A Practical Guide to Self-Hypnosis - Melvin Powers

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
A Practical Guide to self hypnosis by Melvin powers Forward.
All of us like to think that our actions and
reactions are a result of logical thought processes, but the
fact is that suggestion influences our thinking a great deal
more than logic. Consciously or unconsciously. Our feelings about almost

(00:24):
everything are largely molded by ready made opinions and attitudes
fostered by our mass methods of communication. We cannot buy
a bar of soap or a filtered cigarette without paying
tribute to the impact of suggestion. Right or wrong. Most
of us place more confidence in what they say than

(00:45):
what we do in our own powers of reason. This
is the basic reason why psychiatrists are in short supply.
We distrust our own mental processes and want an expert
to tell us what to think and feel. Despite this
tendency to adopt our attitudes from others, man has always
been dimly aware that he can influence his own destiny

(01:08):
by directing his thoughts and actions into constructive channels. He
has always, to some extent, known that his mind exerts
a powerful influence on his body, and that thoughts can
have harmful or helpful effects on his emotional and physical health.
The ancient Egyptian sleep temples and the attempts by early

(01:31):
physicians to drive evil spirits out of the body were
both attempts to influence the body through the mind. The
unprecedented sale of the Power of Positive Thinking by Norman,
Vincent Peel and other inspirational literature proves that millions of
modern people recognize the efficacy of constructive thoughts. What most

(01:53):
of them do not recognize is that they are capable
of implanning these beneficial thoughts in their own minds without
reference to any outside agencies. This can be done through
self hypnosis. In modern society, we have many cults, religions,
and methodologies which have mental discipline as their goal. The

(02:15):
best example of a methodology is psychosomatic medicine, which deals
with the inter relationship of the mind and body in
the production of mental or physical illness. The rapid growth
of hypnosis in the last few years is another example,
and it is gratifying to see that the emphasis in
this field is now shifting from hetero hypnosis to self hypnosis.

(02:41):
Self hypnosis is a highly suggestible state wherein the individual
can direct suggestions to himself. It is a powerful tool
in any therapeutic process, and highly motivated subjects can parallel
the success of hetero hypnosis through their own efforts. Self
hypnosis can be used as a palliative agent and can

(03:03):
even afford lasting results in many areas of the organism.
Self hypnosis can alleviate distressing symptoms, substitute strong responses for
weak responses, help overcome bad habits, create good habits, and
help one's power of concentration. The total personality is eventually

(03:25):
changed to the point where it can function adequately in
an increasingly difficult environment. In learning self hypnosis, the subject
does not relinquish control of himself as is commonly believed. Actually,
more control is gained. Self sufficiency and self confidence are
inevitable results. It is well to remember, however, that even

(03:49):
good things may be overdone, and good judgment is necessary
for favorable results. Neither hypnosis nor self hypnosis should ever
be used in discriminately. The effectiveness of self hypnosis depends
upon many factors. Strong motivation, intelligent application of suggestions, and

(04:11):
diligence are prerequisites. We are not suggesting that self hypnosis
can take the place of all forms of psychotherapy. We
do recommend it as an adjunct to therapy. When indicated,
used judiciously, it can contribute a great deal to the
individual's physical and emotional well being and happiness. As a

(04:34):
professional hypnotist, for many years, I have seen astounding and
apparently miraculous results by individuals using self hypnosis. Many of
these cases seem unbelievable to those not familiar with hypnotic phenomena.
It should be remembered, though, that many individuals see hypnosis

(04:54):
only when all other forms of therapy have failed. This
is so common that hypnosis has come to be known
as a port of last call. Yet despite the seeming
hopelessness of such cases, medical literature lists thousands of remarkable recoveries.
There is nothing hit or miss about hypnosis used intelligently.

(05:16):
The results are the same for all those who are
properly motivated, Nor are the results singular to modern hypnotists alone.
In reviewing the literature going back more than one hundred years,
the same gratifying results were obtained. The reader would do
well to scan some out of print books on hypnosis

(05:36):
at the library to understand the point further. This book
is written in terms that are comprehensible to the layman.
The step by step instruction should afford the reader a
means of acquiring self hypnosis. The necessary material is here.
The reader need only follow the instructions as they are given.

(05:57):
The author wishes to thank Rob S. Starlett, member of
the American Medical Writers Association, for his valuable help in
the editorial preparation of this book. It is the author's
hope that you will, through the selective use of self hypnosis,
arrive at a more rewarding, well adjusted, and fuller life.

(06:20):
Melvin Powers one, twenty fifteen, Sherman Road, North Hollywood, California,
nine one six o five, Chapter one. What You Should
Know about self hypnosis. Hypnosis has been defined as a
state of heightened suggestibility, in which the subject is able

(06:41):
to uncritically accept ideas for self improvement and act on
them appropriately. When a hypnotist hypnotizes his subject, it is
known as hetero hypnosis. When an individual puts himself into
a state of hypnosis, it is known as self hypnosis.
In both cases, the subject has achieved a heightened state

(07:04):
of suggestibility. Even in hetero hypnosis, the subject really controls
the response to suggestions. Actually, all hypnosis is really a
matter of self hypnosis. The subject enters into the hypnotic
state when he is completely ready to do so. This
may require from one to many attempts before it is achieved.

(07:27):
Even if the subject insists that he wants to be
hypnotized immediately, he may be resisting hypnosis unconsciously. In self hypnosis,
the same thing usually takes place. The subject is anxious
to achieve self hypnosis, but somehow the state eludes him.
What's wrong. It may be that he is unconsciously resisting it,

(07:50):
hasn't conditioned himself sufficiently, or has achieved the hypnotic state
and doesn't know he is in the state. This last
statement may be surprising, but we will examine it in
detail a little later on. Most experts agree that about
ninety percent of the population can be hypnotized. My own

(08:12):
feeling is that probably ninety nine percent can be hypnotized.
Who among us is not influenced by suggestion? Aren't we all,
as we have seen, influenced by the suggestions of advertising.
Don't we all have a tendency to believe what we
read in the paper, here, on the radio, or see

(08:32):
on television. Aren't we all convinced that a name brand
article is better than one that is not so well
known suggestion plays a tremendously important role in our daily lives.
It begins from naming the baby with an appropriate name
to securing a suitable place for interment. I would like

(08:52):
to call the reader's attention to a fascinating book dealing
with the unconscious reasons why we do so many of
the things that we do. You will be intrigued with
every page of the book. It is called The Hidden
Persuaders by Vance Packard. My contention is that we are
all suggestible, and therefore being hypnotized or hypnotizing ourselves is

(09:17):
just a matter of increasing the suggestibility that we already possess.
Doesn't the hypnotist begin by suggesting relaxation? Doesn't He usually
begin by requesting the subject to fix his attention on
a particular object. Next, he suggests to the subject that
his eyes are becoming heavy and tired. As soon as

(09:39):
the subject closes his eyes, he suggests that he will
be in a deep hypnotic state. I am sure that
you are familiar with this procedure. With each step, the
hypnotist is guiding the subject along directed lines to get
him to accept further suggestions without question or doubt. When
the subject to achieve the ultimate state. In this procedure,

(10:03):
he has been hypnotized. He then accepts suggestions without equivocation.
Let us continue with the same thought. Suppose I say
to you, I'm going to stick you with this pin.
It won't hurt. Would you let me stick you with
the pin? Obviously not. Let us suppose that you have
been hypnotized and I repeat the same suggestion. What happens?

(10:27):
Then you readily accept the suggestion as being factual. Should
I proceed to stick you with the pin, you do
not even flinch. In fact, you do not even feel
the pain. Does this sound incredible? Isn't this exactly the
same procedure that the dentist uses with his patient when
he has hypnotized him for the purpose of painless dentistry.

(10:50):
Achieving hypnosis, therefore, is a matter of directing this suggestibility
that we all possess into the channels that will finally
produce the hypnotic state. It can be much more complicated
than this explanation in many cases, but let us use
this as a working premise. Everyone can be hypnotized. The

(11:11):
time required for achieving hypnosis will vary from subject to subject.
We will discuss Some of the reasons for this in
a subsequent chapter, but for our discussion at this time,
we need to understand this point. I have encountered numerous
individuals who were extremely disappointed because they did not respond

(11:32):
to hypnosis immediately or after several attempts. They wanted to
know what was wrong. An explanation that nothing was wrong
somehow did not satisfy these individuals. After all, they argued,
didn't I go to a hypnotist, especially to be hypnotized?
Some insinuated that perhaps the hypnotist wasn't too good. Let

(11:56):
me explain that most subjects need to be conditioned for hypnosis,
and this conditioning is helped when the subject practices certain
conditioning exercises that I shall discuss in detail in chapter
six titled how to Attain Self Hypnosis. In my teaching,
I have found that about one out of ten subjects

(12:18):
responds to the first attempt at hypnosis. One cannot make
a definite statement as to the length of time necessary
to learn self hypnosis, but it is my experience that
this usually takes about one month. I have had subjects
learned self hypnosis in about thirty minutes. But I must
also relate that I have worked with subjects for one

(12:40):
year before they achieved it. For the most part, the
laws of learning apply to self hypnosis as with anything
else that one would want to learn. It can be
a relatively simple procedure, or it can be very perplexing.
The answer lies not so much with the hypnotist as
with the subject. One question that arises is if I'm

(13:03):
under hypnosis, how can I give myself suggestions? During the
hypnotic state, it must be remembered the subject is always
aware of what is going on. He hears what is said,
follows directions, and terminates the state when told to do so.
In the self hypnotic state, the subject is in full control. Therefore,

(13:27):
he can think, reason, act, criticize, suggest or do whatever
he desires. He can audibly give him self suggestions, or
he can mentally give him self suggestions. In either case,
he does not rouse from the hypnotic state unless he
gives himself specific suggestions to do so. Many feel if

(13:50):
they audibly give them self suggestions, they will awaken. In hypnoanalysis,
the subject answers questions during the hypnotic state. Having the
subject talk does not terminate the state. You can keep
the talkative subject under hypnosis as long as you want. Furthermore,

(14:10):
the subject can be sitting erect with his eyes open
and still be under hypnosis. Carrying this further the subject
may not even be aware that he is under hypnosis.
He can be given a cue not to remember when
the therapist makes a certain motion or says a certain word,
that he will go back into the hypnotic state, but

(14:32):
still keep his eyes open. Only an experienced hypnotists could
detect the change. Another frequent question is how do I
arouse myself from the self hypnotic state? You merely say
to yourself that upon counting to five, you will open
your eyes and wake up feeling fine. Many times the

(14:53):
subject falls asleep while giving himself post hypnotic suggestions. This
is not undesirable, since the suggestions will spill over into
the subconscious mind as he goes from consciousness to unconsciousness.
A popular opinion about hypnosis is that the subject surrenders
his will to the hypnotist in the process of being hypnotized. Furthermore,

(15:18):
many believe that once the subject is hypnotized, the hypnotist
has complete control of the subject and the subject is
powerless to resist suggestion. Both beliefs are erroneous. I believe
the first misconception comes from seeing techniques where the hypnotist
requests the subject to look into his eyes. The hypnotist

(15:39):
suggests to the subject that as he continues to look
into his eyes, he will fall into a deep hypnotic state.
This then becomes a matter of who can outstare whom.
The subject usually begins to blink his eyes, and the
hypnotist follows us up with rapid suggestions that the subject's
eyes are becoming watery and heavy, and that the subject

(16:01):
will fall into a deep hypnotic sleep just as soon
as he the subject closes his eyes. This procedure gives
the impression to the observer that the subject is willed
to go under hypnosis. It appears that once the hypnotist
concentrates or wills sufficiently, the subject succumbs. Actually, the hypnotist

(16:23):
in this technique is not looking into the eyes of
the subject. He fixes his attention on the bridge of
the nose of the subject. The concept that the subject
is a helpless automaton stems from the weird movies, where
the mad scientist has hypnotized subjects into behaving like zombies. Naturally.
There is usually a beautiful girl in the movie, and

(16:46):
she too has been hypnotized. Even though the audience is
sophisticated enough to realize that this science fiction drama is
purely entertainment, the theme is repeated sufficiently in novels, common
and television to make an indelible impression on the subconscious mind.
It's the technique of telling the big lie so many

(17:08):
times that it becomes believable. We are all influenced by
this procedure. There is an excellent book explaining this very premise.
It is called Battle for the Mind by William Sargent.
It describes in detail the technique by which evangelists, psychiatrists, politicians,
and advertising men can change your beliefs and behavior. Following

(17:33):
the reason that the subconscious mind can be affected, you
can see that a problem could present itself even though
the subject consciously wishes to be hypnotized. Unconsciously, there may
be a poor inner relationship with the hypnotist, which can
create an unfavorable climate for hypnosis. When this is the case,

(17:54):
the subject doesn't respond until such a time that he
relates well to the hypnotist. The most calculated procedures will fail.
Until a positive transference relationship is established. I am sure
that you sometimes have said, for some reason, I don't
like that person. If pressed for an answer, you'll probably

(18:15):
reply I can't explain it, but I just have a
feeling about him. Actually, your subconscious reactions are influencing your
thinking and you feel a certain way. The same thing
takes place in business transactions. You either like or dislike
the proposition presented to you. You may say I have

(18:37):
a certain feeling about this deal. You may not be
conscious of the reasons, but your subconscious has reacted automatically
because of previous experience along similar lines. In giving you
some insight into the hypnotic procedure, I am trying to
point out certain problems in regard to acquiring self hypnosis.

(18:59):
For the most it is not a simple procedure that
is accomplished immediately. You can't just will it. It requires
working toward a specific goal and following definite procedures which
eventually lead to success. The hypnotist is usually endowed by
the subject with an omnisence and infallibility, which logically is unjustified.

(19:23):
The subject is naturally extremely disappointed if he doesn't respond immediately.
If he loses confidence in the hypnotist, he may never
achieve hypnosis with this particular hypnotist. I have hypnotized subjects
who have been to several other hypnotists without success, and
I have had some of my unsuccessful subjects hypnotized by

(19:45):
other hypnotists. How and why does it happen? I believe
that some of the reasons are so intangible that it
would be impossible to explain all of them with any
degree of exactitude. I once saw an individual about twelve
times who wanted to learn self hypnosis and had been
unsuccessful in every approach. I asked him if he would

(20:07):
volunteer as a subject for a class in techniques of
hypnosis that I was teaching for nurses. He readily volunteered
and showed up at the designated time, Much to my
amazement as well as his own. He responded within a
relatively short time as one of the nurses hypnotized him
before the group. She had used a standard eye closure technique,

(20:31):
requesting him to look at a spinning hypnodisc that I
had previously used with him every time he was in
the office. Her manner was extremely affable. She had used
the identical technique I had used unsuccessfully, and the subject
responded excellently to cap the climax. He was the first
subject the nurse had ever hypnotized, since this was only

(20:54):
her third lesson. How would you account for it? Here
was one of my students, with two week's experience hypnotizing
a subject where I had failed while using every procedure
that I felt would work. Was it because she was
a better hypnotist? Perhaps? However, I'd like to recall at
this time our discussion about subconscious responses. I'm inclined to

(21:18):
feel that being hypnotized by a middle aged female nurse
created certain favorable unconscious responses which accounted for his going
under hypnosis at that time. It created the initial breakthrough
which was needed. I was able to hypnotize him easily
at his next appointment, and he acquired self hypnosis readily

(21:39):
from that time on. I have tried the same approach
with other subjects who did not respond favorably and have
failed to attain the success that I did in the
above case. Why the impasse? It is one of the
difficulties that we encounter in hypnosis, and as yet it
has not been resolved. We know that the easiest way

(22:00):
to achieve self hypnosis is to be hypnotized and given
a post hypnotic suggestion that you will respond to hypnosis
by a keyword, phrase, or gesture. I have tried to
point out some problems that can arise. Needless to say,
these problems do not always arise, and the attainment of
self hypnosis can be a relatively simple procedure. There is

(22:25):
usually some way of reaching a subject who does not
respond in a reasonable length of time. Now we come
to the point where the subject wishes to hypnotize himself.
What happens in this situation? It would appear that the
subject would go under hypnosis immediately after all, isn't he
controlling the hypnotic session. Of course, this does happen time

(22:49):
and time again, and the results seem miraculous. I receive
mail constantly from readers of several of my other books
on hypnosis telling me how they were able to achieve
certain goals that they never dreamed possible. They write that
they have achieved self confidence and complete self mastery, and
have been able to overcome problems that have plagued them

(23:11):
for many years. These problems not only include strictly psychological troubles,
but many psychosomatic symptoms as well. Many have remarked at
the ease in which they were able to achieve self
hypnosis and the results they wanted For them it was
as simple as following a do it yourself book. Others

(23:32):
write about the difficulty they encounter and ask what to
do about it. It is my hope that this book
will shed some light for those who have experienced difficulty
in learning self hypnosis. We shall discuss many phases of
hypnosis with the emphasis on self hypnosis, will discuss its
many ramifications, and try not to leave out anything helpful

(23:55):
in our discussion. If you follow the instructions and exercises
that I give assiduously, you will be able to achieve
a depth of self hypnosis suitable for solving many of
your personal problems. End of forward and chapter one, Chapter two.
What about the dangers of hypnosis? One of the objections

(24:19):
that you here to hypnosis is that it can be
dangerous in the hands of those not trained in psychodynamics
of human behavior. Inasmuch as psychiatrists and clinical psychologists are
the only ones who are thoroughly trained in the analysis
of human behavior. This objection, if valid, could limit hypnosis

(24:39):
to a comparative handful of therapists. Fortunately, it is not valid.
This was proved several years ago when the Bridey Murphy
craze gripped the country. Despite the fact that thousands of
amateur hypnotists were practicing hypnosis, little or no harm resulted.
I have personally instructed several thousand medical and non medical

(25:01):
individuals and have yet to hear of a single case
where a crisis was precipitated or anything of a dangerous
or detrimental nature occurred as a result of hypnosis. I
have also taught several thousand persons self hypnosis and can
report the same findings. Many patients who seek treatment from
competent psychiatrists, psychoanalysis and psychologists do not always obtain satisfactory results.

(25:29):
This doesn't mean that everyone should stop seeking help from
these specialists. Even a specialist doesn't have a perfect record
of successful therapy. What, then, is the objection to hypnosis?
The theory that if you get rid of one symptom,
another symptom will take its place really holds no truth
and is usually advanced by those who have had little

(25:49):
or no experience in the hypnosis field. However, a difference
of opinion does exist even with those practicing hypnosis. In
this area, some hipnists trade down symptoms by replacing a
serious symptom with a minor one, while others just remove
the symptom. The latter is what a doctor does when

(26:10):
he recommends aspirin for arthritis. He knows the aspirin will
not cure the arthritis, but he wants to alleviate the symptom.
To say that another symptom will replace the pain is
unscientific and untrue. The same is true of hypnosis. Lewis R. Wahlberg,
m D, Clinical Professor of psychiatry, New York Medical College

(26:33):
recently canvas thirty experts in the field of hypnosis and
found a few who felt symptom removal was irrational, temporary,
or outright dangerous. The large majority, however, employed symptom removal
where indicated and minimized or ridiculed any possible bad effects.
A further objection to hypnosis is that the results are

(26:56):
temporary as well as symptomatic. It is well to remark
that most medical therapy is specifically directed to symptom removal.
How permanent is most medical treatment Once you couple hetero hypnosis.
With self hypnosis, you afford the patient the opportunity of
utilizing suggestions for his own benefit any time they are needed. This,

(27:19):
of course, can make symptom relief permanent. As an example,
I would see no harm in teaching a patient self
hypnosis for symptomatic relief of a problem of insomnia. It
would certainly be better than physically depressing the higher brain
centers with sleeping pills to produce unconsciousness every night. I
needn't tell you that millions of dollars are spent every

(27:41):
year on sleeping pills, and patients become dependent upon them,
needing more and more pills in order to produce sleep.
Many accidental suicides stem from an overdose of sleeping pills. Yet,
despite the inherent dangers of sleeping pills, which are glaringly apparent,
they are prescribed by the million, to say nothing of
those that reach the market through illegal channels. Furthermore, how

(28:05):
much effort is really made to get the patient off
the sleeping pills. There are also more voluntary suicides by
sleeping pills than any other method. Perhaps, if these drugs
weren't so readily available, many of these unfortunate individuals would
be with us today. What about the often quoted statement
that you might need to do some damage. Let's explore

(28:28):
this area. I assume that the reader is somewhat familiar
with the work of Emil Koua, or at least has
heard of his famous auto suggestion formula of day by
day in every way, I am getting better and better
during our time. Thousands upon thousands of seemingly helpless and
hopeless cases have been cured by repeating this affirmation over

(28:50):
and over again, day after day as the individual falls asleep.
I think we should make it clear that whether we
call it autosuggestion, positive thinking, meditation, yoga affirmations, or self hypnosis,
we are in reality talking about the same thing. All
require certain basic prerequisites before they will work effectively for

(29:13):
the individual. We'll discuss these prerequisites in the next chapter.
What should be remembered is that the suggestions are being
filtered into the subconscious mind, which does not question, doubt, analyze,
or dispute the efficacy of these beneficial thoughts. You can
be sure that the constant repetition will have its effect.

