Learn a new self-awareness tool – The Tuning Effect© and hone your skills in Ericksonian Hypnosis! Integrate these new skills immediately into your hypnotherapy, coaching or counseling practice.

This February WHA is bringing Mel Kimura Bucholtz, MA, in from Boulder, Colorado to train us in his unique and powerful techniques.

The Tuning Effect© is a new self-awareness tool that reconnects our mental and physical bodies. Within minutes of using this technique, clients are relieved from emotionally charged situations, while their best feelings are restored to the front of their attention.

Based on brain research studies, meditation practices, and athletic performance training skills, participants learn how to remain wide awake using their Alpha and Beta brain wave states to reconnect with bodily sensations and to then apply this to emotionally charged situations. 

The Tuning Effect successfully reduced stress for  over five hundred participants at the Guggenheim Museum’s Stillspotting exhibit in June 2011, and was featured on MSNBC and other major news media for rapidly relieving stress in mind and body. The Tuning Effect is now being effectively introduced to veteran’s programs across the nation.

Tuning Effect:

 In this workshop participants will learn

• how to safely stabilize their attention in their bodily sensations
• how to objectively view charged situations apart from themselves
• how to synchronize their mind, their bodily sensations, and their awareness into a solid sense of personal presence
• how to restore their best sense of themselves to the front of their attention and
• how to achieve all the above concretely within thirty minutes.

Ericksonian Hypnosis

Waking and sleeping are certain kinds of attention. Between these two exists our hypnotic form of attention, an attention which meets the world by fascination, surprised wonderment and entrancing curiosity. These make up the character of our most intimate learning moments.

Through hypnotic connection with the world in these moments of attention, Dr. Milton Erickson developed his remarkable hypnotic techniques for therapeutic change and the discovery of one’s true passion in life.

Participants will learn:

• to restore clients’ positive self-attitude for resolving issues and successfully achieving new goals.
• to read physical signs that reflect their client’s emotional and sensory life history, creating their client’s immediate presence 
• to develop linguistic and vocal skills necessary for engaging their client’s presence
• to develop appropriate dialogue skills to evoke clients’ natural hypnotic learning state

By learning the above skills, Erickson believed therapists could evoke their client’s natural hypnotic learning state. These skills also create greater rapport because the client feels recognized from the first moment of their therapeutic experience.

In the manner of Erickson, workshop participants will be asked to recall:

• those physical, personal or intellectual limitations and/or advantages that spurred them to develop their own best skills by their own efforts, and
• moments of stunned fascination in their childhood which evoked their natural hypnotic learning states, moments that ignited their life-long passions and pursuits, and
• their own “family trance”, the one which created the lens through which they saw and felt themselves connected with others. (This can include models outside their family of origin as they grew and matured).

Mel Kimura Bucholtz, MA will present the workshop on The Tuning Effect and Ericksonian Hypnosis the weekend of February 18th and 19th.

Mel would like to be in contact with each potential participant in advance of the workshop, either by email or phone. This will allow both parties to determine whether the workshop is a good fit for the participant.

In advance of this workshop, Mel would like participants to view the films The King’s Speech and Buck. Each film gives outstanding examples of humility, the seriousness of life, and true Ericksonian artistry in crucial life situations. These are important elements for seriously understanding and using Erickson’s work through the training in this workshop.
Date: February 18th and 19th, 2012

Time: 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM

Location: Studio C, 13256 NE 20th Street, Suite #7 – Bellevue, WA 98005

Cost: WHA Members $250 / Non-Members $300.

Please Note: WHA is bringing this training to the Seattle area and offering it at a great discount.  This class may sell out in advance so please register early if you plan to attend. Please note: previous training was full weeks in advance.

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Sign up now by clicking the appropriate orange button.

WHA Members $250

Non-Members $300

Contact Ellin Sidell For More Info:  Ellin_Sidell (at) hotmail.com

About Mel:

Mel has presented at major learning centers since the mid-1980’s (Naropa University, Esalen and Omega Institutes, Gestalt International Study Center). He has more than 30 years of experience as a trainer of physicians and mental health practitioners.

He has lectured at Harvard Medical School, Tufts and Boston Universities and numerous teaching hospitals.

