Chapter 1: The Heart Of The Matter.

Hypnotherapy is an endlessly fascinating subject. One of its basic principles is that everybody is an individual - so if ten people come to me with, say, an arthritis problem, then the arthritis will have been caused for ten different reasons based on ten different sets of incidents in those people`s lives. Our life histories are completely unique, such that even something as commonplace and simple as the wish to give up smoking can send roots deep into the `map of reality` contained in the subconscious mind.

In most cases, the smoking habit can be completely eradicated in one session of hypnotherapy. Some hypnotherapists recommend four or five sessions, or an even more extended course of treatment. But this is usually unnecessary. Smoking almost invariably begins in adolescence, and most commonly because one`s friends begin to smoke, or because the teenager wants to look and act grown-up. Sometimes the smoking behaviour starts as a rebellious gesture against teachers or parents who warn the individual not to smoke. Nothing works more effectively in prompting contrary behaviour than moralistic finger-wagging.

My quit-smoking procedure is very straightforward. I invite the prospective client to come and meet me, so that I can explain how the process works. At the same time, of course, my guest is `sizing me up` and forming an impression of where I do my work (not in a `clinic`, but in my living room!). S/he also has the opportunity to ask any questions, and get rid of any preconceptions and apprehensions about the hypnotic state itself.

If after chatting my client is happy to proceed, we do the treatment there and then. It takes no more than half an hour to induce the hypnosis and read the non-smoker script. Most such scripts are simply `packages of suggestions`, sometimes wrapped up in visualisations, which deliver an unequivocal message to the subconscious mind that the conscious individual now wishes to become a non-smoker.

When people attempt to give up smoking by sheer willpower, a conflict is usually created because of the way the conscious mind thinks. An individual might tell himself firmly, `I have become a non-smoker!`, but two minutes later might be thinking, `I`d do anything for a cigarette!.` This sends contradictory signals to the subconscious which, rather than switch the habit on and off, simply keeps it running because that`s the easiest thing to do (the behaviour that requires the least energy). For the same reason, nicotine patches can be anything but effective. The subconscious mind is again confused by the conscious determination to quit, followed by the injection of nicotine into the body via the patch. Sometimes the two things can happen simultaneously!

The most effective way to quit smoking is to guide the conscious mind into that relaxed and tranquil state misnamed `hypnosis` - I prefer to call it quiet consciousness. Then, to lay out clearly and simply all of the instructions that the subconscious mind has to follow to satisfy the wish of the conscious mind in this matter. During the hypnosis, the client`s conscious thoughts can drift, as in a daydream, or she can pay attention to what is being said, in which case I ask the individual to agree (and nothing else!) with the suggestions I`m making.

I charge a flat fee for the treatment, and give the client a tape which I ask her to play daily for about a fortnight. This serves to reinforce the message. It also allows the individual to become very practised at drifting into quiet consciousness should she need to come back to see me...As part of the deal, I offer an optional second session within a month of the first, if the subject is having any difficulty at all in not smoking. This is because either the individual resisted hypnosis at the first attempt, or else there`s a deeper reason anchoring the smoking behaviour in the subconscious mind. The second session serves to determine if such is the case.

When Anna rang to enquire about smoking, she said she also had Chrone`s Disease, an inability to relax, lower back pain (caused by the Chrone`s, she had been told), psoriasis, and an acute pain in her right side. I said that my flat-fee charge only covered the smoking, and that to deal with the others she`d need to book up a course of treatment...

Anna explained that, if the hypnosis worked for smoking, she felt she`d have the confidence to embark upon an exploration of the other matters. I said that was fair enough, and we booked the appointment.

When we met about a week later, I found Anna to be a very smartly dressed lady in her early forties. She had long fair hair, a slightly nervous smile (as do many people coming to hypnosis for the first time!), but rather troubled blue eyes. She was very thin, due to the debilitating effects of the Chrone`s Disease, I guessed. Anna chatted about this without prompting, recounting how she`d had the problem for a number of years, and had even undergone surgery to have nineteen centimetres of bowel removed. This had not cured the Chrone`s, which had returned quite quickly after the operation.

At this stage I said little about what hypnotherapy could accomplish. I did not want to bombard her with what she might think were outrageous claims of healing: she needed to develop confidence in me and in the process by becoming a non-smoker first of all, so without any further preamble I began the induction...

Anna started to cough during the `count-in`; a dry, tickly cough that sometimes happens because of apprehension, so I used my Lozenge Technique...I asked Anna to pay particular attention to the warm, safe, comfortable place where she imagined herself to be, and to look closely for a drawer or a small cupboard nearby. In that drawer or cupboard she would find a packet of throat lozenges of her favourite flavour. I asked her to unwrap one and pop it in her mouth, and immediately to feel the soothing liquid trickling down her throat, easing away the tickly cough, and any tendency to cough. I pointed out that the lozenge would last for the rest of the relaxation session. Anna`s coughing subsided, and remained that way for the duration...

This indicated to me that Anna could relax - as most people can, deeply and easily, if they are shown how. It also meant that Anna was happy and comfortable to accept my suggestions - So I carried on with the non-smoking script, and brought her out of hypnosis after another twenty minutes or so.

*

I was rather surprised when Anna rang me a week later. She said that the smoking had come back, and that naturally she was disappointed. I asked her if she felt the first session had been a success in any way...

" Well, oddly, yes, it did succeed, in a way. When I got home after seeing you I was dying for a cigarette. I didn`t have one, of course; but in the morning the craving had gone entirely! I couldn`t believe it..."

" But then the craving came back?"

" Yes, over the next couple of days..." She paused, then went on. " I`ve been taking a course of steroids for the Chrone`s. I finished the course just after I saw you, but the steroids have had no effect and the Chrone`s Disease is as bad as ever...I think I went back to smoking partly because I was so fed up and disappointed about that..."

" OK, I understand. You mustn`t feel bad about it in any way."

I asked Anna if there had been any changes in the smoking habit.

" It`s strange," she said, " because before the hypnosis I used to smoke steadily through the day at work, and in the evening. But now I only get the craving in the evenings...And there`s something else: the pain in my side has got much worse over the past week, and I only get that in the evenings too! It`s worrying...Do you think it could be a coincidence?"

I was pretty sure the correspondence of symptoms wasn`t a coincidence, but rather than say that and alarm Anna, I said that the best way to find out would be to ask her subconscious mind. I had a slot in my diary for later in the week, and I booked her in for her second session.

In hypnotherapy, I have found two epithets which have been remarkably useful in underpinning my philosophy and guiding my practice. The first comes from Ernest Rossi - All symptoms are signals. The other, from Dr Raymond Abrezol, asserts that, All disease is memory.

Both of these ideas highlight the fact that there is no separation between the body and the mind. Thoughts, feelings and behaviours form an unbroken loop in the being of any individual: `thoughts` both conscious and subconscious, `feelings` meaning one`s day-to-day moods and one`s general outlook on life, `behaviours` including conscious voluntary actions and the overall physical state of the body, which is under the control of the subconscious mind. If Anna`s smoking behaviour had changed, and if this coincided with an increase in the pain in her side, then to my way of thinking her subconscious was trying to tell her something important - and that the origins of that something lay in her past experiences.

