Holly Holmes-Meredith Articles

How to Prepare for Past Life Regression Therapy

2010-08-30T20:20:00.001-07:00

There are many working theories of what might be happening when people experience a past life. The theories include the anti-past life theory: cryptoamnesia, the concept that the subconscious has recorded historical information though books read, conversations overheard, lectures attended, and any other present life exposure to facts. These facts emerge in hypnosis as historically accurate stories and characters in specific time periods. The person having the hypnotic experience misinterprets the facts that emerge out of the unconscious as being her own past lives. Past life skeptics love this theory to explain away past lives. Then, there is the theory that our imagination creates the past lives the same way that our imagination creates our dreams.

If past life experiences are purely products of our imagination, then we can work with past lives the way we work with dreams by understanding that the psyche creates “lives” that in some way reflect our present life psychology and unconscious process similar to our dreams. By doing dream work with past life experiences, we can glean important patterns, insights and understanding of our present life. Another theory of past lives is that they are metaphors for our present life experiences. By overlaying the “past life” metaphor onto our present life experiences, we can see more objectively our blind spots and patterns and potentially reframe and transform our blocks and limitations.

Working with the theory of archetypes is also a helpful psychological approach to past lives. The archetypes that we embody in our past life experiences help us to work with our core issues and the life roles we presently live. For instance, if we have been driven to fight for the underdog or to be the constant zealous worker for the under privileged and disenfranchised in our present life, we may have past life experiences of being a benevolent leader or a revolutionary.

Overlaying the archetype onto our past life may reveal many of our present life attributes and foibles. As a western Newtonian “show me” culture, the genetic theory of past lives is quite popular. Some regression therapists theorize that when we have a past life memory we are tapping into our DNA and the genetic memory of our ancestor’s life times. By far, however, the most popular and widely accepted theory of past lives is the notion of reincarnation. All major world religions, including early Christianity, [1] believe in the soul being reborn into multiple life times for the purpose of working through lessons and growing in consciousness until there is an experience of enlightenment, or a complete remembering that we are divine in nature and an individual expression of God, the creator, the Tao or whatever is the ultimate source.

Along with the theory of reincarnation is the idea of transmigration: that we can reincarnate as an animal as well as human. And finally, within the realm of quantum theory, some believe that we are one and part of a unified field. Since there is no time or space in the quantum reality, all past lives are happening simultaneously as parallel lives. With all of these theories as explanations of past life memories, it is obvious that one does not have to believe in reincarnation, or even in past lives, to engage in past life therapy and benefit from the work in THIS life time.

Past life and inter life regression has proved effective for many kinds of issues that people work on in therapy: phobias, feeling stuck in patterns, relationship issues, questions of life purpose, grief and loss, death and dying , physical problems, illness and spiritual questions and concerns. If you are interested in experiencing a past-life and inter-life regression, you may choose to use a self-guided process available on CDs or MP3 files, or you can seek out the skill and guidance of a well-trained regression therapist.

The International Board for Regression Therapy (IBRT.org) board certifies regression therapists based on their training, experience, and also the submittal of two recorded regression therapy sessions for review. The people listed on the IBRT.org web site are good choices as regression therapists because these therapists have gone through extensive review of actual client sessions and have agreed to follow a high code of ethics as Board Certified as Regression Therapists. A well trained regression therapist uses non-directive language and asks open-ended questions to assure that the client is generating her own past life content and that it is not influenced by the therapist using directive language or embedded suggestions.

Here are some basic pointers to help you have success early in the process of doing regression therapy:

Do not lie down, but sit up while doing the regression. You will stay more alert and be able to interact in the process if you don’t go to sleep or too deeply into the hypnotic state. Past- and inter- lives are usually accessed right under the surface of your waking consciousness in an active and engaging state of trance. If more that one event or aspect of your past or inter life comes to awareness simultaneously, simply choose one to focus on. You can always explore any aspects of the past life or inter life at a later time.

It is a common mistake for people to anticipate that they have to SEE in hypnosis. Many people do not see anything in a regression. They, instead, know it, or think it, or feel or hear the details of the past life. All of your five inner senses and your intuitive knowing are channels through which past lives are experienced. Go with your natural ways of experiencing. Trust the process and what comes, even if you feel you are making it up. The content is still coming from within you…. even if it IS your imagination. Your imagination is still a reflection of who you are, and is relevant to your metaphors, archetypes, and unconscious experience of Self. Give yourself permission to go with whatever is coming to you, even if it doesn’t make any sense.

Let go of trying to control or figure it out and let the process evolve. If you ever feel stuck and nothing is happening for you, just make up something…you will soon experience that the process becomes more spontaneous and it takes on life of its own.

The past life and inter life regression process, as any interactive hypnotherapy process, may bring up real and sometimes intense emotions and body sensations for healing and release. While you can bring yourself out of the process anytime you wish, it is usually most healing to go through the experience so an energy release can take place. Try to stay with your experiences and move through them.

Remember, that whatever may have happened in the past, you have survived it and that, if past lives are real, there is no death of consciousness….there is just a changing of form. Also, you can always use a self-guided experience of dissociating from event, by becoming an observer rather than a participant of the events. Simply imagine walking out of the body and floating above the scene to watch the events, in a detached way, as if watching a movie. You may walk back into the scene at any point in the process, if you wish.

As with any self-guided hypnotic process, caution is warranted with past-life and inter-life therapy. It is not recommended that people with mental disorders that are in an unstable mental and emotional state engage in self-guided processes. Rather, they should seek the skill, containment, and support of a trained regression therapist who will guide the client’s process in an individual way addressing each client’s unique needs. Only use a self guided CD if you are mentally and emotionally stable and functioning in your daily life. Otherwise, seek professional support before doing regression work.

Hypnosis for Interactive and Lucid Dreaming

2010-07-13T23:29:00.000-07:00

In our waking life, we normally experience several levels of awareness. We can be fully self-aware and conscious, partially self-aware, or unconscious. Just as in waking life, there may be different levels of awareness in dreaming. The goal of lucid dreaming is to develop the ability to become conscious enough in a dream to be aware that you are dreaming and to interact with your dreams to affect desired outcomes. Having the ability to lucid dream creates positive effects in your waking life of feeling more empowered and self-confident to interact with the content and process of living in your daily life. Here are some of the tools for lucid dreaming and a self hypnosis process you can use to program yourself to have and activate lucid dreaming skills. You will combine these new skills with the basic skills of doing dream work. My previous articles on dreams, “Dream Work and Hypnosis” and “Self Hypnosis for Dream Incubation”, will give you basic guidelines for remembering and journaling your dreams.

Lucid Dreaming Skills

The first skill of lucid dreaming is mindfulness. It begins by asking yourself when in a dream, “ am I dreaming?” Here are some specific things you can do after asking the question, ”am I dreaming?”

Look at a watch, and look again. In dreamtime the numbers or face of the watch may be have strange numbers, images or be distorted. Or, look at your hands. In a dream they may not be recognizable as your own. Or, look in a pool of water, a window or mirror to see your reflection. In a dream the reflection is often distorted, blurred or unrecognizable. Or reading something in a dream may have content or writing that changes while you read.

You can pre-arrange and hypnotically practice using a symbol in your dream as a signal that you are dreaming. One dreamer, Susan, uses her power animal, a butterfly, as a cue to realize that she is dreaming. An experienced lucid dreamer, Jay, uses the sound of his favorite instrument, a flute, as a clue to become aware that he is in a dream. Choose a signal or cue for yourself and practice responding to it in your self hypnosis for lucid dreaming.

If an anomaly occurs in your dream, you can use it as a signal that you are dreaming. For instance, experiencing that your body is flying; grooming a bear; exploring Saturn in a convertible; or playfully swimming in a pool with sharks; would be good indicators that you are having a dream.

The second skill of lucid dreaming is being able to recognize dream signals that let you know that you are dreaming. One way to recognize your dream signals is to look carefully at your past dreams for themes or patterns, things that commonly re-occur in your dreams. For instance, do you have dream themes of doing activities like talking on the phone to someone who has passed, or cleaning house, or planning a class you will teach, or playing catch at a particular beach? Recognizing your dream signals will help you remember your dreams and can be a cue to ask yourself ‘am I dreaming? Practice asking yourself this question during the day to become more lucid in your wakeful state and you will condition yourself to ask the same question and become lucid in your dreams. By comparing your wakeful perceptions to those in dreams, you will begin to notice distinctions, intrinsic to wakeful versus dream reality.

Sometimes dreamers awaken from a lucid dream prematurely. Stephen LaBerge, a well known lucid dreamer researcher, proposes two ways to prolong a lucid dream: The first is to rub your hands in the dream to activate the brain in producing the sensation of rubbing hands rather than the sensation of lying in bed coming into awareness. The second is to spin your dream body to engage the brain in activating rapid eye movement which can extend a phase of rapid eye movement sleep, the state of sleep consciousness most directly related to lucid dreaming. In hypnosis you can skill rehearse successfully using all of these lucid dreaming tools so that when you are in the dream state they will be more readily available in dream consciousness and you will be more able to access the skills.

About Self Hypnosis for Lucid Dreaming

Using self hypnosis will help you amplify your intention and cultivate your skills for lucid dreaming. In a hypnotic state, you can program mindfulness and rehearse the lucid dreaming skills you want to use to become interactive in your dreams. Using self hypnosis before you go to sleep, you can program your subconscious with suggestions, and hypnotically practice asking, “Am I dreaming?” You can program yourself with the suggestion, “the next time I dream ______________ ( fill in the content of your common dream theme) I will become aware that I am dreaming.” You can also have a hypnotic dream in which you practice all the skills of lucid dreaming and you experience what it will be like to have mindfulness and be interactive in your dreams.

Before doing the self hypnosis process, take some time to write down some suggestions for lucid dreaming that you will give yourself. Write the suggestions using the pronoun “I” and in present tense. Keep the language in your suggestions positive and simple. Here is a basic induction and outline for self hypnosis. Read the script over several times to become familiar with the sequence of the process or record it with your own voice to listen to while in bed. When doing the self hypnosis, go slowly through the process to allow time for your inner responses.

Self Hypnosis for Lucid Dreaming

Be persistent and patient in using this self hypnosis and you will cultivate the skills, benefits, and joys of lucid and interactive dreaming into your dreamtime.

Lie in bed after preparing for sleep. If you are comfortable to do so, lying on your back is ideal because your body is open and receptive.

Close your eyes.

Take a few deep, clearing breaths.

Imagine that you are walking down a path in nature. Each step will support your relaxing and letting go.

Take in the details of your surroundings. See, hear and feel as you move down the path. Have fun exploring with all of your senses.

As you continue to walk on the path, notice a growing sense of relaxation and comfort.

At some point you discover a bench where you can sit and rest. You close your eyes while you rest and as you relax even more, you begin to have a dream. Let the dream unfold.

You ask yourself, “am I dreaming?”

You look down at your hands or you use any of the other actions to check if you are dreaming.

The signs that you are dreaming are clear and you become interactive in your dream.

Once you are aware that you are lucid dreaming, you rub your hands together or begin spinning, knowing that these dream activities will support you staying in the dream state so you may continue to lucid dream.

You give yourself all of the positive suggestion you want to support this hypnotic experience in transferring into your dreamtime. The more you use self hypnosis for lucid dreaming, the easier it is to activate the skills while dreaming.

Now, you naturally move from this hypnotic dream into sleep and lucid dreaming.

When you awaken in the morning, to reinforce your commitment and intentions to lucid dream, you journal your dreams.

Healing Your Inner Child

2010-07-03T13:00:00.000-07:00

In order to thrive and grow into our potentials, we all have basic needs that must be met consistently. The most basic needs are for food, safety and shelter. Other important needs are for loving attention, a sense of belonging, stimulation through learning and play, structure and boundaries, age appropriate responsibilities, respect, freedom to express oneself, to be heard, and creative outlets. As children if we do not have these needs met, or they are met erratically or inconsistently, we develop defenses and strategies to compensate. These strategies may help us cope and survive when we are young, but as we get older, these defenses, behaviors, perceptions and ways of being with ourselves and our world often become liabilities. Many common issues that clients want to work on in hypnotherapy are linked to these childhood patterns that limit.

Karen’s parents divorced when she was eight years old. After her father moved out, her mother had care of three kids and took on a full time job to make ends meet. Karen lost the full time attention of her mother and her father at the same time. As the oldest child, Karen took on the responsibility of caretaking of her brother and baby sister and doing many chores around the house when her mom was at work. Even though there was the support of baby sitters and neighbors who provided after school child care, Karen became the second parent to her siblings. Her time to be a child was over.

Karen was commended by all for being so grown up and responsible. She was such a good girl for helping her mom and for taking care of her brother and sister. And she was so dependable that by the time she was thirteen, her mother allowed Karen to be the after school babysitter, prepare dinner and do the chores without much supervision.

The family maintained some stability. The basic needs were met. But Karen had many childhood needs that seemed to disappear when her father left: the need for age appropriate responsibilities and the freedom to be a kid.

At 32, Karen comes for hypnotherapy wanting to work on her symptoms of co-dependence that are the result of her childhood family dynamics. Her symptoms are burnout, compulsive dependability, an excessive need to take care of others, anger, stress, and many unsatisfying relationships where she gives and gives and still doesn’t have her needs met. She yearns for change. In Karen’s hypnotherapy inner child work is the focus.

It is imperative that the client has access to a positive inner resource that can function as a inner parent before the client engages in inner child work because in a regressed state the client’s inner child needs to have an appropriate and loving re-parenting experience that will restructure the past events and create new inner child responses. There are several ways to gather resources. A client can meet her higher Self in hypnosis and cultivate a relationship with this inner wisdom as a re-parenting resource, or the client may do some inner family work where the client’s actual parents are transformed into more self-actualized, consistent, appropriate and resourceful “inner parents” who can support the inner child. Another option, especially for a client who has had severe childhood trauma and neglect, is to access a positive archetype of a parent. With the inner parent in place and available in these hypnotic restructuring processes the inner child finally has her needs met intrapsychically; it is as if the inner child is freed from the frozen patterns and childhood perceptions so that she can finally begin to feel whole and free again.

The state of consciousness accessed in hypnosis is elastic: there is no limitation to linear lime or space. The hypnotic re-patterning can lighten or undo the energetic patterns of childhood that are creating the present life difficulties and the hypnotic re-parenting and corrective emotional experiences can create new inner patterns and responses that are accessed in present time. And because hypnotic consciousness is holographic, with ongoing work, the new patterns and experiences eventually generalize and replace the old perceptions, patterns, and behaviors. Inner child work creates lasting change.

In Karen’s inner child work she accesses her higher Self as a resource for an available, wise and responsive inner parent. She dialogues with the higher Self to build trust and a loving inner relationship prior to doing any childhood regression work. She has homework between sessions to make on-going contact with her higher Self as a way to continue to build trust and familiarity with her inner wisdom. When she feels comfortable knowing that her higher Self will be with her, responsive, and consistently available, we begin the childhood regression work to support the transformation and healing of her inner child.

