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Hypnosis —
and Cognitive Psychology |
About this Website |
Questions and Answers About Psychotherapy |
Your Hope
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Hypnosis
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 YPNOSIS (from the Greek hypnos, sleep) in general
is simply a sleeplike state of focused
awareness. To say that hypnosis is “a sleeplike
state” means that it isn’t sleep exactly, and therefore dreaming,
for example, isn’t hypnosis either. And yet, in those moments we all
experience just on the verge of falling asleep or waking up—moments
called hypnagogic states—we are sort of awake and sort of sleeping,
sort of conscious and sort of dreaming. When such an experience is induced
deliberately, it’s called a trance.
Trances can be
very useful clinically. In such a sleeplike state, a person can be very open
to new and creative ways of looking at the world because rational logic—and
old, restrictive, psychological defenses—can be
bypassed.
 Milton
Erickson, for example, often used a technique called confusion, in
which he said things that on the surface seemed logically contradictory and
yet in essence conveyed an ingenious creative truth. When patients heard
these things while in a trance, they literally could not get anxious because
anxiety and relaxation are mutually exclusive
physiological states. The sympathetic nervous system
controls arousal (and anxiety) and the parasympathetic nervous system controls
relaxation, and only one system can be in control at any one time. So, when
deeply relaxed patients in a trance heard Erickson say confusing things,
they just gave up their conscious objections and accepted the underlying,
healing truth that Erickson was speaking.
To experience
a deep trance therapeutically, you generally need a hypnotist to direct
the process, because your own conscious processes can’t function
when so deeply relaxed.
You can, however,
induce a lighter trance all by yourself; this is called self-hypnosis.
Self-hypnosis can be induced by listening to relaxation tapes; it can be
induced by creating your own visual imagery; it can be induced by meditation
or Progressive Muscle Relaxation; and it can be induced
by “talking to yourself,” as in
autogenics. In all of these cases you experience
bodily relaxation while maintaining a mental awareness
that directs the self-hypnosis process by which you offer to
yourself creative suggestions for new and healthy behavior.
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With dedicated
practice, some persons are able to achieve a deep state of self-hypnosis
through a process called lucid dreaming. To do
this, you utilize the naturally occurring trance-like state of dreaming by
recognizing that you are dreaming and then intentionally redirecting the
dream imagery for creative purposes. The hard part, of course, is to transition
from a passive dream experience into an active self-hypnosis experience. But
it can be done, with practice. |
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“Negative”
Hypnosis
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Anyone who is curious about hypnosis probably wonders if
he or she can be hypnotized, and if so, how it feels.
Surprisingly,
you have probably been in a hypnotic state many times, perhaps without realizing
it. Getting so absorbed in a good book or a movie that you stop noticing
what is happening around you is a dissociative, trance-like state (technically
called nonpathological dissociation) that is a light form of hypnosis.
And, as I said above, that dreamlike state we all experience just as we begin
to fall asleep or wake up is an hypnotic experience.
In addition,
we have all been hypnotized into a negative hypnotic state as well.
Most people don’t think of it this way, but consider what happens when
someone tells you, “You will never be able to do that.” Most likely
you will accept that statement, you will yourself believe you can’t
do it, and you will fail.
This leads to
the fact that hypnosis is nothing but expectancy. If your expectations
are positive, you will make your best effort and will likely succeed. But
if your expectations are negative you will almost certainly fail.
Consider a child
who out of curiosity tries to do something he has never done before; for
example, say the child has just seen a golfer and now tries to hit a stone
with a stick. His concerned parent yells at him, “You can’t do
that!” Wouldn’t it be nicer if the parent had said, “I’m
not sure it will work that way. It may or it may not. Let’s try, and
if it doesn’t work, we’ll find out why.” Which parental reaction
do you think will encourage the child to become
creative and successful?
Unfortunately,
the same sort of negative parental criticism is unwittingly given out by
many physicians time and time again. It’s common for a physician, face
grim with an air of authority and finality, to say, “I’m sorry.
There’s nothing that can be done.” How many people lose all hope
then and there, right in the supposed office of healing, when they have
expectancies of failure planted in them by their own physicians?
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I once had a
dentist, well-trained in hypnosis, pull four of my wisdom teeth. In fact,
I specifically chose him because he was trained in hypnosis. Before
the operation he sat with me in his office and solemnly warned me of the
potential danger of nerve damage if one of my teeth snagged a nerve as it
was being pulled.
Then the dentist looked at me, and in a very soft tone and slow voice said,
“Of course, this has never happened to anyone in my practice as long
as I have given this warning beforehand.”