I decided to use a different approach to the session with Anna this second time round. The fairly long induction of hypnosis - a classic procedure laced with suggestions that the subject is feeling warm and sleepy, etc - is my `customer-friendly` standard, allowing clients time to realise that nothing out of the ordinary is going on; giving them time to settle-in to the idea that all they are doing is becoming relaxed and tranquil, and more sensitive to the inner world of their thoughts and feelings. However, if despite my opening explanations a client remains apprehensive, then the longer induction gives her time to dwell on those apprehensions: hypnosis is not achieved, and no useful work can be done.

On this occasion, then, since Anna seemed worried by what had happened, I used a hand-pass method of quickly establishing selective thinking - focusing her conscious mind on the task of creating an impression of a place that was safe, pleasant and comfortable...And while she was busy with this, I asked if her subconscious mind would come forward and use Anna`s voice and hearing to communicate about the important matters that had brought her here tonight.

Anna now looked very relaxed, though with an expression of intense concentration on her face as she constructed her imagined reality.

" Am I now talking to subconscious-Anna?"

She slowly nodded. Yes.

" Thank you. Subconscious mind, the first thing I want to do is reassure you that we are not here to judge or condemn or to criticise anything that you have done in Anna`s life. My experience with hundreds of clients has led me to realise that the subconscious always does things for what it believes to be very good reasons...So our aim tonight is to understand the matters which are concerning conscious-Anna so much. Because it is our belief that the whole individual can live most successfully and effectively in the world when both parts of the mind, the conscious and the subconscious, work together and in harmony, rather than in conflict and disagreement. So we are not seeking to judge your work or take anything away from you, subconscious, but to learn more - and through that learning reach a resolution of the difficulties I`ve referred to.

" Are you prepared to accept my reassurances, subconscious?"

Yes.

" I`m glad we are off to such a positive start...Subconscious, the topics which I`d like to discuss with you tonight are Anna`s smoking behaviour, and what she is calling her pain in the side. Are you happy and comfortable to discuss these matters with me now?"

Yes.

" OK, again subconscious I`m grateful..."

I said this with a smile on my face. My experience of dealing with people in hypnosis is that the subconscious mind is very effective in all that it does. It is also never wasteful of energies. The clipped, economical responses I was receiving reflected those facts. And, since the subconscious is very literal in the way it understands things, one must always be prepared for the answer to the question one asks - and nothing more.

" I`d like to deal first with the smoking behaviour. Is that acceptable to you?"

Yes.

" Right. Subconscious, as a result of our previous relaxation, did you accept my suggestions and allow Anna to become a non-smoker?"

Yes.

" I see. So have you, in the past week, recreated Anna`s smoking behaviour for an important purpose in her life?"

Yes.

" Will you explain to me now exactly why you have recreated the smoking behaviour in Anna`s life?"

Yes.

" Go ahead, subconscious, with my thanks..."

A few seconds of silence followed, and I could see that Anna was preparing to answer. In this state of quiet consciousness, Anna`s conscious mind was not `switched off`, and remained aware of the flow of impressions coming up from the subconscious. It was quite likely that she - conscious-Anna - was already receiving the understanding that was about to be communicated to me.

So she goes outside...Came the reply, spoken quietly and slowly.

" Subconscious, you recreated Anna`s smoking behaviour so she would go outside - Is that right?"

Yes.

" Why does she need to go outside to smoke?"

She mustn`t smoke inside...

" It`s a non-smoking house, is that right?"

Yes.

" OK. But, subconscious, why do you want Anna to go outside?"

So she doesn`t work...

" Why is it important that she doesn`t work at home?"

She works in the day...

" And you don`t want her to work at home in the evenings also, am I correct?"

Yes.

" I see. Tell me subconscious, why don`t you want Anna to work at home in the evenings as well as her working in the daytime?"

She works too hard...

" Ah...So are you concerned about her working too hard?"

Yes.

" Why are you concerned about her working too hard?"

Because Mummy worked too hard...

At this point I knew we were approaching the heart of the matter. For one-session smoking cases, I don`t bother to take any family details; but I could guess what the subconscious reply to my next question was going to be.

" Subconscious, what happened to Mummy because she worked too hard?"

Mummy died.

" And so, you have brought back Anna`s smoking behaviour, in the evenings only, to get her out of the house; because by going outside she will have to take a break from her work? And in doing this, you are endeavouring to prevent Anna from working too hard, because you believe that Mummy died because she worked too hard. Is my impression accurate and true?"

Yes.

As I have been so often in the past, with many clients, so I was impressed again by the sheer sense and logic of what the subconscious was trying to do. And yet, it was a child-like logic, created and held in a child-like part of the mind. The fact that any adult could look at this subconscious reasoning and see that it was probably flawed was not the issue: one gets results in hypnotherapy not by challenging or arguing with subconscious beliefs, but by working with them.

" And so, subconscious, you are using Anna`s new smoking behaviour as a protection against her working too hard, like Mummy did: is that so?"

Yes.

" Hmm, can see how it would be very effective, too...But subconscious, you know, don`t you, the damage that cigarettes can do to the body?"

Yes.

" And so, I wonder, would you be prepared to consider a better protection than the smoking behaviour for Anna, if I could suggest one?"

Yes.

" All right. Please consider the following idea, and let me know when you have fully thought it through..."

Since Anna was able to relax into quiet consciousness very readily, I suggested that instead of taking a break from her evening work by smoking, she took twenty minutes or so to listen to my relaxation tape (which I supply to every client), or simply count herself into self-hypnosis for the same purpose.

The subconscious mind found that an acceptable idea, so I addressed my comments to Anna`s conscious self and asked if she was happy with this compromise.

" Yes, I am."

" All right Anna, what I want you to do now, simply and sincerely, is to promise your own subconscious that you will take the relaxation break I suggested, based on its assurance that the smoking behaviour will vanish as a result. Go ahead and do that, Anna, and let me know when you`re done..."

A minute or so later, she indicated she was ready to continue.

" OK. I want to thank both parts of you, Anna, for working together so readily for the empowerment of the whole individual...And now, turning my attention again to the subconscious part of the mind - are you ready to allow us to understand more about what conscious-Anna is calling the pain in her side?"

Yes.

" Have you created that pain as a pattern of behaviour which serves a purpose in Anna`s life?"

Yes.

" Will you now tell me what purpose the pain in the side serves in Anna`s life?"

Yes.

" Go ahead now, subconscious, thank you."

Gives her something to worry about...

" Why do you want to give Anna something to worry about?"

It takes away her energy...

" Why do you want to take away her energy?"

It stops her working...

And there, of course, the penny dropped. The pain in the side served the same purpose as the recreated/modified smoking behaviour - forcing conscious Anna to leave the work she brought home from the office with her, based on the childlike-subconscious belief that because overwork had killed Mummy, it would do the same to Anna herself.

Having verified that my impression was correct - you can never make assumptions in individual cases - I checked that the subconscious was happy to allow the relaxation compromise to work in place of the pain behaviour. Of course, it was. And I felt confident that for as long as conscious-Anna kept her side of the bargain, she would reap the benefits of no pain in her side and continuing as a non-smoker.