(29:34):
Hasn't the mind in the past accepted the individual's diagnosis
when he said, I'm sick. I have an inferiority complex.
I can't stop smoking, I can't lose weight, I can't concentrate.
I can remember a person's face, but I can't remember names.
I have a difficult time falling asleep. I just can't

(29:57):
seem to relax. Isn't such a individual in effect using
self hypnosis? And hasn't the person convinced himself of the
validity of his present state? This is truly dangerous. It
is negative hypnosis. The question that I raise is why
shouldn't the subconscious mind be even more convinced and respond

(30:20):
strongly to suggestions which are in conformity with the natural
desire to be of sound body and mind. I have
never been able to find a logical answer. I think
this is what happens many times. A person seeks help
with a problem which in reality has nothing to do
with hypnosis. His cure is not contingent on being hypnotized

(30:41):
or on suggestion he or the hypnotist. Few are indicated.
You will read in nearly every book an article dealing
with hypnosis that hypnotism is not a cure all. No
one has suggested or implied that it should be used
exclusively for all emotional problems. You may read it newspaper
article warning about the dangers of hypnosis. It may tell

(31:04):
of a person who rid himself of one symptom and
developed another in its place. You usually get a grossly
distorted picture of what happened, with many aspects of the
case not included. It's a matter of taking what you
want to prove out of context. Propagandists use this technique
all the time to get across their message. It's the

(31:26):
old story of telling a half truth. Honest criticism and
a sincere difference of opinion are always welcome, but criticism
must be well founded from a scientific point of view
and not stem from an emotional reaction. You have probably
heard the remark I won't let anyone hypnotize me. What

(31:46):
are they really saying and what does hypnosis represent to
such an individual? To them, hypnosis represents some sort of
magic spell which invokes the state of complete helplessness and
dependency of upon the hypnotists. We previously discussed how this
erroneous conception can take place because of the manner in

(32:06):
which hypnosis is usually interwoven with bizarre fictional stories. For many,
the hypnotic state represents a period in which the conscious
guard is dropped, they feel they may compulsively reveal the
darker side of their nature, confess their hostility, or relate
information they would never voluntarily divulge to anyone. This is

(32:28):
the real danger they see in hypnosis. To protect themselves
from it, they attack it. It is much like the
fanatic vice crusader who militantly attacks sin in order to
alleviate his own feelings of guilt, stemming from the fact
that wes actually attracts him. Fear of hypnosis takes different forms,
but basically it is the fear of revealing one's true feelings.

(32:52):
An employee, for instance, at a gathering which included the
employer he dislikes, would never volunteer as a subject for hipisgnosis.
If the occasion arose. He would be afraid he would
do or say something which might endanger his position. Hypnosis
for him would be dangerous because he would be afraid
to take the chance. The truth is, however, that this

(33:15):
individual would be taking no chance. The hypnotic state is
not a confessional period. The subject is aware at all
times of what he is saying. If the subject does
not wish to pursue a line of questioning, he tells
the hypnotist. If the hypnotist persisted further along this line,
the subject would shake off the hypnotic state. Another misconception

(33:37):
about hypnosis is the widely held belief that the subject
is unconscious. This represents a threat to the security of
the individual. Actually, the hypnotic state is a period of
extreme awareness in which the subject is hyperacute. Furthermore, the
subject is not asleep, nor is he in a trance

(33:58):
state in the correct meaning of that term. He is
in an altered state of awareness, with his faculties and
reasoning ability intact, inducing hypnosis merely creates a mood or
state in which the powers of suggestibility are heightened. When
the general public and the medical profession become familiar with

(34:19):
the true state of hypnosis, we shall have a greater
acceptance and utilization of this power. It is a slow process,
but one which will finally evolve in the final analysis.
I believe the only danger that exists is in the
mind of the individual who fears hypnosis because of whatever
subjective qualms he has about his own emotional involvement in

(34:41):
the hypnotic process. Of course, all persons using hypnosis for
the alleviation of pain should consult their family physician. Pain
is nature's way of indicating that something is wrong with
the organism. It would be foolish to suggest that a
pain in the stomach will disappear when this may be
a s ive a needed appendix operation. The same may

(35:03):
be said of constant migraine headaches. It must be determined
that the headache is not a symptom of a brain
tumor or some other pathological condition. It may be of
interest to know that hypnosis is presently being used to
relieve pain in terminal cancer patients. There is an excellent
article on this subject, and I recommend it to doctors

(35:23):
reading this book. It is called the Use of Hypnosis
in the Case of the Cancer Patient, which appeared in
the January nineteen fifty four issue of Cancer. There are
at present several thousand dentists throughout the country using hypnosis.
They have formed their own society and published a quarterly journal,
the Journal of the American Society of Psychosomatic Dentistry. One

(35:47):
of the best books in this field is called Dental
Hypnosis Handbook by Jacob Stolzenberg DDS. An excellent article is
Danger Hypnotistic work by us M. Abramson. The author reviews
briefly the pros and cons regarding the medical use of hypnosis.
He concludes it is the author's opinion, based on extensive

(36:12):
personal experience of over fifteen years, that the use of
hypnotherapy by a physician or dentist who has been properly trained,
and who uses this technique strictly within his field of competence,
carries with it no more and probably less danger than
the use of many other techniques of treatment used in
medicine today. End of chapter two. Chapter three is hypnosis

(36:38):
the Answer? Doctor George Esterbrook's, professor of psychology at Colgate University,
an author of the book Hypnotism, made the following two
statements in a paper called the Future of Hypnosis, given
as part of a program on the nature of hypnosis
at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association in

(36:58):
nineteen fifty nine. It would be well to sound a
word of caution against certain attitudes which have become prevalent,
and which can be well illustrated in the field of medicine.
In this respect, direct suggestion is under the ban, for example,
a dictum never remove the symptom unless the cause is

(37:19):
understood is much emphasized, its validity is greatly open to question,
since much of medical practice is direct symptom removal, as
only a little thought makes apparent. Another dictum generally followed
is that the unconscious background of symptom complexes must necessarily

(37:40):
be made conscious to affect a cure. Reasonable and thoughtful
consideration of the extensive role of the unconscious and daily
living and functioning renders this dictum much less credible. I
should like to discuss both of these statements in some detail,
as they invariably arise in the mind of the individual
seeking help through hypnosis. The first thought that comes to

(38:03):
mind is that all the religious healings cited in the
Bible involve direct symptom removal. The cures that are affected
by religious devotees traveling to sacred shrines are also in
the realm of direct symptom removal. I have yet to
hear a criticism of this type of treatment directed at
religious leaders or condemnation of the religious shrines. These cures

(38:28):
are accepted as evidence of the power of faith or
attributed to the supernatural. In these cases, nothing is ever
done to make the person cured understand the nature of
the unconscious mechanisms which contributed to his problem. Religious healing
cannot be dismissed by merely saying it isn't scientific. A

(38:49):
methodology is only scientific when it works. It is of
no value if it doesn't help the individual's seeking help.
We must face the fact that not all people can
be helped by the same psychological treatment. We can readily
see this in the following extreme example. An aborigine suffering
from a psychological problem certainly wouldn't be a candidate for

(39:13):
psychoanalysis as we know it. He could no doubt be
helped much more readily by a witch doctor. It also
stands to reason that the sophisticated Westerner would not be
influenced by the incantations of a tribal medicine man. Going further,
we find there are many schools of psychotherapy and many

(39:35):
approaches to solving man's emotional problems. The curate for all
of them, however, is approximately the same. I think we
must accept the fact that there is no one sound,
logical scientific approach. I believe that so long as the
end result is achieved, the methodology was scientific for that

(39:55):
individual's needs. The goal of all therapies is to help
the patient free himself from whatever emotional problems beset him.
This approach, to some readers may seem an oversimplification of
a very complex problem. But I think it's time that
we had a simple, workable formula devoid of technical jargon.

(40:17):
Too often, complex technical terms and theories had been glibly
used to explain away failures. I believe we need more
and more emphasis on measures to make the patient feel better,
rather than spending most of the time trying to find
out why he doesn't feel well. This, of course is
symptom removal. Again, I should like to point out an

(40:39):
interesting fact pertaining to Biblical healers. So long as the
fame of the healer preceded his arrival in any country,
he was able to heal the sick. However, where his
fame as a healer was either unknown or discredited, he
found no faith in subsequently no cure. The earliest reference
to hypnosis is in the Bible Genesis two twenty one,

(41:04):
and the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall
upon Adam, and he slept. Doctor William Malamud, eighty sixth
President of the American Psychiatric Association, in an address delivered
at the annual meeting in nineteen sixty stated the following
in a paper called Psychiatric Research Setting and Motivation. During

(41:26):
the last few years, we have witnessed a growing trend
of overemphasizing the value of exact methodology and uniformity of standards.
This trend, which could be characterized as a cult of objectivity,
has already had an important influence on psychiatric research. It
is true that in its emphasis on critical judgment and

(41:49):
valid criteria, it has helped to curb unrestrained flights of
imagination and slopping methodology. But the overglorification of objectivity and
the insistence on rigidly single standards of acceptable methods have
resulted in a concentration on certain phases of the science
of human behavior at the expense of other very important ones.

(42:13):
I believe that most individuals have a fairly good understanding
of how they came to have the problem that they have.
I have yet to encounter a person who protests he
has no idea why he doesn't function as he would
like to in a certain area. From a practical standpoint,
not many have the time nor money required to delve

(42:34):
into the unconscious background of the problem. The high cost
of treatment is a very real objection and cannot be
discounted lightly. People suffering from emotional problems usually suffer financial
reverses as well. Who is to help these people? There
are very few places in the country where they can
receive competent psychiatric help at a reasonable fee. Is there

(42:58):
this type of help in your own community? It is
only when the individual is destitute that the state provides
whatever help it can. However, at this point it's a long,
hard struggle back to good emotional health. The National Association
for Mental Health and its affiliates issue about ten million
copies of two hundred different pamphlets on various aspects of

(43:22):
mental health. To assess the value of these pamphlets, forty
seven mental hygiene experts held a conference at Cornell University.
A report on this outstanding conference has been published. It
is called Mental Health Education a Critique. A feature by
Ernest Taverman in the August eighth, nineteen sixty issue of

(43:44):
Life contains a very worthwhile article on this conference called
Who's normal? Nobody, but we all keep on trying. In
descent from mental health approach, experts decry feudal search for
an unreal goal. The following paragraph is taken from the
Life article What about psychiatry and psychoanalysis? This is a

(44:07):
different matter many unhappy and problem ridden people, though by
no means all who have tried it have profited from psychotherapy. Indeed,
all the mental health pamphlets as a PostScript to all
the self help methods they advocate, wind up by advising
the reader to seek professional care if his problems are

(44:28):
serious enough. But the skeptics at Cornell cited statistics which
to them show that psychiatric treatment is as remote for
the average person as a trip to the moon. Aside
from the expense, which most people would find prohibitive, there
simply are not enough therapists to go around. The US
has around eleven thousand psychiatrists and ten thousand clinical psychiatrists

(44:54):
in all, about one for every eighty five hundred citizens.
If every one with emotion problems decided to see a psychiatrist,
the lines at the doctor's offices would stretch for miles.
I assume that most readers of this book know that
state hospitals are understaffed and unable to provide proper care
for the mentally ill. Mike Gorman, Executive Director of the

(45:18):
National Mental Health Committee has written a crusading report on
this very theme called Every Other Bed. In this book,
he tells us that every other hospital bed in the
United States is occupied by a mental case. Mental illness
costs the country two and a half billion dollars a year,
besides the more important untold human suffering that can never

(45:41):
be equated in dollars. The book is a shocking story
of how we have let this happen, are still letting
it happen, and of how little, for the most part,
we the general public, as well as the medical and
psychological professions, are doing to correct this deplorable situation. It
is time that we re examine the dictums that say

(46:02):
a symptom can never be removed unless the cause is understood,
and the unconscious background of the symptom complexes must be
made conscious and understood before a cure is effected. There
are many positive thinking groups functioning in the religious field.
Many of these religious groups are in existence primarily because

(46:22):
of the dynamic philosophy or psychology they offer for every
day living. Couple this with a strong faith in God,
and you have a combination which approaches infallibility. Recently, we
have had a series of best selling books which expound
this very theme. Does it work? Of course it does
when used properly. You can be sure that there has

(46:45):
been criticism of this religious psychology. The criticism is that
the basic causes of the problem are never dealt with,
and the unconscious conflict is not resolved. It's the same
argument over and over again. What about the people helped?
They seem to have made tremendous strides and are leading
lives as well adjusted as any one else. Once imbued

(47:09):
with this spirit or feeling of well being, it permeates
every phase of their relationship in a constructive manner. The
only reason that there isn't more criticism is that this
type of psychotherapy is incorporated into the religious tenets of
these groups, and criticizing another man's religion makes the detractor's

(47:30):
entire philosophy unacceptable. I am strongly in favor of these
groups because I would prefer having a religion that keeps
pointing out the positive side of life and that life
can be beautiful if you put your faith in God
and practice positive thinking. It is certainly better than the
clinical philosophy of its detractors or the grim religions which

(47:52):
stress punishment, think of the guilt feelings involved in the latter.
No one can live up to such a formidable creed.
Of course, if you suggest to positive thinking religious individuals
that they are using a form of self hypnosis, they
will emphatically deny and debate the issue. Since we are
primarily interested in mental hygiene and not in winning a debate,

(48:17):
it is well to leave the matter as it stands.
The point to keep in mind is, so long as
a person feels that his methodology is the answer to
his needs, and so long as no one is being
hurt by his belief, I feel he should cling to
his conviction. He should not allow it to be destroyed
by those who are thinking in different semantic terms. I

(48:38):
would like to bring up another common example pertaining to
the two basic concepts that we have been discussing. It
is the example of the many individuals who have taken
public speaking courses to overcome stage fright. In most cases,
the person involved hasn't had too much opportunity to be
a public speaker. Because of this, he suddenly feels he

(49:01):
may not say the right thing or forget what he
wants to say. This anxiety can create the very situation
or block that he fears. What is the solution, certainly
not psychoanalysis to find out why he functions the way
he does. You could use this approach, but I don't
think it's the most constructive one. It's like asking what

(49:24):
am I doing that's wrong? Instead of what can I
do that's right? The most constructive approach is to take
a course of instruction to get the actual practice and
experience in the techniques of public speaking before proceeding further.
I believe it is necessary to point out that I
am not just being critical of the convictions of other

(49:45):
sincere and dedicated individuals engaged in the field of mental hygiene.
It is always good to reevaluate our present thinking on
any subject, no matter how sincere or convinced we may
be that what we are doing is correct. At times,
we can become so immersed in our convictions that we
cannot take criticism and respond emotionally to ideas or interpretations

(50:10):
that do not coincide with logical thinking. What, then, is
the answer to mental health problems? There is no single answer.
It is a very complex situation. There are many promising
drugs and treatments which, if adequately developed and widely used,
could do a great deal toward promoting good mental health. Fundamentally,

(50:33):
the problem will always be that of trying to understand
human behavior and helping those in distress with an efficacious formula.
What is that formula? I believe hypnosis can contribute in
part to the answer. Needless to say, hypnosis is contraindicated
in many emotional problems because of the very nature of

(50:54):
the problem itself. Some emotional difficulties must first be worked
out on a common After this, hypnosis can be instrumental
in achieving the final goal. Doctor Frank S. Caprio, a
prominent psychiatrist, in his book Helping Yourself with Psychiatry, states

(51:14):
the following, a whole new world of self confidence and
positive living is open to every person young and old
through hypnosis, self hypnosis, and self suggestion or auto hypnosis.
End of chapter three, Chapter four. How does self hypnosis work?

(51:37):
There's an old Chinese proverb that states one picture is
worth a thousand words. In conveying suggestions to the subconscious.
We have found that picture images are more effective than
words that are implanted. For example, it isn't sufficient to
say I will be confident. The words must be augmented

(51:58):
by a picture of yourself as the confident person you
want to be. If you say I can't visualize myself
as a confident person because I have never been that way,
you can borrow those personality traits that you want for yourself.
Imagine yourself endowed with the characteristics of some confident person
that you know. The qualities that you seek may even

(52:22):
be borrowed from a famous person. If this isn't possible,
make up a personality which is a composite of all
the things you want to be. See yourself walking, talking,
and carrying on activities. Keep fortifying this image with the
mental suggestions that are needed. It won't be long before
these mental impressions give rise to the confident feelings that

(52:45):
you seek. As you keep im planning these images, they
will become a natural part of your conscious personality. Doctor s. J.
Van Pelt, president of the British Society of Medical Hypnotists
and editor of the British Journal of Men Medical Hypnotism,
writes about this technique in his book Secrets of Hypnotism.

(53:06):
He calls it three D technique in medical hypnotherapy. As
you read the following paragraph, it would be well to
remember that it contains the essence of making the self
hypnosis technique work once you have achieved the hypnotic state
per se. Incidentally, the same procedure can be used in
attaining the hypnotic state itself. You see yourself entering the

(53:29):
state of hypnosis in your initial attempts. This in turn
sets up a conditioned response and a favorable emotional reaction,
which is necessary. The writer has found visualization of the
greatest value in the re education of the patient, which
is an essential part of hypnotherapy. In this method, after

(53:50):
the cause of the trouble has been discovered and as
a part of his re education, the patient is instructed,
while under only light hypnosis, to form a picture in
his mind. He is asked to imagine a movie screen
and to see himself just like an actor on this screen,
playing a part. He is told that the picture looks

(54:12):
very real, three D in fact, and that he can
see himself acting and looking the way he wants to
look and act. Various scenes are suggested, such as the
patient will have to face in real life. In each
he is instructed to see himself as in real life,
always succeeding. For instance, the stammerer might be asked to

(54:36):
picture himself speaking easily to people and feeling perfectly at ease.
The patient has also instructed how to form these success
pictures for himself, and it is stressed that he will
only be able to see himself as he wants to
be successful. Since the picture gives rise to the appropriate feelings,

(54:57):
it is not long before the patient begins to show
the benefit of his private three D film shows. After
explaining this technique to students, many have inquired, is that
all there is to it? It seems so simple. Of course,
there is more to it in that the individual must
follow through with the instruction. This is one of the

(55:18):
difficult aspects of this type of program. Let me enumerate
some of the problems I have encountered in teaching self hypnosis.
As mentioned, one of the difficulties is that the techniques
seem too simple. Students become skeptical. They feel it should
be more complicated and involved in order to get results.