Commonly the hypnotic regression back to childhood events is facilitated through a technique called the Affect Somatic Linguistic Bridge. In this technique the client chooses a specific troubling issue that is current in her life and goes into the issue through body sensations, emotions and words that represent the experience. By suggesting that these current life effects are amplified, they become the bridge back in time to the childhood events.

When using this technique, Karen feels an emptiness in her stomach and a heaviness in her shoulders. She expresses that the emotions are abandonment and feeling responsible for her siblings. Her words are, “It is up to me. I have to do it myself.” She feels this huge burden and her tears begin to flow.

Karen regresses to eight years of age. She is alone in the house with her siblings after school when her newly divorced mom is at work. She is cooking popcorn for an after school snack. Smoke fills the hallway and the fire alarm goes off. She pulls the pan off the stove, grabs her baby sister and screams for her brother to get out of the house. After the smoke clears, Karen discovers that the house is safe. She scours the burnt pan and airs out the house. She doesn’t tell her mother about the incident because she wants her mom to think she is responsible and a big girl. Every time her mom comes home she tells Karen what a big girl she is, how responsible she is, and how she can trust her to help with the house and the kids. This special attention from her mom feels wonderful. Karen thinks that telling her mom about the smoke and burned popcorn may not only make her mom mad, but it may also stop her mom from giving her attention and praise that fills up the empty place inside. Karen covers up her fear and the feelings of pressure to do things responsibly and correctly so she can continue to get approval from her mom. Getting approval for what she does is the main way Karen feels love from her mother. Karen’s developing co-dependent patterns are reinforced each time she denies her feelings or her needs and takes care of the house or her siblings for her mother’s approval. Because Karen’s needs aren’t met freely and directly for her efforts, she begins to resent her siblings.

In the hypnotic re-parenting of the eight year old, Karen’s higher Self takes charge of the popcorn incident and gets the three kids to safety and then, as the adult, she accesses the problem and deals with it. Her higher Self talks to Karen and tells her that she is lovable for simply being who she is, not for what she does. Her higher Self attends to Karen’s needs to be a child and have free time and play time. Time to be a kid. The higher Self spends time with Karen nurturing her, and being present with her. Karen begins to relax and let go of the compulsion to have to do to be worthy and lovable.

After several inner child sessions Karen notices that she is beginning to set boundaries for herself and nurture herself more. She begins to practice meeting her own needs first. And when she gives to others, she begins to give from a place of fullness rather than from a place of needing approval or acknowledgement from others. She feels more relaxed and more energy and joy. Her transformation continues as she learns how to attend to, love and support her inner child.

By accessing holographic consciousness in hypnosis and working with the inner child, we can heal places where our psychological development was arrested because of unmet needs. By accessing the beyond time and space elasticity of hypnotic consciousness, and engaging in inner child work, it is not too late to have a happy childhood.

Note: The client Karen is fictional, but an accurate representation of what a typical co-dependent client would go through in hypnotherapy focusing on inner child work.

Holly Holmes-Meredith, Doctor of Ministry, Licensed Marriage Family Therapist, Board Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, Clinical Director, HCH Institute

Self-Hypnosis to Incubate a Healing or Teaching Dream

2010-06-16T07:44:00.000-07:00

The following hypnosis technique is a process to use before bed to incubate or manifest a dream to help you with an issue that is alive in your daily life. This process is for people who regularly remember their dreams and have at least some basic dream work skills. I recommended working with basic dream work tools listed in my previous article “Dream Work and Hypnosis” to get comfortable with the basics of dream work before using this advanced dream work technique. In using this dream incubation hypnosis, you will need to keep your dream journal by your bedside, as you will be writing down your dreams upon awakening. With practice, this advanced dream work techniques will enhance your self-awareness and support your ability to be more self- actualized in your daily life.

In hypnosis you will meet with your dream weaver and ask for help in manifesting a dream that will bring you teaching or healing in response to your specific concern. To be your own hypnotist or guide, record the following hypnosis script in your own voice. When you read and record this script, make sure that you speak slowly and leave time between each suggestion so you have time to access you inner experience and perceptions. Read the words with a soothing voice, the way you would read to a sleepy child. Listen to your recorded hypnosis process nightly before you go to sleep and you will soften the boundaries between your waking and dreaming consciousness so you will receive information to help you live the dream of your WAKING life with more magic, empowerment and self- awareness.

Introduction to Hypnosis to Incubate a Dream

Use this hypnosis process once you are regularly remembering your dreams. The purpose of this hypnosis to incubate a dream is to ask your dream weaver to bring you a dream to help you with a question, decision, relationship, concern or issue in your life to which you want to bring understanding, insight and healing. For instance, you might ask for a dream to help you understand and get direction around a life transition, relationship challenge, or you might ask for dreamweaver’s advice on dealing with a health issue. Perhaps you can ask for a dream that will give you inspiration and insight into moving forward with an art project or feeling blocked in some area of your life. Or possibly, you ask for a dream to activate your spiritual growth and awareness. Before you proceed with this hypnosis have a clear focus and request in mind. Write down your focus and request for the dream in your dream journal. Also write down any thoughts you may have about why manifesting this dream will be important and meaningful to you in your life. If you do not receive a dream the first night after doing this hypnosis, then do this process for at least two more nights. The dream may take some time to be incubated before it comes to you.

The hypnosis process that follows programs the subconscious to work with your dreamweaever, or transcendent Self to bring you insights and transformation. Dream manifesting will not necessarily result in a direct answer to a question since dreams are symbolic and are loaded with many possibilities.

After you ask for a gift in a dream and then you have the joy of working with the dream to discover the many possibilities and gifts the dream presents. (My next article will have a process for working with your dream in hypnosis.)

And then, after receiving the wisdom of the dream, you have to opportunity to choose whether to follow any guidance or insight by taking action and living out the healing and teaching of the dream. Do not be over simplistic, or too literal and throw caution out the dream door by saying, “ this dream told me what to do”. Use Dream work as one touchstone in your decision and choice making process.

Self-Hypnosis Script to Incubate a Healing or Teaching Dream

This self-hypnosis is to be used when in bed and you are ready to sleep. If possible, set up your tape, MP3 or CD player to turn off after playing this track so you can move right into sleep.

While lying in bed and ready for sleep, close you eyes. Notice your body. Where in your body are you the most comfortable and relaxed? As you breathe into those comfortable and relaxed areas, imagine the comfort growing and spreading to other areas in your body that want to relax and let go. Imagine the comfort is growing with each in breath and any discomfort and tension moves out the bottoms of your feet as you exhale. Continue to breathe in relaxation and breathe out the rest as you become more and more still. You become more and more relaxed. The space of comfort and relaxation continues to grow and expand throughout your body. You look forward to sleep and to the guidance, inspiration and healing of the dream that awaits you.

While your body continues to soften and relax, your mind becomes more still and focused. You carry your dream journal with you as you imagine walking on a gentle sloping path down a hillside. The path winds easily through a forest. With each step along the path you take in the beautiful surroundings and move deeper and deeper with in. Your senses come alive as you walk. Look at the colors and textures of nature. Feel the stability of the earth beneath your feet. Hear the sounds of the forest around you. As the light of the late afternoon sun glows through the trees and ferns, you enjoy many shades of fresh green and rich-colored earth tones. Breath in the moist fresh air… and as the sun sets, you feel the cooling temperature on your face and arms. You barely hear your footsteps as you walk on the moss-covered path. After walking for some time, you see a small structure through the trees. You are intrigued to discover a dwelling so deep in the forest. As you approach the structure, you have discovered what feels like a very special and sacred place.The structure is a small temple. As you enter the walkway to the door, there is a carved wooden sign that reads: Welcome to Dreamtime. Your dreamer weaver awaits your arrival. As you enter, you will be between the worlds of wakefulness and sleep and you are able to communicate with the part of you that orchestrates your dreams.

Tingling with excitement and anticipation, you approach the tall, wooden door. You release the latch, open the door, and step inside. What a wondrous place. Hundreds of twinkling candle flames illuminate the room. In the center of the room is a smiling presence that emanates love and good will. You approach the figure and discover someone who seems very familiar to you. You meet the part of you that creates your dreams, your dream weaver. In this meeting your dream weaver and conscious self learn to communicate, to build trust and an on-going relationship to enhance your dream life and your ability to incubate and remember your dreams. Your dream weaver welcomes you and invites you to look around the room. Your eyes have grown accustom to the candlelight and you are able to see many doorways along the walls. Your dream weaver communicates that each doorway leads to a specific kind of dream. Each door has a symbol, word or picture that represents the kind of dreams to which the door leads. For example, one door leads to dreams that are connected to your growing up and childhood events that want healing and resolve, while another doorway leads to dreams about past lives. The next doorway leads to dreams that connect you to people and animals who have died and wish to communicate with you, and another door leads to problem-solving and life direction dreams.

There are many, many kinds of dreams that you will explore in your dreamtime and many wonderful teachings, discoveries and healings await you through these doors to your dreams. After showing you the doors, your dream weaver takes you lovingly by the hand and guides you to a luxuriously appointed bed. You lie down on a thick comfortable, mattress. Tell the dream weaver about the need behind your current request. Ask for help in manifesting a healing or teaching dream that will inform, teach, inspire, and bring healing to this concern or situation. Show the dream weaver your dream journal and read your intention and request. How does the dream weaver respond? Listen with your ears, eyes, body and heart. Does the dream weaver have any advice or requests for you? Assure the dream weaver that you will work with any dream that comes, working towards more self-awareness and understanding. Take time now for any further dialogue and exchange. You receive what comes in whatever way it comes.

When you are complete with your communications, it is dreamtime. You ask for support from the dreamer in remembering your dreams so that that the dreams may communicate their messages to your conscious self. In this relaxed state, you have more direct access to a focused awareness and you are open to receive these helpful and empowering suggestions:

Your dream weaver stands by your bed while you sleep, supporting you and guiding through the appropriate door and into the dream while you sleep. As soon as you awaken, lie quietly for awhile and tune into your feelings, images and any words or impressions that are still with you from dreamtime. Then, reach for your dream journal to record any impressions or details of whatever dreams that you have brought back with you to conscious awareness. Record any emotions, body sensations, words or phrases, and impressions that come out of sleep with you and any details, stories, characters, events or environments you remember. You journal anything, even if it is only a vague memory or impression. You journal with words and drawings. Your regular dream journaling communicates to your unconscious and that you are earnest about wanting to remember and work with your dreams and your commitment to dream journaling opens the door to remembering your dream. You imagine awakening and reaching for your dream journal. See and feel that you are writing on the paper, recording and honoring each detail or dream fragment that comes. You appreciate your dreamweaver’s help as you remember and work with the wisdom of your dream. You are guided to get into a beautifully appointed bed. Lying on the think comfortable mattress and knowing that the preparations for a healing dream are in place, you easily and effortlessly move into sleep. And while you sleep, your dream weaver waits for the appropriate time in your dreamtime to take you to the door of the dream woven to meet your request. In the right moment in dreamtime, you walk through the open door and meet the characters, setting, symbols, messages and feelings that are the guidance of your dream. Sleep, knowing that the unfolding of your dream is guided by the support of your dream weaver, your wise, transcendent Self. You look forward to journaling and then dream working to discover the dream’s gifts and wisdom. You are grateful for dreaming as a tool for living more fully awakened as your whole Self. You sleep well.

Who am I, What am I Doing Here, Why Me?-Present Life and PAst life Regression Therapy

2010-05-12T22:24:00.000-07:00

Both present life regression and past life regression therapy are common hypnotic approaches to helping clients transform present life issues and difficulties. How and why does regression therapy work, and what are the differences in the effects of both kinds of regression therapies?

If a client requests present life regression therapy or inner child work, the interview focuses on what she wants and expects from present-life regression therapy. A detailed discussion emerges which outlines the therapist and client’s responsibilities in doing present-life regressions. I explain that we can focus on current presenting issues with pragmatic goals as the outcome and that the present-life regression work becomes a means to an end, not an end in itself. Because of the legal limits of the use of hypnosis in California, I make sure my client has informed consent and understands that any information she accesses in a hypnotic state is not admissible in a court of law nor can it be used in a deposition for testimony. I make sure my client has her own healing and wholeness as the focus of the work and that she understands that uncovering memories does not necessarily prove that what was remembered is factual. The client is informed that the inner child work is a process to which one must commit in her own time and way, and that the present-life regression work, itself, is just one important step of the healing process.

I tell the client that it is my responsibility as the guide to ask open-ended questions and to allow the content of the experience to arise solely from herself. I explain that I will be a “tour guide”, but that she is the “driver” of the experience. I empower the client to verbalize any needs that arise during the regression and to feel free to comment on any questions or concerns she may have while experiencing the hypnotic state so that I can assist her process. I inform her that accessing in hypnosis is a skill and by being communicative of what is and is not happening, I can help her learn how to access more easily while in the hypnotic state. I encourage the client to tell me if “nothing” is happening and assure her that “nothing” is “something” and is perfectly all right.

I use impeccable language patterns which are non-directive and client empowering and, after the client has experienced the present life source of the difficulty, I ask the client to reframe or rescript the childhood experience. I also know as a long-time recovering codependent people helper, that I need to stay out of the client’s process and content so that I am not acting out my own “needs to be needed”. Most importantly, the client needs to experience her own inner resources for healing so that she learns that she is not dependent on a outside resource or “authority” for answers and healing. Also, to facilitate the integrity of the session, the hypnotherapist needs to avoid asking directive questions, telling the client what to do and to be careful that suggestions are not embedded in the language patterns. The client’s higher Self as an inner parent (see my previous article on Creating the Inner Family) is always used as the resource and as the director of the reframing or rescripting because the higher Self can and will create an appropriate corrective and healing experience for the incident or memory. There is no one else who could possibly know the child’s needs or support those needs better than the client herself. To support the client’s higher Self in doing the work, I generally ask: “What does the child need?” The client’s self-directed inner response is typically spontaneous and wise.

In hypnotherapy, inner child work or present-life regression therapy has several purposes. The first is to free the subconscious from having to hold the lid of repression in place. This uncovering, in itself, can bring relief and free up psychic energy. Secondly, through present-life regression therapy a client can get new insight as to why and how she has developed the adult personality style and current defenses. The client can have a very conscious and direct experience of the long-term effects of unmet needs. Thirdly, in a present-life regression a client’s childhood experience witnessed from the client’s adult consciousness helps a client realize how, as the child, she may have misinterpreted actual events and made decisions which are not based on whole truths. (This is how I explain to clients that present-life memories can be “real” even if they are not based on facts.) In all these situations, the child’s needs which were never met at the time of the memory can finally be met through either reframing or rescripting of the incident. This creates a corrective emotional experience which allows the ego to heal and to move out of a negative experience which in some ways has the client “frozen” back in time and currently responding based on old perceptions or childhood “realities”. The details of the work, however, must come from the client, NOT, from the therapist.

