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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 19 of 19. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Dinah on July 24, 2008, at 20:57:31
The hypnotherapy appointment is Monday. Just a meet and greet. No hypnosis.
I really want to cancel.
I'm worried that I won't be hynotizable. Maybe with my therapist, but no one else. Or if anyone else, probably not a woman. And if a woman, probably not one who didn't sound confident. Wouldn't confidence in voice be a requirement for hypnosis?
I'm so confused about this. On the one hand, I must be suggestible. I'm pretty sure I self hypnotize all the time, and my therapist agrees. He's afraid that hypnosis might be too much for me. That my dissociative tendencies might be too much for it. I'm more afraid that I won't be at all a good subject for it. I think I've held hypnosis out as one of the hopes for the future. I don't like putting one of my last hopes to the test.
I keep remembering that I got absolutely nothing out of EMDR. And worse, I now am aware that EMDR doesn't work for me. How many things do I really want to know don't work for me?
Arrrrrgh. Why couldn't my stupid therapist train in hypnosis instead of sex addiction? He's got a perfect voice for it.
I really don't have time for it now, either. I'm so far behind. And I can't fit any sessions in the next few weeks. Why did I decide to make the call now? I've thought of hypnotherapy for years.
My therapist thinks I should go ahead and go Monday, even if I can't immediately schedule more appointments. He thinks I should consider it a consultation into whether hypnosis would be helpful to me. I'm supposed to sign something tomorrow so he can call her to tell her about me.
But he'll forget, and there's only a few hours for them to get together since she's out of town until Monday. I don't want to have to explain things that he could explain much better, and in a way she wouldn't think was weird. Or not as weird.
Posted by Dinah on July 24, 2008, at 21:01:50
In reply to I want to cancel, posted by Dinah on July 24, 2008, at 20:57:31
I really think that's the problem. I don't say weird things as much as I say things weird.
I could tell she was confused by me on the phone. I really want for my therapist to talk to her before I do. He could explain. So she won't be so surprised. He could make it sound not so bad.
Posted by Looney Tunes on July 24, 2008, at 21:06:02
In reply to I say things weird, posted by Dinah on July 24, 2008, at 21:01:50
I would say go for it. Even if you don't tell the hypontist everything, you can get a feel for whether or not you connect with her. That's half the battle. If you don't connect, no more to thing about.
If you connect, then you will have some time to decide if you want to move forward.
Also, I would like to add that EMDR and hyponosis are very different. I think EMDR as a means to solve a problem in a direct fashion and hyponosis as a means to "evaluate a problem"
Posted by lucie lu on July 24, 2008, at 21:29:21
In reply to I want to cancel, posted by Dinah on July 24, 2008, at 20:57:31
Dinah,
I must have missed your recent post(s) - why are you going for hypnotherapy? You know, I used to think I was unhypnotizable, that I would be too skeptical, too untrusting to be able to do it. And then I joined a class for headache sufferers. About 8-10 of us would start off each class lying on the floor, relaxing while the instructor intoned relaxing things. I invariably would fall right to sleep and was the only one to do so. Certain TV shows, like PBS Nature, do the same - I just hear George Page's voice and I am out like a light (lol). I'm more often than not an insomniac so it is not just general sleepiness - it's very situational and a response to people's voices. If that's hypnotizability, then it's actually pretty relaxing and has little to do with the person doing the hypnosis. Maybe you should just try it and not take it too seriously.
-Lucie
Posted by raisinb on July 24, 2008, at 21:41:46
In reply to I want to cancel, posted by Dinah on July 24, 2008, at 20:57:31
hi Dinah--
On a purely selfish note, I would like you to go and post about it, because I'm very curious about hypnotherapy, yet kind of scared like you.Okay, onto something might actually be helpful :) First, I think EMDR and hypnosis are very different. Second, only a very small percentage of people aren't hypnotizable. As you said, you do it to yourself all the time; it's a natural state of consciousness that most everyone can enter--even if you don't click with this woman. Third, I bet a trained hypnotherapist would be much more confident, in her element, when she's actually doing a session.
Also, I'd want my therapist to arrange everything, too, but if you continue working with this hypnotherapist, it's good to establish your own relationship with her. And I'm sure she's worked with "weird" people before. Think of all the complaints--much weirder than yours-- for which her services would be needed....