Since our relaxation time was coming to an end, I had the subconscious turn down the pain in the side while it was making the necessary changes to dispose of it entirely. When Anna came out of hypnosis, she was delighted that the pain had vanished, and felt fully confident in booking up a further appointment to begin work on the Chrone`s.

*

Chapter 2: Brief Therapy.

One lady came to my free first consultation wanting to know if hypnotherapy could help her with a number of problems she had, including overweight, a lack of confidence, and arthritis. I said that no good hypnotherapist would ever offer a guarantee of success, but that given the co-operation of the subconscious mind, we should be able to resolve any given problem in around six sessions. I went on to explain that once the precedent of resolution-through-understanding had been established for one problem - the one we target first being the most intrusive in the person`s life - others tended to topple more quickly. I estimated that, all being well, we could dispose of the problems she mentioned in around a dozen sessions.

Even as I was speaking, I could see the scepticism growing in her expression.

" I don`t expect you to believe me," I added. " Just be prepared to go along with the process...Be open-mindedly sceptical if you like, but let me do my work..."

" I actually have a great faith in hypnotherapy," she replied. " It`s worked very well for a friend of mine..."

She then went on to say that she had previously been for hypnotherapy treatment for the problems she`d mentioned - and it had taken almost a year over the therapy at a cost of nearly one thousand pounds!

" But that`s absurd...Anyway, if you`ve already been for hypnotherapy, why are you coming to see me now for the same problems? Obviously your previous therapist didn`t cure you of anything! What benefits did you get?"

The lady looked rather sheepish because of the strength of my reaction. " Well, I felt better at the time, while I was going to see him...He was very kind, and always listened when I talked about my problems..."

I explained that it wasn`t a hypnotherapist`s job to be a sympathetic listener - or indeed a counsellor, unless the therapist had the appropriate qualification and the client specifically requested that service. All of the information needed to dispose of a problem completely and permanently lies in the subconscious part of the mind; and the ultimate aim of hypnotherapy is to effect such a cure. Anything less amounts to symptom suppression, or a job badly or partially done.

The whole value of hypnotherapy is that it exploits the mind`s abilities and powers in a completely natural way. And, as I`ve said, it`s quick and effective - sometimes so effective that even I`ve been surprised...

A lady whom I`ll call Sarah came to see me for a problem of overweight. And believe me, she was dangerously overweight, and readily agreed to go ahead with treatment because she was getting desperate.

" I`ve tried everything I could think of to lose weight; diets of every sort, pills, acupuncture, herbal remedies...I lost weight very effectively doing Weight Watchers, but as soon as I came off their programme, I bloated out again. So you`re my last hope, Steve..."

" Hypnotherapy is often called the treatment of last resort," I told her. " Because of the reputation it`s got through stage acts and so on, people are frightened of it, or sceptical about it, or think it`s a cranky, fringe kind of thing...But folks still come along when nothing else has worked for them."

Sarah asked me why her other avenues had failed.

" I`m not qualified to comment on other therapies, and I certainly know very little about nutrition," I said. " But I do know that your subconscious mind has created your overweight for a reason. And as I say in my induction, your subconscious mind attends to thousands of tasks every moment that are necessary to keep you alive. It is immensely powerful - far more powerful than the conscious mind. So when the subconscious creates overweight, and through sheer will power you try to lose weight without knowing the reason for its existence, the subconscious will resist you. And it will always win."

Sarah said she could hardly believe that me just talking to her could allow her to lose the several stones she wanted to be rid of.

" The purpose of me talking to you is twofold. First I talk to the conscious you, to guide you into a relaxed state whereby you become sensitive to your inner world, rather than the world of outer reality. Then I talk to the subconscious part of you, so that it will reveal information pertinent to the problem you want to resolve..."

" Well, if you can persuade me to lose weight, I`ll be really grateful - "

I stopped her there.

" No, Sarah, I`m not going to persuade you of anything. Your overweight happened for a reason, which is based upon a belief created by a perception of things that have occurred in your life. I can`t and won`t attempt to persuade you to alter your beliefs. All that happens is that we access the information that created the belief, that created the reason for the overweight. When you understand the whole picture, you`ll be able to decide for yourself if you want the overweight or not."

Sarah said it still sounded like a miracle.

" It`s only as miraculous as the mind itself," I replied. " So, shall we get on now and do the work...?"

My normal plan is to use the first session of treatment principally to allow the client to experience hypnosis. I introduce myself to the subconscious mind, explain the purpose and ethos of the subsequent questioning, and then ask if the subconscious mind is prepared to co-operate in the matter at hand. Given a Yes response, and if there`s time left in the session (which there often is), I begin to approach the problem.

It happened this way with Sarah. She relaxed wonderfully well, and her subconscious was happy and comfortable to discuss the subject of overweight. It had, it revealed, created the overweight as a prevention of emotional harm...

" I see. Subconscious, are you endeavouring to prevent emotional harm to Sarah herself?"

No.

" Are you endeavouring to prevent emotional harm to someone in particular?"

Yes.

" Does conscious-Sarah know the person for whom the prevention we`re discussing was created?"

Yes.

" Will you allow me to know who this person is?"

Yes.

" Subconscious, using Sarah`s voice now, tell me who the prevention represented by Sarah`s overweight was created for..."

Gary.

" I see. Please explain Sarah`s relationship with Gary."

Husband...

" Right. So you created overweight in Sarah to prevent her husband Gary from being harmed emotionally, is that right?"

Yes.

" I see. And did you create the overweight for any purpose other than as a prevention of emotional harm to Gary?"

Yes.

" Please go ahead now and explain to me what is that other purpose..."

...Prove...I love him...

" You created overweight also to prove you love Gary?"

Yes.

" Are you endeavouring with the overweight to prove you love Gary - to Gary himself?"

No.

" Please explain to whom you are endeavouring to prove you love Gary..."

...All...

" Everybody?"

Yes.

" Subconscious, something must have happened to set you on the path to the creation of the pattern of behaviour we`re calling overweight - is that so?"

Yes.

" Now with regard to the incident that did set you on the path to the creation of the pattern of behaviour we`re calling overweight - is that incident known to conscious-Anna?"

No.

" Are you prepared to allow conscious-Anna to understand the incident we`re referring to?"

Yes.

" Subconscious mind, with regard to this first incident; did you experience any unpleasant emotions at that time?"

Yes.

" In order for conscious-Anna to understand that first incident, is it necessary now for her to experience any of those unpleasant emotions in any way?"

No.

Had the response been Yes, then I would have asked the subconscious to minimise those emotions by toning them down and making them very brief. The subconscious will usually allow this, since the re-experiencing in full of past unpleasantness or trauma is rarely beneficial or useful.

Given the subconscious mind`s reassurance in this case, I asked for it to communicate in the most effective way it knew how an understanding of `the first incident` to Sarah`s conscious awareness.

Within a minute, I saw a change come over my client`s face. I asked if she now understood why overweight had been created in her body, and she answered consciously, " Yes."

I brought Sarah out of hypnosis and asked if she`d like to explain to me what she had learned (Clients don`t need to do this, of course. If information is private and personal, they can keep it too themselves. But I`m always curious to know the background to resolutions...).