Past-Life work, from my perspective, has very different purposes and effects. Where present-life regression supports psychological healing, ego development and the ongoing sense of an emerging self, past-life regression therapy supports soul healing and the knowing of Self.

Past-life therapy opens the client to the transpersonal realms of experience… to a level of understanding that goes beyond the ego and personal self. It is my experience both as a client and a guide of past life therapy, that it is common for a past-life experience to propel the client into a greater understanding of the “why me?’ and the cosmic purpose or soul lesson behind an experience. Once the lesson is gleaned, there is an acceptance of the past-life event as a teacher of the soul lesson. The work in the inter life through which the client can know soul purpose really supports this spiritual and transpersonal level of understanding.

Past-life therapy has the purpose and effect of disengaging the client’s unconscious identification with a past-life event by helping the client know from her own experience that there is continuity of consciousness through which much can be known, healed, and integrated from all of one’s lives. From the transpersonal perspective, the client has a direct experience in dis-identifying from the roles she has played and knowing that she is, in reality, none of the people of past-lives; nor is she, in reality, the person of he present-life. She is a soul which takes on different roles in each life to learn soul lessons; all of which are in support of the soul remembering who it is: a spiritual being having a human experience.

Healing the past-life is, in part, realizing that we have the life experience to learn lessons which support us in remembering who we are. The healing is from the meta-consciousness or knowing that we, as souls, transcend identification with the suffering and the ecstasy of all human experience. Going through many experiences allows us to dis-identify from the drama and attachment to all of life’s ups and downs.

Through engaging in past life regression therapy clients experience that there are soul agreements with other souls which we choose in the inter life before incarnating. We engage with each other to play out specific roles in each lifetime so that we can interface with experiences which provide the opportunities to learn the life lessons.

In a past-life session, the client is supported in coming to her personal knowing of her soul’s journey for the purpose of remembering who and what she is in the larger spiritual reality. It is this new spiritual awareness that will support the client in her present life to live more fully in the moment with loving acceptance of the way it is and with the awareness that the way it is, is perfect. She will also see that her current life situations are also a part of the divine plan. Through the karmic difficulties and the joys of the past, we are brought back home to ourselves. Part of a past-life healing is a higher understanding of one’s experience and lessons which leads to forgiveness of self and others. Forgiveness clears the way to the experience of love.

A holistic approach to helping a client with present life issues would be to facilitate both present and past life therapy. Here is an example of a client who presents an issue of abandonment as her focus. As a child, Janet’s parents divorced and as an adult she’s had two marriages that ended with both of her husbands leaving her for other women. She is tired of the fear that she lives with from the abandonment and she wants to heal the recurring patterns and her on-going emotional pain.

In her present life regression work going back to the abandonment she felt during her parent’s divorce, she experiences that she blamed herself for the divorce and she still held the belief that she wasn’t lovable and deserving of someone staying intimately connected to her. From her adult perspective, Janet realized that her child perceptions were still currently affecting her self worth and beliefs. Through a series of sessions of inner parenting, reframing, and creating corrective emotional experiences for her inner child, she was able to change her beliefs and begin to love and accept herself.

In Janet’s past life work she accessed several related past lives in which she was abandoned as a child by her mother who died, she was abandoned by a fellow soldier on the battlefield and left to die, and she was abandoned and betrayed by a political leader in Russia after “sacrificing” herself and her family to move up in the military ranks to have more money and power. Janet also regressed to past lives when she was the abandoner from which she felt heavy guilt and remorse. Through the past life regressions Janet was able to understand her current life patterns and see that the unresolved guilt of abandoning others was the cause of attracting the abandonment experiences of her current life. Working holistically, with both present and past life regressions, Janet was able to come to an understanding of why she had the abandonment patterns and the karma of how her past actions are related to the current effects in her present life. Janet also came to understand from the regressions that she had been abandoning herself by withholding self-care and self-love. She is now at peace, feeling more self-acceptance, and self-love. Janet is in a new relationship in which she enjoys expressing her new sense of wholeness rather than the old unconscious guilt and a lack of self-love.

Regression therapy is a profound way to come to healing in both present and past lives. Present life regression supports the ego or personal “I” in feeling more empowered and whole and past life regression therapy assists the client in accessing the meta-consciousness and remembering the higher Self’s knowing of the perfection of the life journeys, the workings of cause and effect, and the awakening to remembering and knowing, who we are, what we are doing here in this lifetime and understanding why we have the experiences we have attracted to ourselves this life time.

Dream Work and Hypnotherapy

2010-04-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

You will spend one third of your life asleep and much of your time asleep will be spent dreaming. Do you yearn to have more access to remembering and understanding your dreams? Do you want tools to enhance your ability to work with your dreams to understand their meanings and messages? Working with your dreams can be fascinating, healing and enlightening and having the tool of self-hypnosis or hypnotherapy can open the door for remembering and working with your dreams. Once you are remembering your dreams you will discover that there are a variety of types of dreams and each dream has several levels of meaning.

Types of Dreams
Some dreams are related to your daily life. A dream can relate to events or situations that are a part of your normal activities. These dreams often have familiar people, environments and memories from your past or present life circumstances. These dreams may support dealing with the anxieties of your life or help with problem solving about things you are consciously or unconsciously worrying about in your waking life. Dreaming about past events will likely be connected to things that are needing attention and healing from that period of your life. In these daily life types of dreams, we are trying to process or organize what happened or will happen and they often give us creative approaches or solutions to problems.

Recurring dreams are the psyche’s way to really get our attention. In my dream work experience, a recurring dream will usually stop once the dreamer has taken the time to work with the dream and get the messages the dream offers. Also, in this category of dreams is what is called a serial dream. These are dreams that have the same theme, characters or feelings that have continuity and seem to evolve from dream to dream. These dreams are like sequential chapters in a book. Serial dreams will often be bookmarks for the dreamer to understand her own growth and evolutional process.

Nightmares are potent dreams that also have the effect of getting the dreamer’s attention. Most dreamers who have nightmares usually awaken from the dream so they are sure to remember the dream. When the dreamer works with the nightmare and understands the important messages the dream offers, the fear generated from the nightmare can be transformed into wisdom and healing. What appears to be the “boogeyman” in the dream can be a dream helper who “wakes up” the dreamer to something that is important and needs attention.

Some dreams are spiritual or other dimensional. Dreamers have this type of dream when they have a premonition, share a visitation with a person who has just died that the dreamer didn’t consciously know is dead, or have dreams that bring guides or spiritual messages to consciousness. Also, in this category of dreams are dreams that may be past life memories. These dreams often leave the dreamer with a feeling of really having “been there”; a feeling that the dream is more real than life.

Another type of dream is a lucid dream. In lucid dreams the dreamer is aware that she is dreaming and is able to direct the dream consciously for a positive outcome and dream experience. Lucid dreams are empowering and teach people how to bring the sense of empowerment into their daily lives.

Basic Dream Work Guidelines:

· All dreams are for teaching you something that you don’t already know.

· All dreams may have many levels of meaning for the dreamer.

· All aspects of the dream are parts of the dreamer as well as representing aspects of daily life in the past, present or future, Aspect of dreams can also be in the form of metaphors and archetypes.

· The dreamer is the only person who can know for sure what the message and healing of the dream is. When someone offers an interpretation of a dream for someone else’s dream, she needs to own that she is interpreting the dream as if it were her own.

· Using dream dictionaries or symbol books for understanding dreams may be helpful, but the dreamer’s symbols are related more to her own psyche’s template than just to archetypal interpretations. Symbols in the dream may have common meanings but those meanings may not fit the dreamer’s experience of the symbols in the dream. And because symbols have different meanings in different cultures, the standard cultural meaning may not fit for every dream.

· Dreams speak in the language of metaphors, symbols and archetypes.

· Dream work engages the dreamer in coming to her own “felt sense” or understanding of the dream through an “Ahaha” experience of “getting it” for herself. The dreamer knows when she has the teaching and healing of her dream because she feels it and knows it through her body.

Using Hypnosis to Remember your Dreams
The first challenge for working with your dreams is remembering them. Commonly, my students and clients tell me that they would love to work with their dreams but that they rarely remember them. Here is a simple proven exercise you can do before bed to activate your dreamer and to bring your dreams to consciousness when you awaken.

Place a voice recorder or a pen and pad of paper by your bedside. While in bed and before going to sleep, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. As you exhale, let go of the busyness of your day and allow yourself to become still and relaxed. Mentally invoke the part of you that creates and remembers your dreams to be present. Tell this part that you want to speak with it, to connect with it and honor it. Ask it for dreams to teach you and heal you and your life. Tell it that you will make an effort, pay attention, and record or write down whatever you experience upon awakening, whether it is in the middle of your sleep cycle or when you awaken in the morning.

Engage in this exercise each night and when you awaken, lie in bed for a few minutes and notice what you sense in your body, feel any emotions and notice any images or thoughts or words that come to you. Record them or write them down. The initial impressions upon awakening are most likely echoes of dreams and by focusing on them and staying with them, often a dream image or a snippet of a dream will come through. Thank your dreamer for whatever comes. By engaging in this practice you will strengthen your “dream muscles” and open the door to remembering your dreams.

To engage in dream work you do not need to remember a full dream. You can work with one image or even a thought or feeling that you have upon awakening. To enhance accessing and working with the dream image you can use self-hypnosis or have a hypnotherapist facilitate your dream work process.

Dream Work Techniques with Hypnosis
There are many hypnosis techniques that enhance dream work. For instance, the dreamer can re-enter the dream in a hypnotic state to explore or revisit the dream. Through re-connecting with the dream through hypnotic consciousness, the content or the details of the dream can be revivified or clarified for the dream work. To re-enter the dream the dreamer either uses self-hypnosis or the support of a hypnotherapist to focus on whatever initial dream elements you have to work with and then step into the dream and embody the consciousness or character who experiences the dream. Through hypnotic dream re-entry you can explore the setting, “talk” with the characters, feel the feelings and sensations, move forwards or backwards in the dream, or “commune” with the symbols to discover their meanings. In dream re-entry it is important to allow what comes in the process, even if you feel that you are making it up; because, in hypnosis, you are working with the same part of the psyche that made up the dream in the first place.

Also, in hypnosis the dreamer can experience symbol amplification by choosing one or more symbols in the dream to understand. The dream worker can, in hypnosis, become the symbol or talk with it or “try on” the traditional meaning or cross cultural meanings of the symbol to discover which meaning fits for the dream. In hypnosis the dreamer can ask the symbol, “What message do you have for me?”, or “Why are you in my dream?”.

If the dreamer wants to know the ending of a dream that was interrupted because the dreamer was awakened before the dream came to a conclusion, the dreamer can re-enter the dream to hypnotically “dream” the ending.

Another wonderful use of hypnosis in dream work is to incubate a dream. By using self-hypnosis before sleep, the dreamer sets an intention to have a dream that will teach about or heal a specific issue in the dreamer’s life. The dreamer can choose a focus on what ever she feels she needs to be more self-aware or empowered in her life.

Your dreams are truly a doorway to more self-awareness, to problem solving, to accessing the archetypal and spiritual realms and to healing and learning. Since the state of hypnosis is a link between the waking and sleeping states of consciousness, using hypnosis for dream work can greatly enhance remembering dreams and engaging in the process of uncovering their wisdom. Dream work will inform, inspire and enhance your connection to Self.

Transpersonal Hypnotherapy

2010-03-16T22:53:00.000-07:00

The practice of Hypnotherapy is interactive and directly engages the client’s unconscious resources through verbal and non-verbal communication while the client is in the hypnotic state. Therapy done in this expanded state is greatly enhanced and supported because the client is able to access information, healing, creativity, memories and insight that is not normally available when in the waking conscious state.

By engaging a transpersonal or spiritual form of hypnotherapy, the client’s personal transformation can be supported even further. Invoking client’s higher Self (or higher power, or the Christ with in, or Buddha wisdom, or the Divine Self, called by many names) aligns clients in accessing profound states of consciousness similar to those experienced in deep meditation or in profound states of presence: states when the egoic or self- involved consciousness is transcended or simply out of the way. Healing and profound change can take place, often fairly effortlessly, through these transpersonal states of consciousness. Clients report that these expanded states of consciousness change them in lasting positive ways. Clients realize that, for instance, they have sadness, but are not the sadness. They can potentially experience themselves as spiritual in essence: as a spiritual being having a human experience.

In traditional talk therapy, the client works from the conscious egoic level most of the time, and in many ways she keeps reinforcing the stories, identifications and negative patterns around her difficulties by focusing on them and taking about them over and over again on a conscious level. In talking about the problems and feelings there is the hope that the client will have a spontaneous breakthrough of insight and change. In contrast, by dialoguing with the higher Self directly in a trance state, the hypnotherapist and client can elicit direction from the higher Self as to what focus and issues need to be addressed and guidance as to techniques and approaches to take. For instance, if a client comes into hypnotherapy wanting to release a symptom of claustrophobia, the therapist and client can, in trance, ask the higher Self what would be most effective focus and hypnotic approach in the session: inner child/inner family work, skill rehearsal, a childhood or past life regression, or processed that release anxiety. The session, therefore, is directly guided by the part of the client that already knows the cause of the fear and what the client needs to release it. The client’s wisest part is directing the therapy and helping both the client and hypnotherapist to give structure to the session and to support the step by step unfolding of the hypnosis process. The hypnotherapist helps the client to access her higher Self and supports her in cultivating ways to communicate and form an inner relationship with the higher Self so that it becomes a trusted and readily available resource not only in a hypnotic state, but in also daily life.

How will the client know when she has accessed this higher Self? The higher Self is loving, supportive, non-judgmental, offers gentle nudging, has the perspective of the big picture, is compassionate, and is focused on the good of all concerned. The higher Self may come in a visual form as an archetype, deity, symbol, or a representation as a self-actualized self. It could be perceived as an inner voice or telepathic communication. It could communicate through a knowing or body sensation. Every client has a unique experience of it. The higher Self is a direct link to an intuitive experience of the highest good and connection to the divine.

Working with a transpersonal form of hypnotherapy is often a mystical and spiritual practice for the client. She can learn to access and utilize expanded states of consciousness directly, at will, and for a variety of personal goals and purposes. The process of being in an expanded state is just as healing and significant in supporting change as is directing the state of consciousness towards a therapeutic personal goal or outcome. For the client in the hypnotic state, accessing awareness of the higher Self becomes a profound teacher of how our consciousness works to create our realities. These hypnotic states become vehicles through which we can re-create our realities. The practice of this form of hypnotherapy is a form of spiritual practice that puts us directly in touch with our spiritual nature and how our consciousness creates the forms and structures of our lives.

