You're getting sleepy....: Hypnotherapy can help with a range of ills

By LUCAS CORREIA Bulletin Contributing Writer

Published on May 15, 2009

Matthew Beebe discovered the strength of his unconscious mind when he tried hypnotherapy for his lifelong fear of needles. As an employee at a dentist's office, the fear made his work difficult.

He said when he walked into his first session, he had no idea what to expect, and wasn't sure if hypnotherapy was right for him. "I tend to have a very inquisitive, active mind," said Beebe, 26, of Florence. "When I close my eyes, my mind just keeps racing. But in that environment, it really helps you just kind of focus in, and so it was extremely relaxing and a lot easier than I thought [it would be]."

After four sessions, Beebe said he noticed a big change in his fear level. He is now able to sit calmly through dental and blood work. "That's not something I would expect of myself," he said. "[The fear] doesn't consume me like it used to."

Hypnosis is an alternative form of therapy that, therapists say, taps into the powerful subconscious mind to help solve a wide range of personal problems, from addiction and overeating, to performance-related anxiety.

In Beebe's case, after conquering his fear of needles, he used hypnotherapy to increase his self-esteem. He said the therapy made him a more assertive, goal-oriented person.

How does it work?

Na'imah Muhammad, of Belchertown, has uses hypnotherapy as part of her job as a guidance counselor at Amherst Regional High School, and in her private practice, New Life Horizons Counseling in Amherst.

Describing hypnosis as a quick route to finding the source of a problem, she said the therapist begins with a guided relaxation technique meant to calm every muscle in the body.

This puts the conscious mind (or the rational, logical mind) in a resting state, yet the body isn't asleep. "In this altered state, which is really deep, deep relaxation, you access the subconscious mind, or the inner mind," she said, "and that allows people to see more clearly inside of themselves."

She said hypnotherapy can be used for a range of issues, including improving athletic performance, relieving academic anxiety and preparing for childbirth. She said that most commonly, her clients come in to work on smoking cessation and weight-management techniques.

Muhammad explained that during a hypnotherapy session, the subconscious mind is aware and fully present, adding that, unlike the conscious mind, the subconscious cannot distinguish between guided imagery and reality. It treats every suggestion as a real event happening in the present, whether it's a memory that's decades old, or a guided vision of a successful future.

"Things that you thought were long buried, or things you thought you didn't have inside of you, are actually able to resurrect themselves," said Muhammad.

Once the client is fully relaxed, a hypnotist uses a range of techniques to address the client's issue - methods as simple as "regression," or as complex as "parts therapy."

Hypnotherapist Kat Lovell, of Create Your Change in Northampton, said she uses "regression," a way of leading a client to an earlier situation in his or her life, mostly for clients who are dealing with the effects of traumatic childhood events. She gave the example of a 30-year-old individual whom she might guide to revisit traumatic events that happened when he or she was 3. While under hypnosis, the client would see everything through the 3-year-old's eyes, but also have the mentality of the 30-year-old.

"[They] realize what really happened and can kind of hold the hand and support this child through this event, so that they know they're going to be O.K.," she said. "It totally changes and has this ripple effect through time to where you are now, so that it no longer holds you back."

Parts therapy is a more complex form of treatment used for lifestyle changes. Once a client is under hypnosis, the therapist sets up a conference within the client's mind. For example, if someone wanted to quit smoking, the therapist would set up a discussion between the part of him or her that wants to quit and the part that doesn't. The practitioner then acts as a debate moderator in the hopes of coming to a resolution.

A session ends when the therapist gently guides a subject out of hypnosis, usually through counting, suggesting that with each new number, the client will slowly become more alert.

What draws people to it?

Some hypnotherapists in the Valley were attracted to the practice after receiving help from hypnosis themselves. Jean Conway, of Blue Moon Hypnotherapy in Greenfield, was referred to a hypnotist in 1996 when she was grieving the accidental death of her 22-year-old son. She said that traditional therapy was working for her, but only to a certain extent.

"Hypnotherapy made me feel a huge shift," she said. "I took the time to have several sessions, and found that it's beneficial to do your own inner work."

The experience motivated Conway to train as a hypnotherapist and eventually leave her job at the Franklin Regional Transit Authority to develop a full-time practice. She said her specialties include bereavement therapy, as well as techniques for regression, trauma and addiction.

Len Topolski, of Hypnosis Works in Shutesbury, has been a hypnotist for the past 20 years, and also trains people in the methods. He has been a licensed mental health counselor since 1974.He said he finds it rewarding to help clients refocus their minds to a more positive way of thinking. "It looks like magic, but it really isn't," he said.

Hypnotherapist Ken Morse, of the University Hypnosis Center in Amherst, was able to hypnotize himself in a time of crisis. Last year, Morse was involved in a car accident, and was paralyzed from the neck down. He said that from the moment he was taken out of the car, he put all his mental energy into the healing process. In the hospital, he focused his thoughts on "green energy," a technique he devised for clients, as the color green symbolizes healing.

"I imagined green energy being like an insulator over the area of my neck and spine," he said.

He said the hospital staff who treated him after the accident thought he would be paralyzed for life. To their amazement, he was able to leave the hospital after two weeks of treatment, walking with the assistance of a cane. Back at home, he actively used self-hypnosis to get himself fully walking. He credits his self-hypnosis with enabling him to return to his practice in January.

What else can it do?

The relaxation techniques of hypnosis can also be used in conjunction with medical treatment. Ann Buscemi is a hypnotist who works for The Cancer Connection in Florence. In the past, she has worked for many hospitals in Massachusetts, including Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton. Her area of expertise is preparing patients for surgery and for treatments such as chemotherapy.

Buscemi guides patients through a progressive relaxation, enabling them to breathe comfortably and minimize stress. "Stress feeds the body's inability to heal itself," she said, adding that normally, she'll see a patient a day or so ahead of time, to prepare him or her for treatment.

"I spend time with them the day before [the procedure]," she said, "to make sure they have all their tools." In this case, "tools" refers to the patient's ability to relax. "It complements the job that the anaesthetics are doing," she said.

Another technique that uses the power of the subconscious is called hypnobirthing. While under hypnosis, the body increases production of endorphins, which act as natural painkillers. Lovell, who has worked with the technique, said that if a mother learns how to hypnotize herself while giving birth, she could possibly experience a painless birth without medication.

Michelle Shrock, 34, of Springfield is a case in point. She used self-hypnosis when she gave birth to her son Samuel, who is now 14 months old. "I was calm and relaxed for the whole entire labor," she said. "My husband didn't even know I was in labor for the first four hours."

Shrock allowed her birth to be filmed, and she said that in the video, she appears to be sleeping. There was no facial indication of any kind of stress. She is expecting another child in September, and said she plans on taking hypnobirthing classes again in preparation.

Michelle Prindle, 29, of Northampton, first considered hypnobirthing after it helped a friend through a successful birth. From the beginning, she and her husband, Dan, thought it would be best for the baby to be born naturally.

Prindle, who is due this Sunday, said that after completing the hypnobirthing program at Create Your Change, she feels confident that the birth will be a positive experience. "I'm starting out with positive expectations," she said. "I have a lot of confidence going into this, even though it's my first child."

Or as Shrock put it, "It let me focus on everything that could go right," she said, "versus everything that could go wrong."

"I think it's hard to find time for ourselves these days," said Matthew Beebe, "even when you stop to take time for yourself with music or TV, there's still an external factor there. Meditation is great and I think that's really what this focuses back on. Hypnotherapy basically empowers you to be able to really take time to yourself, with yourself. It's truly 'me' time."