Was this all just a lot of foolishness? Of course the dentist was legally
required to give the warning. But when he gave the warning as a hypnotic
suggestion the roots of my teeth seemingly relaxed into soft noodles
as they decided they weren’t going to snag on anything.
And when it was all over, he didn’t just hand me a prescription because
there would be “a lot of pain” that night, nor did he
lie and tell me there would be “no pain.”
He told me, “There will be some bleeding and some pain, just
as much as your body needs to heal itself properly as soon as it can.
Then you will be fine.” And I was.
So compare the positive expectancy I did receive with the negative expectancy
I could have received: |
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Positive
Expectancy |
Negative
Expectancy |
Statement: |
There will be some bleeding and some
pain, just as much as your body needs to heal itself properly as soon as
it can. Then you will be fine. |
This type of operation can be very
painful. I’ll give you some powerful medication to help you with the
pain. |
Pain
Level: |
Minimal |
Very painful |
Pain
Duration: |
Minimal |
A long time |
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All health-care
providers, therefore, can increase their effectiveness in so far as they
realize that healing is about expectancy, and that hypnotic language,
in contrast to “negative hypnosis,” is about encouraging growth
and health.
I learned the
technical aspects of this lesson from a Lacanian psychoanalyst. Even though
psychoanalysis
and
hypnosis
are technically at opposite poles of theory (and this point is tangential
to the point of expectancy, so I won’t go into it here), this man did
impress upon me that all language has multiple layers of
unconscious
meaning, and that therefore the whole point of
psychotherapy
is to encourage a shattering of illusions about any one particular meaning
and an opening up of alternate possibilities of meaning. He taught us that
when a depressed client once complained to him, “Sometimes I feel like
I’m not even part of the human race,” his analytic response was,
“Someday you might win the race.” After reading this, so might
you. |
Cognitive
Psychology
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Many of the theoretical developments in the field of
cognitive psychology have come from the research of two men,
 Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis. As the name implies,
cognitive psychology focuses on the way we think and feel in the present.
Consequently, the cognitive and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapies help us change unhealthy behavior
by changing our thought processes—that is, the way  we think about the
various events that we encounter throughout the
course of our daily lives.
Now, all these
therapies tend to boil down to one basic concept: when an
emotion (for example, fear) follows an event (for
example, encountering turbulent air in an airplane), the event itself isn’t
the full cause of the emotional reaction.
“What?”
you say.
Well, let’s
stop here and consider the way it seems to happen:
Event |
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Emotion |
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Behavior |
Now, here’s the way the theory of
cognitive psychology says it happens:
Event |
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Belief |
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Emotion |
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Behavior |
That is, according to the proponents of cognitive psychology, a
belief comes between the event and the emotion. For example, when
you first experience turbulence in an airplane,
you might say to yourself, “Oh, no! Now we’re going to crash!”
And so you feel afraid, and you develop the
symptoms of an anxiety disorder.
But consider
what would happen if your immediate thought was, “Wow! This is fun!”
You would feel a completely different emotion than fear, wouldn’t you?
Well, that’s the idea behind cognitive psychology. If you change the
thinking, you change the emotional outcome—and when you change the emotional
outcome, your outward behavior will change as well.
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Actually,
the premise of Albert Ellis’ Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
(REBT) is that “thoughts cause emotions,” but the neurochemistry
of emotion can be very complex, and things may not be as simple and direct
as Ellis makes it sound.
Even though there may be a thought—more of less
outside your awareness—behind every emotion, we all tend to routinely formulate conscious thoughts following
our awareness of any emotion.
For example, if you feel discouraged by your inability
to accomplish something, you might tell yourself, “You’ll never succeed at this!”
Consequently, the practical sequence of things
is more like this:
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Event |
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Subliminal Belief |
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Emotion |
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Conscious Belief |
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Behavior |
Moreover, more often than not our conscious thoughts
following emotions tend to be negative beliefs that lead us right into failure. Therefore, developing your emotional awareness
will help you recognize your thought processes, because emotions are
signs—like instruments on an instrument panel—warning you of beliefs
that may be sabotaging your success. Once you train yourself to be aware of those thoughts
you can change the direction they take. And that leads us to the next section: negative thinking.
BE
CAREFUL of your thoughts, for they will become
words. |
Be careful
of your words, for they will become
actions. |
Be careful
of your actions, for they will become
habits. |
Be careful
of your habits, for they will become
character. |
Be careful
of your character, for it will become your
destiny. |
—Source unknown |
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Negative
Thinking
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When our thinking patterns cause problems for us, this
self-sabotage is usually the result of negative thinking. Below are
several examples of how this works.