In hypnotically accessed transcendent states, you begin to have a new sense of self and a new way of relating to the challenges in your life. Through higher Self awareness and presence, you become dis-identified from your stories, negative patterns, and symptoms.

If you are interested in engaging in this transpersonal and spiritually focused form of hypnotherapy, interview a potential hypnotherapist to discover if the hypnotherapist invokes and works directly with the client’s higher Self as a co-therapist, resource, and inner guide for the client in the session. If so, you can be assured that the content of the focus of the hypnotherapy session will have absolute integrity and authenticity that comes from this wise and loving aspect of Self.

Holly Holmes-Meredith, D. Min, MFT, CCHT

Creating the Inner Family with Self Hypnosis

2010-02-26T12:39:00.000-08:00

As children we all have needs that must be met appropriately and consistently for us to thrive and become self actualized as adults. If our needs are not met, or they are met erratically or inconsistently, we develop traits or characteristics that are our defensive attempts to meet out own needs. Many of our dysfunctions or coping styles are the consequence of these unmet needs and our responses to our childhood. Working with the inner family and our inner child is a therapeutic tool to intra-psychically begin to meet those nagging needs and to create corrective emotional experiences that have a lasting effect on who we are and how we function and respond in our relationship to ourselves, each other, and our daily lives.

Before you do the inner child work, doing the following hypnotic processes to create a new inner father and mother is helpful so your inner child will have the resources available for inner parenting. If you grew up with out one parent or were adopted, do the inner father and inner mother process with a person who was a representative figure of that parent: a step parent, a teacher, neighbor, or uncle, for instance. It will be most effective if you record the following process in your own voice so you are free to respond and you don’t have to keep track of the sequence of instructions and suggestions. Make sure to leave plenty of time between each suggestion.

Self-Hypnosis to Create the Inner Father

Sit comfortably in a private place where you will not be interrupted. Adjust your body so that your back and head are supported. Close your eyes and take a deep clearing breath. Breathe in relaxation with your in breath….and breathe out any discomfort, tiredness or stress with your exhalation.

With each cycle of breathing imagine breathing in the positive of what you want to feel and letting go of what you wish to release with each out breath. With each cycle of in breath and out breath you become more and more relaxed.

Imagine that you are in a safe and beautiful place. You are surrounded by beauty and positive energy. You feel at home and protected. Look around you and take in the surroundings. Notice the colors and textures. Breathe in the air as you notice the temperature and the fragrances. Notice the time of day and the quality of lighting and shadow around you. Listen to the sounds around you. Take it all in. You feel supported by this special place. You are safe.

You find a place to sit awhile. As you relax, you invite your inner child to join you. Notice you inner child. How old is your inner child? What is he or she wearing? What is the expression on your inner child’s face? What is his or her body posture and what is it expressing? As you observe your inner child, what do you perceive that he or she needs?

Imagine your father standing in front of your inner child. Notice how he is dressed, his facial expression and his body posture. What does your father’s state of being communicate to the child? How does your inner child feel standing with his or her father? Where in the inner child’s body or in your body do you feel the response to your father? What do you feel? What does the response communicate to you about the relationship you share?

Standing with your father, is your father’s inner child who is about the same age as your inner child. Notice your father’s inner child’s dress, his facial expression and his body posture. What does this child’s state of being communicate? What does he need?

Standing with your father’s inner child is his father, who is your grandfather. Imagine that your grandfather has all of the awareness, skills and resources to parent and lovingly support your father’s inner child. Imagine that your father’s inner child has his needs met appropriately, lovingly and consistently. Notice how your father’s inner child responds. Your father’s inner child begins to grow up. As he develops his needs are met appropriately, lovingly and consistently, day after day, week after week and month after month. He grows in to a man. He is a man who experiences his wholeness and in his wholeness he has plenty of love and attention and wisdom to share. And as an adult he is present, giving, and engaged as a parent. Your father’s inner child has grown into a healthy, loving father for your inner child. Your new inner father has the time, skills and resources to meet your inner child’s needs. Notice your inner child standing with his or her new inner father. Notice your inner child’s facial expression and body posture. What is your inner child experiencing now? From this moment on whenever your inner child needs attention, protection, holding, appropriate boundaries, and love, your inner father is present and engaged in parenting.

You make a place in your heart where your inner child and inner father live. A place where they relate and respond to each other from an experience of wholeness and healing for your inner child. Your inner child’s needs are met.

Note:

To do self-hypnosis to create the inner mother, use the script above but substitute your mother for your father, the mother’s inner child for the father’s inner child, and your mother’s mother (your grandmother) for your father’s father (your grandfather.)

**Thanks to Dr. Ron W. Jue, PhD, for permission to share this technique.**

©Copyright 2010 by Holly Holmes-Meredith, D. Min., MFT, Board Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist. All Rights Reserved.

What Style of Hypnotherapy is Right for You?

2009-12-01T22:58:00.000-08:00

There are several styles of hypnotherapy that are commonly adopted by practitioners and not all styles work well for all clients. One way to access what style might work best for you is to respond to this question: How do you normally respond to people telling you what to do? If you are the type of person who feels secure when you have instructions and direct requests, the directive approach will most likely work for you. If you find you are rebellious when people tell you what to do, a more permissive approach will suit you better. When you interview a prospective hypnotherapist you might want to question her about her training and style to discover if you will feel comfortable and be responsive to her approach. The following is a basic overview of the different styles of hypnotherapy to help you understand your options.

Directive Approach

In the directive approach, the hypnotherapist guides the client into a state of hypnosis and the hypnotherapist gives the client suggestions. People are most familiar with this approach to hypnotherapy because it is the technique that is most similar to what we witness with stage hypnosis and see in the movies. And, clients expect that if they go for a hypnotherapy session that the hypnotherapist will give direct suggestions.

All styles of hypnotherapy will adopt aspects of this style. Simply, telling the client to sit comfortably and to take a deep breath is a direct suggestion. If the client is suggestible, open and receptive to the process, and if the client is without inner conflicts about the focus of the session, direct suggestion can work. These “ifs” are the big issues with the direct suggestion approach. New clients may not yet trust the hyypnotherapist or trust their own abilities to respond to hypnosis. Clients may also have misunderstandings about what hypnosis is and how it works that contributes to anxiety about being hypnotized.

Misperceptions about what to expect from hypnosis can make it difficult for the client to relax and flow with the process. For instance, many people falsely believe that the hypnotherapist can control them or make them do things they would not normally allow themselves to do.

But, most importantly, clients often cannot respond to direct suggestions because they come in for hypnotherapy living with many inner conflicts about the issues they want to work on. The subconscious’ limiting beliefs, negative attitudes, misperceptions, and encoded traumatic past experiences will usually override any positive suggestions.

Most experiments in directive hypnosis are controlled with the use of one specific induction or script using direct suggestions. The results in these studies typically show that not everyone responds to direct suggestion. And, if a person responds to direct suggestion, it is probable that the suggestions will wear off over time when a client has subconscious beliefs or perceptions that are contrary to the suggestions. If the directive approach doesn’t work for everyone and the effect of the suggestions can wear off, what are some alternative approaches to hypnosis?

Non-directive, Open-ended Style

The open-ended and more permissive style of hypnosis came into vogue in the 1970’s and 1980’s, with the work of a famous hypnotherapist and physician named Milton Erickson. In the field of hypnotherapy, Erickson is renown for both teaching medical students hypnosis and working individually with patients. He taught hypnosis by hypnotizing his students through story telling, using teaching metaphors and by using hypnotic language patterns that speak directly to the unconscious. His hypnotic techniques are effective because they are a back door approach to the unconscious. Instead of telling a client to close her eyes (a direct suggestion), a hypnotherapist using a permissive style of hypnosis might use an embedded or permissive suggestion like, “You notice that your eyes are open and you may find you will be more comfortable when you close your eyes.” In this embedded suggestion the language mirrors what the client is already experiencing and that she has freedom to respond to the suggestion, or not. The client’s unconscious, however “hears” the suggestion, “ Close your eyes”. A permissive approach builds into the session that the client has choice. The hypnotherapist’s utilizing what is already true and happening in the process of hypnotizing the client takes the stress out of whether the client can be hypnotized and relieves the client’s conscious mind of the task of wondering or scrutinizing if she is “doing it right”. Commonly, with an open-ended style, the hypnotherapist will use the language of metaphor to teach the client new inner responses to situations or to expand the client’s perceptions and resources about an issue or problem. The client of this non-directive style typically experiences hypnosis as being more organic, fluid and effortless than the directive approach which requires the client’s willingness and receptivity to respond to direct suggestions. The client simply listens and goes with her natural responses to the process. She may close her eyes or experience the hypnotic state with her eyes open. This style is excellent for the client who fears being controlled, is unable to stop the mind chatter, or has self-consciousness that can create resistance to experiencing hypnosis.

Transpersonal Approach

Somewhat new to the field of hypnotherapy, but as old as the traditions of most indigenous cultures, is the transpersonal approach to hypnotherapy. In traditional hypnotherapy and psychology, there is an understanding that we have both a conscious and an unconscious aspect of mind. In the transpersonal paradigm, there is also a superconscious aspect of mind that goes beyond the personal self. This superconscious aspect is called by many names, such as: Higher Power, Atman, Christ within, higher Self, or intuition, In the transpersonal approach, this greater mind or higher Self is an active co-therapist in the hypnotherapy process. Of all the styles of hypnotherapy the transpersonal approach is the most client-focused and non-directive. The client and hypnotherapist co-create the session through a verbal and energetic interplay as the session unfolds. The transpersonal approach is more about “being”, rather than “doing.” Often the hypnotherapist will directly invoke the client’s inner wisdom and ask it for support in guiding the session. The client accesses this wisdom and works directly with it in trance through voice dialogue, symbolic communication and inner knowing that has direct access to healing, wisdom, insight and creativity. This style supports the cultivation of the client’s ongoing relationship with this inner wisdom. A transpersonal approach may likely include directive and non-directive languaging as needed, depending on the inner guidance of the client’s higher Self.

Which style is right for you?

Knowing about these different hypnotherapeutic approaches will help you interview a hypnotherapist so you can learn about his or her training and hypnotic style. If you are a new client to hypnotherapy, you may not yet know what style works best for you. So perhaps, it will be wise to work with someone who has training in all the styles who can be flexible in his or her approach as you learn about your own responsiveness. A transpersonal hypnotherapist can be directive if necessary, but a traditional, directive hypnotherapist may not know about the more contemporary non-directive or transpersonal approach.

Whatever approach you choose, accessing the state of hypnotic consciousness will give you access to your inner resources and the power to transform yourself.

Preparing for Hypnotherapy

2009-12-01T22:52:00.000-08:00

You can prepare yourself to have a successful experience before you engage in the work of hypnotherapy. The preparation involves taking a good look at your beliefs and expectations about hypnosis, understanding the hypnotic state, and learning that your ‘inner hypnotist” is in control of your experience. Hypnotherapy is not what most people have been "hypnotized" into believing. The way hypnosis is represented in movies and portrayed on stage is far from the reality of hypnosis when used in a therapeutic way.

A well-trained and ethical hypnotherapist will always take time with a new client in the interview process to discuss the client’s expectations, beliefs about, and previous experiences of hypnosis. But sometimes, with the brief education that happens in session, a client may still unconsciously block her hypnosis experience because of unaddressed fears and a lack of understanding of hypnosis.

You Experience Hypnosis Daily

You normally experience the hypnotic state many times during the day. Do you loose time when you are sitting at your computer playing games? Are you unresponsive to someone asking you a question when you are absorbed in a good book? Have you driven your car on auto pilot while daydreaming and missed your turn off? If so, you have spontaneously experienced the non-ordinary state of consciousness called hypnosis.

Hypnosis is Natural

Hypnosis is a state of consciousness between waking and sleeping. You may have had the experience of drifting off to sleep and having someone come into the room to ask you a question. Since you are not asleep yet, you can still respond coherently from a relaxed, inwardly-focused state. So, if you can go to sleep, you are already going into hypnosis. The question is: do you want to allow yourself to be hypnotized by another person guiding you through the process?

Hypnosis is a Skill

Just as some of us were naturals when we first learned to hit a baseball, some of us are naturals when being hypnotized at allowing ourselves to access the hypnotic state. And just like with hitting baseballs, we can all be coached and taught to go into a hypnotic state. Your hypnotherapist has the job of being your teacher and coach.

All Hypnosis is Self-hypnosis

Contrary to what most people believe, hypnosis involves the use of your free will. You choose to respond to the suggestions given in hypnosis. The "inner hypnotist" is the part of you that says to yourself, " I can and will allow myself to let go and relax." Because your own free will is engaged, you will only respond when you want to respond. Being able to be hypnotized is not the same as being gullible. As a matter of fact, being able to be hypnotized points to a higher than normal ability to be creative and be the "captain of your own ship" of your body, mind and emotions. When you are in hypnosis you are in control behind the wheel navigating your own life in directions of healing and transformation that you choose. The control, however, comes from a more expanded and integrated state of awareness.

You Remember What You Experience

In hypnosis you perceive through all of your inner senses by seeing with your inner eyes, hearing with your

inner ears, and feeling emotions and body sensations. In most hypnotic states you are very relaxed and you

return to wakeful consciousness feeling refreshed and renewed. After a hypnotic session you are very likely

to continue to think about what you experienced or feel the positive effects of the work you have done as

you integrate your new levels of insight and self-discoveries into your conscious self. The positive effects

will most often become a part of your conscious awareness and your daily life. It is likely that more you

access the hypnotic state, the more positive effects you will have.

How is it that Hypnotherapy Helps?

In a hypnotic state you are more resourceful and creative because you have access to more dimensions and levels of consciousness. You experience yourself as more that your normal waking thoughts, beliefs, sensations, and feelings. You are expanded to include access to your subconscious and your super-conscious Self. In hypnosis you can access long-forgotten memories, control pain, promote self-healing and become more intuitive; and you are also more highly receptive and suggestible to positive suggestions to promote change.

An important difference between doing talk therapy and doing therapy in the expanded state of hypnosis, is that in hypnosis the client’s unconscious automatically accesses the most emotionally relevant material for healing. Working in an expanded state supports the client in going to the source or essence of the issue more directly and quickly than in talk therapy.

Stanislav Groff, MD, a researcher of non-ordinary states of consciousness, says that the client who works in a non-ordinary state has “ an ‘inner radar’ system [that] scans the psyche and the body for the most important issues and makes them available to our conscious minds. ” [1] In hypnosis you have direct access to the source of your difficulties, as well as the source of your healing.

When you first meet with your hypnotherapist, take time to discuss your expectations and any concerns you have about hypnotherapy. Expressing your thoughts, experiences and concerns will give your hypnotherapist a better opportunity to address any misconceptions you may have about hypnosis, to discuss your concerns, and to support you in having a positive and healing hypnotherapy experience.

