101 Things I Wish I'd Known When I Started Using Hypnosis Read online

  Dabney M. Ewin MD

  101 things

  I wish I’d

  known when

  I started using

  hypnosis

  Crown Housing Publishing Ltd

  www.crownhouse.co.uk

  First published by

  Crown House Publishing Ltd

  Crown Buildings, Bancyfelin, Carmarthen, Wales, SA33 5ND,

  UK

  www.crownhouse.co.uk

  © Dabney M. Ewin 2009

  The right of Dabney M. Ewin to be identified as the author

  of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the

  Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation

  no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval

  system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast,

  transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means,

  without the prior permission of the copyright owners. Enquiries

  should be addressed to Crown House Publishing Limited.

  British Library of Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

  A catalogue entry for this book is available

  from the British Library.

  13-digit ISBN 978-184590291-9

  eBook ISBN 978-184590458-6

  Printed and bound in the UK by

  The Cromwell Press, Wiltshire

  The history of hypnosis is littered with stories of the

  downfall of practitioners who were lured into grandiosity by

  the siren song of cures that border on the miraculous. I

  dedicate this composition to my wise and precious wife,

  Marilyn, who has been my anchor to keep my feet on the

  ground while my head was in the sky.

  Contents

  Foreword

  Preface

  Words

  Smoking Cessation

  Pain

  Techniques

  Miscellaneous Pearls of Wisdom

  References

  Foreword

  I asked Dr. Ewin to tell me in one word how he would describe the essence of his professional life as a physician. His answer was clear, quick and passionate. This is a man whom we all admire for his intelligence, his effectiveness in treating patients, and his teaching. Yet it comes down to one word, his word: enthusiasm.

  The words and phrases that come to a physician working over a lifetime are guides to the art of therapy. In many patients, symptoms fall into the cracks between mind and body and this elusive interface can only be reached with scientific insight and intuitive understanding. Dr. Ewin understands this and emboldens his art with vigor.

  Dr. Ewin “believes his patients can get well, because they do.” With his words, images and suggestions, noted throughout this little book of wisdom, he changes the way his patients think, feel, and behave. He knows the mind can change the way the brain functions and he also knows the brain can change the way the mind functions. In hypnosis, he makes this healing resonance between mind and body happen again and again. Simply put, his patients become whole again.

  I encourage each reader of this wonderful book to embrace Dr. Ewin’s lifetime of experience, make it fit into your own style, and teach it to others as you travel the path of your own career. For these are the secrets, these are the keys, and these are answers that work.

  Peter B. Bloom, MD, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry,

  University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine,

  Past President, International Society of Hypnosis

  Preface

  Always read the little book.

  Charles Dunlap, MD

  One day in medical school our pathology professor, Dr. Dunlap, rolled in a small library of about thirty books, resembling the Encyclopedia Britannica. He told us it was a monumental compilation of everything that was known about diabetes, published in 1920, before the discovery of insulin. Then he held up a book of about 200 pages, and said, “This was published in 1930, after the discovery of insulin. Always read the little book.”

  In addition to the economy of time, my experience has been that a small book is likely to be a clear message by a knowledgeable author. My copy of The Pursuit of Simplicity by Edward Teller, PhD, the physicist who produced the hydrogen bomb, is 167 pages. Sometimes a large edited book is a collection of little books (chapters), but that is rare.

  I have sought to make this publication as little as possible, consistent with the message. Over the years I have jotted down various insights about hypnosis to pass on to my students, and this is the result.

  Malek’s Law: Any simple idea will be worded in the most complicated way.

  Every violation of Malek’s Law is a victory for education and communication. At the risk of being overly elemental, I have sought to reverse this common phenomenon, so that the most complicated idea is presented in the simplest way.

  Dabney M. Ewin, MD, FACS

  Words

  We are treating people with words, so the dictionary and thesaurus are our pharmacopoeias. What we say, what we omit, and how we say it matters very much. Even without hypnosis, this is ancient knowledge. George Baglivi (1704), a prominent seventeenth century Italian physician wrote: “I can scarce express what influence the physician’s words have upon the patient’s life, and how much they sway the fancy; for a physician who has his tongue well hung, and is master of the art of persuading, fastens … such a virtue upon his remedies and raises the faith and hope of the patient … that sometimes he masters difficult diseases with the silliest remedies (emphasis mine).” (Duct tape for warts? If you can influence the patient to believe it, it works!) What we call placebo in the waking state is much enhanced in hypnosis.

