I met Suzanne through a reference with whom I had seen a dramatic life turnaround with her help. My experience with hypnosis had been watching people on stage at a show and did not really believe that sitting in a chair with someone talking to you could make any real difference. Fortunately, seeing is believing and I was willing to give it a try after seeing positive results in someone I knew personally. The irony is that I was initially not sure what I wanted to be hypnotized for. Suzanne was able to delve into my current life situation and determine what it was that I needed most at that particular time. I had recently become unemployed and was looking for another executive position with a small technology firm, something I have done over and over again in my career but disliked each time.

Finding a new job can be a daunting process, especially when you are trying to prove to a founder that you could be the difference in their small company. There is always doubt about your capabilities and ability to perform even with a past success record.This self doubt is always there to some degree and there is a natural resistance to recount your successes and what is best about you when you are starting over. Questions of “will I be able to master this new technology….how long will it take for me to prove my value to this company….will I be compensated appropriately starting all over again” all are lingering in your mind as you talk to different start-up entrepreneurs. What Suzanne does well is bury these questions and replace them with the opposite suggestions which would be “I have done this 5 times successfully so far, why would this technology be any harder to learn than the last 5….. the time it takes to prove myself is not relevant, the fact that I do bring value to any company that I work with is important…..compensation begins with how much you can assure your new company that you will be successful and I know I will be successful.”

The amazing part of hypnosis is, that if done correctly, you don’t even realize it and I did not know these suggestions had been anchored in my mind when I left Suzanne after our sessions. Instead, I chalked up the time to a pleasant experience and enjoyable conversation but did not feel any different than when I initially came through the door. It was only after year that I could look back and ask my self “how did I end up with two VP positions to choose from within the first month after our sessions” and realized it was because I had lost fear and doubt and was running on a new confidence engine that had been tuned up by Suzanne. I would recommend hypnosis for anyone looking for at new employment because the difference in an interview between someone who “knows” they can bring value and someone who “questions” their value is an impression that can make or break your opportunity.

One would think that telling someone that you care would be as natural as eating and sleeping. In all too many cases this is not the way it is. It wasn’t until I read an article written by Victoria Rosner for the New York Times titled “Shall I let My son See His Dying Dad?” that this hit home for me.

When I read the article on my computer it had reminded me of a situation that occurred in my own life.The article was about a 2 year old boy who never knew his father. His father had walked away from his mother when she was pregnant with him. He just could not deal with the responsibility of having a family, it didn’t mean he didn’t care, or did it? How was this two year old to know?

When the father of the 2 year old found out he had months to live, he decided then he wanted to know his son, and for his son to have the chance to know him. The father sent a letter asking the mother permission to contact the boy. The mother to her credit allowed the father to have contact with the boy, despite all the advice of “friends” telling her things that although may have been true on some level such as “He left you and he doesn’t deserve to see his son”, she instead forgave whatever she had to allowing her son to know his father. (See January 2010 newsletter on Forgiveness.) Being allowed to see his father enables him to have a lasting sense of security with the knowledge that his father cared about him.

The article I read was originally titled “Shall I forgive Him one Last time?” and I find it rather interesting that it took having a date of dying for this father to realize that he wanted and needed to have the relationship with his son. It seems for when we know that we may not have that chance, we are more apt to act, rather than take one another for granted. Perhaps it would be better for everyone if we could just take the time now to show we care.

I realized that if my father had told me occasionally that he loved me, that he cared about me, that he was thinking of me even though he did not live with my mother and me, it would have made all the difference in my world. A simple call letting me know he cared about me would have been enough. Had my father occasionally sent a card or called on a birthday, had taken a few moments of time to show he cared, it would perhaps be a lot easier for me to believe him today, 50 years later when he says “I love you“. Left unspoken only my father knew in his heart that he cared. He never conveyed it to me or anyone else for that matter. Because it was left to the imagination, it became skewed and distorted over time.

