Self-Hypnosis: The complete manual for health and self-change

304 Pages·1993·88.479 MB·English

by  Brian Mogul Alman, Peter T. Lambrou

SELF-HYPNOSIS
The Complete
Manual for
Health and
Self-Change
SECOND EDITION
BRIAN M. ALMAN, Ph.D.
cuid
PETER T. LAMBROU, Ph.D.
SOUVENIR PRESS
Copyright © 1983 by Brian M. Alman and Peter T. Lambrou
Copyright © 1992 by Brunner/Mazel, Inc.
by arrangement with Mark Paterson
First published privately in the U.S.A. by the authors
Second edition published 1992 by
Brunner/Mazel, Inc., New York
First British edition published 1993 by
Souvenir Press Ltd, 43 Great Russell Street,
London WC1B3PA
Reprinted 1993,1994 {3 times), 1995 (twice)
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the prior permission of the Copyright owner.
ISBN 0 285 63136 5
Printed in Great Britain by
St Edmundsbury Press Ltd, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
"VALUABLE. . . ACCURATE. . .
UNDERSTANDABLE. . . MESMERIZING.
"This book fills a vacuum: it is valuable .. . accurate ... compre
hensive ... useful... understandable ... mesmerizing. One of the
best books on the market on self-hypnosis." —^Jeffrey K. Zeig» Ph.D.
"If you are willing to learn by trying, SeJ/-Hypnosis provides an
uncomplicated method of changing your thoughts for the better and
becoming what you want to be. This is a book to get into, not
merely to be read. The outcome will be personal enrichment and
self-empowerment." —Daniel L. Araoz, Ed.D., A.B.P.P.
author of The New Hypnosis
"... a great big happy grab bag of just about every approach to self-
hypnosis for just about every problem you'd ever wanted to cope
with. Professionals as well as the general public will find it a com
petent and complete resource." —Ernest L. Rossi, Ph.D.
author of The PsychobioJogy of Mind-Body HeaJing
"Individuals seeking new strategies for improving their lives will
find this book rich in value and easy to use. The chapter on better
parenting is a unique application of self-hypnosis training that I
highly recommend to all parents. If I had to select only one book
on self-hypnosis for my library or to recommend to anyone, it
would be this book. A terrific resource." —George J. Pratt, Ph.D.
"This is one of the most comprehensive, easily readable and well
thought-out compendiums on the effectiveness of self-hypnosis for
achieving individual, specific goals." —Bernice Cohen Sachs, M.D.
"The book is truly a prescription for wellness for the self-help moti
vated individual. . —Elliot V. Feldbau, DMD
"An excellent resource for both therapists and their patients. The
suggestions offered for specific problems provide a great variety
of ideas for the novice and the experienced practitioner alike. This
is an excellent book." —Joan Murray-Jobsis, Ph.D., P.A.
"Drs. Lambrou and Alman have written an excellent text on self-
hypnosis. Their book covers all phases of the subject with remark
ably fine presentation of the theoretical and empirical data
involved in this field. I recommend it without reservation."
—Harold B. Crasilneck, Ph.D.
"The current strong interest in mind-body interaction emphasizes
the hypnotic process as a powerful intervening factor. Now, psy
chologists Alman and Lambrou have provided a set of scenarios
for enhancing by means of self-hypnosis the role of the individual
in the facilitation of his/her own mental and physical well-being."
—Melvin a. Gravitz, Ph.D., A.B.P.P.
"Has a multitude of suggestions and examples to help the reader
acquire and use the necessary skills. It should be read and read
again." —Selig Finklestein, A.B., D.D.S.
"Alman and Lambrou have done a splendid job of clearly and suc
cinctly describing self-hypnosis. More than that, it is a remarkably
useful compendium of hypnotic techniques for a complete variety
of conditions. All of it in clear, specific prose."
—Harold Greenwald, Ph.D.
Contents
Foreword to the Second Edition by Michael D. Yapko, Ph.D.
Foreword to the First Edition by Onno van der Hart, Ph.D.
Preface
Acknowledgments
SECTION I: LEARNING SELF-HYPNOSIS
1. What You Can Expect from This Book
• Who can use self-hypnosis?
• How you can get the most out of this book
• Self-hypnosis to remove limitations
2. What Are Hypnosis and Self-Hypnosis?
• All hypnosis is really self-hypnosis
• Stage hypnotism versus clinical hypnosis
• The Svengali effect?
• Are there limitations with self-hypnosis?
3. Practical Matters of Self-Hypnosis
• Selecting a place to practice
• How long a trance session is best?
• Developing your expectations for results
• Beginning suggestion strategies
• Should you sit or lie down?
• Is it best to have eyes open or closed?
• Making trance easier each time
4. Healthy Breathing and Relaxation Techniques
• The difference between deep breathing for exercise and
for relaxation
• An exercise in breathing
• Progressive relaxation
• Active progressive relaxation
• Passive progressive relaxation
• Relaxation and self-hypnosis
5. The Power of Posthypnotic Suggestions and Cues
• What is a posthypnotic suggestion?
• What is a posthypnotic cue?
• Why do you use posthypnotic suggestions and cues?
• Can you resist a posthypnotic suggestion and cue?
vi / Contents
• Motivation and logic
• You already may be experiencing posthypnotic cues
• Make your posthypnotic suggestions specific
• Visualizing your suggestions
• Posthypnotic cues to reinstate your next trance
• Summary
6. How To Use Guided Imagery and Positive Visualization
• Is imagery only visual?
• Eyes, ears, and touch—what's your specialty?