  * * *

  1. Seems

  * * *

  This is a very helpful word when doing a regression to a traumatic incident, particularly if there was a perceived danger of death.

  I can say “Even though it seems like you might be killed, isn’t it nice to know that it only seems that way, because we already know that you’re going to survive this, no matter how bad it seems.”

  * * *

  * * *

  2. Yet

  * * *

  This is a good word to use

  when doing analysis.

  Ideomotor signals are unconscious body movements initiated by an idea, like nodding the head when agreeing, and are generally referred to as body language. In hypnosis we use finger movements.

  When setting up ideomotor signals, I have a finger to signal “I’m not ready to answer that question yet,” or “I don’t want to answer it.” He/she may not want to ever answer it, but when that finger rises I say to the patient “That’s all right, you don’t have to answer it yet, but you will know when the time is right to understand yourself fully.” A question the patient doesn’t want to answer is surely an important one, and we don’t want the finality of just signaling, “I don’t want to answer.”

  * * *

  * * *

  3. Stop (not quit)

  * * *

  Quitters are losers.

  In our society, to quit school is a disaster, to quit a job causes wonder if you were about to be fired and to quit a marriage is a failure of commitment and sad for the kids.

  Quit has negative emotional content built into the word. When the whistle blows at 5 o’clock, we stop work, but don’t quit. It’s emotionally much easier to stop a bad habit than to quit it.

  * * *

  * * *

  4. Give up

  * * *
r />   Give up is a synonym for surrender.

  Any boy who’s ever wrestled with a bully who had him in a neck lock knows the humiliating demand “Do you give up?” If the pain is so bad that he gives up, there is residual anger and resentment.

  Winston Churchill inspired the whole free world during the Second World War with his words “We will never surrender!” A therapist who tells a patient/client to give up a bad habit should consider giving up using that phrase. It’s better to abandon, discontinue, reject, refuse, and so on.

  * * *

  * * *

  5. Try

  * * *

  The word implies failure.

  I only use it when I don’t want something to happen. Sometimes it’s fun to say “Try to keep from laughing” when I’m going to inject some local anesthetic. They usually laugh, even though it hurts some.

  Picture yourself in the dental chair, and the dentist says “Try to relax.” Trying takes effort; relaxing is the opposite. How much better to just say “Relax.”

  The Nike advert doesn’t say

  “Try harder” – it says “Just do it.”

  * * *

  * * *

  6. Feel

  * * *

  The subconscious is the feeling mind, and the conscious is the logical one. Many feelings cannot be described as logical.

  When using ideomotor signals in hypnoanalysis, I ask if it feels “yes” or feels “no.” The conscious veridical facts are not the problem; it’s what the patient feels is true that causes symptoms.

  * * *

  * * *

  7. Sense

  * * *

  This calls more for an intuition than a feeling. It’s a subtle difference.

  When I’m asking about Cheek’s seven common causes of symptoms (conflict, organ language, motivation, past experience, identification, self-punishment and suggestion (COMPISS), I ask “Do you sense that you are being affected by a conflict?” It’s different from asking “Do you feel …?” because they may not have any feeling one way or another about this new idea.

  * * *

  * * *

  8. Bother

  * * *

  People are afraid of pain, but they don’t mind a little discomfort as long as it doesn’t cause pain.

  When I’m going to draw blood, as a waking suggestion I say “You may feel a little pressure, but it won’t bother you.” This is a negative suggestion (Thing 21), so of course it does bother them a little, but at least it didn’t hurt. They’ve been instructed to interpret what they feel as pressure, and that doesn’t bother them very much.

  * * *

  * * *

  9. Normal

  * * *

  The word I use whenever I can’t think of anything specific to suggest as a goal.

  Between diarrhea and constipation, obese and emaciated, hyperimmune and immunodeficient, there is a wide field of comfort that we all agree is normal and good.

  * * *

  * * *

  10. Fix

  * * *

  Sounds like a good word, but no man wants to hear it if he remembers what happened when he was a boy and his folks took his dog to the veterinarian to be “fixed.”

