Mental Health and Medication

I will preface my comments with this: I am not a any kind of "doctor". My training is limited to helping people address and change their behaviors. I do not have anything against doctors. My wife is an orthodontist and we get along fine.. most of the time. But I am a smart guy and I learn fast. I have seen many clients under doctor referral to address many different medical issues. My comments are my opinions based off of my experience, observations and reading.

The day after the Virginia Tech shootings, a radio announcer I was listening to said "the shooter undoubtedly had psychological issues and should have been using medication". When I heard that, I thought to myself, "I bet he was on medication."

Then the stories about his psychological state and then confirmed psychiatric drug use.

"According to breaking news from investigators at Virginia Tech, Cho may have taken depression drugs—documented by the Food and Drug Administration to cause suicidal behavior, mania, psychosis, hallucinations, hostility and “homicidal ideation.” Cho Seung-Hui psychiatric drug use is confirmed, it brings the total to 61 killed and 77 wounded by psychiatric drug-induced school shootings."

This is a surprise to many people, but not everyone.

Everyday I work with clients that are on psychiatric medications. I have had potential clients improve things such as compulsive purchasing, gambling, sleeplessness, bipolar symptoms, weight gain, anger, depression, etc., after simply reducing medication intake with their doctor.

I'v worked with a woman who has been heavily medicated since her mid-teens. She does not know what it would be to feel "normal". We started working together between medications.. We worked on her self-confidence for two sessions. She came back the third time and told me "I didn't feel like killing myself this weekend". She claims this is the most progress she can remember having. The following week her doctor had her increase the dosage of the medication she was starting. She had side effects; mania, hallucinations, sleeplessness, anger, confusion, suicidal thoughts. Her family took her to the hospital where they heavily sedated her. The doctor's comment was "the medication seems to be showing some manic depressive symptoms. They planned to continue the medications. Her self-confidence was gone and she felt hopeless and suicidal again.

We have continued working together on her self-confidence and she is feeling better again.

I guess that is my rant.

As a result I have found a very helpful resource - http://www.cchr.org and http://www.cchr.org/files/14552/Violence%20White%20Paper.pdf
It contains information that is very pertinent. I believe it will get a larger following because of the recent violence at Virgina Tech.

Patrick Glancy, CH
www.glancyhypnosis.com

Hypnosis and Self-hypnosis

Hypnosis is a great tool.. Like a guided self-help. Self-hypnosis is very useful and powerful, but still limited in it's scope.

Buying self-hypnosis audios online can be tricky from what I have seen.
The technique used on one persons CD may work for some people and not for others, depending on their approach and training with hypnosis.

Finding and creating an audio that will be widely useful and accepted has been taking a lot of my focus. Getting someone into an appropriate depth reliably with a recording is a tall order. Depending on the time of day and the type of person, they may be tired, have kids in the background, be distracted, not have enough time, etc..

I believe I have a rapid/brief induction that will achieve an appropriate hypnotic state quickly and reliably. A ten minute audio that someone can practice a few times, then apply to a specific recording - wieght, smoking, confidence or whatever.
Using a hybrid of a "group Elman" induction along with some of my own deepening.

This teaches a post-hypnotic induction so that the reinforcment audios do not need to spend any time on this.

Patrick Glancy, CH
www.glancyhypnosis.com

Hypnosis is like.......

Hypnosis commonly gets a bad rap. It is compared to chiropractics before the late 70's. At that time Chiropractics was often seen as "quacky" and new age. Then at the end of the 70's it began to become a normal part of the medical community. People began to see it for what it really is. Though, Chiropractor friend tells me that some people still have malformed ideas about it.

Hypnosis seems to be like that now. It is often mistaken for what it is not. But I can understand that perception because some people practice hypnosis in ways that make it look strange. They are afraid it is about brainwashing or a religious practice. It is not any of that.

This morning I thought of a metaphor for hypnosis and I will try it out here.

Hypnosis is like cement. Yeah.