In the 1970′s he

• founded the first holistic training center in Boston, Interface
• worked in the psychophysiology lab at Harvard University under Dr. David Shapiro
• was personally trained by Milton Erickson, MD, the foremost practitioner of the 20th century in clinical hypnosis
• studied Zen meditation in Hokkaido, Japan.

In the 1980′s he

• established and conducted his major clinical counseling practice in Cambridge, MA
• developed and conducted a professional training program utilizing hypnosis for therapeutic practice.

In the 1990′s he

• was a scholar-in-residence at Esalen Institute
• worked as a consultant in the 1996 Olympics

In 2002 he began developing  the Tuning Effect© method, which teaches individuals self-hypnosis for rapid trauma relief and for enhancing their self-esteem and performance.

His work draws on Ericksonian techniques, which he combines with Gestalt and the Zen perspective. For his work developing the Tuning Effect© he was awarded a Recognition Grant from the Rockefeller Foundation in 2007.

He maintains an international counseling and training practice from Boulder, Colorado.

Are you totally confused by social media? Don’t know where to start? Already have a Twitter account and not producing anything from it?

Twitter is a unique medium that allows you access to people who would otherwise be very hard to connect with. Twitter has some amazing search functions that allow you to enter the conversation people are having in your neighborhood about the issue you can help them with! Your potential clients and referral partners are waiting to hear from you right now…

Twitter has 175 million dedicated followers and making meaningful connections is much easier on Twitter than other social media sites.

I know of one solo entrepreneur who calls his Twitter account an ATM. Whenever he’s slow, he goes on Twitter, finds his leads, and starts up conversations with them.  This type of personal interaction is 100 times better than any advertising and it’s FREE.

Learn the secrets Saturday the 25th.

Top reasons you should attend…

The speaker will share…

What: How to use Twitter to find clients and referral partners

Who: solo entrepreneurs, social media managers, coaches, therapists, trainers, anyone wanting qualified business leads

Where: Thinkspace. 8201 164th Avenue Northeast #200
Redmond, WA 98052

When: Saturday June 25th 9am-1pm

Course syllabus: 4 hours of hands-on training with you on your laptop.  Thinkspace has wireless internet and we will be putting into practice what we learn in class finding potential clients and referral partners and how to create the relationships that lead to more clients for you.

WHA and Biznik Member Cost: $25

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Non-member Cost:  $35

If you are interested and want to be notified of the date, please send an email to:   vicepresident@whatoday.org

Emotional Clearing Therapy Training from the Alchemy Institute of Hypnosis lead by Linda Baker 

No matter what presenting problem your clients bring to you, it is usually connected to unresolved feelings of anger, grief, and shame. These could stem from incomplete communication or the residue of unresolved emotional trauma and neglect, much of it from the client’s childhood. But regression therapy as practiced by most hypnotherapists is often not enough to affect a cure. That is because the hypnotized client must do more than examine the memories and relive them. They must express with the body as well as the voice all of the emotions that have been repressed and stored there. We will learn the use of bodywork techniques to help release these emotions. We must also transform these memories of trauma into positive resources of safety, empowerment, love, and wisdom. In the case of childhood memories this includes the rescue of the inner child from these traumas, and if necessary the discovery of new parental resources and their integration into the cells of the body with movement, bodywork, and hypnotic suggestion. Together I call these methods “Emotional Clearing Therapy”.

Who: Healing Practioners (Hypnotherapists, Massage Therapists, Naturopaths, Chiropractors, Psychologists, etc.)

Date:  2011

Location:  1202 N. 35th St. Renton, WA 98056 (private residence)

Times:  Sat & Sun – 9am to 5pm

Cost: Early Bird Discount Available,  Members $200 / Non-Members $250,

After Members $250 / Non-Members $320.

Please Note: WHA is bringing this training to the Seattle area and offering it at a great discount. The normal price for this two-day training is $400. This class may sell out in advance so please register early if you plan to attend. Please note: previous training was full weeks in advance. Do to class room size we will limit the number of attendees to 15.