(55:39):
I suppose people better appreciate something that comes only after
a hard struggle. This procedure is devoid of this. Of course,
I am not saying that once a person begins to
use this technique, his problems will automatically vanish and his
life will be cheery forever after. We have been conditioned
to think that success and anything can only come after

(56:02):
a long, hard struggle. This is the basic theme of
the American way of life. We have been accustomed to
believe that conflict and struggle are a part of life,
and large doses of it are necessary before we achieve
success in any field. I can only reiterate that the
information contained in this book is all you need to

(56:23):
get results. It is necessary that you follow through and
not give up after you have tried the program for
a short while and have attained no appreciable results. This
brings us to another point. Many persons expect immediate results
when they begin to use self hypnosis. If they don't
get the results they anticipated immediately, they want to know

(56:46):
what's wrong. My answer is usually that nothing is wrong
and that they need only keep steadily applying the instructions. Certainly,
one doesn't become a proficient typist, musician, actor, or sportsman
because he has mastered the basic techniques. It takes time
to acquire proficiency. Let me assure you that anyone using

(57:09):
and applying this technique can benefit from it. One of
the troubles in dealing with any problem is routing defeatism
and hopelessness. You can incorporate post hypnotic corrective measures in
the suggestions that you give yourself. However, I believe that
they must be dealt with on a conscious level as well.

(57:30):
You must believe that you can conquer your difficulties, no
matter how long you have had them. If you are
prepared to work with self hypnosis in an unremitting manner,
you will achieve the self help that you seek now
and then you can anticipate a setback in your progress,
but this needn't discourage you from your overall task. Recount

(57:52):
the progress already made. If you have a let down
because you expected quicker and more dramatic results, remember that
this is a common feeling shared by many with emotional problems.
Remember also how long you have had the problem. No
doubt you have tried other methods and became discouraged because
you weren't making the progress you had anticipated. You drop

(58:15):
the idea and landed back where you started. Make up
your mind consciously that you will work with untiring sincerity
and a perseverance that will not falter because your chosen
goal is not achieved immediately. I know of no therapy
that leads straight to positive results without obstacles and intermittent failure.

(58:37):
Success comes in spite of intervening failures because the ultimate
direction has been clearly thought out and charted. Self hypnosis
will finally work because you are constantly conditioning your subconscious
to react in a positive, constructive manner. The program must,
of necessity become automatic in nature. When it does, you

(58:59):
will suddenly find yourself feeling the way you wanted to
and doing the things that you've set out to do.
With the aid of self hypnosis, you actually cultivate those
feelings that you want. Hypnosis will not work with skeptics.
Every so often a person comes to my office seeking help.
He tells me that his family physician or his spouse

(59:22):
feels that he should take my course and self hypnosis.
I inquire if he feels he might benefit from the course.
If his answer is not positive, and if after talking
to him at length about the benefits of hypnosis, I
still feel he is not ready for the course, I
suggest another mode of treatment for him. The reason for

(59:42):
this is that unless the person is optimistic and enthusiastic
about self hypnosis, it just isn't going to work as
effectively as it would otherwise. The very nature of a
skeptical attitude limits the constructive forces that we wish to harness. Occasionally,
individual want indisputable proof that hypnosis is going to help them.

(01:00:04):
It is impossible to give them the proof and unqualified
reassurance that they seek. Yet these same people do not
require proof from their physicians. No one can guarantee success. However,
I do point out that the continued and intelligent use
of self hypnosis can be instrumental in directing the healing, curative,

(01:00:26):
constructive forces of nature. Many times a metaphysical rather than
a scientific approach is required. It's a matter of trying
to satisfy the patient's needs. At times, it is helpful
to allow the patient to attend a class in self hypnosis.
Being able to communicate and identify with other individuals seeking

(01:00:47):
self hypnosis often is enough to change his attitude. This
is especially true when one or more of the students
relates dramatic changes. Self hypnosis works because we are able
to condition ourselves to various stimuli. We condition ourselves consciously
and unconsciously to many activities. When we experience anxiety, it

(01:01:11):
stems from a condition process which could not have been
conscious or unconscious. In self hypnosis, the individual consciously works
toward implementing and strengthening his own inherent strength and resources.
These objectives, when attained, result in feelings of confidence, relaxation,

(01:01:31):
self mastery, and well being. Furthermore, hypnosis utilizes a natural
mental process. We all know that placebos work admirably in
numerous cases. The Dictionary defines the word placebo as an
inactive substance or preparation administered to please or gratify a patient,

(01:01:52):
also used in controlled studies to determine the efficiency of
medical substances. Many controlled experiments have shown that people achieve
similar results whether they take a placebo which they think
is the real medication or real medication that was prescribed
several years ago. Many tests were carried out with anahistamines

(01:02:15):
to prevent colds. The results were always the same. We
are interested in what makes the placebo act as efficiently
as the true medication. It stands to reason that a
chain reaction is set up actually causing a physiological result
from a psychological situation. The unsuspecting patient declares, I've never

(01:02:36):
felt so good in my life. Yet this would have
never happened if he didn't think he was taking the
marvelous new medicine. A recent scientific study by one of
the leading pharmaceutical houses concluded that one third of the
effectiveness of any medication depends upon the faith and trust
that the patient has in the prescribing physician. I am

(01:02:59):
sure that the placebo results and the patient's faith in
the physician as contributing factors to the effectiveness of medications
do not come as a revelation. We are all aware
of such information. Our problem is how to harness this
unconscious process for constructive goals. The answer is through self hypnosis.

(01:03:21):
Self hypnosis, as we have explained, it uses a technique
called visual imagery. This has been referred to by many
different names, but for our purposes we'll call it visual imagery.
Within this technique lies one of the keys for achieving
the goals that you want. There have been many famous
books written incorporating this technique as a basis for achievement.

(01:03:45):
Perhaps the most famous of all is called Think and
Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. In recent years, the Magic
of Believing by Claude M. Bristol and the Power of
Positive Thinking already mentioned have been become well known. The
book which gives direction to most of the books in
this field is called Self Mastery through Conscious Auto Suggestion

(01:04:09):
by doctor Emil Kuway. I am sure the older readers
of this book have heard the famous saying which I
will repeat here for emphasis. Day by day, in every way,
I am getting better and better invariably. In all these
books there is reference to the Biblical quotation as a
man thinketh in his heart, so is he. As the

(01:04:33):
reader can deduce, we are not theorizing at a startling
new discovery. The technique as ancient as man himself and
his dream of a better tomorrow. All books using the
visual imagery technique will tell you to paint a vivid
mental picture of the material things you wish to acquire.
If it is a case of material wealth. For personal improvement,

(01:04:56):
they tell you to paint a vivid picture of the
individual you want to be. In most cases, you are
told to do this in a relaxed or meditative state
with as few distractions as possible. The next two requirements
are constant repetition conditioning and a burning desire motivation to

(01:05:16):
achieve what you set out to do. Aren't these books
really talking about self hypnosis? Aren't they describing precisely the
techniques of self hypnosis. The terminology is different, but the
approach is the same. With these techniques, there is an
aim to direct thinking, picturization, positive thinking, suggestions, and constructive

(01:05:39):
thoughts or images to the inner self or real self.
Aren't they once again really talking about the sub conscious mind?
I have no argument with any workable approach to emotional maturity,
but in many cases we are actually becoming involved with
the meaning of words semantics. The quickest way to the

(01:05:59):
soul unconscious is through self hypnosis. In this self hypnotic state,
you are able to consciously direct suggestions to your subconscious mind.
End of chapter four, Chapter five, how to Arouse Yourself
from the self hypnotic state. You will note that this

(01:06:20):
chapter precedes instruction on how to attain self hypnosis. The
reason for this is to alleviate whatever anxiety you may
have in regard to the question, if I'm hypnotized, how
do I awaken myself? It is important to understand that
even though you are hypnotized, you are in control. You

(01:06:40):
are aware of your surroundings, what is going on about.
You can think clearly and can arouse yourself very easily.
It is only necessary to say or think, I shall
now open my eyes and wake up feeling fine. You
could also give yourself a specific count and say, as
I count to five, I'll open my eyes and wake

(01:07:03):
up feeling wonderfully well and refreshed. One, two, three, four five.
It should be remembered that while we sometimes use the
words sleep to describe the hypnotic state, we are not
actually referring to true sleep. This accounts for much of

(01:07:23):
the confusion. The individual thinks, if I'm asleep, how can
I awaken myself? If the subject were asleep in the
true sense of the word, this would be impossible. Actually,
the subject is in a special or heightened state of awareness.
In self hypnosis, he is extremely conscious, although his general

(01:07:46):
physical appearance is one of passiveness. In the self hypnotic state,
the individual consciously gives himself whatever suggestions he desires. This
proves he is conscious and therefore can't awaken himself with
the appropriate suggestions. Occasionally, the subject falls asleep while giving

(01:08:07):
him self suggestions or while relaxing to get into the
right psychological mood. Naturally, in this case, the subject will
awaken in due course. If the subject practices hypnosis when
he is normally set to fall asleep in bed, he
would awaken refreshed in the morning at his usual time.

(01:08:28):
Before beginning to give yourself therapeutic suggestions, you could give
yourself the following suggestions, which give you a specific length
of time that you will work with self hypnosis. I
shall work with self hypnosis for fifteen minutes. At the
end of that time, I shall open my eyes and
wake up feeling wonderfully well, wide awake, confident, cheerful, and optimistic.

(01:08:52):
The moment I open my eyes, I'll feel refreshed. In
case of any outside danger, I'll be able to awaken
a meeting idly, be fully alert, and act accordingly. You
will notice that these suggestions take into consideration the possibility
of something happening of danger to the individual, such as fire,

(01:09:13):
et cetera. These points arise in the minds of most
individuals attempting self hypnosis and are well taken. You could
also set an alarm clock to awaken you at a
designated time. Let us assume to arouse yourself, you gave
yourself a suggestion to open your eyes and be wide
awake at the count of five, you count to five,

(01:09:35):
and for some reason you are unable to open your eyes.
First of all, don't worry, remain relaxed and give yourself
the suggestions over again, emphasizing to yourself that at the
count of five you will absolutely, positively be able to
open your eyes very easily and will feel fine. You

(01:09:55):
then begin the count again, reiterating between each number that
you will positively open your eyes at the count of
five and be wide awake. This should do it? Should
this not do it? May I reassure you again, don't
become alarmed. Relax for a few minutes, and try again.
You'll be able to open your eyes and wake up.

(01:10:18):
I hope I haven't frightened you with the prospect of
not being able to awaken. I bring this up only
to acquaint you with the procedure to use. Actually, the
problem of dehypnotization is a rare one. I should point
out a very important fact. I have never had a
subject practicing or using self hypnosis tell me he had

(01:10:39):
the least bit of difficulty in awakening himself from the
self induced hypnotic state. I have had persons tell me
that they heard or read of a case where the
hypnotist could not bring the subject out of the hypnotic state,
and as a result, the subject slept for so many days.
Not one of those stories could be documented your ago.

(01:11:00):
For publicity purposes, stage hypnotists would have a subject sleep
in a store window for several days. This was on
a voluntary basis, though, and should not be confused with
what we are discussing. In working with subjects, I have
very rarely had a subject who did not awaken at
a specific count, but I have had this experience. I

(01:11:23):
have usually found that the subject is so relaxed that
he just didn't want to awaken for fear of losing
this pleasant sensation. When the subject doesn't awaken, I merely
ask him in a calm manner, why don't you wish
to wake up? You can answer me without awakening from
the hypnotic state. He usually replies he liked to remain

(01:11:45):
in this state for another five minutes or so. I
agree to this extended period while getting a firm commitment
from him that he will awaken after this period. This
is usually sufficient to bring the subject out of the
hypnotic state. Occasionally, the instructions to wake up are not
clear to the subject. If this is the case, clearer

(01:12:07):
instructions should be given. You could also deepen the hypnotic
state and then give suggestions to awaken at a specific
count in a very authoritarian manner. Every so often I
have found that the subject has fallen into a natural
sleep and just hasn't heard the instructions. In this case,

(01:12:27):
I raise my voice, which is usually sufficient, or gently
shake the subject, awakening him as you would any sleeping person.
I would like to relate a rather interesting experience that
I had with a male subject. I had worked with
this particular subject six times previous to this occasion. He
was a good hypnotic subject, and he failed to awaken

(01:12:50):
in the usual manner. Since he had carried out several
post hypnotic suggestions, it was rather perplexing to analyze what
had happened. After about ten minutes, he finally agreed while
he was under hypnosis to awaken at a given count.
I asked him what was the nature of the difficulty.
He replied, I wanted to see how you would react.

(01:13:14):
In conclusion, having difficulty in dehypnotizing yourself is extremely rare.
Should it happen, Keep calm and repeat the suggestions with emphasis.
Even in hetero hypnosis, where the hypnotist hypnotizes a subject,
it is extremely rare. There are explainable psychodynamic factors for this. However,

(01:13:38):
they can be met adequately while the subject is under hypnosis.
End of Chapter five, Chapter six, How to attain self hypnosis.
Let us begin with the hypothesis that anyone can learn
in practice to some degree, the science of self hypnosis.

(01:13:58):
We shall assume that you you have carefully thought out
what you want to accomplish. You have, through self analysis,
come up with reasonable goals of therapy and self improvement.
The next step is the acquisition of the hypnotic state
per se. Before giving you the specific instructions, I would
like to clarify a question which invariably arises in teaching

(01:14:21):
a student self hypnosis. It is are the suggestions that
I give myself as effective as the ones you would
give me in hetero hypnosis? It is natural to assume
that the suggestions of the hypnotist would be more effective
than those given by the subject himself, but both have
the same intrinsic value. It is well to remember that

(01:14:43):
all hypnosis is really self hypnosis, and all hetero suggestions
are transposed into self suggestions. If the hypnotist firmly suggests,
from this moment, you will feel very confident in all
life situations, the subject automatically and unconsciously rephrases the statement

(01:15:04):
from this moment, I will feel very confident in all
life situations. The subject, ordinarily mentally or allowed repeats all
suggestions using the pronoun I instead of you. The easiest
and quickest way to learn self hypnosis is to be
hypnotized and given a post hypnotic suggestion to the effect

(01:15:27):
that you will be able to put yourself into the
hypnotic state at a given stimulus whenever you desire to
do so. The hypnotist need not be a professional. Anyone
understanding the rudiments of hypnosis can do this. However, let
us assume you want to learn self hypnosis and cannot
find help. If you understand and consciously practice the instructions

(01:15:49):
that I shall outline, you will attain your goal. Sit
in an easy chair or recline on a sofa or bed. Next,
choose a point of eye fixation on the ceiling, preferably
a spot behind you, which would normally cause eye fatigue
or strain. Now, breathe very slowly, and deeply. As you

(01:16:10):
do this, repeat aloud or mentally the words sleep as
you inhale and deep sleep as you exhale. Do this
for several minutes in a very monotonous manner, until such
a time as you find yourself getting drowsy. Next, suggest
to yourself that your eyelids are becoming heavy and tired.

(01:16:31):
The goal is to acquire eye closure. Using this method,
you want to reach a state where it is uncomfortable
to keep the eyes open. Once you get your eyes
closing seemingly of their own volition, you have reached the
first step in achieving self hypnosis. You can repeat to
yourself such suggestions as my eyelids are becoming very heavy

(01:16:54):
and tired, my eyes are becoming very watery, my eyelids
are blinking. I just want to close my eyes. The
moment I close my eyelids, I shall fall into a deep,
sound hypnotic sleep. Even though in a deep state of hypnosis,
I shall be aware of my surroundings and be able

(01:17:15):
to direct post hypnotic suggestions to my subconscious mind. When
your eyelids actually become heavy, or when your eyes actually
begin to water, you intensify these feelings by repeating affirmative
suggestions along these very lines. This is known as the
feedback technique and helps to reinforce the actual condition that exists.

(01:17:38):
Proceeding in this way hastens the actual closing of the eyes,
an attainment of the hypnotic state. Per se let us.
Assume that you practice this procedure and seemingly nothing happens.
Continue to practice it again and again until such a
time as you are able to achieve an eye closure.
You will eventually be able to do this within an

(01:17:59):
our relatively short period of time. One of the best
times to practice the technique just given is when you
are falling asleep at night. The lights are out and
you are lying in bed. Choose an imaginary spot above
and behind your eye level so there is some strain
on the eye muscles. Now begin giving your self suggestions

(01:18:21):
that your eyelids are becoming heavy, etc. The reason this
period is such an excellent time to practice self hypnosis
is that the suggestions you give yourself spill over into
your subconscious as you drift from consciousness to unconsciousness. It's
like telling yourself to wake up at a certain time
in the morning. The suggestion reaches your subconscious and activates

(01:18:45):
you consciously to awaken. Using this approach, you can give
yourself dynamic constructive suggestions at this time, as well as
giving yourself the post hypnotic suggestion that the next time
you practice self hypnosis you fall into a deeper sound
hypnotic state at the count of three. You also emphasize

(01:19:06):
that your eyelids will close involuntarily whenever you relax for
five minutes and afterwards count to three. This conditioning process
will be augmented by the use of the sleep period.
The suggestions will tend to work unconsciously during this period
and hasten your attainment of the constructive goals as well

(01:19:26):
as the self hypnotic goal itself. Once you have achieved
eye closure, deepen the hypnotic state by the following suggestions.
As I count to three, I shall go deeper and
deeper into a profound hypnotic state. I count to three,
I shall find myself becoming more and more relaxed. As

(01:19:48):
I count to three, I shall fall into a deep
hypnotic state. You repeat these suggestions many times, actually trying
on a conscious level to feel sleepier or relaxed more
at ease. In doing this, you take on the characteristics
of a deeply hypnotized subject. Part of the difficulty in

(01:20:10):
learning self hypnosis is that the subject is aiming at
a state of mind in which he has no experience.
If I say act happy or act sad, there is
an immediate reaction from your experiential background, and you can
react accordingly. If you have never seen anyone hypnotized, and

(01:20:30):
I say act as though you were hypnotized, you must
of necessity act in a manner that you would assume
approximated that of hypnosis. If you had actually seen someone hypnotized,
you would naturally take on the characteristics you had observed.
This would either be done consciously or unconsciously. Some individuals

(01:20:52):
describe the hypnotic state as a state of complete relaxation.
Many get a feeling of detachment, Others feeling of dissociation,
as though their entire being was only thought. Some get
a floating or drifting feeling, likening the experience to line
deep clouds. Others experience a heavy, pleasant sinking feeling. Still

(01:21:16):
others get a feeling of peace and serenity. Many describe
the hypnotic state as being akin to the state just
prior to falling asleep or like daydreaming, and they experience
the same reactions. Yet there are some who do not
feel a definite change. They describe it by saying, I
just felt that I had my eyes closed, I heard

(01:21:39):
everything and was completely aware at all times. Since it
is possible to direct your feelings reactions, I would suggest
that you aim for a completely relaxed, comfortable state. You
have now reached the point where your eyes are closed
and you have given yourself further suggestions to deepen the
state of hypnosis. This has taken from about six to

(01:22:02):
ten minutes. You are not sure, though, that you are
under hypnosis. There are many ways to test this, and
I shall outline one of these tests later in this chapter. However,
for your initial attempts, it isn't too important whether or
not you are under hypnosis. You are still to give
yourself the post hypnotic suggestion that the next time you

(01:22:25):
attempt to hypnotize yourself you will fall into a deeper
and sounder state. After you have relaxed for about five
minutes and counted to three. In your initial attempts, you
will be trying to establish a conditioned response to the
count of three, which will subsequently cause your eyes to
close and put you under hypnosis. Eventually, you should react

(01:22:48):
instantly to the count of three or any other cue
you may use to trigger the response. The key words
or stimulus become associated with the action that you seek.
Through repetition, just thinking about the stimulus can bring on
the response. This is known as ideo motor action and

(01:23:09):
is present in the waking as well as the hypnotic state.
Pav Law's famous experiments, which induced dogs to salivate when
a bell was rung after previously having food fed to
them at the same time, are examples of this type
of conditioning. Don't we generally become hungry if someone tells
us it's noon and time for lunch, when in fact

(01:23:32):
it's only eleven o'clock. I had a common experience recently
that I'm sure many readers have shared. One of my neighbors,
seeing my car was parked in front of my house,
and knowing I was home, called to say he was
dropping in to see me. While working on the manuscript
of this book, I thought I heard the door bell

(01:23:52):
as I was typing. I went to the front door
and no one was there. I even walked around the
house looking for him. Because I was so certain I
heard the bell. This is another example of an ideomotor action.
I told my friend about it when he arrived approximately
thirty minutes later. He looked at me rather whimsically and

(01:24:13):
we both shared a laugh. Haven't you thought you heard
the phone ring when you were waiting for a call?
In the chapter how does Self Hypnosis Work? Stress was
laid on the importance of the visual imagery technique. During
every attempt to achieve some hypnosis, you attempt to visualize
yourself going into the hypnotic state. Once you have deepened

(01:24:35):
the state, you begin the process of visualizing yourself exactly
the way you want to be. You may experience difficulty
at first, but as you keep at it, you will
be able to picture yourself the way you want You
use the visual imagery technique. Whether you think you are
under hypnosis or not, these images become clear as you

(01:24:57):
constantly hammer home these suggestions. This is the exact procedure necessary,
and you needn't complicate it. Let us suppose that you
are getting your eyelids to close at the count of
three and have achieved a good state of relaxation. With
these prerequisites, you can't anticipate going deeper into the hypnotic state.