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Keep in mind
here that some of your negative thoughts—the most dark and ugly
ones—are so shameful and frightening that you
would not reveal them to anyone, not even your own psychotherapist.
Is it any wonder, then, that for some persons
psychotherapy can take a really, really long
time?
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• |
Blaming.
Either you make someone or something else responsible
for your problems—in which case you perpetuate the belief that you are
a victim—or you put all the responsibility on
yourself—in which case you can become
depressed and unable to take any action to solve
your problems.
“If Bob hadn’t been late I wouldn’t have gotten a speeding
ticket. It’s all his fault.”
“I’m such a stupid person. I can’t do anything
right.”
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Shoulds,
Musts, and Oughts. You have the belief that either
you or someone else has failed to live up to an expected standard.
“I shouldn’t be so bothered when the airplane hits a little
turbulence.”
“My mother should be more understanding when I don’t want to
fly across country to see her.”
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• |
Polarized
Thinking. You think of things as polar
opposites, with no room in between, so every effort you make is perceived
according to the threat of a total failure.
“If I don’t get through this flight without panicking, that
treatment program was just a waste.”
“If my back starts hurting I’ll never get any
better.”
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Overgeneralizing. Your use of terms such as all, always, everyone, etc.
makes individual events seem universal.
“Another delay! Why does it always happen to me?”
“Everyone else gets to enjoy the flight, but I always have to suffer
all the anxiety.”
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• |
Catastrophizing. You imagine the worst possible outcome and then react as
if it will come true.
“What if I try to get on the plane but can’t? I’ll lose
my job, and I will never be able to work again.”
“What if my back starts to hurt? It will be unbearable, and I will
have to be in agony for hours.”
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• |
Resignation
(or Being Controlled). Either you believe that
you are controlled by others who have total power over your fate, or you believe
that you are totally responsible for—and therefore controlled by—everyone
else.
“My husband says psychology is a lot of bunk, so I can’t practice
relaxation exercises.”
“If I don’t get over this quickly, the new project at work will
fail.”
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• |
Emotional
Reasoning. You assume that your negative beliefs
associated with your feelings must be true.
“I feel scared. The plane is going to crash, I just know
it.”
“There’s that back pain again. It’s hopeless; I’ll
never get any better.”
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• |
Rumination
(or Filtering). You focus only on the problem
and nothing else, filtering out any positive elements of your experience.
“I can’t bear to look out the window when there is any
turbulence.”
“When my back is hurting like this I can’t be bothered with
what the children want.”
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Entitlement. You have created a belief that you are entitled to a life without problems.
“Look at them. They don’t have to work at being relaxed. It’s
not fair. Why do I have to work so hard?”
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Changing
Negative
Thinking
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No adult ever needs the help of a psychologist to learn
negative thinking. That’s because the adult received so much negative
hypnosis as a child that negative thinking has become an assumed fact of
life. Changing negative thinking, therefore, requires some intense, concentrated
training to overcome the effects of previous experience.
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The process of
changing negative thinking necessitates the substitution of a functional
thought for a dysfunctional thought. In theory, this is a very
simple process; in fact, it’s the core of Cognitive Psychology. Yet
in practice there can be one major, and often hidden, obstacle to the process:
unconscious masochistic
satisfaction can maintain dysfunctional thoughts with a tenacity that
resists treatment itself. Therefore,
it may be necessary to use psychodynamic
psychotherapy to understand and resolve your hidden masochism before
cognitive retraining can be effective. |
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The first
step of changing negative thinking is noticing the thinking patterns
in the first place. Thoughts that occur in response to triggering events
are so deeply ingrained and usually happen so fast that we aren’t even
aware of them. That’s why it can seem as though an event causes an
emotion.
Therefore,
if you make an effort to begin to notice any of your thoughts and
keep a record of them, you can take the first step in developing the ability
to prevent triggering events from taking you by surprise.
Accordingly,
as you listen to your inner thinking, write down as many internal statements
as you can. Compare them to the styles of negative thinking outlined
above.
Once you have
identified the sorts of things you tend to tell yourself, you can work on
changing—or disputing—the beliefs.
• |
Blaming.
To overcome this thinking pattern, remind yourself that your actions
are the result of your own choices.
“Yes, Bob was late. But speeding was my own decision.”
For self-blame, remind yourself that you are doing the best you can and that
progress takes time.
“I did the best I could. I’ll get better with
practice.”
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• |
Shoulds,
Musts, and Oughts. To overcome this thinking pattern,
learn to see things the way they are, despite your feelings. Only then can you find
a solution to the problem.