[1] Groff, Stanislav, MD, The Holotropic Mind, Harper, San Francisco, 1993, p. 23

What Every Client of Hypnotherapy Needs to Know

2009-10-21T07:18:00.000-07:00

Hypnotherapy is effective, short term, and very result oriented. When you choose your practitioner, make sure he or she is well-trained and qualified to support you in safely and ethically getting the results you want and need. The following are guidelines for potential hypnotherapy clients to consider before getting started.

What is the difference between a hypnotist and a hypnotherapist?

Hypnosis is a state of consciousness that occurs naturally, can be self-induced, or facilitated by a guide that allows the hypnotee to access an expanded state of consciousness. In the hypnotic state, there is a heightened ability to respond to suggestions, recall memories, access creativity, experience imagination, and activate mind over matter through self-healing and pain management. When therapeutic interactive processes take place in the hypnotic state, the client participates in the form of therapy called hypnotherapy.

A HYPNOTIST induces the hypnotic state with the participation of the willing hypnotee and usually gives direct suggestions. The hypnotist is the active director of the process and the client will usually be passive, non-verbal and non-interactive in the trance experience. The success of hypnosis depends on the client’s willingness and abilities to respond to suggestions.

A HYPNOTHERAPIST also facilitates the client going into a hypnotic state, but once the state is achieved, the client and therapist are interactive and verbal communication usually takes place. For instance, the client might, through hypnotic regression, recover childhood memories to heal a trauma. During the hypnotic process, the hypnotherapist facilitates the client in reporting details of the events of the trauma and then engages the client in re-parenting, reframing the event, or healing the traumatized inner child. The work of hypnotherapy goes way beyond the client’s abilities and willingness to respond to suggestions, because the client is co-creating the therapeutic process. And the therapeutic processes used in hypnotherapy are effective even when the client is not in a hypnotic state because the process are based on sound therapeutic approaches. The hypnotic state , however enhances the process and helps the client get out of her own way as she accesses an expanded sense of Self and more of her inner wisdom and creativity for problem solving, memory enhancement, and self healing.

Directive or non-Directive Approach

Whether you choose to work with hypnosis or hypnotherapy, discuss with your facilitator where she falls in the continuum of directive versus non-directive hypnotic style. Some use direct commands like, “Close your eyes now.” And others use less directive styles including open-ended suggestions like, “Close your eyes when you are ready, or keep them open if you are more comfortable to do so”. Some clients respond well to direct suggestions and others need a more open-ended approach. A well-trained hypnotherapist will have flexibility in her approach so she can match her client’s needs and responses.

The Therapeutic Use of Language is Crucial

In the practice of hypnotherapy, the therapist’s skill in the use of language is crucial. Does she use only positive suggestions or does she use negative suggestions and aversion therapy? Does she tell the hypnotee specifically what to do or experience in hypnosis, or does she empower the client to choose her own individual response? Does she overlay her own agenda for the hypnotee or does she empower the client and avoid overtly influencing the client’s process?

Not all Certifications are Equal

Not all Certified Hypnotherapists have the same amount or quality of training.

The field and practice of hypnotherapy is not nationally regulated and, in most states, hypnotherapy is an open practice not requiring any regulation or governmental licensing. States that have regulations for hypnotherapy have vastly different requirements . On one end of the training spectrum, in Indiana, there is legislation requiring hypnotherapists to be trained in 500 hours of supervised classroom education at specific Hypnosis Board approved schools. In Florida, hypnotherapists are required to meet the State Board Requirement of fifty hours of hypnotherapy training to practice hypnotherapy. On the other end of the spectrum, in California, the practice of hypnotherapy is not state regulated at all. And under the new California legislation (Senate Bill 48), the training of hypnotherapists in private post secondary schools will be even further deregulated from the old legislation in California that required all postsecondary vocational schools to be registered or licensed. Under the new California regulations hypnotherapy schools that keep their cost of tuition under $2,500 will not be required to license or approve their programs in with the newly formed Bureau of Private Postsecondary Education in the California Department of Consumer Affairs. “Certified Hypnotherapists” may have had as little as a weekend training or 400 hours or more of training. The big question is: who is training and “certifying “ the hypnotherapist? There are fifteen or more “Certifying” organizations for hypnotherapists and each one has its own standards and hours of training required. Many of the organizations are owned by individuals who create their own standards to certify and are membership organizations whose only requirement is to pay the yearly fee. Some are in-house certifying organizations. Some organizations certify for as few as fifty hours and some require as few as two hundred hours.

As a consumer, ask about your hypnotherapist’s credentials. Is she also licensed to provide counseling or psychotherapy? Is she formally trained in hypnotherapy? Is she trained by an individual or a through a state approved school? How many hours of training and what style of training has she received? How long has she been in practice? Is she directive or more permissive and open-ended in her approach? Does she practice hypnosis or hypnotherapy? And you might want to find out about the requirements in your state to practice hypnotherapy to make sure that your practitioner meets the state standards.

Once you have found the right hypnotherapist for you, relax and enjoy the work! Hypnotherapy will open you to explore dimensions of yourself that are resourceful, creative, intuitive and wise. And with hypnotherapy, your healing and well-being will most likely be quickly and greatly enhanced.

Soul Healing Through Spirit Releasement Therapy

2007-05-05T07:23:00.000-07:00

Through the history of human spiritual traditions there has been a belief that there is a nonphysical existence that parallels the physical universe. People considered this world to be filled with spirits. In the Assyrian cuneiform texts from about 2500 BC are the first known written accounts of the treatment of illness. Ceremonies to the tribal gods and direct confrontation of demons through prayer were the rituals used to heal people of negative spirit influence. In the North American indigenous shamanic traditions there is still a belief that mental and physical sickness is caused by either the possession of evil spirits or the soul loss of one’s own spirit.

The shaman and healers of the indigenous cultures perform rituals and healing ceremonies to cast out the spirits so that the ill person can become balanced and heal. These rituals are called extractions. They are still performed today. The shaman, in a non-ordinary state of consciousness induced by drumming, dancing and at times the use of natural herbal hallucinogens, joins the world of the spirits to be possessed himself by his helping spirits and power animal spirits so he can communicate with the patient’s intruding spirits to dislodge them and release them back into the spirit world, freeing the patient of the draining and toxic influence of the spirit’s presence. In some traditions the spirit is dislodged by the shaman sucking out the spirit and illness by placing the mouth directly against the patient’s body. The Lummi tribe in the Northwest Coast of North America uses another approach for releasing attaching spirits that are the result of a sorcerer’s curse. The shaman usually has other healers helping him, as the task of releasing spirits is considered very difficult. The shaman or medicine man becomes violent and frenzied as if animated by some unseen spirit force. When he has found the possessing spirit he falls into a trance and tells how the spirit is affecting the patient and the patient’s family. When he gets the force under control the person is healed and the family is free from its influence. The captured spirit is either put in a spirit bundle of cedar-bark and the medicine man shoots an arrow through the bundle, or he destroys the spirit by putting it in a rock that has been heated and then breaking the rock by pouring water on it, or he holds the spirit in his hands and twists it as if he were breaking it up after which he throws the parts in opposite directions. Sometimes, the spirit is sent back to the person who sent the evil spirit.

As a psychotherapist I have been doing a modern version of spirit extractions with my clients since 1986. I have been trained in a more clinical approach, which uses the non-ordinary state of hypnosis. In the hypnotic state the client becomes his or her own shaman. The process is called Spirit Releasement Therapy. Through doing this work I have found that disembodied spirits attach to humans for many reasons. The spirit may not realize he is dead or he may have some spiritual codependence issue that remains after death and he may not be able to let go and move on, or he may have an addiction that keeps him bound to the physical plane to satisfy his addictive needs. In all of these cases, the spirit is waylaid and stuck and the host is drained of energy and is influenced in ways, which inhibit his life force and free will.

There are many symptoms of spirit attachment and the clinician must have skills to differentially diagnose the client with the symptoms, which could also be from biological and psychological causes. Some symptoms are low energy, hearing voices, physical symptoms that seem to have no physical cause, compulsions, and mood swings. Let’s face it: a good case of PMS could create the same list of symptoms! When a client presents any of the mentioned symptoms I will do an extensive interview to find out the history of the symptoms and I will especially ask if there were any deaths or any energetic openings in the client’s life about the time the symptoms began. Energetic openings could be: an accident, use of drugs or alcohol, surgery, extreme emotional states, loss of consciousness, or out of control psychic experiences. These types of experiences cause a disruption in the energy system, which weakens our protection, making us more vulnerable to an entity attaching itself to our energy system.

Once we have ruled out any possible physical or emotional cause of the symptom we will investigate the possibility of a spirit attachment by having the client perform his own energy scan. In a light state of hypnosis he closes his eyes and using his inner seeing, feeling and knowing “scans” the body and energy system for any intruding energy. The intrusions are typically experienced as darkness, fuzziness, blocked energy, or heaviness. Last Thursday I worked with a 48 year old client who grew up living in an apartment above her father’s funeral home. Seeing dead bodies before and after embalming and cremation were a daily thing for her. Children at school teased her ruthlessly about what her father did for a living and she was very isolated and lonely as a child. When we did the energy scan process she noticed a feeling and image of a dark energy clinging to her between the shoulder blades where she typically feels tension and back pain. We proceeded to telepathically communicate with the entity and she verbalized the messages she received, just as the shaman would telepathically communicate with the spirit and tell about its influence. We discovered that there had been a spirit of a dead man who died in a truck accident. His body was brought to the funeral home and was buried. He was confused and angry and attached to my client when she was four years old. At the age of four she had had a hernia surgery and that was the energetic opening for the spirit to attach. Through more communication we discovered that the spirit was afraid of moving on into the Light because he didn’t want to let go of what was familiar and comfortable after all these years. The client dialogued with the spirit and she told him that he was no longer welcome to stay and that she wanted him to move on. We called upon the spirit of the entity’s dead grandmother to come get him to take him with her to the light and eventually he exited through what felt like the area of the client’s lower back, and moved on. My client felt a big release and as if there were more room in her to be in her own body after the releasement took place. The darkness and tightness in her back were also released. These types of effects are common results for the client.

This spirit releasement process was pretty typical and undramatic. At other times I have had spirit releasement sessions be profound and almost miraculous. Here are several other cases: A woman client complained of burning pain on the right side of her body. She had exhausted all medical and alternative healing sources and had received no
amelioration of the pain. In regression hypnosis she discovered the source of the pain. When traveling in Japan and touring the area of the Hiroshima atomic blast she picked up a “hitch hiker” who had died in the blast. The right side of his body was facing the blast and had melted. It was his pain that was registering through my client’s body. After he was released into the light, her pain was gone. (The entity was confused. He went into the light of the bomb blast, not the spiritual light of the afterlife and he was lost. He attached to my client because he saw her as a compassionate being that knew about healing. He thought he might get some help.)

And then there was the man who was ritually and sexually abused as a child in the Jehovah’s Witness church. A Catholic priest referred him to me for a clinical depossession. Several psychologists thought he might be a multiple personality because of his abuse and the angry dark energy that commonly took over my client. During the abuse my client was told that he was the Devil and that all of their sins would go into him during the ritual and sexual abuse. He grew up feeling all of this negativity and hate and felt that his whole life was blocked of any success and love. The session was intense and very frightening. At one time the client actually levitated off the chair from the intense anger and attacking energy of the entity. It was through regressing the entity back to its source of love that the releasement finally took place. The anger and negativity dissolved and the entity cried in the pain of remorse for what he had caused my client. With forgiveness and love, he moved on into the light for his own healing. My client was free!

After the releasement my client’s life totally changed. He was finally able to heal from his abuse and have a life that was productive and whole. There were no more symptoms of being a multiple personality after the demonic entity was released. He became a student at HCH, was trained in Hypnotherapy and Spirit Releasement Therapy, married and haas a practice of doing the spirit releasement work professionally, hoping to help others to be free of the bondage and drain of attaching spirits.

I have released thousands of entities with the help of my and my clients’ spirit helpers. The main ingredient in the clinical spirit releasement is LOVE. It is through our larger collective connection in spirit, whether we are in physical form or not, that the healing takes place. Today, in the therapy offices of clinically trained licensed psychotherapists and certified hypnotherapists, healing rituals take place that come from the lineage of the shamanic traditions of indigenous peoples from thousands of years ago. These therapeutic “technologies” are rooted in a basic belief and premise of most spiritual traditions: we are spiritual is essence and we are able, through our spiritual practices, to realize our spiritual nature and divine source. My work as a hypnotherapist and psychotherapist is that of a modern day shaman; it is the work of restoring spirit and reconnecting it to its divine source.

Spirit Releasement sessions:
Interested in reveiving a session in Sirit Releasement Therapy? Holly offers sessions in her private practice at HCH and interns also affer sessions in the Low Fee Community Clinic. Call for appointments. 925 283-3941

Spirit Releasement Training:
Students in the HCH Certified Hypnotherapy Training learn the techniques of Spirit Releasement Therapy. Holly also teaches an advanced training in Spirit Releasement Therapy yearly. Seee the "Advanced Training" page on the HCH website for details. www.HypnotherapyTraining.com

Consciously Manifesing Your Dreams

2007-05-05T07:09:00.000-07:00

You may have seen "The Secret" DVD which addresses the concept that we are constantly creating our own realities through the LAW OF ATTRACTION. If this concept is true, and we attract our life experiences through our thoughts and feelings, then it is very important to make consious what is always at play in our lives. We can become intentional creators of our reality by utilizing some very basic manifesting principles. At HCH Institute we teach many of the tools for manifesting your heart’s desires. Here is an outline of one tried and true approach that is used in our Coaching Training. Give it a try and let us know your results. Blessing, Holly Holmes-Meredith

Overview:
The following are guidelines for becoming an active and conscious manifester in your life. We human beings are constantly manifesting. The power to manifest is already a part of you. It is your Being. We manifest through our body, mind and soul. Our thoughts, words, and actions are our tools. We manifest in our lives that upon which we focus. Most people manifest passively and unconsciously; they are victims of how their unconscious thoughts and words manifest outcomes in their lives. It is very important for us, who want to be conscious manifesters, to become exquisitely aware of what we focus on, consciously and unconsciously, and how to directly engage our thoughts, words and actions so that we are more productively working towards attracting our heart's desires. These simple steps will help you become more conscious and more directly involved in consciously attracting and manifesting your goals and dreams.

1. Choosing a Goal to Manifest.

Make sure that your goal is your own; that is one that is congruent to your own desires and to who you are as a person. It will not work, for instance, to try to manifest your parent's goals for you to be a politician when you really want to be a dancer. In the Coaching process using the Wheel of Life tool and the Coaching for Values approaches are important tools at this stage. You and only you can decide if this goal is truly important and of value.

2. The Importance of Manifesting with Intention.

Make sure that your goal is moving towards what you want, not what you don't want. Get specific about the details or qualities of what you want. Make a list of these details or use the "bubbling" technique or allow free associations to map the specifics.