To know that this man cares about his boy regardless of whether he could support him, or be a father to him for whatever reason, is probably the most important memory he will have of his father when he thinks of him 50 years from now or maybe even tomorrow. To just know that he was loved and cared for in his father’s heart means more than all the money, fancy houses and toys that could be bought. To just be told this and have it occasionally reinforced can mean everything to a person. Sometimes it can be even more important than having a parent there 24/7. Is it that hard to send a card, or to pick up a phone?

Too often we go about our daily lives assuming people know how we feel. It seems like they should just know, but do they? Why is it so hard to tell someone you care? Probably because it is easier to assume they just know. People need to be told they are cared about and appreciated.

In an article by Rick Nauert, PhD, titled “Emotional Wealth Trumps Financial Wealth” August 10, 2009, a study was done “…what we’ve found is that while money may be able to make people live more comfortable lives, it won’t necessarily contribute to life’s pleasant moments that come from engaging with people and activities rather than from material goods and luxuries.”

I know another person who has all the money in the world however is very alone and miserable. She was born into money and has never had to work a day in her life. She has no real reason or passion in her life, no reason to face the day. She constantly tries to buy love and companionship with her money. She has no sense of self love or worth and no purpose to her life. Even though she has all the money in the world what she is unable to buy is someone to tell her she is loved or cared for. She is unable to buy someone to tell her she matters in this world. It is a proven fact that money cannot buy happiness proven by all the countless lottery winners who end up broke and miserable. Money can never buy the love or care of another human being.

The simple act of telling someone you love or care about them can really turn a life around and make a huge difference in someone’s life, or even save a life. Hallmark Greeting Cards makes millions off this fact, and there are a million songs written as well on this fact. Stevie Wonder’s “I just called to say I loved you” comes to mind, amongst many others.

Had the people that showed they cared in my life not have shown it when they did, I may have felt isolated and alone as my cousin did and hanged myself. The fact that a few people really showed they cared about me made a huge difference in my world. There are billions of people in the world, no one should ever feel that alone.

Take Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sounds Of Silence” “…a rock feels no pain and an island never cries.” When a person feels alone and as if no one cares they begin to feel void of their emotions to the point of becoming dead inside like a rock. They become increasingly more isolated and depressed, unable to live life. They become like a rock on an island.

In another study reported in the Scientific American, June of 2008, researcher Steven Cole of the University of California L.A. reported that people that suffer from chronic loneliness show a change in their gene activity which could predispose them to all sorts of illness from a simple cold to deadly cancer.

Too often people assume the other person knows how they feel.People need to feel other people care and they need to care about other people as well. It gives people a reason to live knowing they are cared about and have others to care for. Too often it is taken for granted. Too often it is left unsaid. Too often it is said too late.

Tell someone you love and care about them today. If you find it difficult to get in touch with your emotions for one reason or another, hypnosis can help you get unstuck, so you can once again feel the emotions that are so vital to one’s life. For it is when we can feel our emotions that we can feel empathy for another which is the basis for all fulfilling relationships.

Article written by Donna N.

Are you ready for profound change?

Perhaps like me, you have been on the path of healing and/or recovery for years, but have not been helped enough to be at peace or resolve reoccurring unwanted patterns in your life. Perhaps no one has been able to truly understand you or your pain and you feel alone, isolated, misunderstood, or ignored. Working with Suzanne can break that cycle of disappointment and discouragement once and for all. You will find no greater truth seeker and no better advocate for your greatest good. She was not only a skilled hypnosis practitioner, but a fearless warrior for my highest intention and deepest needs. For the first time in my life, I feel I have someone supporting me who truly has my best interest at heart. Suzanne stood with me through every step of the difficult process of regaining my own identity and self-esteem. Her unwavering commitment to my healing helped me reconnect with the my inner caretaker and self nurturing instinct that had been buried so long ago. I am now confident that wherever my journey takes me, I will be able to embrace it and use it to enrich my life and the life of others. I will be forever grateful for Suzanne’s help and recommend her to anyone who is ready for profound change and healing.