Posted by raisinb on July 24, 2008, at 21:47:22
In reply to I want to cancel, posted by Dinah on July 24, 2008, at 20:57:31
My mother once bought some weight loss hypnosis CDs to listen to in her office. She didn't lose any weight, but after a couple of months, the guy in the office next to her complained that his pants didn't fit anymore because he'd lost seven pounds and didn't understand why. So, sometimes it works even when you don't have any idea you're doing anything :)
Posted by Phillipa on July 24, 2008, at 23:09:21
In reply to ps, posted by raisinb on July 24, 2008, at 21:47:22
Oh that is so funny!!!! Love Phillipa
Posted by Dinah on July 24, 2008, at 23:36:59
In reply to Re: I say things weird, posted by Looney Tunes on July 24, 2008, at 21:06:02
I think you're right. Even if I have to wait a few weeks before making a second appointment, I'll at least know whether or not to bother making it with her.
Do you know anything of how EMDR and hypnosis are different? I suppose I had some vague sort of idea that they were based on the same principle of focused attention.
I'm scared though. I so often don't like mental health practitioners. And they so often don't like me.
Posted by Dinah on July 24, 2008, at 23:42:16
In reply to Re: I want to cancel, posted by lucie lu on July 24, 2008, at 21:29:21
I had come to the conclusion that the object of my obsessions or enthusiasms didn't matter as much as the process of being in an obsession/enthusiasm. If that's actually true, it seemed like an obvious step to try to substitute the object of the obession/enthusiasm to something beneficial like work or housework or saving money.
However, I've grown to be afraid that my enthusiasm for using hypnosis to do this is just another of my many "enthusiasms". All of them seem reasonable when I'm in the middle of them.
Posted by Dinah on July 24, 2008, at 23:51:54
In reply to Re: I want to cancel » Dinah, posted by raisinb on July 24, 2008, at 21:41:46
:) I'll be sure to report on it.
I think I probably have a general desire for someone else to take care of things. But my previous experience in this area pretty well convinced me that it was beyond me to explain any of it myself. In general I have an unusual way of expressing myself, especially when I try to explain my experience.
But she'll be asking about my dissociation, like the EMDR therapist did. I have less than no confidence in my ability to explain that in a way that others would understand. While my therapist hopefully has enough training to speak the language. Not only did the EMDR therapist not understand anything I said to her, but the highly scientific dissociation scale tests she administered proved conclusively that I did not have a diagnosable level of dissociation. lol.
I hate all of that. I hate talking about it at all. I especially hate talking about it under pressure. I just don't want to do that.
And I don't want to find that I'm not hypnotizable in addition to not being EMDRable, and to boot, not being dissociative. It's all very discouraging (for the former) and invalidating (for the latter).
Posted by antigua3 on July 25, 2008, at 8:52:49
In reply to I want to cancel, posted by Dinah on July 24, 2008, at 20:57:31
I'd trust your T. If he thinks this might be too much for you, he could be right, because he knows you so well.
The difference between EMDR and hypnosis therapy? I'm not sure I can explain, but EMDR is more direct and immediate--you concentrate on something you want to solve and you actively work on the feelings that are triggered by your eyes moving back and forth in a rhythmic fashion that simulates REM. Feelings do come up, but the EMDR therapist is trained to put you back in a safe place when you're done.
The hypnotist will bring you back to a safe place, too, but w/hypnosis you can tap into more unconscious areas (from what I understand) but bring up stuff that can stress you or you aren't ready to handle. I didn't try it until my T and I thought I could handle it, and then I stopped it because I felt like I was just being relaxed to focus on whatever came up. It was more inner directed to me, if that makes any sense. But as I said, I don't think I ever went under.
Just my two cents,
antigua
Posted by Dinah on July 25, 2008, at 12:16:31
In reply to Re: I want to cancel » Dinah, posted by antigua3 on July 25, 2008, at 8:52:49
I talked to him today and feel a bit better. He told me I don't really need to tell her anything I don't want to tell her. That probably all she needs to know is that I dissociate, not the details.
He also helped me figure out a way to tell her that I want to substitute the target of my enthusiasms.
He actually wrote down some wording I can use to explain everything in a short way that she would likely understand.