3. Reinforcing with Affirmations.

Write an affirmation that includes the specifics of your goal. Be positive. Use present tense. Relate it to yourself as coming to you at just the right time and for the highest good of all. Give the statement some "juice" or emotion.

4. Doing a "Body Check".

Say your affirmation aloud and feel it in your body. Make sure that it feels right and important to you, especially in your heart chakra. If it doesn't feel right, keep working on the specifics until it does feel right.
At this stage you may become aware of limiting beliefs, unconscious attitudes or negative self talk that need clearing. Muscle testing can be used to check for psychological reversal. Inner work with EFT or Hypnotherapy may be needed to clear the unconscious blocks.

5. Engaging the Unconscious.

Using your hypnosis and creative visualization skills, now close your eyes and say the affirmation. Allow yourself to experience being your future self, the person who has already manifested the goal. Awaken all of your inner senses and experience what you feel, see, hear, sense, think and if appropriate taste and smell. Associate in the experience as fully as possible. The unconscious is now engaging in the manifesting process! Use your hypnotic skill rehearsal techniques to be in the moment the person who has already manifested his or her goal.

6. Anchor your Goal.

Choose a word, phrase, an image or a feeling that come to you when in trance that will be your anchor to reinforce the positive experience of stepping into your future self.

7. Give it substance.

Draw a picture, make a sandtray, take a photograph, find a symbol or make a collage of what you want. Keep it in view of your daily activities. What color or colors are the essence of your goal? When thinking of your goal you can use your anchors and put a big ball of energy over your head that is the color of your goal. Allow the color and feelings of energy to move into your aura and body to give it space to manifest through you and in your life.

8. Let it go.

Now release this color or feeling through your solar plexus. Surrender it to the Universe. Letting it go is very important to the manifesting process. As a part of the energy mechanics of life, the vibration of your thought and words have been released and broadcast into the universe so that they can attract to you opportunities and what you need. Coaching for Being is helpful here. Be where you are right now. Know that what is at this moment is perfect and right.

9. Know it as Reality.

There is no time in spirit. It does, however take time for goals to manifest in physical plane reality. Know that your goal will manifest in the time and way it is best for you. The Law of Cause and Effect is in action. "Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find, Knock and it shall be opened unto you." Manifesting is a process that takes time. You can support it by acting as if you already have what you want. Validate even the smallest steps.

10. Take Action.

Manifesting is a process. Give your manifesting process attention. Every day do something towards making your goal a reality. The universe will give you signs along the way that will lead you on the path of manifesting. Stay alert to the opportunities that show up. Use your intuition and explore those opportunities that get your attention. Follow up on the cosmic "leads" that appear. Engage in your life as a part of the process. Stay open and receptive to opportunities coming in surprising ways. Work with your affirmation daily. Write it out and place it in a conspicuous place so you will see it as you go about your daily routines. Stop any negative language or limiting thoughts. Use EFT and hypnotherapy to delete any negative programs that show up.

11. Give Thanks.

Hold gratitude in your heart for the abundance of the universe and the knowing that you are manifesting opportunities and exactly what you need for your goal to manifest. Celebrate and enjoy the process.

RESOURCES
THE BOOKS OF:

Shakti Gwain
Deepak Chopra
Earnest Holmes
Alice Bailey
Vincent Peale

The Woman Clothed with the Sun

2007-01-23T07:46:00.000-08:00

The Woman Clothed with the Sun

As I begin writing I light a candle to honor the Divine Mother. I invokeher presence, her inspiration and her wisdom as I
share my journey and my discovery of her and my connection to her as her child. I thank her for the Light of her healing fire and for her unconditional love. And I thank my dear friend Kathleen, now in spirit, for the role she played in opening my heart to the divine feminine.

Dear Children, I wish to tell you: Always pray before your work and end your work with prayer. If you do that, you and your work will be blessed.
Our Lady Medjugorge, 1984

It was exactly four years ago today that I traveled alone to Cabo San Lucas to rendezvous with my friend Karen who rather spontaneously invited me to vacation with her at her time-share condo. I was very excited to get some needed rest, to explore Cabo, and to spend time with my friend. Another part of me, however, felt that the timing for a vacation was all wrong. As I flew out of San Francisco International Airport, one of my closest women friends of my whole life, Kathleen, lay dying in bed from what was still undiagnosed lung cancer. Before I left town Kathleen's daughter flew up from San Diego area to take over what for me had been a four week stint of doctor's appointments, cooking, shopping and nursing Kathleen. Since I first got Kathleen's frightening call on New Year's day asking me to take her to the hospital because she had fallen, was dizzy, nauseated, and had double vision, I spent more time at her house that I had spent at home. I was even sleeping with Kathleen as she lived alone and really needed someone to walk her to the bathroom and to cook for her. I was really sad about Kathleen and on a deep level I had a knowing that she was dying even though she had an initial diagnosis of strokes.

I had a vivid dream about Kathleen several years before her illness. In the dream I was sitting at her bedside. She was dying and I was telling her it is okay to go....that there is nothing to fear and that I loved her. When her illness struck and I experienced how weak she was getting, I knew that Kathleen was getting ready to die.
So, as I was in flight to Cabo San Lucas I was feeling excited about a getaway which coincided with my forty-seventh birthday and at the same time feeling very sad and a little guilty for leaving Kathleen.

I had known Kathleen for fifteen years. She was a part of my family and a soul sister. She supported me through many life transitions and performed the wedding ceremony when Paul and I married in 1989. She was a graphic artist, a painter, a tarot reader and a visionary. Her main passion was sacred art. I own two of her most beautiful oil paintings of angels which were done in the authentic Russian Icon gold leaf style. I left for Cabo with Kathleen's blessings and I promised her that I would take photos of sacred art and icons on my trip to share with her upon my return. I had no idea what would blossom from my promise.

Karen was going to meet me two days after I arrived in Cabo. I had two days by myself to rest and explore. And, for the first time in my life I was alone on my birthday. On February 4, my birthday, in the early morning, I set out on foot with my backpack, bottled water and camera. I had a day to explore the town and I decided that I would walk...that I would make it a spiritual journey.... an experience of just being in the moment without a plan.....an experience of following my own inner nudgings and inner directions. I walked through residential areas, on small streets and back roads. I walked and walked. At one point I came upon a pink stucco building that was being renovated. The wall of the building was nearly adjacent to the sidewalk. I noticed a sculpture on the side of the building and moved towards it to look at the sculpture more closely.

He [Juan Diego} went to the top of the hill, and he saw a lady who was standing and who was calling him to come closer to her side. When he arrived in her presence, he marveled at her perfect beauty. Her clothing appeared like the sun and it gave forth rays. (Harvey, Son of Man, p. 81)

It was a beautiful relief built into the pink stucco wall of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Off came the backpack. I wanted a photo of her for Kathleen. Before I took the photo, I was moved pray to Guadalupe. I prayed to her to bring courage and healing to Kathleen. I prayed that her Divine energy and love be infused in the photo so her energy could be with Kathleen at her bedside. I prayed I would have strength and compassion in dealing with Kathleen and her illness. In my prayers my tears began to flow. I was overcome with sadness and grief. I somehow knew that my dream about Kathleen's death was a message of what was soon to come. I prayed for understanding. I prayed for healing.

You only need ask her. Just ask her.
The Cure of Ars

I am your merciful Mother and the Mother of all nations that live on this earth who would love me, who would speak with me, who would search for me, and who would place their confidence in me. There I will hear their laments and remedy and cure all their miseries, misfortunes, and sorrows. (Harvey, Son of Man, p.181)

I snapped the photo. Because it was still early morning the wall was partially shaded; I knew it was not the best lighting for a photo. I loved the sculpture. I really wanted to have a well-composed photo for Kathleen so I vowed I would return to photograph Guadalupe again in full sun. It was a shame to have a photo of the "Woman Clothed with the Sun" without light.

I am the Mother of everything created by God, the "woman clothed with the sun," the new Eve who will lead mankind to light, the one who will make it possible for beings to attain eternity.
Our Lady to Gladys Quiroga, Ecuador, 1988

The rest of my walking journey was uneventful. I returned to town, had lunch, shopped and went back to the condo. Karen arrived late that night.

One afternoon I tried to return to the pink stucco wall to show Karen the sculpture and to re photograph Guadalupe. Strangely, I couldn't find it. I meandered around trying to retrace my steps from my previous birthday journey but never found the street, the wall or Guadalupe. "It must not have been meant to be", I thought. Karen and I played tourists for the rest of the vacation.

I returned home to find that Kathleen had been diagnosed with late stage lung cancer. Since she was self-employed as an artist, single, and living by herself there was work to do to make sure her basic needs were met and her bills could be paid. I organized a gathering of 50 people at my office: friends, her children, her clients and people in our extended community. Another of Kathleen's friend, Georgia, and I asked for money, help cooking, cleaning and nursing support, for Kathleen.

Help one another and I will help you.
Our Lady Medjugorge, 1084

As I spoke to everyone about Kathleen's diagnosis and her daily needs, my heart felt like it exploded in grief and pain. I felt like something was being ripped away from me that was an integral part of myself. I was losing my soul sister. In spite of my pain, I was compelled to be there in what ever way I could for Kathleen. We coordinated her care, meals, bill paying and travel to the hospital for doctors visits. Kathleen's daughter and son moved into her home and they became her primary caretakers. We engaged the help of Home Healthcare and Hospice. It was a whirlwind of dealing with the reality of Kathleen's physical needs and the rawness of all of our emotions. In the chaos I had forgotten about the whole experience of photographing Guadalupe until I got my Cabo vacation photos back two weeks later. I was SHOCKED when I saw the photo. A rainbow of colored light was emanating from the figure of Guadalupe.

We see the Holy Virgin as a flaming torch appearing to those in darkness. For having kindled the Immaterial Light, she leads all to divine knowledge; she illumines our minds with radiance....( Harvey, The Teachings of the Mystics, p. 110)

The "arrows of light" that shoot out from her divine beauty penetrate and transfigure all of nature; the earth glowed with splendors of the rainbow ...... (Harvey, Son of Man, p. 82)

When I took the photo to Kathleen's bedside I shared the story of my birthday journey, my intentions and the prayers I said before I took the photo for her. We cried. We hugged. We felt that the photo, whether an Emanation of the Divine Mother or a freak accident on the film, was a synchronistic sign. We knew without a doubt that Kathleen was being held, supported and healed by the Divine Mother. I also knew that having taken the photo that the Divine Mother was with me, too. My love for Kathleen, my intentions and my prayers had resulted in an experience which opened my heart and mind to a direct communication with the Mother. My fears about death and losing Kathleen began to subside. As Kathleen grew weaker and weaker and more dependent on us for everything, she began to transform. She became childlike. Her skin became translucent and there was an energy around her and in her room that vibrated like light. The day Kathleen died several people who were standing by her body saw light emanating from her lifeless form. And the night after she died when I sat in her kitchen with her children and a few friends, the lights flickered like fireflies and there was a feeling of electricity in the air. I felt a profound love and calming presence of the Divine Mother. I knew that Kathleen was with her and that she and we were in the grace of her love.

On another [occasion] the Good Lord said, "You will see for yourself that every sort of thing will be all right." (Harvey Teaching of the Christian Mystics, p. 110)

The love I felt was so strong that for the most part I felt no grief. Through Kathleen's illness I was initiated into a direct relationship with The Woman Clothed with the Sun, Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Divine Mother, a relationship that continues to deepen and grow. A relationship that supports me on my path to my own emergence as a feminine expression of the divine. The photograph of The Woman Clothed with the Sun is my reminder of her responsiveness when called.

The apparitions of the Virgin at Guadalupe, then, not only unveil the splendor of the divine Mother in "the woman clothed with the sun"; they reveal with intricate beauty and tenderness how the power of the divine feminine works through encouragement, healing, and miracle to bring everyone to a higher awareness of their divine identity, equality, and of the possibilities for radical transformation that it awakens. (Andrew Harvey, Son of Man, p.185)

Tomorrow is my fifty-first birthday and the fourth anniversary of my encounter with the Woman Clothed with the Sun. I blow out the candle and make a wish. I wish that the Divine Mother in all of her radiance is revealed and recognized by humanity and that her presence in us and through us will bring peace, justice, balance, harmony. love and equality to us all.

My children, pray, so that in the whole world the Kingdom of Love can come. How happy humankind will be then.
Our Lady Fatima, 1917

O Blessed Mother of God
Open to us the gate of mercy:
For you are the salvation of the
human race.
Saint John Damascene

February 3, 2002

Bibliography

Mary's Vinyard: Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut. Illinois: Theosophical Publishing House, 1996.

The Return of the Mother: Andrew Harvey. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam Inc., 1995.

The Road to Guadalupe: Eryk Hanut. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 2001.

Son of Man: Andrew Harvey. New York: Jeremy P, Tarcher/Putnam Inc., 1998.

Teachings of the Christian Mystics: Andrew Harvey. Massachusetts: Shambala, 1998.

Visit HypnotherapyTraining.com to learn more about Holly and HCH Institute.

Spiritual HypnotherapyY

2007-01-23T07:30:00.000-08:00

WHAT IS HYPNOTHERAPY?
Hypnosis is a term used to describe a process that creates a non-ordinary state of consciousness. This state of consciousness allows clients to respond to suggestion with higher than normal receptivity. Hypnotic consciousness is a state that can spontaneously come about for a person, or it is a state that can be self-induced or induced with the help of a facilitator or hypnotherapist. All hypnosis is self-hypnosis because the hypnotic state of consciousness is generated within the hypnotee. The hypnotee allows herself to actively engage in the process. In some situations, the hypnotee may even choose to not respond.

Hypnotherapy is the practice of therapy that takes place in the non-ordinary state of hypnotic consciousness. Hypnotherapy directly engages the client’s conscious and subconscious mind in the process of doing therapy. The hypnotherapy process is usually interactive and involves verbal and non-verbal communications between the client and hypnotherapist while the client is in the non-ordinary state of consciousness. Most therapeutic work is greatly enhanced while clients are in a hypnotic state because they are able to access information, healing, creativity, memories and insight that is not normally available when in the waking conscious state. Change is facilitated from within the clients in hypnotherapy; it is inwardly generated and intrinsic to the clients, themselves. The hypnotherapist is responsible for having the tools and skills to assist the clients in helping themselves, which minimizes the often incorrectly perceived “power” the therapist has over the client.
By engaging a transpersonal or spiritual focus in hypnotherapy, the client’s personal transformation can be supported even further. By invoking and accessing the client’s higher Self or the wisest transcendent aspect of consciousness, clients are also able to access expanded states of consciousness similar to those experienced in meditation or in profound states of presence: states when the egoic or self- involved consciousness is transcended or simply out of the way. Through these transpersonal states of consciousness, healing and profound change can take place, often fairly effortlessly. Clients report that these expanded states of consciousness change them in lasting positive ways. Clients realize that, for instance, they have pain, but are not the pain. They can potentially experience themselves as spiritual in essence: as a spiritual being having a human experience of pain. From these hypnotically accessed transcendent states, clients begin to have a new sense of self and a new way of relating to the challenges of their lives. They become dis-identified from their stories and the previously perceived roles they have played in their lives. Their consciousness is expanded along with an expanded sense of Self.