Sincerely,

L.K. McCarren

“For most of us, health will not depend on who we are, but on how we live. The body you have at 20 depends on your genes, but the body you have at 40, 60 or 80 is the body you deserve; that reflects your behavior.” (Readers Digest 1996)

Fact is even though our body is constantly evolving our body’s cells remember everything. Any illness we get unless we are born with it, is a result of our feelings. Louise L Hay, Catherine Ponder and Caroline Myss amongst others have written books on this.

Deepak Chopra tells us that there is a hidden intelligence that is at work in our bodies that scientists have not been able to tap into yet, but they are finding more and more proof this is true. He states that if that intelligence can cause our bodies to become diseased, then that intelligence can also reverse that.

Our emotions and they way we deal with situations in our lives have a direct consequence on our bodies. I have experienced this myself over and over again. Perhaps you yourself are able to see some situation where you can relate the negative (or positive) way you were feeling with an ache or pain (or feeling of elation). Have you ever been so angry you have given yourself a headache? You get so worked up that you can actually feel your blood pressure rising. Have you ever been so happy that you/your body felt like it was on cloud nine?

There is a direct connection between how the body feels and your mind. Your brain communicates with your immune system constantly.

Paul Ekman, Professor Emeritus at the University of California at San Francisco did research on the bodies immune system and the effect one has on it by either smiling or frowning. He found that when a person smiles, you alter your blood chemistry and actually produce chemicals that are natural opiates not only in your brain, but in the cells in your stomach and intestines. Ever know someone who is always smiling, and you wonder if they are just on drugs, for how can anyone be that happy all the time. Well the more they smile, the more “drugs” they are on really-natural drugs.

When we feel negative emotions about someone or something, we put our whole body at risk. When we hang on to negativity and are not able to forgive and move on, we are setting ourselves up for “problems”.

Bernie Seigel has actually proven that when a person forgives, an actual chemical change takes place in the body which in turn produces the correct anti-body to enable the healing to occur.

When you are able to forgive you are able to set yourself and your body free. Free from the negativity that causes illness, disease, aches and pains. When we feel negativity about someone or something we put not only our mind but our entire body at risk.

I have an 89 year old client that when she gets upset with her daughter, her body literally develops Parkinson-like tremors. Her hands shake so much you can visibly see it and her body is so shaky that she has a hard time just walking. When she is on good terms with her daughter she is literally a different being. She is very stable and has no visible tremors.

So I repeatedly ask her why she does this to herself, why does she let her daughter upset her to the point it affects her body the way it does. At age 89 she knows no other way to react she tells me. I try to tell her to think of it as her daughter doesn’t mean the things she says and she needs to realize this and just forgive her because it is her daughter’s way of dealing with her aging and ailing mother.

Sometimes it isn’t easy to forgive someone who has wronged you however I think you need to do this for yourself and not for the other person, and if you think of it that way it becomes easier.

Forgiveness is needed in our lives for us to be able to move forward. If we are unable to forgive we build up anger and resentments, and this in turns harms not only our emotional state of health, but our physical health as well. Sometimes we need to forgive even if we feel we did no wrong and that is the hardest I think. But until we do, we get stuck in a vortex that traps us and constantly eats away literally like a flesh eating virus at our minds and bodies until disease sets in.

To forgive someone for wronging us whatever the reason is the key to happiness with in ourselves. Sometimes I think if we swallow our pride and forgive, the other person will think twice and learn from the experience. Or maybe not, however just knowing we are freed from the situation because the act of forgiveness allows us to be released emotionally. By not forgiving, we are still hanging onto the person or situations and that causes us problems whether it be today, tomorrow or twenty years form now. It will come back in one way or another to harm us.

The most important person for us to forgive is ourselves for anything we may have done that makes us feel guilty. With that done, life can move on in a much more positive and productive manner.

Sometimes we don’t even realize we need to forgive someone in our lives. That is where NLP and time line therapy can help. There may be things, times or people that have wronged us in the past that we are unaware of on a conscious level that we feel anger towards, and we don’t even realize it. We just go through our lives and feel angry and don’t even realize why.

If you feel angry, or hateful or just unhappy in your life, and you don’t know why or where it is coming from on a conscious level, hypnosis can help you tap into your unconscious mind to figure out where those very harmful and potentially deadly feelings are coming from, and allow you to release them, forgive and move on with a contentment and happiness to enjoy your life as it was meant to be lived.