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Sign up now by clicking the appropriate orange button

Members – $200

 

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Non-members: $250

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Contact For More Info:  Kate Wells – vicepresident (at)whatoday.org or 206-779-5655

About Linda Baker: 

Linda Baker was a Registered Psychiatric Nurse who began her studies of Hypnotherapy and alternative healing modalities in 1984  with David Quigley, director of the Alchemical Institute. Linda has just returned from spending 3 weeks at the Institute being updated on all the Alchemical material as well as receiving her “Master Alchemist” certificate. Linda’s warm and open style helps students in not only learning and utilizing this cutting edge material of rescuing the inner child and building a loving inner family, but also teaches how to create safety and bond with the inner child. You can read Linda’s article on the Rescue of the Inner Child on the Alchemy Website by using this link: http://www.alchemyinstitute.com/rescue2.htm  In this class you will learn the material as well as have practice  time in small groups on Sunday where you can experience the power of the work for yourself.

When you experience unpleasant and painful emotions, the typical reaction is to
try to restrict them, stop them, or run away from those feelings.  Let’s be honest,
though — this doesn’t really work, does it? Surprisingly, one of the most effective
ways to control a negative emotion (such as anger or fear) is to give up controlling it.
 
My first Buddhist teacher, Shunryo Suzuki Roshi, had a wonderful, down-home way
of instructing us. One of his most memorable and oft-quoted teachings appears in
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind:
 
“To give your sheep or cow a large, spacious meadow is the way to control him.”
 
Thousands of meditators have used this aphorism of Suzuki Roshi to remind themselves
to relax rather than contract when the mind gets wild with emotion.
 
During my hypnotherapy training many years ago, I discovered that Milton Erickson
understood this same principle. In fact, Erickson’s perspectives on how to work with
the mind were so closely in accord with Suzuki Roshi’s teachings, that I quickly began
to think of Milton Erickson as a “natural Buddhist.” If Erickson had met Roshi, he might
have thought Roshi was a “natural hypnotist”!
 
 Let’s experiment with applying this principle of control  to fear. There are a couple of
different ways to give the sheep or cow (or tiger or dragon) of your fear a large pasture.
 
You can become mischievious in the midst of a fearful state — catch yourself shrinking,
and then expand yourself in a big belly laugh, “Ah, ha, ha! I love this fearful state!” Repeat
it louder. Repeat it again, this time even louder! Become the tiger and roar!
 
Or . . . if this is too theatrical for your taste, it’s fine to take a more imaginary and quieter approach:
 
Look at, or sense, your fear. It has a certain energy and presence right? This means it is an “object”
in your awareness. We usually think of emotions as being in our body or mind, so this is probably the
location of your fear. Right? Just feel where it is.
 
Now imagine expanding your fear. It’s not just inside your body anymore. Imagine the whole room
feeling this fear . . . then the whole house. Imagine the fear spreading through the whole neighborhood,
your entire city.
 
Intensify it! It continues to spread through the state, the country, the whole world. Now it spreads beyond
the world to the solar system. It is really on the move! It is engulfing Jupiter (thousands of times bigger than
the earth!) and moving on into the space beyond the solar system!
 
Your fear is spreading throughout the galaxy now. Take your time and really sense it spreading to all the millions
of stars and star systems and all the beings of whatever sort – innumerable in their multitudes.
 
What  happens to your fear when you make it bigger in this way? How do you feel when you let it expand into the
infinite universe, instead of trying to control it or push it down?
 
Many of my clients have found these techniques very empowering ways to work with fear and other disturbing emotions.
If you tried it out just now, please leave a comment and tell me how it went.
 
May we all flourish in peace and harmony. Roooaar!

©January, 2011, Jack Elias, http://FindingTrueMagic.com, All Rights Reserved

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The Happiness Factor in Relationships

Six Steps to a Happier Partnership

By Mary Lee LaBay, Ph.D.

Relationships. It is hard to live without them. Yet when we are in a relationship, we run the risk of feeling stuck or trapped, or we find that the shine wears off. Most of us are willing to work hard to get into a relationship,  so why not invest some effort into making it as satisfying and successful as possible.

Here are six tips that just may raise the happiness factor in your relationship this Valentine’s Day!