HYPNOTHERAPY AS A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
I became a transpersonal psychotherapist because of my passion for work that engages people’s consciousness to promote change, healing, and transformation. As a client of hypnotherapy, a long-time practitioner of self-hypnosis, and as a hypnotherapist who has facilitated over 20,000 hypnotic sessions, I have years and years of experience of directly knowing the profound and lasting effects of hypnotherapeutic work. I have discovered over and over that facilitating a transpersonal form of hypnotherapy is a mystical and spiritual practice for both the client and the hypnotherapist. In hypnotherapy we can learn to access and utilize expanded states of consciousness directly, at will, and for a variety of personal goals and purposes. The process of being in an expanded state is just as healing and significant in supporting change as is directing the state of consciousness towards a therapeutic personal goal or outcome.

For the client in the hypnotic state, accessing awareness of the higher Self becomes a profound teacher of how our consciousness works to create our realities. These hypnotic states also become vehicles through which we can re-create our realities. Additionally, the hypnotherapist is often in an expanded state of profound presence entrained and aligned with the client’s state of consciousness. The art of guiding a client’s process involves being so present that the hypnotherapist is out of her own way and accessing her own higher Self as the hypnotic guide. The practice of hypnotherapy, both as a client and as a hypnotherapist, then, becomes another form of spiritual practice that puts us directly in touch with our spiritual nature and how our consciousness creates the forms and structures of our lives.

THE HIGHER SELF
Throughout the history of hypnosis, and since the first psychological theories of Sigmund Freud, we have understood that there are two aspects of consciousness that come into play in the hypnotic process: the conscious and the subconscious (or unconscious mind, as Jung referred to it ). With the work of Roberto Assiogoli and the birth of transpersonal psychology, however, there emerged an acknowledgement of a third aspect of consciousness: the higher Self, or the transcendent aspect of consciousness.
The higher Self, a spiritual, wise, and infinite aspect of our consciousness, can be directly accessed and engaged as the inner therapist/healer in the hypnotherapy process. It is an aspect of human consciousness that goes beyond our waking, ordinary ego consciousness that embodies, presents, or can access certain wisdom not experienced in normal consciousness. (Alexander, 11)
Arthur Hastings, a professor of transpersonal psychology states:
…the higher Self is said to be a distinct part or function of the individual. It is an entity in itself, with consciousness or awareness like the ego, and it is assumed to be a part of everyone. It witnesses the person’s experiences. It is non-punitive, objective, and non-judgmental. Its orientation is towards higher values, life
purpose, healthy emotional and mental development, and spiritual qualities. (Hastings, 180)

Willis Harman believes that in all major religious and mystical traditions there is a parallel wisdom that is a necessary component of being human and is an impetus for the inner search of higher Self:
In studies of comparative religion it appears that, besides the many exoteric forms, there is within any of the major traditions an esoteric or “inner circle” form, which is essentially the same for all traditions. This “perennial wisdom” seems to recommend an inner search involving some sort of meditative or yogic discipline, and discovery and identification with, a “higher” or “true” Self. (Harman, 34)

ACCESSING THE HIGHER SELF IN HYNOTHERAPY
Now that we understand the concept of the higher Self, how do we access it and utilize its resources in the hypnotherapy process? By directly invoking the higher Self and by facilitating a technique of voice dialogue, the higher Self can become a resource for inner guidance and self- healing in the hypnotherapy process.

Learning to distinguish the higher Self from the egoic self is crucial when in hypnosis. How does a client know which “voices” to listen to and which ones to trust? Many years ago a friend gave me a simple diagram, which follows, that categorizes the differences between the higher Self and the egoic consciousness. I have been unable to find the source of the diagram, but I know that it was created by author Rowena Pattee Kryder.
The diagram follows:

Diagram: THE REAL VOICE OF SPIRIT

If voices or thoughts other than your own seek your attention or try to come through you, use the following chart comparing energies from different levels as a guide before you decide to accept or reject what is happening.

LESSER MIND GREATER MIND
The Voice of Ego The Voice of Spirit
Personality Level Soul Level
___________________________ _______________________

flatters informs
commands suggests
demands guides
tests nudges
chooses for you leaves choices to you
imprisons empowers
promotes dependency promotes independence
intrudes respects
pushes supports
excludes includes
is status oriented is free and open
insists on obedience encourages growth and development
often claims ultimate authority recognizes a greater power or God
offers short cuts offers integration
seeks personal gratification affirms divine order along with the good of the whole

By studying this diagram, and by becoming familiar with the different tone and qualities of the voice of ego and the voice of spirit, one has a tool with which to access the source of inner and outer guidance or teaching. With practice, we can know from which state the information or guidance is coming, and which guidance is empowering and supportive of our own highest good. Clarity and empowerment come from the practice of choosing the wisdom and guidance of the higher Self, as does a growing experience of knowing and accessing our intuition, our deepest inner wisdom.

In the hypnotherapy session, the facilitator or hypnotherapist can ask the client’s higher Self or voice of spirit to be the inner guide and director for the client. The hypnotherapist aligns with this part of the client through direct dialogue and verbal exchange. In self-hypnosis processes, the higher Self becomes the inner hypnotist.
Listen to the podcast on the HCH web site of a self-guided hypnotic process to meet with and dialogue with one’s higher
Self, enabling the reader to have a direct and personal experience of the impact of his or her own higher Self’s wisdom and guidance.

Bibliography

Alexander, Karen, Defining the Higher Self: A Theoretical Model and Techniques.Ph.D. dissertation, Rosebridge Graduate School of Integrative Psychology, 1994.

Harman, Willis, A Re-examination of the Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Science. Sausalito, CA: Institute of Noetic Sciences, 1991.

Hastings, Arthur, With the Tongues of Men and Angels. San Francisco: Holt, Rinehart &Winston, 1991.

Patee Kryder, Rowena,”The Real Voice of Spirit”. Publication source is unknown.

Contact Holly at: Holly@HypnotherapyTraining.com
http://www.HypnotherapyTraining.com
Holly's hypnosis CDs are also available through the web site.

Visit HypnotherapyTraining.com to learn more about Holly and HCH Institute.

"Look into my Hypnotic Eye": What is Hypnosis, Really?

2007-01-23T07:21:00.000-08:00

LOOK INTO MY HYPNOTIC EYE………
The field of hypnotherapy has been tainted and misunderstood for years. All one has to do is look at the use of hypnosis in Hollywood movies or see a stage hypnotist at a county fair perform, and most of us will avoid being hypnotized. No one wants to be embarrassed because of clucking like a chicken, or loose control and say or do something we wouldn’t normally allow.

The truth is that hypnotherapy is not what most people have been “hypnotized” into believing. I know because I have been using hypnosis personally and professionally and training hypnotherapists at a California approved Hypnotherapy Institute for over twenty years. So, sit comfortably, take a deep breath and allow me to teach you what hypnosis really is…

You experience the hypnotic state many times during the day. I remember in high school in my driver’s education class reading about “highway hypnosis”, a state of consciousness we naturally experience when driving long distances. Have you driven while daydreaming and forgotten that you crossed a familiar bridge or gone through a tunnel and not been consciously aware of it? If so, you have spontaneously experienced the inwardly focused state of consciousness called hypnosis.

Hypnosis is natural. It is a state of consciousness between waking and sleeping. You may have had the experience of drifting off to sleep and having someone come into the room to ask you a question. Since you are not asleep yet, you can still respond coherently from a relaxed, inwardly-focused state. So, if you can go to sleep, you can be hypnotized. The question is: Do you want to allow yourself to be hypnotized?

All hypnosis is self-hypnosis. Contrary to what most people believe, hypnosis involves the use of your free will. You choose to respond to the suggestions given in hypnosis. The “inner hypnotist” is the part of you that says to yourself, “ I can and will allow myself to let go and relax.” Because your own free will is engaged, you will only respond when you want to respond. Being able to be hypnotized is not the same as being gullible. As a matter of fact, being able to be hypnotized points to a higher than normal ability to be creative and be the “captain of your own ship” of your body, mind and emotions. When you are in hypnosis you are behind the wheel and driving your own life and in more control. The control, however comes from a more expanded and integrated state of awareness.

Hypnosis is a skill. Just as some of us were naturals in grade school when we first swung a baseball bat, some of us are naturals at allowing ourselves to access the state of consciousness that is hypnosis. And just like with hitting baseballs, we can all be coached and taught to go into a hypnotic state.

How is it that this state of hypnosis is a desirable and helpful state of consciousness? In a hypnotic state you are more resourceful and creative because you have access to more dimensions and levels of consciousness. You experience yourself as more that your normal waking thoughts, beliefs, and feelings. You are expanded to include access of your subconscious and your super-conscious self. In hypnosis you can access long-forgotten memories, control pain, promote self-healing and become more intuitive. In hypnosis you are also more highly suggestible to positive suggestions to promote change.
By accessing this state, you have an expanded sense of Self which carries into your conscious daily life.

You remember what you experience when in a hypnotic state. You experience hypnosis through all of your inner senses by seeing with your inner eyes, hearing with your inner ears, and feeling emotions and body sensations. In most hypnotic states you are very relaxed and you return to wakeful consciousness feeling refreshed and renewed. After a hypnotic session you are very likely to continue to think about what you experienced or feel the positive effects of the work you have done as you integrate your new levels of insight and self-discoveries into your conscious self. The positive effects will most often become a part of your conscious awareness and your daily life. The more you access the state, the more positive effects you will have. This accumulative effect is what many of my hypnotherapy graduates exclaim at the end of their 200 hour hypnotherapy certification training at HCH Institute. Many students exclaim that they have gotten the benefits of over 20 years of therapy in four months of hypnosis training. Our graduates have spent the better part of their 200 hours of training in the hypnotic state doing the work and practicing the hypnotherapy techniques with each other. They are learning to be hypnotherapists while accessing the hypnotic state!

Learn more about hypnosis and its many therapeutic uses by reading my other blogs on Past life Therapy, Sandplay and Hypnosis, Spirit Releasement Therapy, Manifesting your dreams and more.

Visit htpp://HypnotherapyTraining.com to learn about HCH Institute and our California state approved and registered certification trainings and classes for personal growth in hypnotherapy, coaching, energy therapy and parapsychological studies. And listen to samples of Holly’s Hypnosis CDs which are available on-line.

Visit HypnotherapyTraining.com to learn more about Holly and HCH Institute.

Sandplay: Open Eyed Trance

2007-01-22T21:29:00.001-08:00

Over the twenty-five years I have trained hypnotherapists and worked with individual clients, I have sought out many alternatives to formal hypnotic inductions as a way to assist clients in working with their subconscious resources for transformation and healing. Many clients new to hypnotherapy are surprised to discover that going into a hypnotic state is a skill. Some clients find it is a challange to allow themselves to "let go" into the altered state. Moving into a guided trance requires the clients to trust both themselves and the hypnotherapist; and developing that trust can take time. There is usually also a need for the hypnotherapist to educate the client about the myths and misconceptions of hypnosis so once the client is engaged in the trance experience he will have an educated basis for determining if he has achieved a hypnotic state. This preparation and education phase can take several sessions and some experimentation with hypnotic techniques and approaches before a client experiences success.

I strive to empower and support clients who find it difficult to trust themselves and their experience (or lack of experience) in the hypnotic state and commonly suggest to them early on in the therapy alternative approaches to working in trance states. One approach which proves to be evocative, playful , highly creative and is completely self-guided by the client is Sandplay Therapy. Originally developed by Margaret Lowenfeld in the 1930's for use with children in play therapy, sandplay therapy is currently used with adults, families, corporations and communities. Sandplay therapy is empowering, self-directive and gentle, yet deeply propelling as a transformational vehicle.

In the traditional form of sandplay therapy the therapist provides a waterproof tray approximately 18" wide x 28" long x 3" deep painted blue on the bottom and sides. The tray is half-filled with fine high-grade sand and the therapy room is equipped with shelves which hold a myriad of aesthetic, quality miniature figures. Included in a collection are small trees, plants and people from all races, cultures and periods of history; prehistoric, wild and domesticated animals from all over the world; materials from nature such as rocks, moss, shells, crystals, wood, driftwood and pinecones; and marbles, beads and baubles. A collection also includes toy cars, trains, boats, planes, wagons and other vehicles of travel; cross cultural spiritual and archetypal figures, symbols and icons; as well as miniature figures and objects from daily life. Structures and dwellings from all historical periods and cultures, bridges, fences, towers, and caves are represented in the collection as well as cartoon and fantasy figures that are prevelant in our culture. For the most part, the figures are to scale in relation to the size of each other and the tray of sand.

In the traditional sandplay process the client creates a series of scenes or worlds in the sand by sculpting the dry or wet sand and placing the objects chosen from the shelves in the tray. The therapist's role is to provide, as Dora Kalff emphasizes in her book Sandplay, a "free and protected space" and to support the client in dealing with any content or emotions that the sandplay evokes. In the traditional approach, the therapist has little or no interaction during the session and provides no interpretation of the tray, but rather waits until the full series of the trays has been completed. At a later time the therapist shows he client slides or videos of the trays in sequence as a map of the client's healing, integration and individuation process.

Sandplay approaches have evolved over the years to be used as an interactive process similar to hypnotherapy. In this more active approach, sandplay can be used for inner child work, parts therapy, dream work, pastlife therapy, problem solving, anchoring, learning and memory enhancement. A client's organizing of the figures in the tray is a metaphor for reorganizing one's consciousness. Clients may move figures around to tell a narrative story or use voice dialogue in psychodrama as figures tell their personal stories. In contrast to the private inner experience of hypnotherapy however, the symbolic work is created outside the client in full view.

When the client is a child, sandplay therapy is especially appropriate. A child relates to the world primarily through his body and sandplay gives the child the opportunity to engage in the therapeutic process in an active kinesthetic way. He can "show" rather than "tell" and allow the subconscious feelings and experiences to spontaneously emerge through play. The "hypnosis" happens in front of the child in the sand, rather than only within the child, giving both the client and therapist access what to before was information or content which was most likely inexpressable by the child. It is the process of engaging in the creative play which is healing. Expressing through symbols, personal maps of experience, metaphors or stories allows the client to become a witness to himself and give him a concrete and direct experience that he is the creator of his own world or experience. Simply observing one's own process in the box of sand can be tremendously releasing and freeing, giving the client perspective and an experience of not being the problem, but witnessing the problem.