(01:25:17):
Actually being able to get the eyes to close at
a specific count is the first level in determining if
the subject has gone under hypnosis. If you have conditioned
yourself this far, then you can go to the next step.
The next test is called the swallowing test. You mentally
give yourself suggestions that as you slowly to yourself count

(01:25:40):
to ten, you will get an irresistible urge to swallow
one time. You further suggest that this will happen even
before you reach the count of ten. You then begin
to count. One My throat is parched, and I feel
an irresistible urge to swallow one time. Two, my lips

(01:26:00):
are becoming very dry, and I feel an irresistible urge
to swallow. Three, my throat feels very high, and I
feel an irresistible urge to swallow one time. Four, before
I reach the count of ten, the urge to swallow
one time will become irresistible because my lips and throat

(01:26:21):
are so dry. Five. Once I swallow, I shall no
longer have the urge to swallow again. And as I
swallow one time, I shall fall into a deeper and
sounder state of hypnosis, continue with similar suggestions, repeating and
affirming the suggestions about swallowing. Once you actually swallow, you

(01:26:44):
discontinue the suggestions and instead give yourself suggestions that you
are falling deeper and deeper into a sound hypnotic state,
and that the constructive suggestions you now give yourself will
work for you. Once again, you practice visual imagery, seeing
yourself the way you want to be, while fortifying this

(01:27:04):
image with forceful positive suggestions. You close by giving yourself
suggestions that you will enter the hypnotic state whenever you
relax for five minutes and count to three. The suggestions
are just as effective, whether given aloud or mentally. Many
subjects report that they are reluctant when it comes to

(01:27:24):
giving suggestions to themselves. I can only say that as
you continue to work with yourself, you will develop confidence
in giving yourself suggestions. In order for the suggestions to
be effective, they cannot be given in a reticent or
hesitant manner. They must be given with enthusiasm and anticipation.

(01:27:45):
If you assiduously follow these instructions, you will derive the
benefits you seek in the shortest possible time and witness
the positive tangible results of your suggestions and efforts. In
the next chapter, you'll learn how to deepen the self
hypnotic state. End of chapter six, Chapter seven Deepening the

(01:28:08):
self hypnotic state. For each progressive test, it is usually
necessary to have accomplished the preceding tests. However, this is
not an absolute rule. Frequently a subject responds to tests
at the beginning of the depth scale, and then to
others at the end of the depth scale. Certain tests

(01:28:28):
in between do not work. I have had the following
experience more than once while teaching one of my classes
in self hypnosis. In testing the depth of hypnosis, I
run the gamut of all the tests from light to deep,
and this way the subject can ascertain how far he
has progressed. One frequent test for the deep state is

(01:28:52):
to give the subject a post hypnotic suggestion to the
effect that the next cigarette he smokes will have a
vile taste and it will be absolutely impossible for him
to take more than three puffs. It is further suggested
that after the third puff, the cigarette taste will be
so unbearable it will become necessary for him to extinguish

(01:29:14):
the cigarette. We can expect an excellent hypnotic subject to
comply with these post hypnotic suggestions. But a subject who
hasn't even passed the eye closure test, test number one
or any other test may unexpectedly react perfectly to the
cigarette test, which we know as a standard test for

(01:29:36):
determining if the subject has entered into a deep state
of hypnosis. How can you account for it? There is
no simple or positive answer. If we hadn't given him
this particular test, he would have felt that he wasn't
making progress in his determination to become a good hypnotic subject.
Because of this, he might not have given himself therapeutic

(01:29:59):
suggestion questions because he wouldn't feel he had reached a
state of hypnosis which would benefit him. Remember the following
instructions of giving yourself whatever therapeutic suggestions you want, regardless
of the fact that you feel that nothing has happened.
I have seen many subjects who were bewildered because certain

(01:30:20):
tests did not work, yet were pleased because of very
gratifying overall results from using self hypnosis. They were baffled
because of their inability to pass certain tests, which they
felt were a prerequisite to the success of constructive suggestions.
They gave themselves. It is commonly felt that the deeper

(01:30:40):
the state of hypnosis, the better the results. In actual practice,
I have not found this to be so. I have
had excellent results in a relatively short period of time
with subjects who only achieved a light state, and it
has been necessary to work with others who achieved a
deep statue hypnosis for a longer period before lasting results

(01:31:04):
were in evidence. Naturally, each individual presents a different set
of needs, and even though the symptoms may be basically
the same, each will respond favorably when his requirements are met.
This happens on a conscious as well as an unconscious level.
For example, the mere assurance by a physician that the

(01:31:26):
patient is all right and has nothing to worry about
is often sufficient to bring about desirable results. Another example
is the mother who stops the sobbing of her hurt
child by a loving kiss. A logical approach pointing out
to the child that he really didn't hurt himself would
never have worked. We have all heard stories of primitive

(01:31:50):
tribesmen who have died because they knew they were the
object of death wishes by another member of the tribe.
The key to achieving a greater depth of self hypnosis
lies in the use of the visual imagery technique. You
see yourself going into the hypnotic state deeper and deeper.
You even picture yourself using this technique passing various progressive

(01:32:15):
hypnotic tests. The second part of the key lies in
giving yourself a post hypnotic suggestion that each succeeding attempt
will put you into a deeper state as a result
of a given stimulus, such as the count of three.
The following instruction should not be attempted, usually unless you

(01:32:35):
have been successful in achieving the two basic tests, the
eye closure as well as the uncontrollable urge to swallow,
followed by the physical act of swallowing at a specific count.
If the conditioning process works for these two tests, you
have achieved the lethargic state of hypnosis. This is the

(01:32:56):
first state of hypnosis and is generally referred as the
light state. Therapeutic suggestions can work admirably in this state.
The next state of hypnosis is known as the cataleptic
state and is referred to as the medium state. Generally,
hypnosis is divided into three states, the lethargic light state,

(01:33:20):
the cataleptic medium, state and the somnambulistic deep state. As
you deepen the hypnotic state, you can accomplish the progressive
tests that I shall outline for you. I'll also number
these tests for the convenience of having a reference. Deepening
the hypnotic state requires the same type of practice or

(01:33:43):
conditioning as the first two steps. Let us call eeclosure
number one and swallowing number two. We are now ready
to proceed to the hand tangling test number three. You
have just completed tests number one and two. You are
in a completely relaxed state. Now give yourself the following suggestions.

(01:34:07):
As I count to ten, and even before I reach
the count of ten, I shall feel light, tingling or
numb feeling in my right hand. As you slowly begin
the count of ten, you keep repeating suggestions to the
effect that your right hand is beginning to tingle. Once again,
you practice the technique of visual imagery, tapping your experiential

(01:34:31):
background for this feeling. You can recall how it feels
when your hand goes to sleep. Once you get an
initial feeling of lightness, tingling, or numbness, reinforce this feeling
by the feedback technique, as you did with the eye
closure test. As you practice this procedure, it will work

(01:34:51):
with greater effectiveness. The following is a very important point
to remember. Be sure that you give yourself a post ti,
not a suggestion that the tingling, light or numb sensation
will disappear as you continue to count to fifteen. For example,
as I count to fifteen, the tingling feeling in my

(01:35:13):
right hand will disappear and I shall experience only normal sensations. Eleven,
the tingling feeling is leaving. Twelve, Now it is leaving faster. Thirteen,
I can feel my hand returning to normal. Fourteen the

(01:35:34):
tingling has left. Fifteen My right hand feels perfectly normal.
You could try a variation of this test by saying
your nose or one of your toes will itch at
a specific count. Once this test is accomplished, you are
ready for the foot test number four. You will remember

(01:35:57):
that the key to achieving a greater depth of hypnosis
lies in visualizing yourself going deeper with each attempt and
accomplishing progressive hypnotic tests. Keep this in mind for a moment.
Let us go back to the hand tingling test number three.
Once you have been successful in accomplishing this test, use

(01:36:18):
the visual imagery technique to see yourself successfully responding to
the foot test. Once you have actually accomplished test number four,
you see yourself accomplishing the hand levitation test number five.
In other words, you use each step to enhance a
greater receptivity for the following progressive test. As you couple

(01:36:42):
this approach with post hypnotic suggestions that you will go
deeper and deeper into the hypnotic state at a given stimulus,
you set into motion a conditioned response mechanism which must
ultimately guide you into a profound state of hypnosis. The
foot test can be accomplished while sitting or lying down.

(01:37:02):
The idea of this test is to imagine that your
feet are stuck to the floor, or that your legs
are so heavy that they are impossible to raise until
you reach a certain count. It is best to begin
this test by trying to capture a heavy, relaxed feeling
in your legs. You give yourself specific suggestions along these lines.

(01:37:25):
As I count to five, I shall notice a very heavy, relaxed,
pleasant feeling in both legs. It will be a very
comfortable feeling, a feeling of complete relaxation. You then begin
the count of ten, following out the idea of the
other tests that you have successfully accomplished. You should remember

(01:37:47):
that there is no time limit, and you take as
much time as you need in order to get to
the relaxed heavy feeling. Once you get the relaxed heavy feeling,
you use the visual imagery technique to try to picture
your legs stuck to the floor. If you are lying down,
imagine you are covered by a heavy blanket which is

(01:38:09):
tightly tucked under the mattress, making it impossible for you
to raise your legs if sitting up, I tell the
subject to imagine that his shoes are stuck to the
floor with iron glue, and since his feet are in
the shoes, it is impossible to lift them until the
specific count which will enable him to do so. Here

(01:38:30):
are the suggestions you can use for the second part
of this test. As I continue to count to ten,
I shall find that it will be impossible for me
to raise my legs. I shall try at the count
of ten, but it will be absolutely impossible to raise
my legs until I count to fifteen. At that time

(01:38:50):
I shall be able to raise my legs easily, and
the heavy feeling will leave as well. You then continue
with the count, giving yourself appropriate suggestion. Once this test
is accomplished, you use the visual imagery technique to see
yourself accomplishing the hand levitation test number five. Be sure

(01:39:12):
you give yourself the post hypnotic suggestion that the next
time you hypnotize yourself, you will fall into a deeper
and sounder state. I'll assume that you have been able
to get a relaxed, heavy feeling in your legs. You
have reached the count of five and are ready to
proceed further. Here are sample suggestions you can use. Six,

(01:39:35):
my legs are becoming extremely heavy. Seven, I'll be unable
to lift them until I count to fifteen. Eight, I
feel very comfortable. My legs are becoming heavier and heavier.
Nine my entire body is completely relaxed and my legs

(01:39:57):
are so heavy that they are impossible to lift. Ten
I'm in a very deep hypnotic state and it is
absolutely impossible for me to move my legs until I
count to fifteen. At this point, you actually try to
raise your legs. If you can't do it, you have

(01:40:17):
reached the cataleptic state. Should you not be able to
raise your legs don't become frightened. All you need to
say is I can now move my legs. You could
also say, as I count to three, I'll be able
to move my legs. However, since we have elected originally

(01:40:37):
to be able to move the legs at the count
of fifteen, it would be best to follow out this pattern.
You could at this time merely count to fifteen, at
which time you would be able to move your legs.
I prefer giving suggestions between each count as follows. Eleven,
the heavy feeling is leaving, and I shall I'll be

(01:41:00):
able to raise my legs at the count of fifteen. Twelve,
I can feel the heavy, relaxed feeling leaving. Thirteen, I
am beginning to move my legs. Fourteen, I am lifting
my legs more and more. Fifteen I have perfect control

(01:41:22):
over my bodily functions and legs. I am lifting and
moving my legs. The heavy feeling is dissipating. I am
in complete control. I can now give myself post hypnotic
suggestions that will be very effective and beneficial. Give yourself
whatever suggestions you want at this time. Let us suppose

(01:41:44):
that you tried the foot tests for some time and
were unsuccessful. Perhaps this puzzles you and you wonder why
it didn't work. Perhaps you were able to get a
heavy feeling in the legs, but the second part of
the test didn't work. The falling information will help you
to understand why you were unable to complete this cataleptic test.

(01:42:06):
Either you had not conditioned yourself sufficiently, or you weren't
really letting go enough to enter into a deeper state
of hypnosis. Most subjects need to test themselves and feel
secure every step of the way. They don't just plunge
into the cataleptic or somnambalistic stages immediately. In this connection,

(01:42:29):
I believe it can be compared with the bather who
goes into the water one step at a time. Even
the playful splashing directed at him by friends does not
compel him to duck under the water. Instead, he continues
to slowly go deeper and deeper until he is completely submerged.
Wouldn't it have been easier to duck under all at once, perhaps,

(01:42:53):
But I'm sure you have either experienced the same thing
yourself or seen it happen. The analogy should be clear.
The subject is reluctant to do what he considers as
giving up his control, when in reality he is really
more and more in control of himself as he penetrates
the deeper levels of hypnosis. In reality, the subject who

(01:43:17):
does not or cannot raise his feet really could move
in case of emergency, even without counting to fifteen. He
has in effect entered into a state in which it
is too much a bother to lift his feet. A
common example of this frame of mind is when you
remain in bed in the morning, even though you know

(01:43:38):
you will be late for work. You are just too
comfortable to move and your initiative seems to be paralyzed.
Let us assume at this point that you have finally
succeeded in getting the foot test to work. You are
now ready for the hand levitation tests number five. In
this test, the goal is to get your hand to

(01:44:00):
slowly rise and touch your chin. Once it touches your chin,
you enter into a still deeper state and lower your
hand slowly to your side. This test is actually combined
with the hand tingling test number three. Since you have
been successful with test number three, the rest is rather simple.

(01:44:22):
This time. As you work test number three, aim for
a light, pleasant feeling in your right hand. Once you
get this reaction, you give yourself suggestions that your right
hand will now rise and touch your chin. As soon
as it does, you will fall into a deeper state
and lower your hand. Here are the suggestions that you

(01:44:44):
can use. As I count to ten, and even before
I reach the count of ten, I shall have an
irresistible impulse to slowly raise my hand to my chin.
As I progress with the counting, my hand will slowly rise,
and the impulse will become stronger and stronger. As soon

(01:45:04):
as my hand touches my chin, the impulse will leave.
I will then lower my hand and fall into a
very deep hypnotic state. I shall be fully aware of
what is happening my surroundings and will be able to
give myself beneficial post hypnotic suggestions. At this point, you

(01:45:26):
start counting to ten, giving yourself suggestions that your right hand,
which already has a light feeling, will begin to slowly
rise to your chin. Time the counting to coincide with
the actual physical act of raising your hand. You are
trying to feel an involuntary urge to raise your hand.

(01:45:46):
The movement itself should also be of an unconscious rather
than conscious nature. A conscious raising of your hand to
your chin is not what you are looking for in
this test. Should you experience difficult in attaining the first
movement of your hand, you can give yourself assistance by
consciously and slowly raising your hand just to get it started.

(01:46:10):
The rest of the movement, as mentioned, must be automatic.
Should you find it necessary to start your hand rising,
use the feedback technique to continue the movement. You can
give yourself the following suggestions. One my right hand is
beginning to rise. Two my right hand is very very light,

(01:46:34):
and I am getting an irresistible urge to slowly raise it.
Three This feeling is getting stronger and stronger. Four my
right hand is rising more and more. Five my hand
is rising toward my chin. Six as soon as my

(01:46:57):
hand touches my chin, I shall fall in to a
deeper and sounder state of hypnosis. Seven my hand is
rising closer and closer toward my chin. Eight the feeling
of lightness is becoming stronger and stronger. Nine my right

(01:47:19):
hand is about to touch my chin. As soon as
it does, I'll fall into a very deep hypnotic state.
Ten my right hand is touching my chin, I'm falling
deeper and deeper into a sound hypnotic state. I'll now
slowly lower my hand and continue falling into a deep, sound,

(01:47:42):
pleasant state of hypnosis. The light feeling has left my hand.
You should not attempt to memorize the exact phraseology for
any of the tests. You are to merely use the
suggestions that have been written out for you as a guide.
The timing of the suggestions is the paramount consideration in

(01:48:02):
attaining successful results. Don't be impatient. Take as much time
as you need. Should you find yourself unsuccessful after ten
or fifteen minutes, drop the test and come back to
it another day. I haven't found that working at a
specific test all day long accomplishes the end result. It

(01:48:24):
is best to work for a specific period every day.
In this way, the condition response pattern is established for
the success of the tests, as well as the success
of the post hypnotic suggestions that you have given yourself.
You should bear in mind that if you have been
successful in achieving the first five tests, you have reached

(01:48:46):
a medium state of hypnosis, and post hypnotic suggestions will
be extremely effective. In the next chapter, you'll learn psychologically
how to go even deeper into hypnosis. You'll learn those
psychological factors that are important to know and that can
contribute to your development into an excellent hypnotic subject. Following this,

(01:49:10):
the subsequent chapter will give you further tests and instructions
for developing into a somnambalistic subject. End of chapter seven,
Chapter eight. What you should know about becoming an excellent subject.
Becoming an excellent subject follows the same general rules for

(01:49:31):
becoming proficient in any other endeavor. It depends upon your motivation, persistence,
and willingness to devote time and study to the subject.
Let us agree that most individuals can learn to play
a musical instrument to some degree. This degree is usually
sufficient for their own needs. To become a virtuoso. However,

(01:49:53):
it is necessary to study the instrument and devote a
great deal of energy and time to practice. The same
example could be given for most undertakings. Anyone can learn
to hit a golf ball, but being able to control
the direction and distance and become a skilled golfer is
quite another matter. If you have been successful in accomplishing

(01:50:16):
the first five tests, you can consider yourself a good
hypnotic subject. Becoming an excellent subject entails following the same
procedure used in accomplishing the first five tests. Some may
proceed very easily into the somnambulistic state, and others may
have a difficult time reaching this deepest stage. Understanding some

(01:50:39):
of the psychology involved and assuming the right psychological frame
of mind for the attainment of the somnambulistic state is
more important than just working blindly in an attempt to
get the somnambulistic tests to work. Being irritable, disgusted, and
despondent because of your inability to go first into hypnosis

(01:51:01):
is not the answer and will only lead to frustration
and failure. The reader is not to assume he will
be a difficult subject. If you have come this far,
you'll be able to continue in the same manner. The
topic under discussion now is brought up to prepare readers
for any contingency that may arise. It's like having a

(01:51:23):
life preserver on a boat. You hope you never need it,
but you should be prepared to use it in case
of an emergency. It is natural to assume that if
you are willing and trying to go into the lethargic,
cataleptic or somnambulistic state you will be able to do
so in a relatively short period of time. Unfortunately, this

(01:51:45):
is by no means the case. Many of the principles
of learning and conditioning can be applied to hypnosis, but
with many subjects these laws do not seem applicable. Let
us assume you wanted to learn to become an excellent typists.
This is a reasonable goal, and all that is necessary
is to continue practicing until you have reached the proficiency

(01:52:08):
you set out to achieve. This proficiency would, as a rule,
follow application of the laws of learning and conditioning. This
isn't always so in the subject's attempt to become somnambilistic.
When the subject progresses from one stage to another in
a classical manner, the theory works admirably. But what happens

(01:52:29):
when a subject cannot seem to progress any further. He
has reached a plateau and is unable to climb higher.
He seems to have reached a psychological impasse or stalemate.
It is easy to say that the subject is thwarted
by a subconscious block and let it go at that. This, however,
doesn't stop him in his dilemma. It's like telling the

(01:52:52):
stranded motorists that the reason his car is stalled is
because the motor isn't running. The following information will be
held helpful to those who haven't been able to reach
the first stages of hypnosis, as well as those who
apparently can only go so far. Actually, the same principles
are involved. If the subject doesn't respond or response to

(01:53:14):
a limited degree, there evidently is a cause or reason
for this poor response. In order to continue this discussion,
it will be necessary for us to agree that the
resistance can be either conscious or unconscious. If the subject
insists that he is trying to let go, has nothing
to hide, is not afraid of hypnosis, understands what is involved,

(01:53:38):
and has strong motivation, we can only assume that the
resistance must be unconscious. Usually, it will be necessary to
work through this unconscious resistance before the subject responds. If
the subject is conditioning himself, this will involve a great
deal of introspection, and even then it is an extremely

(01:54:00):
difficult job. One doesn't usually have proper insight into one's
own emotional make up. The end result is that one
can only rationalize about his behavior. Let us explore some
interesting aspects of hypnosis with a view toward helping you
if you are having difficulty responding the way you desire.