1. Give each other permission to be human. Give your partner space to experience their life, their emotions, and their perspectives, and exercise your rights to do the same. We are each unique and it is natural and healthy to feel a variety of emotions and to engage in the fullness of  the human experience—as long as it does not harm or infringe on others. Rejecting the thoughts and feelings of your partner leads to frustration and unhappiness for both of you in the relationship.

2. Combine pleasure with meaning. Engage in activities that are significant and enjoyable for each of you individually, and for both of you together. Plan frequent events that you enjoy doing together while also allowing for each of you to enjoy and express your unique interests with other friends and colleagues. This builds memories to share, and brings in new adventures and fresh ideas.

3. Happiness  depends on your state of mind. The attitude of each partner in the relationship is a significant determinant in the happiness factor.  Barring extreme circumstances, our sense of well being is strongly determined by how we choose to view our life and relationship. Are you positive and optimistic, or critical and focused on what is wrong?

4. Simplify! When possible, reduce the busy-ness and stress levels in your life, and you will notice a greater level of relaxation and joy in the relationship. Focus on the simple joys of being together and connecting, rather than on complex plans or trying to figure out every quirk and habit of your partner.

5. Nurture your body, feed your mind. Regular exercise, adequate sleep, and healthy eating habits lead to physical as well as mental health. Continue to improve and grow on all levels to remain a fascinating and attractive person and partner.

6. Express gratitude and appreciation. We all love to be noticed and
appreciated. While it may become easy to take our partner for granted over time, resist the temptation to allow the relationship to fall into atrophy. Setting up a pattern of gratitude will encourage your partner to reciprocate. Pay attention to the little things your partner does for you, and find creative ways to show them you recognize the value they bring to your life.

Whether looking for that special mate, or seeking to elevate the happiness factor in your existing relationship, I wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day!

Author and expert Mary Lee LaBay offers workshops and training focusing on discovery and alignment with your unique purpose and path.

Banishing Fears

to Move Into Success, Health, & Happiness

By Mary Lee LaBay, Ph.D.

Anxiety disorders have been diagnosed in 18%W of the US adult population. And how many more of us live lives that are limited by fears of things that never happen? We spend a lifetime fearing or worrying about some eventuality that never arrives. And we frequently worry in wild disproportion to what might actually occur. The bottom line is that none of the fear – and the resulting anxiety, stress, distraction of it all – really does any good. It reduces our ability to be present in our lives, and leads to serious deterioration of our health and our immune system.

Are you living a life based on unwarranted fears? See if these statements sound like you:
o It’s better to leave things as they are. This situation is not great, but something different could easily be worse.
o If I don’t take care of this project myself, it just won’t go well. No one cares as much as I do about it.
o People can’t really know what’s right for themselves. I am safer following the rules of authority (parents, church, peer groups, etc.)
o Stability is built from “tried and true” and “staying on the straight and narrow.”
o Society would be chaotic if we didn’t act from a sense of duty and obligation.

Though these statements don’t sound all that abnormal, they do point to limiting beliefs about change, trust, control, guilt, and obligation (the five most prevalent fears). To begin the process of ridding yourself of these attitudes, try this four step process:

1)       In what way does having this belief benefit my life?
2)       In what way is having this belief a detriment to my life?
3)       How would not having this belief benefit my life?
4)       How would not having this belief be a detriment to my life?

Insights gained from this process can help uproot unwarranted fears. For example, through this process, some smokers have learned they were more interested in the occasional 10 minute break during work rather than an actual desire to have a cigarette. Taking a proactive approach by suggesting a fresh air break to the boss may prove a welcomed strategy for all involved.

Removing stress and fear from our lives improves our ability to think clearly, allows our immune system to operate properly, and leaves time and energy to move toward our optimal goals.

Author and expert Mary Lee LaBay offers workshops and training focusing on discovery and alignment with your unique purpose and path.

1. Esdaile (hypnotic coma) a springboard to even deeper states
2. Mega Depth physical healing state
3. Mega Height Healing State

By the end of the workshop:

• You will know how to get clients to both the deepest and highest healing states where they can easily get rapid, profound and permanent change .
• You will learn how to reach the Esdaile State (hypnotic coma), mega depth and height. Also validation of the depth/height for both you and the client, and you will be able to confirm the changes that occurred for the client.
• You will practice these techniques on each other in class, which will give you the experience of knowing how valuable it will be for your client.