“Well, turbulence does scare me. But after I have read about it and
understand what it’s all about, it won’t be so bad.”
“If my mother can’t understand my fear, that’s her problem.
I’ll overcome this problem without her support.”
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• |
Polarized
Thinking. To overcome this thinking pattern, be patient
with yourself and accept progress at its own pace.
“I closed my eyes and felt comfortable for a half hour. That’s
a big improvement over last time.”
“If my back starts to hurt, I’ll practice my relaxation exercises.
I’ll get through it.”
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• |
Overgeneralizing.
To overcome this thinking pattern, stay focused on the present, individual
event.
“OK. The flight is delayed. Let’s see what can be done now to
develop new plans to work around it.”
“Yes, I do feel anxious. As for others, maybe they are anxious
too—but it doesn’t really matter. So let me just focus on my relaxation
exercises.”
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• |
Catastrophizing.
To overcome this thinking pattern, acknowledge your fear, and then
find the logical flaw in the associated negative beliefs.
“OK. I will be afraid as I’m boarding. But have I ever run away
from other problems before? No.”
“OK. Maybe my back will start to hurt. But I do have things I can
do to relax. All things will pass.”
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• |
Resignation
(or Being Controlled). To overcome this thinking pattern,
give yourself credit for your own good sense. Realize that though you may be valuable to others, you
are not so indispensable to others that you need to take responsibility for them.
“Well, maybe my husband doesn’t understand psychology, but I
have seen how it has benefitted other people, and it just might help
me.”
“I need to take the time to let my healing happen at its own pace.
Other people at work can fill in if I can’t be in the
lead.”
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• |
Emotional
Reasoning. To overcome this thinking pattern,
accept the feeling for what it is. Give it credit for what it is telling you. And
then create a positive belief to cope with it.
“OK. I feel scared. No one enjoys being bumped around like this.
But I’ve read about turbulence, and it’s not all that dangerous.
We will get through it.”
“OK. I’m feeling some pain. So slow down. Be careful.
Relax.”
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• |
Rumination
(or Filtering). To overcome this thinking pattern,
expand your awareness beyond the unpleasant situation and open yourself to positive
aspects of the experience.
“Look. It’s a nice view. Sitting here paralyzed won’t make
the plane any safer.”
“I have the skills to get through this. Look at how much fun the
kids are having. What a joy to have them in my life.”
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• |
Entitlement.
To overcome this thinking pattern, remember that life is not fair.
But more than that, realize that every difficulty can draw strength, courage, and creativity
out of you. Your trials can be a blessing, if you accept them with faith.
“Yes, many other people don’t seem to have to work at being
relaxed. But who knows what other problems they have to struggle with. At
least I’m discovering an inner peace I never had before.”
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Emotions
and
Thoughts:
Putting
it
all
Together
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Cognitive psychology focuses primarily on changing the
thought processes that underlay your dysfunctional behaviors. Nevertheless,
a large part of psychological healing in general depends on recognizing and
understanding your emotions, especially in so far as your emotions are the
warning signs of underlying thoughts. So you might ask, “As I do the
hard work of psychological insight necessary to become aware of my emotions,
how can I be sure that the cognitive work I do to let go of my negative thoughts
doesn’t just invalidate the very emotions I am trying to
acknowledge?”
To answer this
question, let’s use a simple example from everyday life. In order
to let go of something, you first need to pick it up. For example, you
can’t let go of a rope that is lying on the ground. If you want to let
it go, it has to be in your hand. It doesn’t matter how long it has
been in your hand or when you first picked it up; all that matters is that
you know that you are holding it now.
Psychology works
in a similar way. If you want to let go of something, you first need to pick
it up. But what does it mean to pick up something psychologically? What does
it mean to know that you are holding on to a dysfunctional behavior? Well,
“to pick up something psychologically” means that you understand
its psychological purpose.
In other
words, to change dysfunctional behavior, it can be helpful to acknowledge
and respect its original purpose. All dysfunctional
behavior derives from childhood psychological defenses,
and the whole point of a defense is to protect you. Therefore, respecting
that original protective purpose of a defense, rather than just getting
rid of the defense, will aid you in changing your behavior without invalidating
your emotional life.
Here is an example
of how that process can be outlined.
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Identify the problem
and your feelings.
I want to go to college, but I feel
anxious and afraid.
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• |
State the negative
beliefs underlying your feelings.
“Wanting
anything is selfish.”
“I’m not worthy.”
“I don’t matter.”
“I don’t deserve to have any ambitions.”