(01:54:21):
I have had the following paradoxical situation happen many times.
A subject calls my office requesting to be conditioned for
self hypnosis. He further requests that he be allowed to
bring along a member of his family or a friend
for the hypnotic session. These individuals usually ask if I
object to this procedure. I interpreted this request as a

(01:54:45):
sign of distrust during my early career as a professional hypnotist.
I was affronted by the idea of the unspoken insinuation
verbalized by this request. Didn't they trust me? Between trying
to defend myself and in assuring them that there was
no need for another person being present since my secretary
could observe the procedure, I usually won the argument, but

(01:55:09):
lost the client. As I developed understanding into the needs
of these persons, I began to realize that the request
was not directed at my integrity, but was a safeguard
for their ego. Here is an interesting sidelight that has
happened frequently in regard to the foregoing situation. I would
request the subject to sit near my desk and tell

(01:55:31):
the onlooker to sit and back and to the side
of the subject, away from the subject's view so as
not to distract him. In this situation, I invariably placed
the hypnodisc on a spinning portable phonograph turntable and turn
it upright for the subject to look at. The hypnodisc,

(01:55:52):
which is made of stiff cardboard, looks like a twelve
inch phonograph record and has concentric heavy lines drawn on it.
As it spins, the subject feels he is being pulled
toward the center. At the same time, it causes his
eyes to become very tired. I have included a drawing
of it on this page for those who are not

(01:56:14):
familiar with this hypnotic device. The revolving hypnodisc causes a
physiological reaction and must work with everyone you feed back
certain known physiological responses for the successful attainment of hypnosis.
The onlooker has had no choice but to look at
the hypnodisc as well as I suggest to the subject

(01:56:37):
that his eyes are becoming heavy and tired, and that
soon he'll have an irresistible impulse to close them. The
onlooker is naturally hearing the same suggestion. Because this person
feels a part of the hypnotic situation, there can be
no conscious resistance. Since these defenses are not hampering the
attainment of hypnosis, the onlooker may readily fall under hypnosis

(01:57:02):
more than once. The onlooker has confided to me that
he was getting a better night's sleep, was feeling wonderfully well,
or had derived other benefits since coming to my office
as an observer. The exact situation happens when the stage
hypnotist is hypnotizing subjects on the stage. Many times a

(01:57:22):
person in the audience who had no intention of becoming
hypnotized becomes influenced in the same manner. Incidentally, these individuals
make the best subjects. There are interesting theories as to
why a subject responds or does not respond to hypnosis.
I think the reader would find some of these theories

(01:57:43):
interesting and perhaps gain some insight into his own hypnotic behavior.
These theories are based primarily on the psychoanalytical approach to hypnosis.
The most prevalent theory is that the hypnotist represents either
the father image paternal or fear hypnosis, or the mother

(01:58:03):
image maternal or love hypnosis. The father usually represents an
authoritarian figure. The subject's identification can be on a conscious
or subconscious level. Let us suppose the subject has ambivalent
feelings towards his father. Because of this, he may not respond.

(01:58:24):
Here is an opportunity to frustrate the authoritative father figure.
The only trouble with this theory is that if there
is an excellent relationship between the father and subject, it
doesn't necessarily mean that the subject will respond easily. The
stage hypnotist invariably uses a strong, authoritative approach with a

(01:58:44):
great deal of success, but this approach generally does not
work best in private practice. I have found that for
the majority of subjects, the maternal approach works best. Perhaps
the process of hypnosis awakens early unconscious memories of being
put to sleep as a child. Some techniques that are

(01:59:05):
used in hypnosis are quite similar to this. The subject,
who is lying down is told to close his eyes
and is spoken to in a quiet, reassuring, monotonous tone
of voice. The hypnotist is seated near him. The hypnotist
even uses the same words that the subject has heard
as a child. Sleep, Go to sleep. When you awaken,

(01:59:29):
you'll feel wonderfully well. In fact, I use some special
music that I have recorded for inducing hypnosis. The first
musical selection is Brahm's Lullaby. Children's music boxes invariably contain
this selection, and the melody cannot help but activate a
pleasant nostalgia. It is a memory associated with love and tenderness.

(01:59:53):
This brings us to the fact that hypnosis may offer
the subject a chance to escape from the reality of
pressing propert problems into a state of complete irresponsibility. In
fact one, theory of hypnosis equates the hypnotic state as
a form of unconscious regression and need for submission. The

(02:00:13):
male subject may have a strong positive identification with his
mother rather than his father. It is part of the
unresolved odopus complex. He sees his mother as a kind,
loving individual, always ready to help. Even if the mother
did something socially unacceptable, the individual would defend her vehemently.

(02:00:35):
The father, who might do something wrong, would rarely be excused.
Just the opposite is true with the female subject. When
asking the female child, whose girl are you, the answer
is invariably Daddy's girl. When asking the male child, whose
boy are you, the answer is invariably Mama's boy. We

(02:00:59):
accept this transference of identification as a normal process of
growing up. When it isn't normally resolved, it can account
for severe personality problems. One might assume, therefore, that a
woman hypnotist could better hypnotize a male subject, and a
male hypnotist could better hypnotize a female subject. But this

(02:01:21):
is not true except for cases such as we have
just mentioned. One school of thought feels that there is
a strong submissive tendency in all of us, and hypnosis
gratifies this wish. The individual's need for dependence has also met.
In this case, the hypnotist becomes omnipotent, being able to

(02:01:42):
alter feelings that ordinarily distress the individual. Normally, adults, when
confronted by a particularly upsetting experience, might want to be
held closely by an intimate friend or member of the family.
Don't We frequently put our arm around a friend and
in grief, trying to comfort him. The inner strength which

(02:02:04):
is created by hypnosis within the total personality structure of
the subject lessons dependency upon the hypnotist, much in the
same fashion as we need the doctor less as we
start to recover from an illness. Self hypnosis further lessons
dependency for no authoritarian figure is used. The subject's attitude

(02:02:26):
toward authority is important to know. It is well known
that officers in the army are more difficult to hypnotize
than non commissioned men. The enlisted man, by a process
of indoctrination and conditioning, is taught to obey and follow
orders without reasoning. The transference of authority to the hypnotist

(02:02:46):
is readily accomplished because of this conditioning process. The army doctor,
when treating patients psychologically replaces his army jacket with a
regular white medical jacket to increase rapport. One interesting theory
is that the subject responds as he thinks the hypnotist
would like him to. This is termed role playing. When

(02:03:09):
asking a subject under hypnosis his name, you usually get
a very slow, deliberate answer, as though the subject were
in a trance. You tell him that he can answer
in a normal speaking voice in tempo, and his further
replies are to be in the same manner as his
waking state. Another theory along these lines is that the
subject acts as he believes a hypnotized person would act.

(02:03:33):
This too, is role playing, but it does not explain analgesia,
such as when the denis hypnotizes the patient and proceeds
to drill a tooth. No one with the possible exception
of a highly neurotic psychic masochist, is going to endure
excruciating pain just to please the doctor. One theory about

(02:03:54):
hypnosis states that it allows the subject and opportunity of
identifying with the hypnotist, whom he sees as a powerful figure.
Through this identification, the subject is able to gain inner strength.
On the other hand, the subject might rebel against the
submissive nature of the hypnotic setting. This could easily create anxiety,

(02:04:17):
which in turn could create hostility, resulting in resistance of
various kinds. As a result of this, the subject might
begin to criticize the hypnotist, find fault with the way
he the subject is being handled, question the judgment of
the hypnotist, or doubt the effectiveness of the hypnotic procedure.

(02:04:39):
Many investigators assert that the rapport, meaning the relationship between
the subject and hypnotist, is all important. This is true,
and the relationship can and does have many ramifications. In psychotherapy,
the term transference is used to denote this relationship. The
relationship further described as a good or bad transference. There

(02:05:04):
is also a counter transference, which indicates the reaction of
the therapists to the patient. Naturally, in order for the
subject to respond, there must be good rapport. I have
tried to indicate that there are complexities that may arise
in the hypnotic setting. There are many conflicting theories as
to why a subject does or does not respond. There

(02:05:28):
are no set rules to follow, and one's intuition, experience,
and judgment help solve any problem that arises. Let me
relate another frequent incident. I have had subjects come to
me after they were unable to be hypnotized by several
other professional hypnotists. They have complained that the hypnotists weren't

(02:05:50):
good hypnotists because they couldn't hypnotize them. After all, they
ask hadn't they been willing subjects? My usual answer is
that the fault, if there is one, is not with
the hypnotists and really not with the subjects. It is
a matter of exploring what has happened and then deciding
on a course of action to ensure success. I am

(02:06:12):
firmly convinced that the subject response when he is positively
without equivocation, ready to do so. He keeps testing the
response to make sure he is in control. He fears
a reduction in his voluntary level of reality, attachment and control.
Unresponsiveness proves to him that he has this control. As

(02:06:35):
long as he does this, which is a natural response,
he never lets go sufficiently to attain hypnosis. Hypnosis, as
we know, is a very sensitive state. It requires complete
faith and trust in the hypnotist. If it is lacking,
the subject never does respond. The phenomenon of hypnosis is

(02:06:56):
entirely subjective in nature, and its success lies within the
total personality structure of the subject. If there is resistance
to hypnosis itself or to the deepening state, the subject,
by his own honest evaluation and verbalization of his resistance,
can do much to become a better subject. Hypnosis must

(02:07:18):
begin with the acceptance by the subject of certain basic
fundamentals that we have already discussed, rather than of the
forcefulness of the hypnotist. The deepening of the hypnotic state
lies in the intensification of the condition response mechanism. Once
it has been initiated, you should not expect to achieve

(02:07:39):
immediate results, although sometimes this does happen. As you continue
to work with perseverance, intelligence and enthusiasm. You will definitely
achieve the goals that you have set for yourself. It
is well to remember that you guide yourself toward the
somnambulistic state depending upon your belief and accept of those

(02:08:00):
principles that have been outlined for you. I have attempted
to point out some of the salient points and theories
to keep in mind in your attempt to develop into
an excellent hypnotic subject. Some of these only pertain to
the situations where the hypnotist works with the subject. Many
of the problems inherent in this setting are not applicable

(02:08:23):
to the situation where the subject is hypnotizing himself. Both
settings have their advantages and disadvantages. As long as you
proceed to follow the instructions given you, you can feel
assured that you will finally achieve self hypnosis. It should
be emphasized that it is vital to adopt the right
frame of mind and your attempt to achieve self hypnosis,

(02:08:46):
particularly a deep state. If you approach hypnosis with approve
it to me attitude, nothing is going to happen. Self
hypnosis requires practicing a set of mental exercises or mental
gymnastics to acquire The ultimate from this training requires systematic conditioning.

(02:09:07):
The word training is used quite extensively in hypnotic literature.
The use of the word implies that hypnosis can be
attained by a training period. The literature speaks frequently of
a subject being trained to respond in a certain way. Obviously,
this means over a certain period of time. It also

(02:09:28):
means you train yourself to become a good hypnotic subject.
It is a skill that all can acquire. There are
four books dealing specifically with self hypnosis that I would
recommend to you for further reading. They are What Is
Hypnosis by Andrew Salter, Hypnosis and Self Hypnosis by Bernard Hollander, MD,

(02:09:52):
Autogenic Training by Johannes H. Schultz, m D. And Self
Hypnosis Its Theory, Technique in Application by Melvin Powers end
of chapter eight. Chapter nine. Techniques for reaching the somnambulistic state.
As indicated in the last chapter, the attainment of the

(02:10:15):
somnambulistic stage of hypnosis can represent an extremely intricate procedure.
Because of certain inherent characteristics of this stage, it is
easier to attain by hetero hypnosis. However, this does not
preclude the fact that it can be reached without the
aid of a hypnotist. More important than the testing and

(02:10:35):
deepening procedures that I shall outline for you in this
chapter are an understanding and an awareness of some of
the complexities involved first in achieving the hypnotic state, then deepening,
and finally reaching somnambolism. There are no absolute or final
answers to the many problems that can arise. You can

(02:10:57):
become entangled with rationalizations so easily when you want the
facts to fit a particular theory. I point this out
to the reader because as the subject goes deeper, the
procedure can become more complicated. There are many interesting phenomena
which can be elicited in the somnambalistic state. They are

(02:11:18):
of interest, for the most part to students of abnormal behavior,
and are pertinent from an academic viewpoint. They do not
fall within the province of this book or of hypnosis
for therapeutic purposes, and might lead the reader astray. Should
readers be interested in further hypnotic phenomena, I refer them

(02:11:38):
to Modern hypnosis by Leslie Kuhn and Salvador Russo, pH d.
Experimental hypnosis by Leslie Lecron time distortion in hypnosis by
Milton Ericsson, m d. And Lynn F. Cooper, m d.
And hypnotism an objective study of suggestive ability by Andre M. Weitzenhoffer, PhD.

(02:12:04):
As discussed previously, some individuals experience difficulty in attaining the
deeper hypnotic states. My advice is to be patient and
to continue working with yourself. It is not imperative or
vital to reach the somnambulistic stage for therapeutic results. It
is a misconception on the part of many students that

(02:12:26):
they must go into the deepest state possible to obtain results.
Dramatic changes can come about at all levels of hypnosis.
The somnambulistic stage is necessary in hypnotherapy when there is
a need for the patient to relieve some traumatic episode.
It is also useful when the patient is reluctant to

(02:12:47):
consciously discuss certain aspects of his problem. Many hypnotherapeutic techniques
such as amnesia, hypernesia progression, paranesia, automatic rite, dream induction, regression,
production of experimental conflicts, and crystal or mirror gazing require

(02:13:08):
a somnambulistic state. For those of you interested in hypnotherapy.
I can recommend no finer book than Hypnotherapy of war
Neurosis by John G. Watkins, pH d. In this book,
the theory of hypnotherapy has been diagrammamatically presented for easy comprehension,

(02:13:29):
and shown to be an amalgamation of concepts and practices
from various schools of thought. Most students of hypnosis equate
the phenomenon of amnesia with the sombalistic state. The mistake
they make is in trying to achieve amnesia. It's similar
to the dog trying to catch his tail. It is

(02:13:50):
impossible for the subject to effectively suggest amnesia to himself
if he remembers what he was supposed to forget. He
has failed, truly doesn't remember what he was supposed to forget.
He doesn't even remember the amnesious suggestion, and can take
no satisfaction from his success because he is not aware

(02:14:10):
that he has accomplished the post hypnotic suggestion. Unless an
elaborate set of post hypnotic suggestions are worked out, it
is an impossible test for self hypnosis. I know the
reader is anxious to begin his conditioning for the somnamblistic state,
but there are still a few pertinent remarks which should
be remembered before proceeding further. The reader should not memorize

(02:14:34):
verbatim any of the tests involved in proving the somnambalistic state.
All that is necessary to remember is the general form
and the goal you seek. The goal is to increase
your suggestibility, which in turn means deepening of the hypnotic state.
After each step, you are to give yourself suggestions that

(02:14:56):
you will go still deeper the next time. You should
also designate a specific length of time to work with
self hypnosis. The suggestions are as follows. I shall work
with self hypnosis for fifteen minutes. At the end of
that time, I shall open my eyes and wake up
feeling wonderfully well. I'll be wide awake and refreshed. In

(02:15:19):
case of any danger, I'll be able to awaken immediately
and act accordingly. Some hypnotists tell their subjects to make
your mind a blank. I suppose that what they really
mean is that you must try to think of only
what the hypnotist is saying. Have you ever tried to
make your mind a blank? Try it for a moment.

(02:15:41):
It's an impossibility. Should the hypnotist persist along these lines,
he'll never be successful. It is the wrong approach. The subject,
because of his inability to comply with this suggestion, is
fighting a losing battle. It is also almost impossible for
the subject to concentrate only on what the hypnotist is saying.

(02:16:03):
Any word the hypnotist says can start a conscious as
well as an unconscious train of thought. Therefore, in reality,
this too is impossible. However, it really isn't necessary that
the subject keep his thoughts concentrated solely on what is
being said, so long as they are kept in the
general area. At times, the more you try to concentrate,

(02:16:27):
the more your thoughts become scattered. Suppose I say to you,
forget the address eighty seven twenty one Sunset Boulevard. What
happens the more you try to forget it, the more
you remember it. Therefore, don't be concerned if you experience
stray thoughts during the induction and deepening of hypnosis. You

(02:16:49):
are now ready to continue with further tests. The first
five tests should be mastered before continuing. Test number six
is referred to as the fly test. In this test,
once under hypnosis, you picture that a fly is crawling
on the back of your right or left hand. Once
you feel the fly, you know you are deeply hypnotized.

(02:17:12):
You might even get an urge to move your hand
and flick the fly off your hand. When this happens,
you know, of course that you are deeply hypnotized. Here
is a sample of the type of suggestions to give.
As I count to ten, and even before I reach
the count of ten, I shall feel a fly crawling
on the back of my right hand. This illusion will

(02:17:35):
seem very real to me. One my right hand is
completely relaxed. Two I feel completely at ease. Three I
am beginning to feel a pleasant, tingling feeling on the
back of my right hand. Four this feeling is becoming strong.

(02:17:58):
Five it feels as though a fly is moving on
the back of my hand. Six I have had this
same feeling before. Seven I can feel the fly. Eight
the feeling is very definite. Nine as I flick my hand,

(02:18:20):
the fly will disappear. If you have felt the fly
move your hand, ten it is gone. Test number seven
is known as the cigarette test, and naturally is only
for those of you who smoke. In this test, you
give yourself post hypnotic suggestions. During the hypnotic state awaken yourself,

(02:18:43):
and then note the effects of the post hypnotic suggestions.
If the cigarette tastes bitter or has a repugnant taste
or odor, and if you furthermore find it impossible to
smoke more than three puffs, necessitating you're putting out the cigarette,
you know the post hypnotic suggestions are working perfectly and
that you are an excellent hypnotic subject. Here are the

(02:19:06):
suggestions to give yourself while under hypnosis. As I count
to three, I shall feel the warm, pleasant rays of
the sun on my face and hands. One the cloud
is moving and I can begin to feel the warm,
pleasant rays of the sun. Two the cloud is moving
more and more, exposing more and more of the sun.