" Until I became engaged to Gary I was quite slim and happy with my weight," Sarah told me. " Gary himself has always been bulky, but this didn`t matter to me...In hypnosis just now I recalled a friend of mine coming up to me and almost sneering as she whispered in my ear, `You`re not actually going to marry that fat guy, are you?`... And my answer - "

Sarah shrugged and smiled rather tearfully.

" Your answer," I added, " was to prove how much you loved him in the most effective way your mind knew how - by aligning yourself with him: by showing the whole world that you were on his side, not theirs."

She nodded. " That`s it. But I don`t need to do that any more. I realise that I have a much better proof...We`ve been happily married for seventeen years and have two lovely teenage children. That`s a much more powerful statement of the fact that I`m on Gary`s side."

I agreed with her of course, and during our next relaxation time I checked that there were no other contributory incidents to the overweight problem (There weren`t), and that the subconscious mind was now prepared to allow for its complete and permanent disposal.

" I now feel confident that I can go on any diet I want," Sarah told me as I showed her out, " and lose as much weight as I like."

She was right. And reaching that point of change in her life had taken two sixty-minute sessions.

*

An almost universal misconception about hypnosis is that the hypnotherapist or hypnotist (I`ll use `hypnotist` with reference to stage acts) takes over the mind of the subject being hypnotised. This is a complete fallacy - but some people believe it even after I have guided them into a state of what is essentially self-hypnosis.

One lady came to me with the problem of anxiety. She settled into hypnosis, but resisted all attempts to establish a useful communication with her subconscious mind. Let me emphasise that it was her conscious self that was resisting. After about ten minutes she became very agitated and said, almost panicking, " Get me out - get me out of this. Let me wake up!"

" You are awake," I told her firmly. " You are already out of hypnosis - Just open your eyes and prove that to yourself."

She did so, feeling a little embarrassed over her outburst. To reassure her, I had her close her eyes and then I formally `counted her out` to reassure her that all traces of the hypnosis had vanished. I went on to explain that I could allow her to learn from her subconscious without even going into hypnosis: she would be completely awake and fully in control.

The lady said she would think about it and get back to me. She never did, which was the outcome I had expected.

I wish the following case had happened before the previous one, since then I could have used it as a useful anecdote to help reassure the anxiety client.

This particular case was a smoker - I`ll call her June. She told me as we chatted about the smoking treatment that she was `very strong willed and intelligent`, and that because of this she didn`t think I would be able to `put her under.`

" I don`t like using the term `under`, June," I told her firmly. " It sounds too much like going under water. I`m simply going to show you how you can use the skills you`ve just mentioned, strong will and intelligence, to learn from your subconscious mind and gain more control of your life. The equation is a simple one: knowledge + awareness = control. If you are prepared to break what is probably only a habit of smoking, then we`ll get on and do the work now. But let me emphasise, because you`re in control the whole time, if you decide not to go along with the process, then you`ll have gained nothing; you will also have wasted your money and nearly an hour of my time. The decision is yours. Make it now."

June opted for hypnosis. The session went well, I judged, although subsequently June said she felt she hadn`t been hypnotised. However, she had seemed relaxed and self-involved as I delivered my package of non-smoking suggestions. At the end of the session I gave her the reinforcement tape to play.

" This repeats the message to the subconscious mind," I pointed out. " It also gets you used to the whole routine of becoming more and more in touch with your subconscious mind, if you need to come back for a second session. Play it daily for about a fortnight - That`s not a command you have to obey; it`s your commitment to yourself."

She took the tape and left. I expected her to ring back for another appointment, feeling she had probably resisted hypnosis the first time round. When she did ring, about ten days later, I was able to slot her in that day due to a late cancellation.

After June arrived I had her tell me how she`d got on after the first session, and in playing the tape. She shrugged matter-of-factly.

" I played it like you said, and I think I relaxed. But I never lost my craving for cigarettes."

" Do you really want to give up, June?" I asked her, with no edge to my voice at all.

" Well, yes. But maybe there`s something stopping me."

" We`ll find out."

First I asked June to close her eyes and imagine a pair of scales, very delicately balanced. I said that one pan were all the reasons for giving up smoking (better health, more money saved, greater social acceptability, etc). On the other pan were any reasons for not giving up smoking..." Even if you don`t know those reasons, June, they`re there on that side of the scales. Just let them be there if that`s what`s in your mind..."

I told June to hold her hands out, palms upwards, and imagine that pair of scales.

" Are you right-handed, June?"

" Yes."

" OK, then let the right hand be the non-smoking hand, and the left hand is the keep-smoking hand. Let those scales balance out now by themselves...Just let it happen, June...That`s right..."

Slowly her left hand moved downwards, with a corresponding upward movement of her right. Even though her right-handedness predisposed her to being more aware and in control of that hand, it was the left hand that was conveying the message.

" Just let those hands move slowly down towards your lap now - but only as you decide you want to relax and learn more. I want you to allow those hands to fall slowly only if you decide to relax and become more aware of and sensitive to yourself. Do you understand that, June?"

She nodded, and the hands continued to sink downwards.

" When the backs of your hands touch your lap - and only then - will you become deeply relaxed and able to discover if there`s a reason behind the smoking behaviour..."

Over the course of the next minute, June`s hands dropped and then touched her lap. There was a look of intense concentration on her face, which then became one of puzzlement as her brow furrowed. Shortly afterwards the look of knowing took its place.

" So is there a reason for the smoking to continue, June? You can answer me quite consciously."

" Yes."

" Are you able to use your new knowledge to make an informed decision about that smoking behaviour?"

" Yes."

" And so do you want that smoking behaviour to stop?"

" No," she said at once, and promptly opened her eyes.

June thanked me as I showed her out.

" I now know why I need to go on smoking," she said. " It`s quite amazing..."

And so I was left feeling enormously frustrated that I didn`t know! But that`s the way hypnotherapy goes...The client is in control the whole time.

*

The practise of hypnotherapy requires great confidence and self-assurance. People continually send out a complex weave of signals to each other, many of them very subtle and subliminally received (ie; picked up by the subconscious, without any conscious awareness). So any wavering or uncertainty on the part of the hypnotherapist attempting treatment swiftly communicates itself to the client.

Naturally enough, as in any walk of life, a startling success boosts one`s confidence and strengthens the image of assurance one projects to other people.

Lilian had heard me talking about hypnotherapy on a local radio programme, and subsequently came for her free first consultation. She was a spirited though tired-looking lady in her early seventies, and told me that she wanted to get rid of a number of problems. These included asthma, eczema on her hands, angina and colitis - although she said she`d been told five years ago that the colitis had gone, but she had bowel trouble to this day. Asthma, she said, was by far the most debilitating of these. Lilian also smoked, and when I asked if she would like me to get rid of the habit for her, she came out with something quite startling.

" It`s odd, but I`ve tried to give up smoking several times in the past. And whenever I do so, all my symptoms really flare up."

" You mean, the symptoms of all the problems you`ve just mentioned to me?"

" Yes. I went to my G.P. and told him this. He said that, far be it from him to advocate smoking - but if it kept my other ailments at bay, I should go ahead and smoke."

I bit back the impulse to pass judgement on such sound medical advice, and instead wondered if Lilian would like to have a first session of hypnosis, so that we could begin tackling the asthma which was such a burden to her. She readily agreed (after negotiating a concession because of her age!), and when I saw her the following week, we got straight down to the work...