  All gamblers know how to bet when “the fix” is in. It’s better to repair or revise.

  * * *

  * * *

  11. Burn

  * * *

  This word is one of the descriptors of pain.

  When we say “It burns” we’re describing a particular type of pain. So I avoid using it when treating a burned patient. I say “Notice how the involved area is becoming cool and comfortable,” not the “burned area” is comfortable, which is like saying “Try to relax” (Thing 5).

  * * *

  * * *

  12. Problem

  * * *

  This is the right search word to Google the subconscious mind of a patient with a psychosomatic disorder.

  My opening comment to a new patient is “Tell me about your problem.” This is very different from “What’s the matter with you?” or “How can I help?” which will be answered with a list of headaches, indigestion, insomnia, and so on.

  The problem is emotional, and the answer will give a clue. Sometimes it’s a volunteered negative, for example “It’s certainly not fear,” which of course means that suppressing fear is what is on the mind. There may be a Freudian slip or a gratuitous clause that hints at the emotional problem.

  * * *

  * * *

  13. Daydream (vs. imagination)

  * * *

  When I’m asked to imagine something, I simply daydream about it. I cannot distinguish between daydreaming and imagining, but there seems to be a subconscious difference for many patients. They may have been told “You’re imagining things,” or “It’s all in your imagination.” I find that adults feel more in control of their daydreams than their imaginations, and when I want to do some imagery I ask them to simply daydream it.

  On the other hand, some children have been admonished to “Stop daydreaming and get busy with your homework,” so imagining is a better word for them than daydreaming.

  I like Sarbin’s (2006) definition: “Hypnosis is believed-in imagination.” My experience has been that anyone who can either imagine or daydream can experience hypnotic phenomena. The goal of all our training is to learn how to present it so the patient does indeed believe it.

  * * *

  * * *

  14. Precious

  * * *

  Precious is the best single word I know for ego strengthening, along with “You’re just as good as anybody else, and you don’t have to prove that to anybody. It’s all right to just be yourself.”

  We so easily forget that we are created precious (not perfect) and we can find meaning in our lives.

  * * *

  * * *

  15. Safe

  * * *

  A sense of safety is missing from the life of everyone who is anxious. Toward the end of my induction of a patient who is anxious, reluctant, or uncomfortable, I don’t hesitate to say “You’re safe here, and I won’t let anything happen to you. It’s all right to go as deep as you need to go to solve this problem.”

  One definition of anxiety is that it is a chronic state of fear, and an unending problem for an anxious person is the feeling that “I have to be on guard to protect myself.” What a relief to be told in trance that you can suspend that feeling for a little while, and be safe, because I will protect you. It builds rapport.

  * * *

  Smoking Cessation

  Since the report of the Surgeon General in 1964, and subsequent passage of many restrictive laws, cigarette smoking in the United States has fallen from near 50 percent to a fairly unvarying 21 percent of “incorrigible” smokers. The hypnosis literature is full of reports claiming high rates of success, but with only short term, verbal follow up. I give them little credence because smokers often lie to their doctors to avoid being reprimanded. Very few people resume smoking after a year of abstinence, and I hope we will see a prospective controlled study with chemical follow-up at one year.

  * * *

  16. Quit.

  * * *

  Telling a patient “You have to quit smoking” has two fatal errors. We live in a free country, and we rebel against being told that we have to do anything. It took almost fifteen years for us to accept being told we have to wear seat belts, when common sense and factual data say it may save our own lives.

  It’s un-American to be a quitter, and we resist it emotionally (Thing 3). When a patient seeks help I say “You need to stop smoking,” and he/she can readily accept that as good advice, not an intrusion on choice, and not a call to the ignominy of being a quitter.

  * * *

  * * *

  17. I’m a smoker

  * * *

  When a patient tells me that the problem is “I’m a smoker,” it’s like saying the problem is that “I’m an Eskimo.”

  It implies that it’s a
n unchangeable fact of life and treatment will be futile. That idea is unacceptable, and I reframe it immediately to “Isn’t it more true to say that you are a human being who chose to learn how to smoke?” When that change is accepted, we can get to the issues of how, when, and why he/she chose to learn to smoke, and see if a new choice is the way to solve the problem.