(02:19:30):
I can feel the warmth of the sun's rays. Three
the cloud has moved away from the sun and I
can feel the full warm strength of the sun. It
is a pleasant feeling, but as I continue to count
to five, the warm feeling will dissipate. Four the warm

(02:19:50):
feeling is leaving. Five the warm feeling has left, and
I feel perfectly normal in every respect. A variation of
this test is to see yourself lying comfortably in front
of a fireplace. In this instance, you imagine someone is
adding wood to the fire. As this is done, you

(02:20:12):
feel the warm glow of the fire more and more.
Should you use the fireplace technique, try to incorporate the
sound of rain into the picture. If you hear rain,
you have created a positive auditory hallucination and consider yourself
an excellent subject. You can also visualize a situation where

(02:20:34):
you would be cold. This is not as pleasant as
the picture that one can conjure up about a fireplace,
and thus creates a bit more resistance, since no one
wants to feel uncomfortable. Test number nine is the breeze test.
It can be combined with the previous test. After you
attain the feeling of warmth, you give yourself a count

(02:20:57):
of three or whatever number you want, suggesting that you
will feel the cool ocean breeze if you are at
the beach on your face and hands. You can even
carry this step further, suggesting that you'll even smell the
odor of the salt water. This is known as an
old factory illusion, and should you be able to create

(02:21:18):
this effect, you can be sure that you are a
somnambalistic subject. Here are suggestions you can use as I
count to three, I shall gradually feel the cool ocean
breeze coming over the waves. It will be a very
pleasant feeling. One. I am beginning to feel the cool

(02:21:38):
ocean breeze, especially on my face and hands. Two The
breeze is becoming stronger and stronger. Three. I can definitely
feel the cool ocean breeze. As I continue to count
to five, I shall smell the pleasant, healthy aroma of
the salt water. Four I am beginning to smell the

(02:22:02):
salt water. Five I can definitely smell the salt water.
Now you give yourself appropriate suggestions that the feeling illusion
will vanish as you awaken or at a specific count.
It can be as simple as this. As I count
to three, I shall open my eyes and awaken feeling

(02:22:24):
very refreshed. The feeling of the cool ocean breeze and
smell of the salt air will have vanished completely. At
this point, you count to three and open your eyes.
Test number ten is the hand clasped test. This is
used frequently to test the depth of hypnosis. You fold

(02:22:44):
your hands with your fingers tightly interlocked, and place your
palms together. You then give yourself a hypnotic suggestion that
at the count of three, it will be impossible for
you to unlock your hands. After you try and are
eyes unable to unlock your hands, you continue counting to five,
suggesting that you will be able to do so when

(02:23:06):
you reach the count of five. Incidentally, you should remove
any ring you may be wearing before trying this test.
Here are a few suggestions that you can follow. As
I complete the count of three, I shall try to
unlock my hands, but will be unable to do so
until I count to five. One my hands are locked

(02:23:29):
tightly together. Two, my fingers are locked tighter and tighter.
Three it is impossible for me to unlock my hands
until I count to five. Four. As I reach the
count of five, I shall be able to unlock my
hands very easily. Five I can now unlock my hands

(02:23:55):
very easily. Test number eleven is the arm test. Here
is another test used frequently to test the receptiveness to hypnosis.
Make a tight fist and extend your arm in front
of you as far as possible. Visualize your arm as
one solid mass, as stiff and rigid as a bar

(02:24:16):
of steel. After your arm is extended, give yourself a
hypnotic suggestion that you will be able to bend your
arm when you complete the count of three. As you
continue to count to five, you will be able to
bend your arm very easily. Here is a form of
suggestion you can use. As I reach the count of three,

(02:24:39):
I shall try to bend my arm, but it will
be impossible to do so until I count to five.
No matter how hard I try, it will be absolutely impossible.
One my arm is stiff and rigid as a bar
of steel. Two, I can feel the rigidity in my arm. Three,

(02:25:03):
it is impossible for me to bend my arm until
I count to five. Four, I can feel the stiffness. Slowly,
leaving five, I can now bend my arm easily, and
it feels normal in every respect. Test number twelve is
the eye test. This is probably the most widely used

(02:25:26):
test in hypnosis. Many subjects equate the inability to open
the eyes with hypnosis. Many assume that if they can
open their eyes, they have not been hypnotized. I must
emphatically point out that this is not true. The subject
can fail the eye test and yet have been under hypnosis.
In the deep somnambulistic state, the subject can open his

(02:25:49):
eyes without affecting the depth of the hypnotic state. In fact,
this is done many times in getting the subject to
do automatic writing, crystal gazing, mirror gazing, hypnodrama and revivification,
and carrying out post hypnotic suggestions. In any state. The

(02:26:09):
subject is frequently told that he will open his eyes
and carry out the suggestion. I have found that there
is more anxiety connected with the eye test than any
other test. I feel that it is a normal reaction
and one that must be anticipated by the hypnotist as
well as the subject. Occasionally, while hypnotizing a new subject,

(02:26:32):
he will open his eyes. This can happen when the
subject feels he is losing consciousness. His ability to open
his eyes proves to him that he is in control.
One of the main fears that the subject has is
his belief that he will lose voluntary control of himself.
The fact that he can open his eyes lessens his anxiety.

(02:26:55):
If there seems to be too much threat to the individual,
I use a method that you can follow. Instead of
suggesting that the subject will be unable to open his
eyes at a specific count, I suggest that he will
be so relaxed that it will be too much effort
to open his eyes until a further count is given. Actually,

(02:27:16):
what could take less effort? Here are suggestions you can use.
As I count to three, I shall try to open
my eyes, but I shall be unable to do so
because I feel so relaxed. It will just take too
much effort to open my eyes until I reach the
count of five. Or tell myself to awaken. One my

(02:27:39):
eyes are closed and I am in a very deep
state of hypnosis. Two my eyelids are stuck tightly together.
Three it is now impossible for me to open my eyes.
I shall be able to open them though at the
count of five. Four I shall be able to open

(02:28:02):
my eyes very easily. At the count of five five,
I can now open my eyes and wake up feeling
alert and fully refreshed. In accomplishing the eye test, you
try to create a vivid picture of yourself being completely
and fully relaxed. If you really exerted a great deal

(02:28:22):
of effort, you can open your eyes, but because of
the pleasantness of the completely relaxed state, you prefer not
to do so. It can be likened to your enduring
the cold winter air when you are half asleep in bed.
Instead of getting up to close the window which has
been left open too much. You can, of course get
up and close the window, but it becomes a matter

(02:28:45):
of expending too much energy. Instead, you choose to endure
the discomfort or suggest that your spouse closed the window.
For the following three tests, you give yourself the suggestions
as outlined in the previous tests. It should be pointed
out again that at the conclusion of the test you
give yourself a suggestion that you will feel normal in

(02:29:07):
every respect. Test number thirteen is the music test. This
involves creating an auditory hallucination. Give yourself the suggestion that
at a specific count you will hear your favorite song.
It will last for one minute and then fade out.
Test number fourteen is the dream test. It is incorporated

(02:29:30):
in a great deal of hypnotherapy. The subject is told
that as the hypnotist counts to three, the subject will
have a dream lasting for several minutes which he will remember.
The dream furthermore, will call his attention to an important
incident that he has long forgotten yet which will be
relevant to his problem. In self hypnosis, you suggest to

(02:29:53):
yourself that at a specific count you will have a
very pleasant dream lasting for several minutes at the end,
which time you will awaken feeling refreshed. For those readers
further interested in producing dreams, I can highly recommend a
very fascinating book called The Experimental Production of Dreams during

(02:30:13):
Hypnosis by Professor David bowen Klein. Test number fifteen is
the anesthesia test. This is conducted by telling yourself that
you will not feel the pain associated with the act
of pinching yourself. You suggest that you will feel the
pressure of your fingers, but will not feel the pain involved.

(02:30:34):
I urge the reader not to stick pins in himself
to test the anesthesia. This can be dangerous, lead to infection,
and cause other harmful results. You should also not dig
your nails into your skin to make sure that you
don't feel pain. End of chapter nine, Chapter ten A

(02:30:55):
new approach to self hypnosis when all else fails. Let
us assume that you have tried diligently to learn self
hypnosis for a month or more but have failed. You
have worked faithfully following the instructions outlined in this book
and other books on self hypnosis, but somehow the state
of hypnosis elude you. Should you give up in despair

(02:31:16):
or is there still hope for you. Let me assure
you that you can still become an excellent subject. Let
us examine several areas of this problem and a new
approach that will help you achieve your ends. You must,
first of all, ask yourself if you are feeling better
and whether you have made strides in the direction you
desire while giving your self suggestions in whatever stage of

(02:31:38):
hypnosis you have achieved. If your evaluation is affirmative to
any degree, you can expect even greater results. But you
may say, how can I expect greater results when I
haven't achieved self hypnosis. My answer is you may be
achieving self hypnosis and not know it. The change to
the self hypnotic state from the wakeing state can be

(02:32:01):
very imperceivable. Many times, prior to testing subjects under hypnosis,
I ask them if they think they are in the
hypnotic state. The answer is invariably no. When asking the
subjects for a cogent reason for this answer, they usually
exclaim that they are aware of what is going on
and do not feel any different than they did before

(02:32:21):
I started working with them. They are amazed to find
that various tests work so perfectly. Some subjects do not
respond to hypnotic tests no matter how long you work
with them. For these persons, I usually deemphasize the need
for passing the tests and concentrate on the therapeutic results which
are desired. This approach lessons anxiety and usually results in

(02:32:44):
a deepening of the hypnotic state. It is my feeling
that many subjects resist any tests, as the implication is
that once the tests work, the subject is under complete
control of the hypnotists. The subject may fear this supposed
subjection on one hand, and yet want it on the
other hand. These forces can work unconsciously, and thus the

(02:33:05):
attainment of hypnosis becomes a very intricate, perplexing and trying procedure.
Even though this may be so, I can assure you
that the problem and attainment of hypnosis can be resolved.
It is only a matter of motivation on the part
of the subject. This is the main ingredient necessary for
successful hypnosis. Let me now explain a technique which has

(02:33:28):
worked admirably for many who have been frustrated because of
their inability to achieve self hypnosis. It involves pretending you
are hypnotized and going through the motions of the various
tests as though you were a perfect subject. You will
recall that one theory of hypnosis is that the subject
behaves in a manner that he believes is in keeping

(02:33:50):
with hypnotic behavior. This role playing is the basis for
our unique approach. As the subject continues this procedure, he
takes on the condition response mechanism necessary for self hypnosis.
Let us look at the following examples of role playing.
During the war, many soldiers who wanted to leave the
army would pretend something was wrong with them. They would

(02:34:12):
convince the authorities of the authenticity of their illness, and
since nothing seemed to make them better, they eventually were
separated from the service because of the incapacitating disorder. But
what happened to many of these malingerers after they were
released from the service. I'm sure you know the rest
of the story. The constant malingering was transformed by this

(02:34:34):
role playing into a condition response pattern, eventually bringing about
the very undesirable condition responsible for their leaving the service.
I saw some of these individuals, and more than once
they told me that they had unwittingly hypnotized themselves into
having the ailment. They wanted me to dehypnotize them. They

(02:34:55):
actually turned out to be very easy subjects as they
had become highly suggestible. Unfortunately, their super ego structure was weak,
they had difficulty in identifying strongly with any one, and
the relationship in hypnosis was superficial and without depth. I
am going to relate another example which I hope will

(02:35:15):
help you understand the role playing technique for self hypnosis.
I have had the following experience many times in giving
hypnotic demonstrations before various organizations. For some reason, even though
I carefully ask that only those who desire to be
hypnotized volunteer as subjects for the hypnotic demonstrations, an individual

(02:35:37):
who has no intention of cooperating comes up on the
stage to poke fun at the hypnotist. In giving public demonstrations,
I usually work with about ten subjects and simultaneously give
them the same suggestions and post hypnotic suggestions. Once the
subjects are hypnotized, I work with them with their eyes open.

(02:35:57):
Using this technique, with each sub carrying out a post
hypnotic suggestion intensifies the responses of other subjects. There is
also competitiveness to become the best subject in the meantime,
the individual who is really not under hypnosis has let
the audience know about it by winking or making a
grimace when I was not looking at him. Observing laughter

(02:36:20):
and other audience reactions which are not in keeping with
what is happening at the precise moment during my lecture
is my cue that I have an egocentric person on stage.
You might ask yourself, can't you tell when someone is faking?
It is extremely difficult many times to do so once
you are aware of it. However, you give certain tests

(02:36:42):
to the group. The exhibitionist doesn't know how to respond
each time, and you soon pick him out. Even when
I know specifically who it is, I do not dismiss him. Interestingly,
it is invariably a man. I continue with the lecture demonstration,
but I let the audience know that I am aware
of the situation. This is the interesting part of this example.

(02:37:06):
The bumptuous subject, by giving himself auto suggestions to comply
with various post hypnotic suggestions, is actually engaging in our
technique of role playing. The inevitable happens he finds him
self hypnotized, despite his obvious intention not to be affected
in any way. Any hypnotist can recount similar incidents. What

(02:37:29):
can you learn by the example just presented? What if
you purposely set about doing the same thing and your
attempt to achieve self hypnosis? The obvious answer is that
the technique has a good chance of working and as
a result, you will achieve self hypnosis. This method has
worked with many recalcitrance subjects. To follow this plan, go

(02:37:51):
back to chapter six how to attain self hypnosis and
use the role playing technique. You'll be pleasantly surprised at
how this approach will act as a catalyst. Remember, once
you obtain the eye closure, give yourself whatever therapeutic suggestion
you desire, plus the post hypnotic suggestion that the next

(02:38:12):
time you will fall into a deeper and sounder state
of hypnosis at the count of three or any other
queue you desire. I know you may protest using the
role playing technique with the question if I'm not under hypnosis,
why give myself therapeutic post hypnotic suggestions to condition myself
to go under hypnosis at a specific count. You may

(02:38:34):
further protest that you are only fooling yourself. My answer is,
what if you are? What is lost by doing it
you have everything to gain and nothing to lose? Are
you not really interested in the end result and not
the means? The attainment of the self hypnotic state is
not in itself the n result. It is a means

(02:38:55):
to help you achieve your goal. Don't many people carry
or wear good luck charms of a religious or non
religious nature. Don't we accept these items in our society?
The four leaf clover and rabbit's foot as symbols of
good luck have been part of our culture for a
long time. We are all sophisticated enough to know that

(02:39:16):
they do not have an intrinsic value, but don't they
do something for our mental attitude? This same problem is
precisely what you are to follow in using the role
playing technique. If you believe, expect, and imagine that you
will be successful in this approach to self hypnosis, I
can assure you that you will. May I urge you

(02:39:37):
not to reject this novel and unorthodox approach. Many have
had excellent results when other methods, even those of a
professional hypnotist, have failed. Some of you may recognize this
approach as another means of applying the visual imagery technique.
Whatever you choose to call it. I reiterate, you can't

(02:39:58):
expect good results. It is only necessary that you follow
the instructions and adopt the right attitude. By the right attitude,
I mean that you should adopt the conviction that you
are going to achieve self hypnosis, even though you might
have experienced difficulty up to now. Hypnosis is a conviction phenomenon.

(02:40:19):
It is possible that you may say you are not suggestible. Actually,
your lack of response proves your suggestibility. You have been
influenced by negative suggestions. Every one is suggestible to some degree.
You have become extremely suggestible to conscious or unconscious stimuli,
which are definitely affecting your ability to respond. You need

(02:40:42):
only use this latent suggestibility and make it work for you.
What would you say about the suggestibility of a person
who doesn't want to talk about hypnosis? This person has
never read a book on hypnosis and absolutely doesn't want
you or any one else to HYPNOTI him. Would you
believe this person is a potentially good hypnotic subject. I

(02:41:05):
can tell you by practical experience that once this person
allows himself to be hypnotized, he turns out to be
a perfect subject. Responding to either end of the suggestibility
scale is indicative of success with hypnosis. It becomes a
matter of manipulating this suggestibility skillfully in order to achieve results.

(02:41:27):
Let me give you another example which may help. Which
one of these two lines drawn on this page is
longer line A B or line CD? What is your answer?
Did you think both were the same? Take a ruler
and actually measure them. You'll find line A B longer
than CD, but you reply every other time both lines

(02:41:51):
were the same. This is a familiar optical illusion which
is used many times in basic courses in psychology. It
is no as the Muller Liar illusion. My contention is
that if you said both of the same size, you
are potentially a good subject. You respond perfectly to previous conditioning.

(02:42:12):
Thus you are responding as anticipated. If, on the other hand,
you picked line A B, you are normally suggestible. If
you honestly picked line CD, you are extremely cautious and
respond best to reverse psychology. Once again, you are highly suggestible,
but toward one extreme. Here's another interesting experiment. Would you

(02:42:35):
say that lines A, B and CD were perfectly straight.
I'll let you figure out what your response means to
this test by yourself. You can take a ruler to
determine if the lines are straight. We all respond unconsciously
to stimuli of some sort. Word association tests are based
on this principle. Aren't your reactions automatic to the following terms? Democratic,

(02:43:01):
Republican Party, Communist Party, mother, father, movie star? If I
mention the name of a famous person, city, or country,
the same immediate unconscious reaction takes place. Let's try it.
Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy,

(02:43:26):
Albert Einstein, Albert Schweitzer, Eleanor Roosevelt, Boston, New York City, Hollywood,
Miami Beach, United States, England, France, Italy, Israel, Africa, Russia, China, India,

(02:43:53):
and South America. The response and image keep changing, don't they.
I am trying to point out that this reaction is
automatic because of previous conditioning. I could mention almost anything
and the same automatic reaction would take place. The reaction
would always be the same, unless something had happened to

(02:44:13):
change or alter your response. Let us mention the word hypnosis.
Some sort of reaction must take place. This can either
be positive, negative, or neutral. For our purposes, you really
don't have to think about your response, as it is automatic.
The point to remember is that a definite response has
taken place, which will either help or hinder your attainment

(02:44:37):
of hypnosis. If the response should be negative, it can
be changed by gaining knowledge in actual experience in hypnosis.
It is natural to have a bit of uneasiness when
first experiencing or thinking about being hypnotized. After all, you
haven't been exposed to hypnosis in a therapeutic setting and

(02:44:58):
couldn't have formed a face favorable reaction. Your response is
probably derived from a fictionalization of hypnosis. The initial task
of the hypnotist is to create, by educating the perspective subject,
a favorable attitude so that the subject allows himself to
be hypnotized. What does this mean specifically to you? If

(02:45:21):
you are having difficulty learning self hypnosis, It means that
through repeated exposures, you will finally respond. You will realize
there is no need for anxiety in regard to your response.
This inner feeling will in turn have a cumulative favorable
effect upon your unconsciousness, which will result in your finely

(02:45:42):
responding to hypnosis. Suppose you still maintain and insist that
you are not suggestible, and wonder if you will ever
respond to hypnosis. Furthermore, the assurance I have given you
up to this point doesn't seem to convince you. If
you have tried diligently to achieve self hypnosis, you cannot

(02:46:04):
be blamed. But let's try an experiment to test your suggestibility.
It is well to ponder my statement that if you
do not respond, it is a sign of being suggestible,
but in a negative sense, lack of response is a
manifestation of this negative suggestibility. My contention is that you
are definitely suggestible. Let us see what happens to you

(02:46:28):
in trying the following classical experiment. It is called Chevroule's
pendulum test. Draw a circle with about a six inch
diameter and mark it has shown in the illustration. Next,
take a ring and attach a string to it. If
you have a locket, it will do as well. The
hypnotist uses a crystal ball and chain for this experiment.