I always begin a first session with a count-in to hypnosis. This usually works very well, allowing people time to realise that nothing strange or unexpected is going to happen, and that they are in control of the situation the whole time. On the other hand, if clients are more than a little apprehensive to begin with, the lengthier induction gives them time to worry about it!

I thought this was the case with Lilian, who kept her eyes steadfastly open all the way through the count.

" Decide whether you`ll feel more comfortable closing your eyes now, Lilian, or in your own time. You choose which..."

Her eyes closed immediately. I smiled and continued with the deepening of hypnosis - which is to say, guiding Lilian to become much more involved with the scenario I was asking her to imagine. Shortly thereafter, I opened up my dialogue with the subconscious mind, got through the usual first-session business, and, having obtained co-operation, set about exploring the asthma problem.

The subconscious mind revealed that the asthma had not been created as a protection, prevention or warning (the most common reasons), and it was not prepared to let me know right then what function the asthma served.

" Are you prepared to let conscious-Lilian know what purpose asthma serves in her life?"

Yes.

" Will you let her know right now?"

No.

" Are you prepared to let Lilian have the understanding we`re referring to within a week?"

Yes.

" Thank you, subconscious mind."

I did my usual negotiation to minimise unpleasant symptoms - and then asked if the subconscious would be prepared to do something equally important...

` Subconscious mind, you`re well aware of the matters that Lilian has brought to me for treatment: and you know too that she feels that asthma is the most debilitating and unpleasant of these in her life. We`re deeply grateful that you`re prepared to co-operate in allowing us to understand more about the asthma - but I wonder, subconscious, if you`d be prepared to turn down Lilian`s asthma symptoms as our understanding develops and we move closer towards a resolution of the difficulty?

" Before you respond, let me add that we are not judging or criticising the reason why you created the asthma in Lilian`s life. And we are certainly not attempting to take away that reason! Because of this I hope, subconscious, that you`ll feel able to turn those asthma symptoms down, with the proviso that you`ll bring them back if the need arises, but only to the extent to which they are needed.

" Are you prepared to do this for the benefit of the whole individual, of which you are an important part?"

The subconscious readily responded, Yes, and after further thanks, I broached another matter.

" There`s something more I`d like to ask you about...It`s a topic I discussed with Lilian just before our relaxation started. She reported to me, subconscious, that on past occasions when she`s tried to give up smoking, the symptoms of various disorders she`s brought for treatment have flared up.

" Subconscious, is there a direct and significant link between Lilian giving up cigarettes, and the flare-up of the symptoms I`m referring to?"

No.

" Is it purely a coincidence that the symptoms we`re talking about flare-up when Lilian gives up smoking?"

Yes.

" I see. Thank you for settling this matter..."

Sometimes people want the course of their treatment to take the form of one session per day for a week, so desperate are they to be rid of their problem. I never agree to this, for the reason that the subconscious often has `homework` to do during sessions. In Lilian`s case, the subconscious needed time to communicate the reason for which it created her asthma: and one of the golden rules of good hypnotherapy is that you never rush, badger or bully the subconscious mind.

Many reasons exist for the necessity of this time lapse. The subconscious never (in my experience at least) does anything frivolously or on impulse. Because its job is to ensure the survival of the individual, it can`t afford to act without consideration - though in matters of pure reflex, ducking when someone shouts `Look out!`, for example, this rule may not hold.

So if the subconscious has been asked to make a change, in this instance, to change the state of the conscious mind from not-knowing to knowing a vital piece of information, it will require a period in which to consider the implications of that change. I often ask people to imagine that the mind is like a spider`s web. The spider-consciousness sits at the centre, feeling the little tremblings and quiverings of the web itself; though it often takes no notice of them. The web itself represents the subconscious mind, which is a network of linked threads of meaning. To change one strand, the subconscious needs to reflect on how that alteration will affect every other strand - and the spider in the middle. This is nothing to do with kindness or `being thoughtful`, but is purely a question of effective survival.

And so, since Lilian`s subconscious required the best part of a week to communicate the understanding we had requested, I decided to wrap-up the relaxation for tonight and fix our next appointment.

*

Lilian told me a week later that she`d been on holiday to Cromer, and that her asthma had been much better. A sceptic would say that the change of scene and the sea air were responsible. My view was that a deeper change was the reason.

" I`m glad to hear you enjoyed your holiday, Lilian. Tell me, did you get any insight into why the asthma was created in you?"

She shook her head. " No, nothing came through...Maybe the subconscious mind didn`t want to tell me."

" Well, I doubt that. It said it would tell you...But there must be a reason why you don`t know. Let`s find out more."

Once a person has experienced the formal induction of hypnosis, they usually have no qualms about recreating the state. And indeed, contrary to what some authorities believe, folks can go deeper and deeper into hypnosis each time.

Lilian became deeply relaxed very quickly this time (though she still waited for me to tell her to close her eyes!), and I began my dialogue...

` Subconscious mind, with regard to the reason why you created asthma for Lilian in her life...We had your assurance that you would allow her to understand that reason: did you attempt to communicate it to Lilian`s conscious mind?`

Yes.

" Did you experience some difficulty in that task?"

Yes.

" I see. Did the difficulty arise with yourself, the subconscious part of the mind?"

No.

" So the difficulty in communicating the reason why you created asthma for Lilian came from conscious-Lilian herself, is that so?"

Yes.

" I see. Please ask conscious-Lilian whether she`s prepared to receive that understanding now...(I pause for a minute). Have you received an answer from the conscious mind?"

Yes.

" Is Lilian now prepared to understand?"

Yes.

" Fine..." I questioned the subconscious further, established that although unpleasant emotions were involved in the understanding, the conscious mind did not need to experience them. The subconscious also undertook to complete the task within five minutes, and was happy for me to understand too, once hypnosis was over.

The task actually took under a minute, the right-Yes index finger lifting clearly for me to see.

" Thank you subconscious, that was very fast work. Does Lilian now understand why you created asthma in her life?"

Yes.

" OK. Does she need to know more from you - in the form of contributory incidents - in order for her to make an informed choice about whether the purpose served by the asthma is needed any longer in her life?"

No.

" I see. So did the understanding you`ve just communicated take the form of the recollection of an incident?"

Yes.

" And was that incident the one that led you to create asthma for Lilian?"

Yes.

" Is the incident you`ve just revealed to Lilian the only incident involved in the creation and maintenance of her asthma?"

Yes.

" Please ask Lilian now if she needs or wants that asthma in her life...Let me know her decision when you`re done."

After less than a minute, the No response arrived.

" Lilian no longer wants the asthma, is that right?"

Yes.

I went through my usual double-check and tidy-up procedure which ensures that both parts of the mind are happy and comfortable to let the complete and permanent disposal of the problem go ahead. The subconscious indicated it needed three weeks to finish the job.

Then I brought Lilian out of hypnosis and asked her, " So, what was it that created the asthma?"

" I don`t know," came the reply. I think my mouth dropped open at that point.

" What do you mean, you don`t know? The subconscious doesn`t play silly games - it told me it had let you know!"

She frowned, as though remembering, and said slowly, " Well, I sort of remembered what it was...Just for a second...I felt upset...It was like a dream, and vanished again in a moment..."