• Improving your ability to use imagery
• How important is imagery in self-hypnosis?
• Personalize your imagery
• Imagery and disease
• Two different ways of using imagery for a goal
7. Putting Yourself into a IVance
• Getting comfortable
• Eye fixation
• Utilizing your tension or anxiety for trance
• Visualization and self-hypnosis
• Some images to explore
• Stairway to relaxation
• Creating a physical response
• Creating an intellectual response
• Creating an emotional response
• How long should you spend in self-hypnosis?
• How will you know you have succeeded?
• Summary of this method
8. How To Deal with Distractions
• Using outside sounds to help your trance
• Utilizing internal distractions
• What about distractions you may not be able to use?
•' Riming distractions into posthypnotic cues
9. Increase Your Motivation and Reach Your Goals
• How you can increase your motivation
• Unconscious blocks to motivation
• Breaking through unconscious blocks
• Making your goals specific
• Can your goal be reached in one step?
10. The Language of Hypnotic Suggestions
• A matter of style
• What are suggestion symbols?
Contents I vii
• Creating your own symbols
• Relaxation goals
• Athletic goals
• Making suggestions positive
• Prepackaged or personalized?
11. Nine Varieties of Self-Hypnosis Techniques
• Making tapes for yourself
• Preparing for your self-hypnosis
• Technique #1: Self-hypnosis through progressive relaxation
• Technique #2: The indirect language method
• Technique #3: Eye fixation method
• Technique #4: Guided imagery technique
• Technique #5: The direct language method
• Technique #6: Using dreams for self-hypnosis
• Technique #7: The Erickson handshake technique
• Technique #8: Self-hypnosis with music
• Technique #9: Self-hypnosis deepening
• Comments
SECTION II: WORKING TOWARD YOUR GOALS
12. Stress Management: Relax Anywhere
• The physical side of stress
• Coping devices
• Reducing your physical stress with self-hypnosis
• Self-hypnosis to relax your mind
• Self-hypnosis to change stressful emotions
• Dealing with stress outside of trance
• Rehearsing other stressful situations
13. Freedom from Fears, Phobias, and Anxiety
• Anxiety and panic attacks
• Phobias
• Using self-hypnosis to gain control
• Changing negative self-talk to positive self-hypnosis
• Applying the techniques to fears
• Fear of flying
• Is it important to know the cause of a fear?
• Dealing with less severe fears
14. How To Relax Your Jaw and Stop Ibeth Grinding
• Will self-hypnosis eliminate the source of the stress?
• Hypnotic strategies for jaw pain
• Self-hypnosis to prevent clenching or grinding
• Developing posthypnotic cues
via / Contents
15. Your Power To Stop Smoking
• Smoking Questionnaire
• Using the questionnaire for developing suggestions
• Health consequences of smoking
• The self-hypnosis method for stopping smoking
16. Self-Exploration—Be Your Own Counselor
• Why does self-exploration with self-hypnosis lead to change?
• The method
• A sample problem
• Are these real changes or just acting?
• Giving yourself suggestions for change
• The picture technique
• Growth on the farm
• Drawing yourself in colors
• The happiest you
• Improving self-esteem
• Self-exploration for physical problems
• The power of rituals
• Creating your own images and symbols for self-exploring
• Summary
17. Relief for Allergies and Asthma
• Developing a journal
• The way asthma differs from allergies
• Best time of day to use self-hypnosis for relief
• Dealing with an acute attack
• A program for dealing with allergies and asthma
• Your self-hypnosis practice
• How long will it take to see results?
• Self-hypnosis for children with allergies and asthma
18. Pain Control Strategies
• How long will it take to get relief with self-hypnosis?
• Issues in getting relief with self-hypnosis
• How long will pain relief last?
• The inside track on pain control
• The gate control theory of pain
• How self-hypnosis pain relief works
• What about drugs for pain?
• Are certain types of pain unaffected by self-hypnosis?
• Can you get rid of all your pain?
• What times of day are best for self-hypnosis?
• What if you are in too much pain to do self-hypnosis?
• Time regression for pain relief
Contents / ix
Headache, stomach ache, and other acute pain
19. Skin Improvements—Warts, Herpes, Eczema and Psoriasis
• Warts
• Genital warts
• Herpes
• Eczema and psoriasis
Increasing Your Self-Confidence and Problem Solving
• Nobody's perfect
• Rejecting rejection
• Problem-solving hypnosis
• Choices and decision-making
• Problem-solving methods
• Self-hypnosis and self-confidence
• Worst case/best case strategy
• Rehearsing difficult situations—public speaking
• Other methods of problem solving
• Relationship decisions
Thin Meditations
• Do other diet and weight-loss programs work?
• Self-hypnosis to change your eating habits
• Tasting and eating meditation
• Using self-hypnosis for weight loss
• The committee meeting
• Suggestion material
• More ways to change your eating patterns
• Body imaging
• What if you have doubts about succeeding?
• Satisfying your need for food with less
• As you control yourself, you control your weight
Solve Your Sleeping Problems
• Sleeping and waking consciousness
• Acute insomnia
• Posthypnotic cues for sleep
• An active self-hypnosis sleep technique
• An Erickson sleep technique
• Music, tapes, and other cues
• Some final notes about sleep
Parenting Better with Self-Hypnosis
• Self-hypnosis for parents
• Taking the child's age into account
• Teaching relaxation