Anyone can pour cement. But if you want a good driveway you find someone that is good at the process. Someone that has experience and training. A person can specialize in cement and make art, house foundations, roads and skyscrapers. They can even build a church from cement. The skyscraper and church are made from the same cement but the church is seen as religious and the road is not.

Hypnosis is it's own thing. People can use it in many ways. It can be made to look like many things.

I still like this metaphor :)

Patrick Glancy,CH
www.glancyhypnosis.com

Hypnosis techniques - after the sessions

My clients average 3 sessions to achieve desired results. Some are more some are less. This will depend on the person and the issue(s). Some people would achieve better results with more sessions in my opinion, but the client is in charge of their progress. Some will come back later if they need more help, but some do not.

I charge per session. I'm sure some people cut down the number of sessions because of the cost. At the same time, there are some people that would not have come in at all, would not have had ANY progress if I charged a package price for a preset number of sessions. Some hypnotists do this. I can see the benefit of both approaches but will stick with my pay-per-session policy for now.

I call clients a few weeks after the last session to ask their opinion of their continued results.

I have a client reported success rate of 82%. I assume that the actual success rate is closer to 70%. This percentage is for all issues combined. It is higher for things like fears or smoking cessation (90%) and lower for weight management (80%). Weight management is the most common issue worked with, and it is also the most complex.


Patrick Glancy, CH
www.glancyhypnosis.com

Hypnosis techniques - ending the session

I always end my session with suggestions that include the specific situations and issues the client has expressed. This makes things much more personal and applicable to the clients life.

As well, I teach self-hypnosis to each client using a post-hypnotic suggestion and trigger. They can use the self-hypnosis for whatever they like. Important to me, is that they can use the post-hypnotic trigger for a more rapid induction at the next session. Also, it is used on my reinforcement CD audios that each client recieves. This allows the reinforcement CD's to be very short and powerful. At an average of five minutes the cd's are easy to fit into a busy day. This makes them easier to use during the parts of the day they are most needed.

Patrick Glancy, CH
www.glancyhypnosis.com

Hypnosis techniques - addressing the presented issue

There are two basic approaches to addressing the presented issue. The older and more commonly known technique is "suggestion". When a person is in a hypnotized state, they are more accepting of suggestions. Suggestion based hypnosis is able to help some people. But a more common outcome from a suggestion session is short term results or none at all. If a person has an existing habit, suggestions just fight against it. If you think of an old style balance scale - the existing habit is on one side and is heavier. On the other side is the current motivation to change. If you add suggestions to the motivation side, you may be able to out-weigh the habit. And maybe not. If the suggestion is able to change things, the habit can still exist and be fighting against the suggestions until it wears them down. = short term change.

The more modern techniques focus on the habit directly. Changing or removing the learned behavior so there is minimal, if any, habit to fight against. Using the balance scale example, if you have nothing on the habit side of the scale, the motivation side is much easier. Of course the clients chance of success is much higher. Followed up with suggestions, you have a powerful and brief process.

From my research and office experience, the second technique is preferred. It is more comfortable, has more consistent results and uses less sessions so is less costly for the client.

Patrick Glancy, Ch
www.glancyhypnosis.com

Hypnosis techniques - the induction

There are 3 basic categories of hypnotic inductions that I will be talking about. Instant, rapid and classic relaxation. There are many variations of each category that have no relevance in this discussion.

Classic relaxation is what most people think of when talking about hypnosis. "your foot is getting sleepy", "Your whole right leg has gone to sleep", etc.. This induction can take over 30 minutes to do and accomplishes inconsistent results. While this can be comfortable, a person that just finished work and is tired can fall asleep (NOT OK for hypnotherapy - more on this later). A person that is fidgety or distracted will get bored. A person that is an analytical thinker will just wonder when they're supposed to be hypnotized. Because of this it does not consistently provide an appropriate depth of hypnosis. It can provide limited success, but with so many downfalls, this technique is slowly becoming less common.