More than 8 million Americans seriously consider suicide each year according to a new government study and 32,000 actually are successful. 

What is worse is that this data was compiled by a new report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration based on a survey of 46,190 people aged 18 and older.  In past years the survey had been given to people who reported major depression but as of 2008 it was added to all questionnaires. 
It was found that amongst people with a substance abuse disorder, 11% had considered suicide, compared to 3% for people without such disorders.

If you are unlucky enough to suffer from either depression or substance abuse you know what it is like to have those thoughts of not wanting to live, not wanting to go through it another day.  Wanting to stop the cycle of depression, drug abuse and or alcohol abuse.  Maybe that is why you use to begin with, to stop the pain of depression.  Or maybe that is why you are depressed, from all the drugs or alcohol you are ingesting. 

Seems like it is just one big circle.  Maybe that is why the statistics are so staggeringly high.  At times it all seems just endless and hopeless.  Similar to a hamster on his wheel going around and around forever. Whatever the case may be you may have tried countless therapies to stop the cycle of depression.  You have probably tried numerous times to stop the using and abusing of drugs.

But, because you are depressed you turn to the drugs/alcohol for relief.   Because you turn to the alcohol/drugs for relief you remain depressed. Again, it just seems like it is one big circle and the only way off is suicide.

Maybe you’ve gone to 12-step meetings only to find you need to go constantly to stay clean and sober. You must go to meetings for the rest of your life to remain clean and sober one day at a time. Seems as soon as you stop going, you relapse.  And when you relapse it seems it is even harder to get clean and sober again, if you are lucky enough to do so. 

Perhaps you’ve tried talk therapy, but you don’t know really what it is that bothers you. Why you are always feeling like life is a chore and you just have no energy.  Why nothing excites you or why you just don’t feel “happy” about life in general.  You don’t really talk about the cause or the root of the “issues” that are causing your pain because you may not even know what they.  So you go week after week to your therapist and you talk about current issues, perhaps some issues in your childhood at $100/hr or more.  You talk about anything and everything you can remember.  This takes months and even years to wade through all your life’s discomforts and then it still doesn’t seem to be enough to do the trick. And, now on top of everything else you have a huge bill.  It still doesn’t seem to be enough to make you feel better for good. Perhaps you feel better for a while, but then when you end the therapy eventually you start to feel depressed again. It is a painfully slow process and all you want is to feel better now.  Perhaps the therapist prescribes a medication or refers you to a doctor that can.  If you are lucky the medication works for a while but then it seems that it stops working, or doesn’t work as well as it did before.  You just have no energy, no desire to live your life anymore, and so they prescribe something else.  And that medication doesn’t help so they try another, and another and then they find another one that finally works.  After a year, maybe sooner or maybe later that medication also stops working, so they increase it, or they add another.  It just seems like an endless cycle.  An infinite number of therapy sessions and countless prescriptions.  A revolving door to the therapist’s and doctor’s offices. 

Is this what you really want?  Would it not be better if there were a more permanent and lasting method to rid yourself of these unwanted behaviors and unwanted feelings?  Would it not be better to go to a finite number of sessions and rid yourself once and for all of these problems that cause you to not enjoy or even want to live your life.  To know that once you end your sessions that your problems/issues for the most part will be over and you can get on with your life and concentrate on the life that you were meant to live.  That you won’t have to attend meetings or go to therapy for the rest of your life. To know that the insidious label of depression or substance abuser will not find its’ way back into your life. 

All the above mentioned conventional therapies may or may not have worked for you. Perhaps they may have worked for a while and then your problems re-surfaced and came back, maybe even stronger than before.  So you find yourself back in your therapist’s office.  Does it seem like it is a revolving door, like there is no end to the situation you find yourself in. 

With hypnosis, NLP and Time Line Therapy (R) you can be rid of your problems and issues once and for all. That is because these hypnotic processes allow you to access your unconscious mind which created these destructive strategies to protect you from information that your conscious mind could not handle. Because this material is unconscious you may not realize that it is even there causing you the discomfort. By going into the unconscious mind you can get to the root of the problem letting go of these destructive strategies while creating new productive strategies.


