent chapters address other Ericksonian topics of conscious/ unconscious division, anchors and anchoring, and utilization.
Highly recommended.
Book review by: Avner Eisenberg
by Muriel Prince Warren, L.C.S.W., D.S.W, and FAAETS
Self-Published: 2007 - Dr. Warren's email: MPW0801@AOL.COM
Reviewed by Judith E. Pearson, Ph.D.
"For a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, and some debt to be paid. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. This perspective has helped me to see there is no way to happiness. Happiness IS the way, so treasure every moment you have and remember that time waits for no one."
-----With Your Eyes Wide Open, page 35
Can creative visualization and hypnosis fulfill your hopes and dreams and lead you toward the accomplishment of your goals? Author, hypnotherapist, and psychotherapist, Muriel Prince Warren says "yes." In With Your Eyes Wide Open, she tells her readers that with creative visualization we can relax the amygdala; the part of the brain that secretes stress hormones. Relax the amygdala and you can reduce the body's stress response. Instead of focusing on worries and fears, Warren encourages us to focus on our hopes, dreams, and goals and to reshape our "neural coding" for the better. Thus, we can improve the "deep unconscious wisdom system" of our minds.
This book has four chapters, each with a hypnosis script or meditation. The topics are 1) releasing stress, 2) healing from within, 3) tapping into one's inner power, and 4) achieving emotional balance. It's easy to understand the title of the book. Even while I was reading the text, I could still feel relaxation, have pleasant thoughts, create appealing images, and call forth happy associations and memories. Each page is illustrated with lovely color photos selected and arranged by art director and designer Philipe Garnier. The photos are mostly portraits of people and scenes of nature that, for me, amplified the author's message, and made it even more enjoyable.
Warren invites her readers to take time out from the rough-and-tumble of daily life to relax, release worries and cares, and contemplate internal and external images of peace and beauty. She encourages people to consider what is possible and to open their minds to those possibilities. It's a message that can benefit anyone and one that we can all use from time to time.
Muriel Prince Warren is a Certified Traumatologist, a board member for the National Board for Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists, and a diplomate of the International Academy of Behavioral Medicine, Counseling and Psychotherapy living in Orangeburg, New York. She founded the Warren Institute, a not-for-profit organization which holds wellness seminars. To purchase her book and to learn more about her work, visit her web site at www.drmurielprincewarren.com.
Judith E. Pearson, Ph.D. is a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and Executive Director with the National Board for Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists. She is an NLP Master Practitioner/Trainer and hypnotherapist with a solo practice in Springfield, Virginia. She has recently published The Weight, Hypnotherapy and You Weight Reduction Program: An NLP and Hypnotherapy Practitioner's Manual. Her web site is www.engagethepower.com.