Instant inductions are what you will generally see at a stage show. Distractions like noise and activity are almost a non-issue. An analytical or fidgety person does not have time to wonder much of anything before they are in trance. This technique is reliable in accomplishing appropriate depth, hence it's use in front of an audience. Another obvious reason for it's use in these situations is the entertainment aspect of watching this type of induction.


While there may be situations where both of the above techniques are appropriate in the office, rapid inductions combine the best parts from both. Rapid inductions last just a couple minutes with an additional couple minutes spent on deepening when appropriate. This leaves the rest of the session being spent on addressing the presented issue. A good rapid induction should have built in tests for depth of trance that help show the client they are in a different mental state.

Rapid inductions are what I will use most of the time. I am partial to them and for good reason. I will use the other techniques but rapid induction provides my clients the best possible results in the most cost effective manner. I have had clients request relaxation techniques before, because they may have used them in the past. While I will do what they ask me to do, I always feel like I'm cheating them. like they are not getting their money's worth. Maybe I should use self-hypnosis to deal with that guilt.... and even in those cases I will often show them a rapid induction and post hypnotic so we can use them in the next session if they choose.

There is much more that can be brought up in this topic, but it would be wasted time since the result would be the same.

The topic has been a point of debate among hypnotists. I do not bring it up here to create debate, but simply to state the facts as I know them.

Patrick Glancy, CH
www.glancyhypnosis.com

Back to the point

If you apply How we learn behaviors to the earlier example you can see how the autority figure, strong emotions and repetition played their parts in creating this woman's habit. The habit was strong enough to continue, even where there was no longer a logical reason. Logic rarely has much to do with our learned reactions.

The techniques used to address this issue will next be discussed and compared to the older techniques still used today.

Patrick Glancy, CH
www.glancyhypnosis.com

How we learn behaviors - continued

We learn behaviors in roughly 3 ways. Often it is a combination of these ways that will establish a Grade A habit.

Strong emotions – Any emotions, positive or negative make room for a behavior to become established. Emotional associations with things are what give rise to “triggers” and “habits”. If a young child sees another child scream with fright when she sees a spider, it is likely that child will now experience fear when he sees a spider.

Authority figure – Parents, teachers, pastors, doctors, anyone seen as an authority figure, are more likely to have people take on their traits and beliefs. If that child sees his mother scream when she sees a spider he is very likely to experience fear the next time he sees a spider.

Repetition – this is the most basic. You do something enough times, it becomes “automatic”. Like locking the door when you get in the car. You may have experienced the need to check to make sure you actually locked it because your conscious mind has no idea.

Now, taking the spider example further. The child sees his mother scream when seeing a spider, he experiences fear. When this scenario repeats over several years the child will tend to create a strong, uncontrolled, and possibly disruptive learned reaction.

Each of the 3 learning situations above creates a state of mind that is more open and receptive. What can be described as critical faculty bypass. With emotions, authority figures and repetition, our conscious, critical mind lets it guard down and allows the situation to create an imprint or belief in the subconscious mind. You can think about a time when listening to someone talk about a subject you strongly agree with. Your mind was open to accepting new ideas about the subject and taking these ideas on as beliefs. In contrast, when listening to someone talk about a subject you strongly disagree with, your critical faculty is on high alert, countering what is being said.

Hypnosis creates this same state of mind to change the old behavior and even create new ones.

Patrick Glancy, CH
www.glancyhypnosis.com

How we learn behaviors - continued

After consciously understanding the emotional association she had made with sweets, she was able to change the memory in a way. While still in hypnosis, she let go of that in-accurate emotional association. Her younger self misunderstood what she was experiencing. So, she imagined her younger self there feeling the affection, love and caring and associating that with her grandfather who was showing her these feelings in the way he knew how.

Then we reinforce this new lesson by applying it to similar situations as she was growing up. Changing and letting go of the associations she had created with food.

Reading this brief history and understanding it in an intellectual way can not compare to the actual absence of the craving this woman experienced. A habit she had been fighting against for years was just not there.

Simple? Yes. Effective? Yes.

Next I will begin explaining the different factors present that made this early learning situation have more impact on her young mind.

Thank you for reading.