When you get rid of weeds in your garden, unless you kill that weed at the root-it will grow back.  It is the same with anything be it depression or drug and or alcohol abuse. Unless you get rid of the infection totally it will almost certainly come back, sometimes stronger than before.  Unless you get rid of the germs totally it will indeed come back and cause another illness.   Unless you solve the issue that is causing the problem/s it will almost always grow back, sometimes even stronger than before. 
You can take medication or methadone or whatever, but do you really just want to cover it up, plant some flowers around that weed?  You constantly take the chance that that weed will kill the flowers eventually. 

Wouldn’t it be great if you could just rid yourself once and for all of those weeds and get on with your life? 

Through hypnosis, I have had clients (such as Donna N. or Caroline S.) actually change their brain chemistry.  Refer to the testimonials pages.  Donna N. had had depression for over 30 years, pretty much all of her life.  She was told she did indeed have a “biochemical imbalance” in her brain. A CAT scan confirmed this at a major and prominent hospital.  She tried all of the above conventional therapies, some of which did work for a while, only to have the problems re-surface again and again. Caroline S. had eating disorders for which she was also told she would have for the rest of her life.  After doing hypnosis, NLP, Time Line Therapy they were able to reframe their minds and actually alter the biochemistry of their brains.  And YES, THIS IS POSSIBLE.  They no longer have the problems they had and are free to really go on with their lives; because they no longer have fears those problems will re-surface.  They have once and for all gotten to the root of their issues and eradicated those weeds from their lives.  They no longer have to plant flowers around them by taking medication, go to therapy or attend meetings. And, when they do plant flowers, they know that they will thrive and not have to worry about them dying from being overcome by weeds.

There are more and more studies, articles and reports stating that hypnosis has the ability to alter one’s brain chemistry.  Stay tuned to upcoming newsletters where this will be addressed and articles will indeed be cited.  Hypnosis can truly change your life.

You have to truly want it and work for your desired results.  I assume if you have read this far, you do. 

So wouldn’t it be great to not have the depression, not have the substance abuse or any other problems you find yourself with.  To be able to plant some flowers and have them thrive without the fear of weeds killing them? 

I would suggest you find a hypnotist who knows how to do NLP and Time Line Therapy (R) with proven results to help you given the serious nature involved of these issues. To protect your health and well being most states mandate that your hypnotist has a referral from a licensed practitioner. This is a good idea because you do want to make sure that your treatment team are all working together for your well being. Remember that doctors have the ability to run test and scans making sure that physiologically all is working in your body the way it should. 
 
 
 

I don’t know if you ever looked at the people around you perhaps as you commuted to work in the morning. If you did you may have noticed the glum faces that surround you. Why are people in this situation? Because they unconsciously went ahead with what was expected of them by either their parents, their spouses or their society. In most Western societies the norm is to go to school, get a job, buy a home, have a family and deal with the expense of it all by working long hours maybe doing jobs that are unfulfilling yet maybe pay well. For some it takes two jobs for each earner leaving little time to nurture the children that they have and even less time to enjoy them selves. People are exhausted by working so hard, with little time to do activities that matter to them as they work to keep up with the lifestyle they are used to. There is a problem however for many with living in this manner. When a person is living in a way that does not fit their values unhappiness is what takes over which could lead to depression. The reason that this has happened is because no thought was given to how to live a life that is worth while. So unconscious are the majority of people that all they do is live every day as the one before. This is no way to live.

What do you need to do in order to break out of an unfulfilling and stress filled life? First, you need to be in touch with what really matters to you. Do you actually care about what other people think you ought to be doing with your life, or are you a person who can decide to follow your own dreams? Are you a person who feels that you must play martyr to someone else’s needs, or are you a person who is capable of being authentic to what matters to you? I am not saying that you are to give up your responsibilities, rather that you need to think about what it is that you need to do to be a productive person doing the things that matter to you. In that way you will be happier in your life attracting positive happy people to you.