Date: February 19th and 20th, 2011

Location: 1202 N. 35th St. Renton, WA 98056 (private residence)

Times: Sat & Sun – 9am to 5pm

Cost:  WHA Members $250 / Non-Members $320

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Thank you for your interest in this class. It is now full. If you would like to be put on the waiting list, please contact Kathie Brodie.

 For more information about this training please contact: Kathie Brodie, The Baggage Handler [Kathie@TheBaggageHandler.com].

The Esdaile state of deep hypnosis was originated in the mid 1800s by Scottish surgeon James Esdaile while working in India.  At that time chemical anesthesia was unavailable.

Esdaile was able to condition his patients into an extremely deep state of hypnosis and perform hundreds of surgical procedures painlessly.  Beyond the obvious benefits of painless surgery, patients recovered from their procedures faster and with fewer complications than those who did not use hypnosis.  This deep hypnotic state seemed to have a direct impact on healing.

One characteristic of the Esdaile State (hypnotic coma) is the profound inability of the client to communicate with the hypnotist… until now.

Ines Simpson has recently discovered an effective way of communicating with clients in this extremely deep hypnotic state, thus being able to give instructions and receive responses.  For the first time, this new technique allows the client to confirm what’s going on inside themselves.

In this 2-day class you will learn this groundbreaking technique and practice until you are totally comfortable with it so you can begin using it with your clients Monday morning.  You will be able to achieve the Esdaile State and communicate with the client, either verbally or using idomotor signals, to achieve the client’s goals.  Regardless of what the client’s presenting issue may be, these techniques can be used to bring about rapid and lasting change.

Read more about Ines Simpson, BCH, CI  at http://advancedhypnosis.ca/.  Ines Simpson is a Board Certified Hypnotist and Certified Instructor for the National Guild of Hypnotists. She began practicing hypnosis professionally after being certified in 2000 and now has a thriving hypnosis practice near Vancouver, Canada.

It’s an all day training on Sunday Oct. 3rd, location TBD. Here’s the schedule:

Social Media To Grow Your Business

15 mins. Intro

2.0 hrs. Facebook

1.5 hrs. Twitter

30 mins.  Biznik & LinkedIn

30 mins.  Branding & New Media

30 mins.  Profiles & Bio’s

1.0 hr.  Online Networking & Etiquette

1.0 hr.  Timesaver Techniques

Here’s the best part:  the price for WHA members is $60 and the price for non-WHA members is $90.

THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE BARGAIN!

If you want more clients and more opportunities to speak, teach, and get your message out, I suggest you go to:

http://www.whatoday.org/social-media/

Are you ready to learn easy to use methods to control and eliminate pain without drugs, while at the same time these methods are actually healing your body?

• Are you ready to learn how to heal the underlying causes of illness that live in the subconscious mind?
• Are you ready to explore these underlying causes in a nurturing and supportive group of dedicated therapists and students?  If so you may be ready for Somatic Healing, with David Quigley.

David Quigley, founder of the Alchemy Institute in Sonoma, Ca will be conducting this 2-full-days course for Patients and Practitioners to Learn Techniques for Relief of Chronic Pain, Injury, and Disease 

Who: Anyone struggling with Pain/Injury/Disease, Healing Practioners (Hypnotherapists, Massage Therapists, Naturopaths, Chiropractors, Psychologists, etc.)

Date:  November 6th and 7th 

Location:  1202 N. 35th St. Renton, WA 98056 (private residence)

Times:  Sat & Sun – 9am to 5pm

Cost:  Members $250 / Non-Members $320

This is a unique opportunity for you to get trained by David Quigley at a HUGE DISCOUNT.

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Sign up now by clicking the appropriate orange button

Members – $250

Non-members: $320

 

Contact For More Info:  Craig Sigl – president (at)whatoday.org or 425-457-7777

“David Quigley is the real deal”…Craig Sigl, Seattle Hypnosis Practitioner

 Somatic Healing™ Hypnotherapy for Injury, Pain & Disease is a new dimension in hypnosis therapies for the treatment of injury, pain and disease. Each class includes at least four healings for every participant, and is open to anyone who wishes to heal themselves of chronic pain, illness and injury. This program is taught in hypnosis centers throughout the USA and various other countries.