Patrick Glancy, CH
www.glancyhypnosis.com

How we learn behaviors

To illustrate changing a behavior, I'll use a stereotypical, though real example.

A woman in her late 40's comes in for a session. She has trouble managing her weight. After talking, she says the biggest problem area for her, where she feels the least amount of control, is with sweets. Candy, ice cream, cake, etc. Having control of this particular craving would make all the difference to her.

After further talking about the craving, she is able to create the "feeling" of the craving. The driving force behind compulsion, habit, desire, whatever you want to call it. When in the mental state of hypnosis, she is able to "follow the feeling" to the first memory she has that involves this feeling. Much like when you hear a song on the radio that reminds you of earlier years but not remembering when. Or seeing a face and not remembering the name. If you try to remember, it will not as often come to mind. If you relax your mind or let it focus elsewhere, the memory will often come up.

When applying this process to a hypnosis session, the memory almost always becomes available.

This woman remembered being very young, only 8 or so. She remembered being in a small store and her grandfather buying her candy. It was a sort of ritual when she was staying with her grandparents. To her 8 year old self, this act was very important. It was a show of affection, love and caring. Her mind associated these feelings with the candy. When she remembered this moment, it all made sense to her.

continued -

Patrick Glancy, CH
www.glancyhypnosis.com

Hypnosis - a mental state

In my job I spend a lot of time with clients just describing what hypnosis feels like. I came up with a simple example that seems to do a good job of explaining things.

Just focus on your breathing and notice how it works automatically. Your "deeper mind" and body know how to do this. Then, use your conscious mind to control your breathing. Regulate how deeply and how slowly you breathe. Continue this and very soon it becomes more awkward and ineffective. Eventually, your conscious mind "gives up control" and your automatic functions continue.

You can take that same mental state at the moment of "giving up control" and compare it to the moment we act out any behavior or habit we may do. We get in the car and without "thinking" lock the door. We get home from work and have a desire for food - even when we're not physically hungry. Actions that have become automatic and work automatically when our mind is in a state of "hypnosis"

The next step is using hypnosis to change the behavior that has become unwanted.

Patrick Glancy, CH
www.glancyhypnosis.com

Managing weight

Hypnosis is a means for a person to gain control of their actions around food and exercise.

Many people that have trouble managing their weight feel like they are constantly fighting themselves. Food choices, portion size, "nervous eating", cravings, chewing speed, and aversion to physical activity, are all things that can have learned reactions or habits affecting them. When these habits are addressed, the person gains control. Proper nutrition and exercise become a matter of simple choice rather than an internal struggle. Hypnotherapy focuses on doing away with these old habits, creating new beneficial habits, and increasing the motivation needed to succeed. This makes the difference.

When you are fighting yourself over you food choices it might not feel this simple to change. I can spend days telling you about successful client storys, but until you experience it for yourself, it just won't make as much sense to you.

Patrick Glancy
www.glancyhypnosis.com

Reduce your stress

Stress is something many talk about yet a definition of it is not very clear. There are numerous definitions around, but one of the most useful is: "Stress is any change to which you must adjust".

Stress is shown to be indirectly linked to such things as insomnia, hypertension (high blood pressure), depression and anxiety, smoking, weight gain or weight loss, alcoholism and other substance abuse, gastrointestinal problems, arthritis, and skin breakouts.

Stress can reduce the effectiveness of our immune system. This can increase the risk of cancer, infections, the common cold, and NK cell function. (Morikawa et al., 2005; Kiank et al., 2005; Saul et al., 2005). Stress is linked to all leading causes of death, including cancer, heart disease, lung diseases, accidents, cirrhosis, and even suicide.

It is evident stress management and stress reduction can prevent so many problems. Prevention is far less costly, and far easier, than the alternatives.
Hypnosis has an immediate effect on current stress levels evident by reductions in blood pressure, breathing rate, and pulse

Hypnotherapy can go further toward long-term stress management with behavior modification and teaching effective self-hypnosis techniques.

Patrick Glancy
www.glancyhypnosis.com