If you are a person who is unconsciously following the pack, and do not feel that you can do other wise, yet you are unhappy, unfulfilled or in ill health I suggest you call a hypnotist to help you to understand why it is that you feel unworthy of living a life that is worth living. Many times lack of self-esteem for what ever reason will keep people stuck in lives that just do not work so well for them.

When one is able to understand what created the lack of self-esteem, it is much easier to understand what your values are, many of which are unconscious, meaning there not conscious to your mind, you can live in alignment with what truly matters to you. This will allow you to live a much better life on all levels.

I have had many clients who felt they were “dead” inside because they were doing what was expected of them instead of doing what made them feel good inside. In many cases the client was taking care of children and parents, or married to a person that they did not love any more and yet felt they needed to stay in that marriage for the children’s sake.

While in the hypnotic state you create options for yourself that you could never achieve without going into your unconscious mind to get the answers to your issues. In many cases it is a simple process. In other cases so much damage was done that a more intensive approach needs to take place for the healing to occur. In any case, you do have the solutions to your issues in your own unconscious mind. Once they are made conscious you can go ahead and free yourself from living unconsciously, living consciously instead.

Over the past few years I have been working with men who call themselves sexual compulsives. The reason being is that they are always thinking about it, on the web looking at internet porn sites or looking for woman who will give them some relief. In many cases it is distracting them from more productive use of their time and creating issues in their relationships with their significant other if they have one. In many cases they do not, because they do not know how to be in a long term relationship with another. These men look like any body else you may know and many are professionals.

Experts believe that between 6 and 10% of the American public experiences real problems with sexual compulsivity or inappropriate sexual expression. Sexual compulsion is like many other forms of compulsion including eating disorders and drug and alcohol abuse: a destructive expression or what would other wise be a normal activity of life. The thing that makes it a compulsion is the inability of the person to control their sexual actions. In my clients the need for arousal is more important than the need for any sort of intimacy. I have also noticed in my practice that about 80% of the men who come in with this problem have some sort of sexual abuse in their history, usually before they were sexually active themselves. This creates a feeling of inferiority and shame. In about 30% of my cases the sexual abuse was done by some relative that was older then them. In another 30% it started out innocently enough by “playing doctor” with the opposite gendered sibling that went on for many years, sometimes into the late teens and early 20’s. In none of these cases did the client speak with the person about the abuse or about the long term sexual relations they had with their siblings after the fact. About half of the men who have come in to see me have tried therapy of one kind or another, but it did not work. About half of them have tried SLAA the 12-step program for sexual compulsives and found no help there either.

Here are some statistics that are useful when looking at this group as a whole, taken from Patrick Carnes, Ph.D. who did a study filled out by sex addicts who had been admitted for treatment to a Minnesota hospital or had spent at least three years in a 12-step program for sexual addiction. He had 752 male and 180 females. 63% were heterosexual, 18% were homosexual, 11% were bisexual and 8% were unsure of their sexual preference.

Loss of self-esteem was reported by 97%, 96% reported feeling guilt or shame, 91% had feelings of hopelessness and 90% stated they were acting in ways that went against their own values. 81% reported a history of sexual abuse and 42% also had a dependency on drugs or alcohol. Eating disorders were involved in 38%.

There is a biochemical reason according to Carnes and others as to why the addictive behavior happens. It is because the sensation of orgasm originates in you mind, in the form of neurotransmitters which happen in the limbic system where emotions, desires, drives and impulses occur. What happens is that over a period of time, an addiction lowers the dopamine level which creates a sense that “something is missing” which is the basis of addictive behavior. The addict learns that this behavior creates a higher than average response which may be the trigger to a feeling of relief from the low dopamine level.