The pieces now began to fit. I guessed that the subconscious had allowed Lilian to understand, but had protected her from being upset by snatching the information away again. I put this idea forward and wondered if she`d like to have that memory again, and this time be able to retrieve it whenever she wished.

" Well," she said unsurely, " I`ll try..."

I grinned at her broadly. " You don`t need to try: we`ll just ask the subconscious to help us."

I relaxed Lilian back into hypnosis with a quick induction method and asked to speak to the subconscious.

" Subconscious, you`re aware, I know, of the conversation I`ve just had with Lilian. Was my supposition about why she can`t remember the incident-at-the-heart-of-the- asthma correct?"

Yes.

" Subconscious, we are so grateful to you for your concern, but you heard Lilian say that she`d like to have access to that memory whenever she wishes. Are you prepared to allow her that ready access?"

Yes.

I issued the instructions and saw Lilian`s face change, a mixture of sadness and fondness sweeping across her features. When she came back out of hypnosis, she asked me: " Could it have something to do with a dog?"

" You`re the one who knows, Lilian. You tell me."

" I had a Labrador for years and years...I took him in as a stray. He died five years ago. That broke my heart, because I loved him to bits..."

" When did your asthma start?"

" Around the same time, five years ago. I would have loved another dog to replace her - you know, for company. But my family said it would irritate my asthma."

" You never had asthma while your dog was alive, Lilian?"

" No, not at all."

" Then I suggest when your asthma goes away, you could maybe think about another dog for yourself."

I had read in various books that asthma often represents uncried tears in one`s life. I would never of course assume that that was true in any particular case; but it certainly appeared to be in Lilian`s. The asthma had been an echo of the sobbing she`d perhaps forced herself to stop, the grief of loss she`d tried to push away instead of letting it run its course. It made sense...

I was also intrigued to note that the asthma had started at about the same time her colitis supposedly ended (to be replaced by `bowel trouble`?). Since Lilian decided she wanted to continue treatment, I felt pleased to have a chance to explore possible links.

Resolving the asthma problem - a disorder that had almost crippled her for five years - took two sessions; less than two hours` work. I felt pleased that we`d achieved this, and just about managed to manoeuvre my head through the door as I showed her out.

Not that hypnotherapy is necessarily a brief therapy. One case that was ongoing at the time I was dealing with Lilian had already taken seven months, over twenty-one sessions, and involved more than fifteen problems. But that`s another story.

*

Chapter 3: Near Failures, Non-Starters And Success At Last.

I have heard some authorities argue that there are no bad patients, only bad therapists. To an extent that`s true: all hypnotherapists should come prepared with a toolkit of strategies for allowing any client to get the best possible results from a session. That`s not the same, however, as saying to a client, ` Look, the hypnotherapy`s not working for you, so how about if we try a little counselling - or maybe some psychotherapy?`

On the other hand, it is undoubtedly the case that a number of factors in the client herself can inhibit the effectiveness of hypnotherapy, or even prevent the treatment from starting in the first place. Scepticism can have an enormously detrimental effect - And I`m not talking about the open-minded scepticism of scientific curiosity. I mean the negative doubt of narrow-mindedness, which open comes with an emotional weight of hostility behind it.

I first met this reaction even before I had decided to train to become a hypnotherapist. At that time in my life I felt very stressed, rather trapped in the routine of a job I was no longer enjoying, and angry that I couldn`t do anything about what I saw as the unfairness of the entire situation. I read lots about stress and `anger management`, and learned the very useful lesson that in order to solve a problem, you change your circumstances - or you change yourself.

That led me to attend an open day at David Lesser`s Therapy Training College in Kings Heath, where hypnosis for relaxation and other purposes was explained to us. Then, after an excellent buffet lunch, we were taken through to another room where around twenty garden recliners were waiting to receive us.

" We`ll do the group hypnosis workshop now," said David`s daughter Helen, also a hypnotherapist and tutor.

We took our places on the recliners, and I admit to feeling both sceptical and nervous. I thought, though, that was rather absurd: I didn`t really believe that I could `be hypnotised`, because maybe the whole idea of hypnosis was a scam; but on the other hand I was scared that it would work, and that my mind would be taken over and dreadful secrets would be revealed (or else, at the very least, I`d be forced to do a ballet dance in front of everyone else!).

I decided that wouldn`t happen. I was going to be in control of the entire situation, and nothing would occur that I wasn`t entirely happy to allow...Of course, these are the very principles I explain to every client who comes to me, together with the fact that one enters hypnosis from a state of conscious consent.

But on that occasion, back in 1990, I wasn`t the only one feeling suspicious and unnerved. One man dragged a tape recorder out of his bag and told Helen he was going to record the workshop.

Helen gave him one of those wry glances of hers, and shrugged. " That`s no problem. But you will hear every word I say, you won`t lose consciousness, and you are going to get a tape of the induction script at the end of the day..."

Even so, this gentleman`s negative scepticism was so strong that he would not be reassured - and of course, got nowhere near entering hypnosis. No doubt he left the building convinced that hypnosis was all a fraud, and that people who got results from hypnotherapy were just kidding themselves (though how you pretend your arthritis or migraines or whatever has gone away, I don`t know...).

No-one is suggesting, of course, that automatic belief or faith in hypnotherapy is a prerequisite of success; and certainly the gullible often don`t get the best results from treatment, often because they`ve absorbed plenty of mumbo-jumbo about hypnosis, fringe therapies or ideas, the paranormal or other esoterica. The attitude to treatment that I encourage is summed up in Dr Brian Roet`s book All In The Mind?, in which he advocates an awareness that a problem exists, a determination to solve the problem through change, a willingness to explore diverse methods of change, and a strength of commitment to pursue any chosen methods of change through to their natural conclusions. That does not guarantee success; but, as the saying goes, `Failure is not falling down, but staying down.`

Other inhibitors of successful hypnosis, apart from scepticism and fear, can be the desire for intellectual explanations or rationales of the process. The trouble here is that if the analytical-judgmental conscious mind constantly tries to monitor what`s happening as it`s happening, then it`s much harder for the subject/client to get involved and `go with the flow` of the session. This dilemma reminds me of John Lennon`s famous epithet that `Life is something that happens while we`re making other plans.` The best plan is to live life, to be involved in it. And similarly with hypnosis.

Finally, there are those people who feel that they can`t be hypnotised ; because they are too strong-willed, or too intelligent, or have too much imagination...Or too little of these! ` I just can`t get into it,` is the frequent lament of these individuals. The most usual cause of such difficulties (if it isn`t any of the above), tends to be the fact that they`re trying too hard, which is the exact antithesis of going with the flow. I talk at times like these about those fascinating Magic Eye pictures, which look like abstract designs, but which contain startling 3D images if you look at them in the right way. Trying to see the image by sheer force of effort is entirely pointless: you need to ease off, just to let the eyes defocus until the depth and clarity of the hidden picture become clear. Then, once you have achieved this, you wonder how you could ever have failed to see the 3D details in the first place.

Even so, some clients still feel they just can`t `do` hypnosis; in which case there are techniques of indirect hypnosis that can be used, or even ways of allowing the individual to access her subconscious without using hypnosis at all in its usual sense (I`ll say more about this below).