(02:46:52):
Hold the end of the string or chain and keep
the ring or whatever object you are using about three
inches above the center of the circle. Now concentrate and
fix your gaze on the ring, crystal ball or lock it. Mentally,
suggest to yourself that the object will begin to revolve
in a circular manner following the numbers one, two, three,

(02:47:16):
and four. Picture in your mind's eye that this circular
motion is becoming wider and wider. Work at this image
for several minutes. Did the object begin turning to the
right following the numbers? Did the circle become larger and larger?
If it did, you are absolutely suggestible, are influenced by

(02:47:37):
your own suggestions, and therefore, if you follow instructions, can
learn self hypnosis. You can be trained to acquire this skill.
If the experience did not work, try it again. Concentrate harder,
and try to visualize more intently the object revolving in
a circular manner. You are not to rotate the eyes

(02:48:00):
object consciously or help it in any way. The action
must stem from your subconscious The thought of the crystal
ball or ring revolving in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction
invariably causes an involuntary muscle reflex action to take place.
This phenomenon is known as ideomotor action. Usually, as the

(02:48:24):
subject concentrates more intensely, the reflex action becomes more profound,
causing greater unconscious movement. Of the hand, which in turn
is transmitted to the object in the form of larger
circles and greater momentum. The time required for the successful
accomplishment of this test depends upon the degree of suggestibility

(02:48:46):
of the subject. An interesting action is to see the
object revolve in an opposite direction than suggested. It gives
a clue to the personality structure of the individual. The
Ruegia board world work on the same principle as Chevroull's
pendulum test. Many times the aspirant will remark I swear

(02:49:06):
I didn't make it move. Mentalists find hidden objects in
the audience using basically the same approach, combined with clever
techniques of distraction. The term given for this is muscle reading.
This is the point in question. If the crystal ball
ring or lock it moves without conscious direction, you have

(02:49:28):
successfully influenced your subconscious mind. Self hypnosis involves the same procedure.
The goal is to consciously cause a subconscious reaction. If
the experiment does not work with your eyes open, try
it with your eyes closed for about five minutes. You
will be pleasantly surprised with the results. Should you want

(02:49:50):
to prove to yourself that you are suggestible with your
eyes open. Practice the technique every day for a week
or two. The idea of the practice session is to
reinforce and increase the response of the unconscious movement until
you develop proficiency. It follows the laws of the condition
reflex theory expounded by doctor Ivan P. Pavlov, the famous

(02:50:14):
Russian psychologist. If after several weeks you should still not
be successful, use the role playing technique consciously make the
object revolve. After a while, it will move automatically whenever
you attempt the experiment. When this happens, you will have
proof of your suggestibility. It is highly improbable that you

(02:50:37):
will not be successful. It would be a rare occurrence.
By the same systematic efforts, I can assure you that
you can achieve self hypnosis. If you are still not
affected favorably, you might consider one of the psychological means
of inducing hypnosis. The next chapter will discuss this topic.

(02:50:58):
I would recommend Pavlov's book called condition Reflexes. Pavlow's book
will further explain and clarify the concept of the conditioned
response mechanism. It covers necessary conditions for the development of
condition responses their formulation by means of conditioned and direct stimuli,

(02:51:20):
plus a tremendous amount of material which will help you
in your understanding of the significance of the role playing
technique in relationship to learning self hypnosis. End of Chapter ten.
Chapter eleven. Psychological aids and their function. Psychological or mechanical

(02:51:40):
aids are used to help put the subject in a
state of hypnosis. The use of the aids helps increase
the suggestibility of the subject toward hypnosis. The two most
widely used hypnotic aids are the crystal ball and chain
and the twelve inch hypnodisc. One reason is that these
two items have no other use or function outside of

(02:52:03):
the area of hypnosis. Therefore, when the hypnotist proceeds to
use one of these hypnotic devices, it must follow that
a certain mental set, readiness, or receptivity must follow as
a result of its introduction into the hypnotic setting. If
the subject is uneasy about the hypnotic setting or his response,

(02:52:25):
the introduction of the hypnotic aid can mobilize the subject's defenses,
which may be on a conscious or unconscious level. Generally,
the mental set which follows helps augment whatever hypnotic suggestions
are given. Certainly, the same mental set would not follow
if the hypnotists used a paper clip as a means

(02:52:47):
of helping with the induction of hypnosis. It would only
start the subject wondering about the relationship of the paper
clip to hypnosis. It obviously isn't in keeping with what
the subject expects. It is important to utilize the subject's
expectation as to what he believes takes place in the setting,
as long as this expectation does not hinder the induction

(02:53:09):
of hypnosis. The mere act of turning down the lights
or drawing the curtains before the hypnotist begins to work
with the subject is a nonverbal suggestion which can be
considered as a psychological aid. The subject knows that the
hypnotist is ready to begin at this point. Actually, it
isn't necessary to darken the room at any time to

(02:53:31):
induce hypnosis. Doesn't the stage hypnotist work with glaring lights
the room is darkened, And I might add that I
use this procedure myself mainly for the psychological effect. If
I feel that this procedure might cause anxiety, I proceed
with the room undarkened. In discussing psychological aids, it is

(02:53:53):
agreed that we are primarily interested in seeing the subject
feel better or achieve whatever goals he needs seeks through
the intelligent application of hypnosis. If a hypnotic aid will
help the subject achieve hypnosis, we can concur it is justified.
It is not to be considered a subterfuge. If the

(02:54:14):
physician administers a placebo to a patient with the remark,
here is a new medicine that can help your condition,
and if this technique does help alleviate the patient's condition,
it is considered good medicine. You must know beforehand that
in using the twelve inch hypnodisc, the subject's eyes must
begin to water, his eyelids must get heavy, and eventually

(02:54:37):
he must close them. Even before you begin to use
the hypnodisc, you suggest that these conditions will take place
during the induction of hypnosis. As these reactions are noted
by the subject, a favorable psychological attitude automatically develops, which
in turn helps further suggestions. If the subject react acts

(02:55:00):
favorably to suggestions A, B, and C, it follows that
he is more prone to accept suggestions D, E, and F,
which are therapeutic in nature. The subject can better relate
to the latter suggestions when he has seen proof of
his initial suggestibility. This approach works better than beginning immediately
with the latter suggestions. The build up of suggestions convinces

(02:55:24):
the subject he is in a heightened state of suggestibility
and can benefit from the therapeutic suggestions of the hypnotists
or his own. Perhaps his needed assurance is so helpful
because it eliminates the anxiety of the subject concerning his suggestibility.
He seeks and needs the satisfaction of knowing he has
attained the prerequisites necessary before any therapeutic program can benefit him.

(02:55:49):
The subject's prerequisites need not be actually related to the
hypnotic process per se, but merely match his preconceived ideas
about what is necessary. Let me give you an example.
Many subjects feel that they must experience amnesia before they
can benefit from hypnotic suggestions. This premise is inaccurate, since

(02:56:11):
favorable and lasting results can be achieved in any degree
of hypnosis, depending of course, on the nature of the problem.
Let me relate several interesting occurrences that take place every
so often in my own practice as a professional hypnotist.
A subject who is responding well to hypnosis but not
to the point of amnesia. Insists that he will not

(02:56:34):
benefit until he is knocked out and doesn't remember what happened.
Trying to convince him otherwise proves fatal. He just refuses
to accept whatever explanation you give him. My own method
is not to insist that the subject is wrong, but
somehow to use his misconception in a constructive manner. After

(02:56:54):
getting him into the cataleptic state, I suggest that I
am going to stop talking for five minus, during which
time he is to mentally repeat sleep as he slowly
and deeply inhales, and deep sleep as he slowly exhales.
At the end of this time, he'll be in a
very deep hypnotic state. Instead of remaining quiet for five minutes,

(02:57:18):
I take ten minutes. I then begin to whisper suggestions
to the subject to determine if he is still under
hypnosis or asleep. If he is asleep, I let him
remain asleep for a still longer period of time, after
which interval I awaken him. I ask him if he
remembers what I said to him during the time he

(02:57:39):
was deeply hypnotized. If he says no, I remark very good.
I further point out to him that he has now
experienced amnesia and will now make rapid strides. The subject,
on the other hand, is pleased to see that I
now agree with him, and in fact, the interesting result
is that he does make excellent in progress because his

(02:58:01):
preconceived requirements have been met. It should be pointed out
that I keep working with the subject until such a
time that he falls asleep. The transition from hypnosis to
sleep is normal. It is easy for the subject to
fall asleep because he is so relaxed. Let me tell
you of a similar experience before telling you of this

(02:58:23):
psychological technique. It is only fair to point out that
the professional hypnotist varies his approach from subject to subject,
not only to suit the needs of the subject, but
to break the monotony of using only a few successful procedures.
His experimentation helps develop not only new procedures, but new
concepts relative to the general nature of hypnosis and its

(02:58:47):
many ramifications. I was interested to see what would happen
to a subject if he thought he was deeply hypnotized
without ever giving him verbal suggestions or reassurance that he
would feel better or over his problem. Of course, if
the technique did not work quickly, I would drop the
procedure for a more orthodox approach. Instead of trying to

(02:59:10):
really hypnotize the subject, my aim is to get him
to sleep. Once he is asleep, I let him remain
so for about thirty minutes, without having ever given him
a therapeutic suggestion. I awaken him and inquire if he
remembered what happened. If the answer is no, I tell
him I'll hypnotize him again next week, and this concludes

(02:59:33):
the visit. When he returns next week, I ask him,
how did you feel during the week. The answer is
generally much better. I keep repeating this procedure until such
a time that the individual has attained the goals that
he seeks. I know that the reader may be surprised
that I would divulge such an unconventional procedure. The principle

(02:59:55):
is the same as the physician using a placebo. I
do so to illustrate the point that I made earlier
in this chapter that so long as certain of the
subject's requirements are met, whether valid or invalid, the subject's
suggestibility is greatly enhanced. Naturally, the unsuspecting subject equated the
period of not remembering which was, as we know, true

(03:00:18):
sleep with the somnambulistic state. Actually, he was helped by
self hypnosis because he felt he would now make progress
because he proved to be such an excellent subject. It
is true he was not using self hypnosis as has
been outlined in this book, but he had now achieved
a heightened state of suggestibility hypnosis and was using this

(03:00:42):
state to further his own ends. The attainment of self
hypnosis can be an intricate and elusive procedure. As I
have already pointed out, the purpose of the entire book
is to instruct, point out, and give you the necessary
understanding and knowledge required to achieve this weak. Without this understanding,

(03:01:02):
this can become a very frustrating effort. It is hoped
that by understanding and being aware of some of the
ramifications of hypnosis, you will be able to achieve your
goal in the quickest possible time. It should also be
pointed out that no two subjects react in the same way,
and that different methods and requirements are necessary to suit

(03:01:23):
the individual. It is a mistake to try to make
the subject adhere to origid methodology. The greater flexibility of
the hypnotic procedures, the greater the chance for success. Let
me at this time further discuss some of the hypnotic
aids that are used in the induction of hypnosis. We

(03:01:43):
have already discussed the use of the hypnodisc and the
crystal ball and chain. The same principles are involved in
any other object which is used as a means of
fixation or of tiring the eyes. Hypnotic phonograph records and
hypnotic taper coars represent new devices that have been instrumental

(03:02:03):
in conditioning subjects for self hypnosis. The subject plays the
record or tape on his phonograph or tape recorder and
is conditioned over a period of time to respond to
hypnosis at a given signal or phrase. He in turn,
can change this key phrase to one of his own, choosing.
Should you own or have access to a tape recorder,

(03:02:24):
I would suggest recording an induction of hypnosis and playing
it back to yourself in this manner, as though you
were hypnotizing someone else. I have produced three different hypnotic
records and a thirty minute hypnotic tape containing the three records,
which are sold commercially. One record, called the Musical Hypnosis
record has a very pleasant, relaxing musical background as the

(03:02:48):
voice of the hypnotists induces hypnosis. The second record, called
the Metronome Hypnotic Record, incorporates the monotonous and lulling beat
of an electric metric in the background. The subject is
instructed to mentally repeat sleep as he slowly inhales, and
deep sleep as he slowly exhales in rhythm with the

(03:03:11):
beat of the metronome. While the subject is concentrating on
this activity, the voice of the hypnotist induces hypnosis. The
third record, called self Hypnosis Record number three, contains only
the voice of the hypnotist inducing hypnosis. It features a
unique approach and technique. I have had a great deal

(03:03:32):
of correspondence with those who have used these phonograph records
and the hypnotic tape for conditioning themselves for self hypnosis.
The results are quite interesting and run the range of
immediate results to no results. One person wrote that one
of the records hypnotized him at the first playing and
conditioned him for self hypnosis, whereas he had failed to

(03:03:54):
respond to hypnosis after many visits to one of the
country's foremost authorities. I have had similar experiences after having
failed to hypnotize a subject despite many attempts, I can
only speculate that the subjects in these cases unconsciously resist
the hypnotist because they feel a personal threat. Since the

(03:04:15):
record is impersonal, they are better able to relax and
subsequently be hypnotized. Interestingly, this occurred when the subject was
convinced that he was a very difficult subject. It would
seem that only then was the condition response pattern finally established.
The basic function of the hypnotic records and hypnotic tape

(03:04:36):
is to establish a conditioned response pattern to a given
stimulus in time. Most subjects are conditioned by the intelligent
and systematic use of these recordings. Let me describe another
varied approach to achieving self hypnosis. One of the chief
assets of a good hypnotist is to be flexible in
his approach in hypnotizing his subjects. As I have already reread,

(03:05:00):
he pointed out, it is necessary many times to adopt
a technique that is suitable to the subject, and not
to make the subject adapt himself to the method of induction.
We know that with the somnambalistic subjects, any procedure will
put the subject under hypnosis. Immediately, the hypnotist gains complete
control of his subject, as the subject is able to

(03:05:21):
put himself in the proper psychological frame of mind for hypnosis. Unfortunately,
most subjects do not respond at the first session or
sessions because of conscious or subconscious fears that must be
gradually eliminated. Once you get the subject to relax or
let go, he will naturally succumb to hypnosis. This is

(03:05:44):
the problem that confronts all hypnotists. Merely suggesting to the
subject to relax is not sufficient as a rule to
bring about this desired mental state. The subject at this
point cannot easily turn on or off his mental and
physical feelings. Even if we have the subject lie down,

(03:06:04):
this does not assure the hypnotic state, as the subject
can still be tense. Our main problem is to get
the subject relaxed. Our situation is similar to the physician
telling his patient to go home and forget about a
certain problem. I'm sure you will agree that the advice
is virtually impossible to follow. One of the major stumbling

(03:06:25):
blocks in hypnotizing a subject or in self hypnosis lies
in the fact that although we use terms such as relax,
let yourself go and others. The subject cannot readily put
the meaning of these words into effect. It is difficult
for most people to let go when we live in
a society that beckons us to look sharp, be sharp,

(03:06:47):
be alert, be on the ball, and make every minute count.
Emphasis on productivity does not lend to a society of
relaxed individuals. In my long experience as a professonal hypnotist,
I have tried many novel innovations for inducing hypnosis and
teaching individuals self hypnosis. Some have met with a great

(03:07:10):
deal of success, and others have failed. It is furthermore
difficult to determine the causal nature for success or failure.
We can only theorize. I have used the following unorthodox
technique for about a period of fifteen years. Exceptionally good
results have been attained with it, although it must be

(03:07:31):
admitted that it is not infallible. It is suggested to
you as another good technique in order to help the
subject relax, I have been using a phonograph record or
tape that I recorded containing the continuous sound of various
degrees of rain. One side has a half hour of
very soft light rainfall, such as you have experienced in

(03:07:53):
listening to rainfalling on grass, canvas or a tent top.
The other side or track contains a half hour of
rain effects, such as one would hear in a heavy
downfall with loud splatterings of water on the pavement. The
record and tape were originally designed to help insomnia sufferers
and later incorporated into the hypnotic procedure. The subject is

(03:08:18):
instructed to close his eyes and listen to the sound
of the rain while picturing himself relaxing near a warm,
glowing fireplace. As you can note, the subject again incorporates
the visual imagery technique. The relaxing effect, thus produced over
a period of time, enhances his chances of success in

(03:08:39):
attaining a deep hypnotic state. There are many other interesting
and unique devices and aids you can use for inducing hypnosis.
Rather than present them all in this book, I have
fully described them in their techniques of operation on one
hundred and forty four page illustrated catalog. This catalog not
only contains a list of hypnotic aids, but a description

(03:09:02):
and listing of over four hundred and fifty hypnotism and
self help books. Upon request, I shall be pleased to
send it to you write two Melvin Powers one twenty
fifteen Sherman Road, North, Hollywood, California, nine one six o
five and ask for hypnotic catalog number seven. Should you

(03:09:25):
have any questions on self hypnosis or hetero hypnosis, I
shall be pleased to answer you. End of Chapter eleven.
Chapter twelve The Nature of hypnosis. Although the nature and
phenomena of hypnosis are still incompletely understood, there are a
multitude of theories which attempt to explain its mechanism and results.

(03:09:49):
The most that can be done at this time is
to explore various views which are held by leading authorities.
At present. It can be said, however, that a majority
of authoritiesies agree that hypnosis ensues as a result of
natural laws which have been incorporated in the human organism
since the beginning of man as he is today. The

(03:10:11):
older theories show almost as much disparity as today, But
for the purposes of history, it is probably necessary to
enumerate only the animal magnetism of Frederic Anton Mesmer and
a mention of the hysteria syndrome by Jean Martin Charcot.
Both names loom large in the history of hypnosis. Mesmer

(03:10:32):
an eighteenth century physician believed that hypnosis occurred as a
result of vital fluids drawn from a magnet or lodestone,
and which drew their unique qualities from the sun, moon,
and stars. Charcot, as well as Pierre Janet and others,
was convinced that hypnosis was a form of hysteria, and

(03:10:53):
that only hysterics could be hypnotized. The former Mesmer thought
further that metal became viewed by the solar qualities, and
his system is also known as metology, by which he
meant the proper application of metals naturally. These theories have
been largely abandoned today, although there are still a few

(03:11:14):
who think that hypnosis is a form of hysteria. Some pioneers,
notably doctor William S. Kroger, a psychiatrically oriented obstetrician and
gynecologist who limits his practice to hypnotherapy, believes hypnosis is
a conviction phenomenon which produces results that parallel the phenomena

(03:11:35):
produced at lords and other religious healing shrines. His formula
is that faith, hope, belief, and expectation, all catalyzed by
the imagination, lead inevitably to hypnosis. He, like Emo Koue
before him, is convinced that you cannot will yourself to
be hypnotized, and that whenever the will and the imagination

(03:11:56):
come into conflict, the imagination will win out. This fits
in perfectly, of course, with the authors already discussed visual
imagery techniques which require a high degree of imagination. Doctor Kroger,
like a few others, has proved to his own satisfaction
that all hypnotic phenomena can be produced at a non

(03:12:17):
hypnotic level. A large number of hypnotists, including the author,
has come to believe that hypnosis is a semantic problem
in which words are the building blocks to success. Not
just any words, but words which ring a bell or
tap the experiential background of the subject. This is why

(03:12:38):
sleep continues to be in the lexicon of the hypnotist,
even though hypnosis is the anti thesis of sleep. The
word is used because hypnosis superficially resembles sleep inasmuch as
the eyes usually are closed, the body in a posture
of complete relaxation. Actually the mind is hyperacute. Pavlov, however,

(03:13:00):
believe that there was an analogy between sleep and hypnosis
in that each involved cerebral inhibition. Words, of course, would
be of little use without the added effect of his
condition reflexology. Probably the most widely held theory is that
hypnosis is a transference phenomenon in which the prestige of

(03:13:20):
the hypnotist and his relationship to the subject play an
important role. This theory is bolstered by the fact that
all schools of psychotherapy yield approximately the same results, even
though the methods differ. This would logically indicate that the
relationship between the therapist and the subject was the determining factor.