Mark Kastleman in his article, “How Internet Pornographers Market to Men vs. Women” explains that the male brain responds with more intensity and speed with visual stimuli then woman do. With this known the internet pornographers use every sort of visual media available to lure in the male viewers. Men also tend to be attracted to anonymous, nude females for sex with their total focus on the physical act of sex. With 20 times the testosterone in males than females they like to see things done to the females with the male dominating. These images have no connection to love, romance or passion. The main idea is for the more cellular memory the pornographers can link to their porn throughout the male brain and body, the greater chance they have of addicting their viewers. The more naturally occurring the testosterone, adrenaline and hormones flow through the viewer the more intense the arousal, the more deeply the images will be imprinted in his memory the greater the addiction. The pornographers want the male to bring himself to completion with his sexual act. The problem with this is that the men no longer want to create the intimacy of a real relationship because the porn is there 24 hours a day giving them exactly what they desire without any thing they have to do but please themselves. This can happen with or without a mate involved.

According to Mark Roinett, MFT, there are stages to the sexual addiction cycle. The first stage is the “pain agent”, which begins the cycle of addiction. They then go into the second stage which is dissociation to separate self from feelings. If nothing is done at this stage then the person goes into an altered state, a trance state where the person starts acting out the by making a phone call to a sex line or to find a woman to physically release himself sexually with. The next stage is the behavior itself and the final stage is the time that elapses till the next “pain agent” comes around to start the cycle over again.

Roinett believes that it is necessary to dissolve the problem by the first stage where the “pain agent” is to be understood. This is the cause of the problem. He goes on to suggest that if it is not caught in that stage it can be dealt with during the dissociation phase, but after that stage it becomes more difficult to deal with the problem at hand.

As a hypnotist it is interesting to note that a “trance” state is indeed a part of the process. If you are a person who suffers with this problem I have found that the problem can be expeditiously taken care of by using the power of the unconscious mind. While in the state of trance you can come to understand how it is that you came to be the way you are. I have found that desensitizing trauma, forgiveness work, along with suggestive therapy around letting go of the addiction are very potent means to rid my clients of their sexual compulsions.

If you are interested in using hypnosis as a means to rid your self or someone you know with this problem make sure that the person you employ has had success in handling these cases. It is also helpful if they have some understanding of neuro-linguistic programming as well. You can find this out by checking out their websites for writings about this subject as well as testimonials from their clients that have been able to let go of this particular problem.

Recently I have moved from a place that I lived for the past 13 years to a smaller apartment. Now, any of you who have gone through this process can understand the concept of clearing out all the stuff that you no longer need. As hard as this exercise may be, there is I believe a harder one that many of us have difficulties getting through. This would be in the area of reviewing the relationships that you have in your life. I bring this up because I have realized that there were some relationships that I had that were not very healthy for me, others that needed to be reformatted so that I felt that I was receiving the attention that a caring long term relationship should have and releasing others that were not of any use and in some cases creating a negative energy that was not welcome.

Many of my clients find themselves in similar situations where the people with whom they are spending many hours of their time are a drain on them. It feels as if you are not getting heard or receiving the sort of attention that you feel you deserve and it hurts. It happens at work when your boss is giving you negative feedback, instead of assisting you to aspire to be the best that you can be. It happens in primary relationships when you feel taken for granted or worse, abused or ignored. And it can happen when you are in friendships where you feel that you are putting a lot of effort out, and not having it returned in like kind. In the more serious cases, you may feel used and abused by these “friends” or family of yours.

When we feel that we are not being heard or respected by those with whom we interact, sometimes we create interesting ways to deal with it, unconsciously of course. For instance if you feel your boss is unsupportive of you, you may create behavior that is counter productive to your job situation like showing up late, becoming antagonistic, or not being all that productive. If it is in your primary relationship you may decide to get your needs taken care of outside the relationship. If you are hanging out with people that drink and you have an issue in that area, you may find yourself once again getting drunk, for that seems to be what you need to do in order to fit in even though for you drinking leads to sabotaging yourself which brings feelings of failure.