Ultimately, if nothing seems to be working, I`ll suggest another therapist, or at the very least that the individual takes some time to consider whether she`d be happy and comfortable to have me continue the treatment in my own way, and that she`d be prepared just to go along with things and let it happen. When things come to this, I give my client, upon leaving, a piece of advice I picked out of an old book of hypnosis, J. Louis Orton`s 1942 volume, Hypnotism Made Practical:

The secret of control of oneself is easy assumption, and that the harder one tries to bring about a phenomenon whilst under the conviction of inability, the more pronounced is the failure.

*

That `easy assumption` is the non-effort required to drift into hypnosis, and it can be created and used in clients in a number of ways.

Within ten minutes of Kathy coming to see me for her consultation, I had grave doubts about the successful outcome of any treatment. She said that she`d decided to consult me - and would definitely want therapy - because her partner, who was very psychic, had seen me in a dream. Kathy had been startled when I answered the door, because I actually looked like the dream image of myself! Kathy herself had also tried to `find the path` by following the teachings of a famous guru, whose name now eludes me. The fact that she was sitting in my lounge indicated the guru`s wisdom had not quite done it for her yet...

Let me be clear. I don`t disdain the paranormal or the supernatural, or simply that which is unknown to us at present. I delight in what the naturalist Chet Raymo once said in Honey From Stone: Scratch the surface of knowledge and mystery bubbles up like a spring.

What I do disdain is the tangle of fuzzy ideas and manipulative philosophies that unscrupulous people can peddle to exploit the hurt and the vulnerable. I also know from experience with hundreds of clients that there is no need to evoke any mystical concepts in order for cures to occur - and those cures lie within the minds of the clients themselves, and not with any mysterious power I might wield, channel or apply.

" I`ve come for overweight," Kathy said. " And I also have a dreadful fear of the dark - I`ve left my car parked right outside your gate, is that OK?"

I assured her that was no problem.

" I know I`ve been unhappy in my life," she went on, " but though I can`t remember much of my childhood at all, I`m sure nothing bad has happened to me...I`ve tried slimming lots of times. When I was in Israel, I tried to lose weight through acupuncture. It worked well, though after I had my baby I just put weight on again, and just can`t seem to lose it now..."

I let Kathy chat on. She seemed very nervous, and had picked up a cushion from the sofa where she sat and placed it on her lap, perhaps for comfort or to create a barrier between us. She went on to explain that her partner was the father of her baby, Floyd, but that he had three other children by a previous marriage.

" I really do want to lose weight...I just want control of my life again. And, you know, if I can`t control what I look like, then that has other effects, doesn`t it?"

I agreed that being happy with the way we look is important. After delivering my usual `lecturette` about hypnosis and the course the treatment would take, I booked up our first session.

" I`m really looking forward to it," Kathy said as she left. " I really want it to work."

When we met again, her nervousness seemed to have intensified. I reassured her that all I would be doing is talking to her, for the beneficial purpose of allowing herself to learn more about her overweight...

" I went to a psychiatrist about it," she interrupted with a rather brittle laugh. " And about my fear of the dark...And other things...I`m very unhappy in my life and - well - I`m getting aggressive with Floyd about it...I was punched by my father, you know. I haven`t really hurt Floyd...I don`t want to hurt him. And I`m obsessive about keeping my house clean."

I said these were all things that she could understand better. " You want control in your life, Kathy, you said so. Well, a good place to begin is by understanding more so you can control the way you are; become the way you want to be."

She nodded and beamed at me, and opted to lie flat out on the sofa for her relaxation...But she kept the cushion on her lap the whole time.

One way I often use to establish initial contact with the subconscious mind is to designate one finger on each hand as the response fingers; usually a finger on the right hand for Yes, and one on the left hand for No. Having explained this to the client as she relaxes, I touch each finger and then go through the visualisation of having her imagine that I`m tying a big, bright, powerful helium-filled balloon to each response finger.

" And those balloons have two important benefits. The first is that the fingers they`re attached to now begin to feel lighter and lighter, as the balloons take away all the weight, and all the responsibility for weight, in those fingers. And you can feel delightfully surprised by that sensation of lightness, and use it now to allow yourself to drift deeper and further into relaxation...

" The second benefit, equally important, is that the balloons allow the fingers to which they`re attached become very sensitive to the slightest movement of the balloons - So that any movement of the balloons will cause the right or the left finger to lift without any conscious thought or effort...And subconscious, I ask that the balloon attached to the finger on the right hand will move, causing that finger to lift, when the answer to any subsequent question I ask you happens to be Yes...And subconscious, I ask that the balloon attached to the finger on the left hand will move, causing that finger to lift, when the answer to any subsequent question I ask you happens to be No..."

I then re-emphasise the purpose of the questioning - to understand, not to judge - and ask if the subconscious mind is prepared to co-operate. The finger-lifts which usually follow are called ideo-motor responses: responses generated by the subconscious mind, while the conscious mind suspends disbelief, goes with the flow, and `plays the game`.

In Kathy`s case, nothing happened. I sighed quietly to myself, went through the rigmarole of using a cylinder of helium to pump more gas into the balloons so they were much more powerful, and tried again. Nothing happened.

I told Kathy just to let those balloons do their work, while I asked her to imagine a place that was safe, comfortable and pleasant. Then I suggested that shortly she would invite someone to join her in that place.

" Now Kathy, this person might be somebody you know; it might be someone you know about, but would very much like to meet...Or this person could be entirely a creation of your own imagination, in which case he or she will surprise you very pleasantly...But whoever you invite into the place where you imagine yourself to be, it`s important that you feel happy and comfortable speaking with him, or her. And this person must also be someone you trust, and whose advice you know you can rely on... Because your guest, Kathy, will represent the subconscious part of your mind - so therefore, this person will have access to all the information we need in order to resolve the problems you`ve brought here for treatment. And you know, because you want the treatment to work, because you want to be able to control your life consciously, your guest I`m sure will be perfectly happy to co-operate with us. And so now, or in a few moments - but in your own time - I want you to invite the person we`ve been referring to into your safe place...And let me know when you`ve done that..."

The person duly arrived and Kathy told me her name was Sally. I wondered if Kathy would prefer to speak with me directly, using Kathy`s voice, or if conscious-Kathy would be more comfortable relaying Sally`s answers to me.

" I`ll tell you what she says," Kathy responded.

" That`s fine. I`m pleased to meet you, Sally, and I wonder now if you will in fact co-operate with us in allowing conscious-Kathy to understand more about what she`s calling overweight in her life?"

" Sally says yes, she will."

" I`m grateful Sally, thank you...Now Sally, tell Kathy please if you have deliberately created the overweight behaviour for a reason in Kathy`s life?"

" Yes, she has."

" Right. So the reason why you created the overweight must be an important one. We`d like to understand more about that reason, and so, Sally, will you tell Kathy now why you created what we`re calling overweight in her life?"

After a brief silence, Kathy said, " Sally doesn`t know..."

And it was then that my suspicions crystallised into certainties. I`d been talking to the conscious part of the mind all along. Kathy wasn`t in hypnosis, and was holding back from allowing her subconscious mind to offer anything.