Very much like in hypnosis, sandplay engages the power of suggestion. If a client creates an experience of a potential solution to a problem in the sand, the solution becomes imprinted as a future positive response for the client in his daily life. The memory of the tray or a photo of the creation becomes a post-hypnotic anchor or cue not only for the potential solution to a problem, but also gives the client a way to emotionally have a new and positive relationship to the problem.

Also, sandplay, like hypnotherapy, induces the client into an altered state of consciousness where the subconscious mind becomes a active player and resource in the therapeutic dance. The self-directed ritual of preparing the sand, choosing the objects and focusing on creating the scene in the sand functions very much like a hypnotic induction and deepening process where the subconscious is more accessible. As in non-directive hypnotherapy, when creating the sandtray the client may choose to focus on a specific issue or concern or to allow the subconscious to spontaneously guide the focus of the session and the focus of the tray. Often a client will have no conscious awareness of what he is creating until he sits back to take in his scene in the tray.

Most importantly, sandplay is highly creative, even for people who believe they aren't creative and it is deliciously fun. Creating sandtrays bring to the forefront issues that need transformation and assist the client in accessing the healing source from within.

Holly Holmes-Meredith, MA is a licensed psychotherapist, a doctorate candidate, and the Clinical Director of HCH a state-licensed hypnotherapy training institute in Lafayette, California. HCH is the only hypnosis school to incorporate sandplay into the basic training and the only hypnotherapy school which offers sandplay therapy training groups for therapists and the public. If you would like to try an individual session in hypnotherapy or sandplay therapy contact the HCH $30 low-fee clinic at 925 283-3951 or email Holly@HypnotherapyTraining.com.

Visit HypnotherapyTraining.com to learn more about Holly and HCH Institute.

Reincarnation: Echoes of the Soul

2007-01-22T21:25:00.000-08:00

Many people in our modern times have what they describe as memories of having lived past lives. Remembering a past life has a potential profound healing effect on one’s health, relationships, life work, spiritual understanding and sense of Self. A past life memory can also be an opening for one’s spiritual evolution and growth. I know because I have remembered many of my own past life experiences and I have facilitated thousands of people while they were in a hypnotic state as they remembered their past lives.

Both spiritual traditions, Hinduism and Buddhism, have versions of reincarnation in their theologies. In both traditions there is a belief that the soul is eternal and that it takes different forms through out the process of birth, death and rebirth. In each tradition there is a belief that the incarnate form and life experiences one has is the effect of past lives. The concept of Karma, cause and effect, is also universal to these traditions. It is interesting to me that in the class readings reincarnation is never addressed as a part of the spiritual precepts or beliefs. In both spiritual traditions reincarnation is a basic component of the theology. The ultimate expression of spiritual growth is moving beyond the cycles of death and rebirth, to a state of re-emergence with the divine.

In this paper I will discuss the concept of reincarnation from two spiritual traditions: Hinduism, and Buddhism . I will weave into the discussion the phenomenology of personal experiences from my twenty-three years experience as a psychotherapist who specializes in past life regression therapy, and as a client of past life therapy . And I will discuss how doing regression therapy can assist the spiritual practice of people who follow the spiritual paths of Hinduism and Buddhism.

Hinduism
Sacred Hindu texts use the term atman to refer to the spiritual essence of a human being. The atman is one’s true self because it connects each individual soul to one Source or Supreme Reality – Brahmin. In Hinduism life is a journey which takes each individual soul back to the oneness of Brahman from which everything is born. On this journey we human beings tend to forget the truth of who we are: we tend to fall into samsara the seemingly never-ending cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Humans are destined to reincarnate over and over again until our atman, or spiritual essence as a human being, can remember that we are Brahman. Lifetimes give us on-going opportunities to reach a state of awareness called moksha or liberation. We can only reach this state by realizing that we are not our personalities and simply material beings. We must follow a path of dharma, a path or moral and ethical conduct to become one with spirit.

The Hindu perspective on reincarnation also includes the concept of transmigration of the movement of the soul from mineral, vegetable and animal forms before becoming human. After going through the many human forms to samsara the soul evolved to become angelic. Some Hindus believe that transmigration can also be reversed: that the human soul can also become animal in its next life if the soul needs to experience the karma of de-evolving. (Dury, p. 14)

The Hindu practices follow the teachings in the Vedas which are believed to have been composed between 1200 BCE and 1000 BCE. ( Cole, p. 103) The Bhagavad- Gita, a Vedic text, is the story of prince Arjuna and his charioteer Krishna, who turns out is the reincarnation of the supreme God, Vishnu, the Lord of the Universe. In the Gita , Krishna explains how spiritual knowledge is attained. Knowledge is attained through the playing out of karma, living out one’s dharma, or spiritual duty, and through the perfection of one’s soul’s and learning through reincarnation. The experience of life and all of its teachings is so vast that it is unlikely that in one life time the soul can move into perfection.

The concepts of Karma and reincarnation are woven throughout the Bhagavad-Gita and are more than dogma to Hindus. In an article that appeared in India’s Illustrated Weekly (September 26, 1971) is the statement, “Karma and reincarnation are to them [Hindus] more than dogma, they are like the air that they breathe. And Hindus cannot help themselves feeling that they are a part of a cosmic scheme that is perpetually in a whirl. As Krishna says in the Gita, ‘All worlds up to that of Brahma are subject to rebirth again and again.’” (Cranston and Williams, p. 233)

In past life regression therapy a client has the opportunity to directly experience the effects of karma or cause and effect in one’s own present and past lives. Through the life stories that unfold and through the associated state in the body, time and place of the past life, the client experiences direct emotions, sensations and soul awareness of the “hows” and “whys” of the past life in relation to current circumstances in one’s present life.
An example is from my own regression therapy work. I grew up with a physically and emotionally abusive alcoholic mother. By the time I was an adolescent I had given up on getting my mothering needs met by her and I lived with resentment and hate. I rejected my mother with the same passion I felt with which she rejected me until I accessed a past life memory when my mother was a child and I was her stepmother. I had the image and sensation of being angry and resentful toward my stepdaughter and beating her as she crouched in a corner. I experienced that I beat her often and that I was relentlessly emotionally cruel to her. I had the realization that in my current life my mother and I carried the soul memory of the past relationship and that karmically we were balancing out the drama by reversing the roles. This experience explained to me so clearly why I was the one out of four daughters she abused. In an instant not only did I understand the cause and effect of her abuse, but I also came to a place of forgiveness of my mother this life time and for myself in the past. Our relationship changed dramatically after this regression. The hate and resentment were gone. I was able to accept her and my relationship with her with more compassion. Understanding the karma between my mother and myself supported my ability to accept what is and to come to a place of peace and healing. I have no way of knowing to what degree this healing of my relationship with my mother has supported my spiritual evolution. I do know, however, that in this life time I feel more able to be present with what is and I felt less reactive and judgmental where my mother is concerned. I have also committed to the dharma of helping others to come to a more accepting and compassionate place in their lives through understanding the “why me?” of difficult situations in their lives. When one comes to the karma of the “why me?” as it is related to the past life connection to current life effects, awareness shifts and healing takes place. Past life regression work can help one do the spiritual work of Chanda in the Hindu tradition: “ This is the wholesome desire of chanda- to be free, the desire to relieve suffering, to be healthy, to promote well-being.” Past life regression therapy brings into the current life the spiritual practice of liberation, and basic self-esteem and equality with others.

Buddhism
Reincarnation is also a basic part of the theology in the Buddhist tradition. The Buddha, Siddhartha, at his moment of enlightenment saw all of his past incarnations as he looked into his reflection in the river. One effect of enlightenment is that the wheels of karma are broken and one no longer must reincarnate to perfect one’s Being. (Matt, p. 115) A Boddhisattva, however, is one who reaches enlightenment or Nirvana and chooses to incarnate to assist all others incarnated in reaching nirvana through teaching how one can release suffering and attachment. Reaching perfection is the goal of Buddhists and perfection is reached by incarnating over and over again to experience and learn how to let go of all attachment and suffering created by the mind. The schools of Mahayana and Zen Buddhism hold the belief in personal reincarnation and those who practice these forms of Buddhism are focused on stopping the karmic pull that bring us back into a body in human form.

The original Buddhist scriptures, known as the Pali Canon, were recorded several hundred years after Buddha’s death. The most celebrated of these is the Dhammapada. Here Buddha plainly speaks of two selves within the human being, the lesser self and the greater self, the former being perishable and the later enduring from life to life. Here is a selection from the Dhammapada: “I call him Brahmana [a true Brahmin] who has destroyed his doubts by knowledge and had plumbed the depth of the Eternal….Him I call a Brahmana who knows the mystery of death and rebirth of all beings, who knows his former lives, who is a sage of perfect knowledge and who has accomplished all that needs to be accomplished.” (Freedman, p. 4)

In the Diamond Sutra the opening paragraph refers to a past life of the Buddha when he was born a king’s son and his raging father cut the infant into pieces:
When the king of Kalinga cut my flesh from every limb, at that time I had no perception of self, of being a soul, or a person. And why? If at that time I had had a perception of self, I would have had a perception of ill-will….With my superknowledge I recall that in the past I have for five hundred births led the life of a sage devoted to patience. (Cranston. 79)
In the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism the Dalai Lama is chosen because of his ability to remember certain objects and spiritual teaching from a prior lifetime as a Dalai Lama. He is put to tests to prove the authenticity of his reincarnational heritage before he is accepted into the role as the new Dalai Lama. His ability to remember is a sign of his advanced spiritual state. The Tibetan Buddhists want to honor the past learnings and wisdom of their spiritual leader; he can pick up where he left off in a prior life time. Bradford Smith of Colombia University writes:
When the previous Dalai Lama dies, wise men who had gone to seek the new holy one, had found a little boy who recognized things that had belonged to his predecessor and could pick them out unerringly from among similar objects….So here is a religion where an infant is born obscurely, recognized by wise men and worshipped: where a holy man prophesies that he will return from the dead……In Tibetan Buddhism, with its firm faith in the rebirth of the soul, not only of the
Dalai Lamas but of all, and of a progress based upon behavior during past lives, this impulse is dramatically present. (Cranston, p. 99)

The Dalai Lama speaks of the effects of Karma and reincarnation in a poignant way in a discussion of the sad state of Tibet where suffering has been inflicted upon the people, and where the Chinese are attempting to stamp out every vestige of Buddhism may wonder how the Dalai Lama views all this in the light of reincarnation. An answer is given in an interview with the Lama as reported in the New York Times (November 12, 1967):
As a Buddhist he said that he believes that the present events are determined by intricate sets of causes stretching back into the previous lives of those who are affected by them. “Thus”, he said, “it was only an ‘outward appearance’ that the Tibetans were suffering today because of the Chinese aggression. The aggression must have come because we did something bad.” “Similarly”, he went on,” it is only an ‘outward appearance’ that Chinese rule in Tibet is now permanent. The chain of causes that will eventually undermine it, must already be lengthening, even if it cannot be seen.” “Cause and effect, cause and effect, cause and effect, “ he said cheerfully in English, his fingers darting in the air to join the links of an imaginary chain. “There will certainly be change.” (Cranston, p. 101)

Past life therapy is a spiritual process through which you can remember the Self and the truth of who you are as a spiritual being. Through direct experiences of emotions, body sensations and events one can come to a profound understanding and acceptance of the way it is. One has a direct experience of karma and the bigger picture of the spiritual lessons that come through the process of karmic experiences of cause and effect.

Nineteen years ago a man came to see me to do a past-life regression around his lack of ambition and success in the field of music. The minute he walked into my office I was struck with a deep and profound recognition of him. This man is now my husband of eighteen years. Through out our life and spiritual work together, I have come to understand so much about our connection and our karma.
In a past life we shared in Ancient Egypt, Paul, my husband now, was a man of spiritual responsibility. He was to watch over the Priestess virgins who were to be sacrificed whenever a pharaoh died. The Priestess spirits would accompany the dead pharaohs into the afterlife to protect them and care for them. I was chosen to be sacrificed. He chose me to die because I was the most evolved of the priestess. This choice infuriated me. We had fallen in love and I wanted to be free to be in relationship with him. This was not possible since I was a well-guarded virgin priestess. I was furious that he would choose his spiritual responsibility to sacrifice the highest priestess over our personal love and that I was the victim of a spiritual ritual that I knew was based on superstition, not on the reality of the power of love. When I died I was angry at the stupidity of personal religious sacrifices when I knew that love was the most important healing force in the universe.

Well, in this life time we get to be together to explore personal and spiritual love. I feel that Paul is very dedicated to exploring the experience of personal and spiritual love with me. And I am exploring more lessons about personal sacrifice: what it is and when it feels appropriate and inappropriate. We have both moved beyond religious dogma and adopting external authority where our spiritual life is concerned and we both are involved with the dharma of supporting others in being in relationship with their own spiritual power. We are consciously working on freeing ourselves from the karmic wheel that keeps us caught up in the suffering and entrapment of mind. As stated by the Buddhist scholar Bassui Tokusho:
If you would free yourself of the sufferings of samsara [rebirth], you must learn the direct way to become a Buddha. This way is no other than the realization of your own Mind. Now what is this Mind? It is the true nature of all sentient beings, that which existed before our parents were born and hence before our own birth, which presently exists, unchangeable and eternal. So it is one’s Face before one’s parents were born…When we are born it is not newly created, and when we die it does not perish. It has no distinction of male or female, nor has it any coloration good or bad. It cannot be compared to anything, so it is called Buddha nature….
Should your yearning be too weak to lead you to this state in your present life time, you will undoubtedly gain Self-realization easily in the next, provided you are still engaged in this questioning at death, just as yesterday’s work half done was finished easily today. (Cranston, p. 89-90)

Past life therapy is a tool that will support the soul’s spiritual work in moving towards finishing… in moving towards one’s Buddha hood, today. Past life therapy can give one the direct understanding and experience of cause and effect and can help one to more consciously choose thoughts and actions that will support the lessening of personal and planetary suffering. Through doing the work of past-life therapy one can realize more fully that we are all Buddhas in the process of Self-realization.

Bibliography

Buddism and Taoism and Indigenous Religions, Volume I, Hana Matt, no information.

Hinduism, W. Owen Cole and V.P. (Hemant) Kanitkar, Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd., London, UK, 1995.

Hunduism, Hana Matt, no information.

Reincarnation: The Phoenix Fire Mystery, Sylvia Cranston, Theosophical University Press, Pasadena, CA, 1977.

Reincarnation: A New Horizon in Science, Religion and Society, Sylvia Cranston and Carey Williams, Theosophical University Press, Pasadena, CA, 1993.

Reincarnation, Nevill Drury, Barnes and Noble Books, Singapore, 2002.

Soul Echoes: The Healing Power of Past-Life Therapy, Thelma Freedman, PhD, Citadel Press, New York, NY, 2002.

Spirit Releasement Therapy, William Baldwin, Headline Books, Inc, Terra Alta, WV, 1992.

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