This page describes each technique used in Somatic Healing, followed by real life examples of how these techniques produced miracles of healing, sometimes in a single session. Somatic Healing consists of four powerful processes: The Golden Sun Process, Hypnotic Movement, Color Healing, and Psychic Surgery performed by the Inner Healer. Developed by David Quigley and Nick Ardagh, Somatic Healing is always used as an adjunct to, never a substitute for, proper medical treatment. Somatic Healing practitioners always work where possible under medical supervision.

 In this entertaining and deeply experiential class, you will learn techniques for controlling and eliminating pain and recovering from illness and injury that can be very effective in only a few minutes of practice every day, as an adjunct to medical treatment. The methods you will learn and experience in class will include all of these and more:

• The Golden Sun process is an energy channeling method that is both easy to learn and extremely effective.
• Alchemical Healing is an advanced methodology for exploring and clearing the underlying causes of disease in the subconscious mind.
• Hypnotic Movement is a process of tuning into you body and allowing it to move in its own unique way to unwind physical traumas (like auto injuries), reduce swelling and inflammation (sciatica and arthritis), and eliminate pain.
• Color Healing involves discovering the colors of a pain in the body and learning easy ways to move that color out of the body through exit points (like acupuncture points) that your body can readily identify for you. Especially powerful for headaches, as well as any chronic pain.
• The Inner Healer is a powerful inner guide who can give us medical advice, and will perform spiritual surgery on our bodies in class to remove tumors, repair the bones, muscles and internal organs of our bodies.

You will experience at least 4 opportunities for a healing process throughout the weekend. Even better, you will learn how to use these methods every day to heal your body. And if you have a practice in the counseling or healing arts, you will learn how to multiply your effectiveness with clients. Continuing education units are available for nurses, psychotherapists, and hypnotherapists.

Golden Sun Process

The Golden Sun Process is an energy channeling technique which helps us concentrate and channel the energy of the universe into places of pain and illness in our own bodies, and those of our clients. This process can add new power to other proven techniques of laying on of hands healing, such as Reiki or Therapeutic Touch. The Golden Sun Process is not subtle. Both practitioners and clients who experience this work describe the energy being channeled as intensely hot, electrical, tingling. This process utilizes visualization of various colors and images through which the body becomes a transformer of Universal energy. Grounding cords are placed into the earth from the feet and the base of the spine which bring earth energy up into the body. The Golden Sun of the Higher Self brings golden energy down into the body. Both energies are merged in the heart, then channeled into the practitioner’s hands. I have used this technique to eliminate headaches, the common cold, and other ailments. It requires, however, tremendous concentration and very open psychic channels in the practitioner in order to be effective alone. It works better as one component of the Somatic Healing process.

Hypnotic Movement

Hypnotic Movement is a technique in which the muscles of the body are instructed to move themselves without conscious direction or control in order to release old traumas, restore flexibility, eliminate pain, and promote healing. Once a client experiences these unique and powerful movement patterns in their body, they can learn to perform these simple exercises on their own in order to exponentially increase the healing power of these movements. Hypnotic movement techniques are based on the ancient principle that our bodies already know how to heal themselves. All we must do is persuade the conscious mind to step aside and let the body do it. That’s why all these movements require a light hypnotic trance in order to by-pass normal conscious controls. These movements may involve some supportive touch. That is, the therapist may hold the client’s body in a twisted position that the body has assumed on it’s own, to help the client relax in that position. They may involve therapeutic touch, in which the therapist directly channels healing energy to the client’s body. Although therapeutic touch and supportive touch are helpful to somatic healing, they are not usually essential to its success. 