“I will never succeed at anything.”
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• |
Identify the
“voice” behind the negative beliefs. That is, is it the voice
of your mother or your father or someone else?
It’s the voice of both my mother
and my father. It’s my father because, as an alcoholic, he passively
hid from taking responsibility in the family. It’s the voice of my mother
in her anger at herself and at us children because
of my father’s selfish passivity.
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• |
State the original
purpose of the negative beliefs.
They protect me from feeling hurt
by my father when he got drunk and broke his promises.
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• |
State the
“voice” of the original protective purpose.
“You have a right to feel afraid.
Staying hidden has kept you alive all your life. If you expose yourself now,
you will be destroyed!”
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• |
Acknowledge the
“voice” of the original protective purpose.
“I understand how much you fear
betrayal. My father’s broken promises hurt deeply. But now there are
other means of self-protection available that you didn’t know about
in childhood. I can learn about them and use them.”
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• |
Dispute—that
is, make a rebuttal to—the negative beliefs.
“Yes, having ambition is partly
selfish, and yet it can also be of use to
others. It’s also true that if I get a college degree it will enhance
my self-esteem and my prestige,
and yet it will allow me to do better work
than I can do now. So if I go to college, everyone can benefit.”
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• |
State how the
rebuttal still fulfills the original purpose of the negative
beliefs.
Going to college will protect
me from getting hurt; that is, it will protect me from the hurt of
“burying” my true talents.
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• |
Predict how you
will feel—and why you will feel that way—if you carry out your
rebuttal.
I will feel sad because it will remind
me that my father really wasn’t there for me.
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• |
Validate the
underlying truth of those feelings. Then feel the pain as you experienced it
as a child. Note that the previous points can
be discovered relatively quickly through logic and intellect. This point
requires some deep, emotional introspection and for that reason it is often
the core work of psychotherapy.
“I felt very sad all throughout my
childhood because I was constantly disappointed by my alcoholic father.” Yes,
say it, and then feel what the child felt at the time.
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• |
State how those
feelings can now be a positive motivation.
My sadness that my father wasn’t
there for me can be an incentive for me to “be there” for someone
else.
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• |
Make positive
affirmations about your decision.
I will protect myself by going to
college. I will learn how to be assertive and to protect my boundaries. I
will make my best effort. I will not sabotage myself. I will “be
there” for myself to validate my own emotional experiences,
and I will “be there” for others.
I will never forget the betrayal inflicted on our family by my father, yet
I will work to forgive him rather than get stuck
like my mother in thoughts of resentment.
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Gratitude
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Has this web page been helpful? Then please help support this
website in gratitude, as a “down-payment” on the success of your
hopes and dreams!
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Additional
Resources
Cognitive-Behavioral
Therapy:
Albert Ellis Institute
provides information about Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy:
self-help, therapist referrals, workshops, lectures, training, and
publications.
Beck Institute for
Cognitive Therapy and Research provides information about
Cognitive Therapy: workshops, lectures, training, and publications.
The National Association
of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists provides current information
concerning cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, including a searchable National
Referral Database of certified cognitive-behavioral therapists.
REBT FAQ
— Questions and Answers about Rational Emotive Behavioral
Therapy from the Albert Ellis Institute.
Questions
& Answers about Cognitive Therapy from the Beck
Institute.
Ego States:
Ego
State Therapy features online “reprints” of articles
by hypnosis researchers John & Helen Watkins.
Hypnosis:
American Society of
Clinical Hypnosis —“Founded by Milton H. Erickson, MD
in 1957, ASCH promotes greater acceptance of hypnosis as a clinical tool
with broad applications.”
Milton H. Erickson
Foundation provides information and training in the style of hypnosis
used by Dr. Erickson, who was a master at healing unconscious conflicts using
unusual and paradoxical techniques.
Society
for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis —“Founded in 1949,
The Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis (SCEH) is an international
organization ... dedicated to the highest level of scientific inquiry and
the conscientious application of hypnosis in the clinical setting.”
Related pages within A Guide to Psychology
and its Practice:
Honesty
Family Therapy
Psychology and Psychiatry—and
Psychoanalysis
Questions and Answers
about Psychotherapy
Types of Psychological Treatment
The Unconscious
CONTACT ME
INDEX of all subjects on this website
SEARCH this
website |
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A Guide
to Psychology and its Practice |
www.GuideToPsychology.com |
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Copyright © 1997-2024 Raymond
Lloyd Richmond, Ph.D. All rights reserved.
San Francisco |
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All material on this website is
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Any other reproduction or distribution without my
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