(03:13:41):
The only trouble with this theory is that it does
not explain self hypnosis. On the other hand, we know
that a strong interpersonal relationship is necessary for hypnosis. In
the opening chapter of the book, I explained that hypnosis
was a state of heightened suggestion and which the subject
adopted an unco critical attitude, allowing him to accept suggestions

(03:14:03):
and to take appropriate action. This is excellent as far
as it goes, but it does not explain how suggestion works.
This is the crux of the hypnotic dilemma, and the
answer is far from solved. Hypnotists are much like those
who use electricity every day of their lives but have
no idea of the nature of electricity, it is enough

(03:14:24):
for them to know it has been harnessed for their use.
If there is one thing virtually certain about hypnosis, it
is that some parts of the brain are inhibited and
other parts expanded by the process. Pinpoint concentration is given
as the reason for this selective procedure, which narrows the
horizon of the subject to what the hypnotist or he

(03:14:46):
himself is saying, screening out all other stimuli. But why
is this high order of concentration so easy under hypnosis
when Asians, notably the Chinese, have been trying for centuries
to concent trade on one subject for as long as
four or five seconds. We do not know the mechanics
of this metamorphis of an ordinary brain into an organ

(03:15:09):
of concentrated power. According to Janet, this is accomplished through
the formation of a group of unconscious memories and activities
which takes over the usual stream of consciousness type of thinking.
It is implied that the process may be atavistic. One
of the newer theories, one held by doctor Lewis R. Wohlberg,

(03:15:29):
a psychoanalyst, is that hypnosis is a psychosomatic process, in
that it is both physiological and psychological in character. Physiologically,
Wohlberg believes that hypnosis represents an inhibition of the higher
cortical centers and a limitation of sensory channels, such as
takes place in sleep. He also believes that the psychological

(03:15:53):
process operates through transference. Others agree that it is a
transference process, but that it is more of an extension
of the subject's own psychic processes, which is enlarged to
include the voice of the hypnotist or his own thoughts
or voice. Incidentally, an excellent book along these theoretical lines

(03:16:14):
is Hypnotism An Objective Study and Suggestibility by Andre M. Weitzenhoffer,
pH d. The newest theory in the field is of
particular interest to those reading this book inasmuch as it
postulates that all hypnosis is self hypnosis, that the patient
always hypnotizes himself, and that it is a wise hypnotist

(03:16:36):
who knows who is hypnotizing whom. This is a logical conclusion,
and it disperses any ideas that hypnotic patients become dependent
on their therapists. Actually, hypnotists today always teach their subject
self hypnosis, so that any chance of dependency is obliviated.
Milton V. Klein, professor of psychology at Long Island University,

(03:17:00):
postulates that hypnosis is primarily retrogressive. He has written that
the organism functions differently on various levels of behavior regression,
and that the behavior breaks down into component parts. The
theory that regression can spotlight personality disorders found in more
infantile states is also widely held. He is also a

(03:17:22):
proponent of the idea that hypnosis is an abnormal manifestation
of a normal process. In opinion he shares with many.
Doctor Klein thinks that retrogression and regression alter perceptions and feelings, and,
in the case of the latter, causes us to go
backward in time to a point where re education may

(03:17:42):
be employed. This is a legitimate use of regression, although
it is not used so much these days to uncover
past traumatic incidents. Actually, regression, by duplicating the exact earlier
age manner of speech, and thought, et cetera, makes us
once more as little children, a condition to be desired

(03:18:03):
for certain forms of therapy, an atavistic theory held to
some extent by doctor Jerome M. Schneck, Clinical Associate Professor
of psychiatry, State University of New York College of Medicine,
is that hypnosis should be equated with states of immobilization.
On the basis of his observation that some subjects equate

(03:18:24):
hypnosis with death, he suggests that it is comparable to
the death feinate of animals to avoid danger. Others, primarily Europeans,
have pointed out the analogy between the hypnotic state of
animals and man. Another widely held theory is that hypnosis
is a state of dissociation, meaning that it constitutes a

(03:18:45):
group of unconscious memories and activities which may be dredged
up to replace the stream of consciousness. Automatism, of course,
is inherently part of this view and is presumed to
negate volition. Activity of the cerebrum, which controls the conscious
and voluntary system is rendered non operational. My own thoughts

(03:19:05):
on the matter are that hypnosis results from, first of all,
a good transference, secondly from a conditioned reflex, thirdly from
the person acting as a hypnotized person role playing, and
fourthly from a suspension of the critical faculties. Along the
last name line, I believe that hypnotic suggestions have an

(03:19:29):
autonomy of their own, which supersede all else in the
hypnotic situation. There are many more theories I believe are
partially correct, but the ones named will do for the
purposes of this volume. Incidentally, all the hypnosis theories presented
here are equally applicable to self hypnosis, except where as

(03:19:50):
in transference, it is obvious a therapist is needed. In conclusion,
the author would like to take issue with those who
believe that it is the monotonous intonations of the therapist
that cause the subject to lapse from the deeply relaxed
state into true sleep. I have observed many times by
comparing verbalization with silence, that the former gives the subject's

(03:20:14):
mind a focal point of attention, which prevents him from
entering a deep state where hypnotherapy is impossible. Like the
man who cannot sleep because of an active mind. Sleep
in mere thoughts and suggestions are incompatible, and I believe,
once a hypnotic state has been attained, that the subject
is kept awake unless definite sleep suggestions are given by

(03:20:37):
the therapist's series of suggestions. We have discussed the effect
of the experiential background at length, and surely nothing connotates
sleep more than closing one's eyes test number one, and
so in my view, you are doing two things. When
you talk to the subject. You are giving him helpful suggestions,

(03:20:58):
but you are also keeping him awake and hyperacute, so
that these suggestions will sink in end of Chapter twelve.
Chapter thirteen, Practical Applications of self hypnosis. With hypnosis on
the March, there is practically no limit to its uses
in the field of medicine, and new applications are being

(03:21:21):
discovered every day. It should not be necessary to add, however,
that some of these uses should remain as they are
in the hands of professionals with years of experience in
the area. One of the themes of this book has
been that laymen should use hypnosis discriminately and intelligently. No

(03:21:41):
responsible therapist would ever recommend masking or removing a symptom
which was indicative of organic disease. For that reason, the
practical uses of self hypnosis will be limited to measures
that can be taken safely by the layman. The only
possible exception to them will be instruction on how to

(03:22:02):
curb obesity. But even here it is suggested that a
physician be consulted before embarking on a weight reducing program.
The foremost use of hypnosis has been for relaxation, and
it becomes more and more important as world tensions, anxiety,
and strain increase daily and millions seek vainly to get
away from it all. Inasmuch as all methods of hypnosis

(03:22:25):
discussed in this book utilized relaxation as the first step,
it should not be necessary to go over this material
simply review the many induction techniques. Lung cancer has become
a very real threat to many people today, and the
professional hypnotist is besieged with men and women who wish
to curtail or quit smoking. This is easier said than

(03:22:48):
done because smoking, although there are no physical withdrawal symptoms
when one stops, is a strong condition reflex and cannot,
except in rare instances, be accomplished by the will alone.
The best way to stop smoking is to make it
an impossibility, and that is exactly what you do when

(03:23:09):
you follow the method touched on in an earlier chapter.
All of us have tasted or smelled certain foods or
medicines that nauseate us. The subject who wishes to quit
smoking is asked to conjure up the vision and the
actual taste and smell of the substances which upset his
stomach and offend his nostrils, transferring its properties to cigarettes. This,

(03:23:32):
of course, must be done under hypnosis. The subject then
conditions himself in the following manner. One, this cigarette tastes
and smells just like mention name of repugnant substance. Two,
it is the most vile and repugnant taste I have
ever encountered, and I shall not be able to continue

(03:23:54):
after the third puff. At the third puff, I will
develop a paroxysm of costing. Three, I cannot smoke the
cigarette any longer, and I will have to put it out.
This sounds like a simple procedure, and yet it has
worked for thousands. Some switch to chewing gum or candy,

(03:24:14):
but the cure essentially lies in substituting one condition reflex
for another. This is comparatively easy with hypnosis because, unlike narcotics, barbituates,
or alcohol, smoking is purely a psychological addiction. There is
no need for tapering off stopping drinking. Unlike smoking doesn't

(03:24:35):
involve merely the creation of physical aversion to the drug.
The patient's entire personality should be changed and more mature
viewpoints substituted for the unrealistic and infantile viewpoints which led
to the addiction in the first place. The subject should
give himself suggestions that he will be able to face
up to the problems of everyday life without recourse to

(03:24:58):
the crutch of alcohol. It is is a well known
fact that nothing is as bad as we think it
is going to be once we confront it. One of
the strange aspects of drinking is that it is actually
a form of self hypnosis, and the cure lies in
substituting a new viewpoint for the old. This fact can
be demonstrated by the fact that drinking is begun in

(03:25:19):
the first place so that the individual can be one
of the boys, or because it is the thing to do.
Those who do not drink at least as a social lubricant,
according to this code, are squares. Because of this, self
hypnosis must be directed toward reorienting one sense of values.

(03:25:40):
Sober reflection should convince anyone that the truly intelligent person
does not drink to excess. Nail biting is an unsightly habit,
one that may even hinder one's social acceptance. The help
lies in a therapeutic approach similar to that for cigarettes.
It is not hard to predict that many of those

(03:26:01):
reading these pages are suffering from overweight. With thirty million
Americans in this category, it has become one of the
nation's chief health problems, and it is the predisposing factor
in many other diseases, such as heard trouble, diabetes, hypertension,
and atherosclerosis. If you are overweight, it is well to

(03:26:24):
remember that, unless you are one in a million, you
cannot blame your glands. The plain truth is that you
eat too much. We know today that overeating for some
is an emotional problem, stemming from feelings of rejection and insecurity.
Individuals who feel unloved, whether this is truly the case

(03:26:44):
or not, make up for this lack to themselves by
stuffing in large quantities of food. It would even appear
that these people are masochistic, making themselves even more unloved
by their gross gastronomical habits. A factor in overweight in
women is rating the refrigerator while doing their housework. Many

(03:27:06):
of them do this so unconsciously that they swear they
eat less than most people. There are a number of
appetite curbing drugs on the market today, but they should
not be necessary for anyone who has acquired self hypnosis.
If you have learned to visualize yourself visual imagery in
different situations, you will have no trouble in picturing yourself

(03:27:28):
having a slim, attractive figure exactly as you were when
you felt you looked your best. Keep this figure ever
in mind, and use it along with conditioning yourself against
certain fatty and starchy foods. A trick used by some
hypnotherapists is to have the subject purchase a dress or
suit several sizes too small, and then work toward being

(03:27:51):
able to wear it. This actually has worked in many
cases because it adds the element of petitiveness to the procedure.
Not all people overeat because of emotional problems. Some come
from families where licking the platter clean was the rule
because food was scarce. Others come from rich families where
overeating by the parents established a habit pattern in the children.

(03:28:16):
Certain races and nationalities look on fat as a badge
of wealth in prestige, and children in such an environment
are likely to be deliberately overfed, regardless of the reason
for overweight. However, the use of self hypnosis is one
of the answers to the problem. Simple headaches, arthritis, neritis,

(03:28:36):
and other painful symptoms yield readily to hypnotic suggestion. If
physicians have given up on the problem and placed a
subject on a maintenance drug dosage for pain, hypnosis can
potentiate the drugs or even obliviate them. Two of the
major uses of hypnosis are in childbirth and for intractable

(03:28:58):
pain of cancer or some other incurable diseases. Although patients
usually start with hetero hypnosis, they are put on self
hypnosis as soon as possible, and there are many cases
of women waiting too long and having their babies at
home painlessly through self hypnosis. The father invariably is the
only one excited. In such cases, the mother knows that

(03:29:21):
she is an excellent subject and has been instructed in
prenatal classes about every contingency that could arise. Inasmuch as
stopping the birth pangs is similar to stopping other pain,
the method should be learned so that it can be
accomplished in a minimum of time. The best way to
stop pain is to let your right arm slowly rise

(03:29:42):
while you are under hypnotic suggestion. Do not help it.
If the suggestions are strong enough, it will float up.
As soon as the arm is straight overhead, you should
give yourself the suggestion that it is as rigid and
unbending as a bar of steel. Following this, a suggest
question is given that the hand is beginning to tingle

(03:30:03):
and become numb. As soon as the numbness has spread
throughout the entire hand, it will be insensible to pain.
The hand is then placed against the part of the
body where the pain exists, and you will feel the
numbness flowing from the hand to the affected area. This
happens as a result of your suggestions and is the
method followed by most subjects. Only a deep somnambalistic subject

(03:30:28):
is able to remove pain by direct suggestion to the
painful part. There are many people today using self hypnosis
in the realm of sports, and an entire book has
been written on improving one's golf game with this method.
It is called How You Can Play Better Golf Using
Self Hypnosis by Jack Heis will Shire Book Company publishers.

(03:30:53):
Doctor Huber Grimm, team physician of the Seattle University basketball team,
recently related the ross results when Dave Mills, a six
foot five inch junior forward asked for his help because
he froze during competition. He had been benched on the
eve of the West Coast Athletic Conference tournament in San Francisco.

(03:31:15):
Spectators made Mills so fearful that he was afraid he
would make mistakes, and in this frame of mind, of course,
he did. Under hypnosis, Doctor Grimm suggested to Dave that
he would be unaware of the spectators, be completely relaxed,
and would play exceedingly well. Doctor Grimm asked coach Vince

(03:31:35):
Cazetta to allow Dave to play, and the result was astounding.
Mills scored sixty points and cleared sixty three rebounds, and
his brilliant play led to his selection on an all
tournament team. All I did was free his spirit, Doctor
Grimm reported. He was in need of confidence, and I
gave it to him through hypnosis. The Associated Press told

(03:31:59):
the story follows Dave Mills, a vacuum cleaner off the backboards,
led a fast breaking Seattle University team to victory last night.
It was hard to recognize Mills as the same player
who has been with the Chieftains all year. Doctor william S. Kroger,
a pioneer in hypnosis, undertook to improve the batting of

(03:32:20):
a professional baseball player with equally sensational results. The player
had been banned, and his fear of a reoccurrence was
so strong that he became plate shy. He had changed
his batting stance so that he always had one foot
in the bucket so that he could back away from
the plate more quickly. He was given a post hypnotic

(03:32:42):
suggestion that such an event happening again was exceedingly remote,
and this was amplified by suggestions of confidence that he
would immediately start slugging as well as ever, his batting
average soared immediately. Doctor Mitcheo Akeia, professor of physiotology at
Tokyo University, and doctor Arthur H. Steinhauss of the George

(03:33:05):
Williams Laboratory of Physiologic Research in Physical Education, Chicago, have
proved that track men can far surpass their best previous
times under hypnosis. Their tests incidentally prove that there is
no danger of an athlete going beyond his physiologic limit
while bettering his former marks. They attribute the superior performances

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to the removal of inhibitions which psychologically prevent an athlete
from doing his best. This report was made before the
International Congress on Health and Fitness in the Modern World
held in Rome during the last Olympic Games. All reports,
as a matter of fact, show that athletic performances are
improved by psychological, not physical means, and that built in

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automatic reflexes protect the athlete against the danger of overexertion
at all levels of awareness. Hypnotic or non hypnotic psychologists
are using hypnosis more and more to facilitate concentration and learning,
and it is likely this use of the ancient science
will become even more popular than its medical applications. The

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reason one learns so quickly under hypnosis is because of
time distortion, which allows you to obtain the equivalent of
many hours of study in a relatively short length of time.
Undoubtedly you have had experience with time distortion in your
daily life. Remember how slowly time goes when you are
not interested in what you are doing, and how fast

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it speeds by when you are. And the drowning man
who sees his whole life go by is an excellent
example of this. Enough people have been saved to know
that this actually happens. The point is that the subconscious
mind does not record the passage of time the same
way as the conscious mind. The conscious mind records time

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fit physically by means of a clock. It is objective,
and it tells you that a thought or movement requires
a certain number of seconds, minutes, hours, or days. Your
subconscious mind has an entirely different concept of time that
has nothing to do with the physical world. It is
called subjective because your own sense of the passage of

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time is used. Personal time varies according to the circumstances
in which you find yourself. Haven't you noticed that when
you are happy or extremely interested in something, time passes quickly.
On the other hand, if you are sad or anxious,
time seems to drag. This is called time distortion. When

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you continue in a happy state, time is automatically shortened.
When you are in a state of unhappiness, pain, or anxiety,
time automatically lengthens. This explains while the drowning man can
review his entire life within seconds, psychologist know this is
possible because your subconscious mind contains a complete record of

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everything that has happened to you since birth. Therefore, in
moments of extreme distress, your subconscious has the ability to
distort and manipulate time. If you have ever encountered danger
or had a narrow escape, you probably experienced time distortion.
Everything about you went into slow motion and time seemed

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to stand still until the action was over. At that point,
objective time started up again, and everything returned to normal.
Many of you, no doubt read an Associated Press report
from Chicago on February eleventh, nineteen fifty eight, which reported
how movie actress Linda Darnell had used hypnosis to help

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her with her first stage roll. She had been asked
to do the part on short notice and had no
time for preparation. Miss Darnell telephoned her California physician for aid,
he flew to Chicago overnight. Through hypnosis, Miss Darnell learned
her part and astounded the cast by knowing everyone's lines.

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Not only did she learn the part, but she was
coached in the character of the artist she was portraying.
As a result, Late Love was a hit play. Miss
Darnell was under the impression she had been learning the
part for a week, although only about forty eight hours
were involved and these hours were not continuous. After her

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first performance, she said, I never felt so secure about
playing a role in my life. Hypnosis has helped me
feel the part completely. Imagine how much more we are
going to be able to learn when study under hypnosis
becomes widespread. And the best part of it is that
the learning is in your mind for a long time.

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Forgetting our mental blocks that interfere with your recall of
information at any time are reduced to a minimum, incncluellusion.
I should like to recommend the entire field of self
hypnosis to everyone. It is a therapy which is positive, dynamic,
and constructive. An excellent example of this is contained in

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the autobiography Rochmanoff's Recollections. In this book, a Mortal Rochmanof
describes in detail his success in overcoming a severe case
of mental depression. He had stopped composing and kept to himself,
seldom leaving his room. After meeting with failure using the
available therapeutic remedies available at that time, he was persuaded

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by his relatives, the Satins, to seek the help of
a hypnotist called doctor Dohl. With much reluctance, he agreed
to see doctor Dahl and be treated specifically with hypnosis.
Rachmanoff's own words read as follows. Although it may sound
incredible hypnosis really helped me. Already at the beginning of

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the summer, I began again to compose. The material grew
in bulk, and new musical ideas began to stir within me,
far more than I needed for my concerto. I felt
that doctor Dall's treatment had strengthened my nervous system to
a miraculous degree. Out of gratitude, I dedicated my second

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concerto to him. As the piece had a great success
in Moscow, everyone began to wonder what possible connection it
could have with doctor Dahl. The truth, however, was known
to doctor Dahl, the Satins and myself. Does this story
sound incredible? You have the word of one of the
world's greatest musical composers that hypnosis alleviated his severe despondency.

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This is proof that the emotions of the individual can
be changed by the ideas he builds up about himself.
Doctor leland E. Hinsey, Professor of psychiatry, Columbia University, writing
in his book The Person in the Body W. W.
Norton Company, states, in some persons, the fear of disease

(03:40:04):
is often the only damaging evidence of disease. Yet it
can be so strong as to disable the person in
all his daily activities. The entire field of psychosomatic medicine,
which deals with the inner relationship between body and mind,
has as one of its basic tenets that suggestion not
only can cause psychological personality disorders, but many physical disorders

(03:40:29):
as well. It is therefore logical to conclude that the
systematic use of positive mental attitudes in an organized, progressive
self improvement program can be a vital influence in helping
you lead a healthier life, both emotionally and physically. Many
people in need of help are at a loss as

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to where they can locate reputable hypnotherapists in their area.
You may insult your family physician, county medical society, or
mental hygiene society. The chairman of the psychology department at
your nearest college or university would usually have this information.
I maintain a file of over four thousand doctors located

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all over the world who practice hypnosis and would be
pleased to refer you to doctors located in your locality.
The following national organizations maintain a specialized list. American Academy
of Child Psychiatry, three thirty five South Franklin Street, Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania,

(03:41:33):
American Academy of Psychoanalysis, seven fifty Park Avenue, New York,
twenty one, New York American Group Psychotherapy Association, to East
one hundred and third Street, New York, twenty nine, New
York American Psychiatric Association, seventeen hundred eighteenth Street, Northwest Washington,

(03:42:00):
d C. American Psychological Association thirteen thirty three sixteenth Street,
Northwest Washington, d C. American Speech and Hearing Association, one
hundred and eighth one Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, two eight

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five two National Association for Mental Health, ten Columbus Circle,
New York, nineteen, New York National Association for Retarded Children, Incorporated.
Ninety nine University Place, New York. Three New York National

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Council on Alcoholism, Incorporated. Two East one hundred and third Street,
New York, twenty nine, New York National Health Council, seventeen
ninety Broadway, New York, nineteen, New York National Institute of
Mental Health, U S Public Health Service, Bethesda, fourteenth. Maryland

(03:43:09):
Veterans Administration Psychiatry and Neurology Service, Department of Medicine. End
of Chapter thirteen recording by Andrea Fiori. End of A
Practical Guide to Self Hypnosis by Melvin Powers,