The great motivational speakers all give the same advice of being aware with whom you interact, for that is what you will become. You need to think about the people with whom you choose to associate carefully. Over the years people can change. If you are growing you too are changing. Perhaps it would be useful to clear out all those individuals that are creating issues inside you and figure out if they are helpful or harmful to your sense of self. If this is an issue that you do not feel that you can handle on your own, perhaps working with a hypnotist will help you to understand exactly why you are choosing to stay in relationships that are keeping you from growing and feeling good about yourself. I know I had to get some assistance from outside myself in order to better understand how to deal with these influences on my life, creating a healthier way to live, for it can be difficult to really confront in an objective way. Your unconscious mind can assist you in better understanding what you need and want in each of the relationships From there it is easy to reconstruct the relationships feeling good about those with whom you give the ability to influence you.

I recently had the great honor of working with one of the Boston areas great performance icons. This gentleman is in his eighties and has been performing in the area for over 60 years at this point. He came in to see me because he was having some difficulty in writing the material that he uses in his performances. On top of that he has had some physiological changes due to his age that he was hoping to get under control with the use of hypnosis. However, the most important issue of all was his lack of self-esteem. In short he wasn’t feeling all that great about himself because he was not making the sort of money that his family would like him to have made. This seems interesting given the fact that this man has worked his entire life and would be at the point where he would have long ago been retired if he were working in the normal “work-a-day” world. However to this gentleman’s credit he has always lived life on his on terms and lives to perform.

From the hypnotist’s point of view it is usually much harder to work with a person who is older for they have had decades to practice the strategies that do not work for them. Usually people who are more mature, have been dealing with the trials through life. Added to that they usually have a skeptical notion of what hypnosis is and can do, but come in because they have tried everything else to no avail.

I am happy to say that this particular client was very well equipped to work with hypnosis. In fact he was fascinated by it and had done a lot of self education in the subject, even going as far as practicing some self-hypnosis. This made it easy to work with him since he was so open to what could be accomplished.

The first session we went over the goals that he had set for himself. His friend who accompanied him to the sessions was helpful in bringing up other issues that were of concern to help him out. It is my experience that it is most useful to have another person who the client is comfortable with and knows what is going on to help explain the situation at hand.

After we got the list of issues that we needed to work on, I next asked for the goals that my client would like to receive as a result of our work together. With that list I next went on to speak to what hypnosis is and how it works. From there we cleared all the issues that were in his way. It was very interesting because in this case, the cause of all the other problems seemed to be his feeling that at this late stage in his life he had not lived up to other’s expectations in terms of his ability to create the income that he should have. This was because he chose to live according to what fulfilled his passion, rather than work in a job that he may have made more money, but would have resented. This is true of most of the artist I know. In this day of internet access and sales, there really is no reason for a performer such as this man to not be able to create whatever income he would like. He has a following from all the years he has been out there working in his craft, and further has no reason to feel any shame for adding to the culture of our society with his art.

During the second session we worked a bit more on his successfully performing the way he knew he could while adding more feelings of pride for what he has already accomplished while allowing him to see what that he could create a much larger income if he would allow his audience the chance to purchase CDs and DVDs and books that could be easily created by his friend. Once he was able to really believe that this was true, he was easily able to release all of the issues that held him back, “performing with the energy and control of a man 20 years younger than he is” according to the thank you email I received from his companion who accompanied him on his hypnotic journey and the very next show he did after the hypnosis was completed.

Life is hard for all of us. So to find the right tools to get through it in one piece and find happiness along the way is a challenge. Before I ever used hypnosis with Suzanne I had seen doctors, therapists, the best of friends, incredible mentors and [read] books, books, books all of which gave hints, small candies of hope to get over destructive eating, depression and a general refusal to be a self-loving adult – but none of their advice or treatment sunk as deeply or helped me as richly as hypnosis with Suzanne. Continue »

Before I came to Suzanne, my confidence in myself was dwindling. I’ve played ice hockey for the past ten years, and all my experience in playing was worthless because I didn’t know how to believe in my abilities. Continue »

Teens have more than their fair share to deal with today. From the parental point of view, it seems that they are being asked to be “the best” student, athlete, musician, etc. in order to round out the college application. In fact, I was working with one client last summer who was telling me of how his wife wanted their daughter to get into one of those very competitive preschools to be ready for the expensive private school that would than lead to an even more expensive prep school to enhance her chances of getting into the best colleges. This child was all of 4 years old at the time. Continue »