Healing Accident Injuries

The first type of hypnotic movement useful primarily for accident victims is running traumas in the body. This is essentially a kind of hypnotic regression in which the client returns to the scene of a violent accident, and the muscles and connective tissue & internal organs of the body re-live and move through the original trauma. But this time the client goes through the experience very slowly, and completely free of pain. Then, when the client’s body reaches the moment of actual injury (referred to as Maximum Scrunch) the client is instructed to hold this position. As awkward-indeed impossibly uncomfortable-as the position may appear to an observer, the client in this position feels pain free. In fact, the client may feel incredibly relaxed and experience waves of blissful tingling or pulsing as the body accepts this position as safe and stress-free. At this point the therapist may wish to support the body so that the muscles can relax in this position. Afterwards the body may move to another position of “Maximum Scrunch” (i.e. point of injury) for a few more minutes. Slowly the body finishes “unwinding” its way through the entire accident, then relaxes into a prone position again. I ask the body to signal to the client when it’s “done”, and the client relays this signal to me by nodding their head. This process is frequently, but not always, accompanied by vivid recollection of the accident scene, emotional reactions such as groans or tears, or by intense sensations of tingling and warmth in the affected body parts. The one sensation rarely reported to me is pain.
Old Leg Injury Healed in 45 Mins Wes Carpenter, a 52-year old businessman from Sacramento broke his leg at the knee joint during an airplane crash in 1983. Even after 3 reconstructive surgeries, he walked for 14 years with a noticeable limp. His right leg was permanently twisted outward, and he went to bed every night with pain in his hip and leg. He was also unable to bend his leg more than 45 degrees, and had difficulty standing up or sitting down as a result. During a somatic healing session, he re-lived very slowly in trance the entire accident. He was able to recall every detail of the accident for the first time. (Prior to the session, he suffered complete amnesia for the experience). His body contorted in absolutely bizarre ways, stopping at one point in a particularly contorted position with his right leg twisted behind his body, where I supported his leg in that position for about 2 minutes. When his body straightened back out his leg was, for the first time since the accident, completely straight, totally flexible and free of pain. He squatted for the first time in 14 years 5 minutes after the procedure. Four months later, he continues to walk normally and experiences total freedom from pain. He describes his experience as comparable to having a brand new leg. The entire procedure took 45 minutes.

Repetitive Strain Injuries and Joint Pain

Neck Pain and Stiffness Eased with Somatic Healing

Jean Cantrell was forced to leave a stressful job after years of repetitive overuse of her neck combined with verbal abuse from a supervisor. Her neck became inflamed and stiff, with excruciating shooting pains down her arms. After two years of significant healing by other modalities, restricted movement, residual pain, and the disempowering emotional component of the injury were still present. I first asked her neck to assume the position it had held at work. As her head and neck assumed an awkward, rigid position. I then supported them. Tears flowed as her body, mind, and spirit experienced the ‘support’ so blatantly lacking in her former work environment. Then I instructed her neck to release the anger it held through movement. Her entire neck and head began butting against a pillow and she was able to painlessly experience and vocalize her justifiable rage. After this single session, Jean reported more freedom of movement and considerable pain reduction. Most important is the freedom she now experiences in being strong, firm, and appropriate with expressing her needs and unwillingness to stay in unhealthy environments or relationships.

Another type of hypnotic movement is useful for repetitive strain injuries, like the infamous carpal tunnel syndrome. Because these injuries are the result of holding or moving the body in awkward positions for years rather than the results of a single trauma, the movement involved in healing is different. A variation of this technique can also be applied to any kind of joint pain- arthritis, rheumatism, etc. I first suggest that the clients body move into the position in which it first became “frozen.” For carpel tunnel, I may have the client’s wrist poise over an imaginary computer keyboard in just the way the stress injury was created. Then I hold the wrist stable in that position with my hands so the wrist can simply relax into that position. Intense crying may begin as the job-related stress is released. (One client reported: “I suddenly felt supported for the first time in that horrible job!”) Or the wrist may start pulsing, trembling, or turning very warm. All of these are positive signs that the somatic healing process is working. I’ll continue to hold the wrist in this position until all symptoms have subsided. Then I instruct the client’s wrist to stretch and twist out the pain in its own unique way. This circular stretching may involve muscles from the shoulder down to individual fingers. The therapist’s instructions must be general enough to allow the client’s body to move freely without limitations imposed by the therapist’s or the client’s preconceived notions of how it should look. Sometimes this vigorous stage of the stretch can include the expression of anger (often work-related) that is stored in the affected joint(s). Again, the body signals to the client when the process is complete.