I signed the release so he can talk to her. But I don't know if he'll reach her before the appointment.
He reminded me that no hypnosis would take place next time, so I didn't need to worry about that at the moment. He thought it was amusing that I was afraid to find out hypnosis wouldn't work because I've been holding it in reserve. He said that if it weren't going to work, it wouldn't make a good tool to hold in reserve anyway, but acknowledged that there was a psychological benefit in thinking I had good tools still left.
I feel a lot calmer now, although that may just be an immediate benefit of his calm presence.
I guess I never quite understood how EMDR worked. I just know that all that happened was that my eyes got tired and her arm got tired, and I didn't respond at all.
So if it's not the same as hypnosis, then I won't assume I won't respond to hypnosis just because I didn't respond to EMDR.
Posted by Dinah on July 25, 2008, at 12:22:20
In reply to Re: I want to cancel » antigua3, posted by Dinah on July 25, 2008, at 12:16:31
I was trying to figure out whether it was better to be emotional me or rational me. My therapist thinks it should be rational me being hypnotized, because that's the part of me that works.
I guess it depends on how things are organized. If it's a vertical split or a horizontal one. I always figured it was a horizontal split. That when I was emotional me, I was already a layer down in consciousness from rational me. So that it would make sense for emotional me to be the one hypnotized, since the goal was to reach a level even deeper. The spot I'd be aiming for would be underneath either of me's. So it would make sense to start from the spot further down.
But...
If it's more of a vertical split then reaching down into emotional me's subconscious wouldn't at all be like reaching down into rational me's subconscious. I'd be aiming for a different area entirely.
I guess no one knows?
Posted by Lemonaide on July 25, 2008, at 13:16:52
In reply to A probably unanswerable question, posted by Dinah on July 25, 2008, at 12:22:20
I would say, don't think about it so much. Just go and let them do it.
Posted by Dinah on July 25, 2008, at 13:55:18
In reply to Re: A probably unanswerable question, posted by Lemonaide on July 25, 2008, at 13:16:52
That's probably true. I probably spend so much time figuring out how something works that I'm pretty much guaranteed to make it not work at all.
But the thing is that I *can't* just go in, unless I figure out *who* should go in.
I think I'll trust my therapist when he says rational me. It does make sense.
Posted by Dinah on July 26, 2008, at 20:30:02
In reply to Re: A probably unanswerable question » Lemonaide, posted by Dinah on July 25, 2008, at 13:55:18
Mental health professionals tend not to like emotional me. My therapist says it's just that they think it's something that needs to be "fixed". I asked him if it was that noticeable. He said that most people, including therapists, would notice something odd. But they wouldn't know what it was. That they might think I acted young for my age. And want to fix me.
So I guess that's another reason for rational me to go.
Posted by Dinah on July 26, 2008, at 20:32:21
In reply to Plus....., posted by Dinah on July 26, 2008, at 20:30:02
I mean, I know that my therapist doesn't think I need to be fixed.
But knowing that he thinks other therapists would think I needed to be fixed sort of sounds as if he really does think I need to be fixed. Even though I also know he doesn't.
If he really didn't would he think others did?
Posted by muffled on July 26, 2008, at 21:36:43
In reply to Plus....., posted by Dinah on July 26, 2008, at 20:30:02
If its not a prob...then don't worry bout fixing it...
I think its always good to start with a rational me when approaching something new...though you may or may not have a choice.
Last T I was all ready to be rational me, then on way to T I was looking in an occult store window which I usu avoid looking at. I sat down and promptly started acting weird and asked my T if she was a WITCH!!!!???? So go figger.
I think just go, don't sweat it or try to over think it, just go and see what happens.
I hope it goes OK and look forward to hearing about it.
Good luck and try and chill as best you can.
((( dinah )))
M
Posted by Dinah on July 26, 2008, at 23:13:07
In reply to Re: Plus..... » Dinah, posted by muffled on July 26, 2008, at 21:36:43
:)
Thanks, Muffled.
I pretty much have control over the who. Hostile takeovers are actually even more rare now than they used to be.
Emotional me really would like to try hypnosis. But I think it would be better the other way.
I'm not entirely sure why my therapist's comment bothered me, or hurt my feelings, but it did kind of. I'm the one who asked, so I should have been ready for the answer.
This is the end of the thread.
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