Because one vital function of the subconscious is to create a `map of reality` to help us to survive, it cannot afford to discard or erase any detail that reaches it from the outside. Any one of the millions of pieces of mundane or trivial information that goes into the subconscious might one day become profoundly significant in the light of subsequent events. Because of this, the subconscious has access to all of the events, incidents and experiences in our lives. Furthermore, because the information we need to understand in hypnotherapy is already significant to the subconscious (since it`s used it to create and maintain an influential pattern of behaviour), given subconscious co-operation, those memories can come forward readily and easily.

In short, there`s no such thing as `I don`t know` to the subconscious mind.

All of this work had taken up most of our relaxation time. I went through the routine of thanking `Sally`, and wondered if she would project something important with regard to the overweight matter into Kathy`s conscious awareness during the course of the next week?

" Yes, Sally says she will."

" That`s marvellous. Kathy, I want you now to thank Sally simply and sincerely for the help she`s given this evening, and have her take her leave. When she`s gone, let me know and I can count you back to full wakefulness..."

" I felt I was trapped in a small room," Kathy said when she opened her eyes. " I wasn`t in a safe comfortable place at all; it was like a hole. Very confining...Steve," Kathy added, " I know it didn`t work tonight. I was trying so hard for it to work - "

" But Kathy, I`ve explained that - "

" Yes I know I don`t need to try. You said that. But I really want it to work. I`d hate you to say you can`t help me."

" I can help you best - and you can help yourself best - by just going along with the process."

She nodded. " I find it hard to relax, that`s all. There`s so much going on in my life at the moment."

" All right. Next time you come we`ll try a different approach. I won`t even mention hypnosis to you, or relaxation. You don`t even need to close your eyes, unless you want to..."

" How can you do that?"

" You just keep them open."

" No, I mean - " Kathy giggled as she realised I was joking. " How can you hypnotise me without hypnosis?"

" I`m not going to hypnotise you next week at all."

" I hope you`re not just going to give me advice!"

" The wisest advice will come from you, Kathy. Just be patient and wait to see how it works..."

*

" There`s something I didn`t tell you last week," were Kathy`s first words as she arrived for her next session.

" Are you happy to tell me now?" I wondered.

She nodded. " I think the hypnosis was working...I mean, when you asked Sally about the reason for the overweight - I just knew the incident that went with it was a horrible one - my eyes were flickering like mad."

" But Sally didn`t want to tell you about something that might upset you, is that right?"

" I suppose so," Kathy said, looking at me now for the first time. " The person I based subconscious-Sally on is a friend of mine: she really is called Sally...I`ve known her for years, and we`re really close. She wouldn`t do anything to hurt me."

" No-one is trying to hurt you, Kathy: we need for you to understand the incident in order for you to be healed."

" I understand that."

" Which part of you understands that?" I asked her.

" Um, all of me I guess."

" But some part is frightened to know?"

She paused for a moment. " Yes, I think that must be true."

" And some part - the Sally-part - wants to protect you from hurt by not telling you..."

" OK, not all of me wants to know."

" But an important part of you does - "

" The part of me that wants to lose the overweight problem and get on with my life," Kathy admitted.

" Do you want your cushion?" I said.

" Are we about to begin?"

We had, of course, already begun. I smiled at Kathy as she picked up the cushion and plumped it on her lap.

" There`s no need for you to lie down this time. You don`t even need to close your eyes, unless you feel happy to do so. And I`m not going to mention hypnosis - so you don`t have to try not to try to do it!"

She grinned at that, but I could see she was wondering what would happen next.

" I`m asking questions about the parts of your mind that want to know more about the overweight and those parts that are trying to protect you, and so on...You see, I`m fascinated by all of this."

" The mind`s a wonderful thing."

" Absolutely right. and, you know, although I`ve explained to you about the conscious and subconscious parts, really these are just convenient tags to keep the story simple. Actually, the mind is incredibly complex; so complex that I`m sure nobody understands it fully. There are so many parts to the mind...So why don`t we consider one particular part tonight - "

" The subconscious?"

" No, not the subconscious - although I think the part I mean has an involvement in the subconscious..."

" I don`t think I understand this."

" Do you ever get drunk at all, Kathy?" I asked, and she chuckled as if to say, `More than I ought to!`

" Well so do I. And, you know, I`m always intrigued to realise that, even when I`m drunk, there`s a little part of my mind that isn`t drunk at all! It`s the part that actually says, ` Steve, you`re drunk. You can`t focus on things and your mouth won`t work properly. I don`t think you ought to have that next one...`"

" Tell me about it!" Kathy replied.

" It`s like that little voice, that little sober part, is watching over things; just keeping a wise eye open, and offering advice when it thinks it`s needed...And what interests me especially is that the sober-part is part of me: although it`s `only in my mind`, that voice gives good advice. It`s wise, and it wants to help."

" I hadn`t thought about it like that before."

" We can make use of that part of the mind. It`s not simply my conscious mind - because it talks to the conscious bit of me that`s drunk - "

" You mean, the semi-conscious bit of you that`s drunk!" Kathy laughed.

" Um, well we won`t say too much about that...And it`s not entirely subconscious, because it speaks clearly to my conscious self, and uses the intellectual reasoning abilities that I normally associate with consciousness, rather than with subconscious logics...Anyway, whatever it is, it has a foot in both camps. Can we call it `the part that watches wisely`?"

" If you like."

" Well, whatever we call it, it will just be a convenient label. Now, going back to last week...You felt that Sally was trying to protect you: you also felt at one point that you were trapped in a small room, in a hole..."

" That wasn`t very nice."

" I`m sure it wasn`t. But the part of you that watches wisely was standing back at a distance, watching all of this going on."

" I wasn`t aware of it."

" Have you been aware of the clock ticking on the wall there?"

" Well, uh, no - "

" Not until we pay it some attention. So let`s pay some attention to the part that watches wisely..."

" Did I tell you about the dream I had?" Kathy asked out of the blue. I thought she was putting up more resistance and delaying the session, yet dreams are important - and I knew I might be wrong; this might not be resistance at all, but the start of her opening-up to understanding.

" No, you didn`t."

" It was more of a nightmare. I dreamed that Nazi paratroopers landed all around our house, and one of them was hurting Floyd...And I didn`t say to you that I have been hitting Floyd - not hurting him - it`s just to stop him crying sometimes - and I`m really ashamed of that..."

" Kathy, I`m not making any judgements about you. You know that."

" Yeah, I know. And I also didn`t tell you," she went on sheepishly, " that I`ve been stealing my partner`s Beta-blockers to calm me down. He doesn`t know, of course."

" Your partner uses Beta-blockers?"

" He needs to work through some stuff in his life," Kathy replied. I wondered why he didn`t use his psychic powers to help himself...

" The main thing is that this dream was full of anger," she continued. " I saw the Nazi abusing Floyd, and I attacked the Nazi...Later, Floyd and me - and the Nazi attacker - were all in the same rehabilitation centre. It was awful. I felt trapped."

" Not a pleasant dream at all..."

" It was so full of anger. I can`t tell you how much. What does it mean?"

" You know more about that than I do, Kathy. And there are ways of finding out... Dreams are all to do with the mind sorting stuff out on a subconscious level; processing information using symbols or metaphors as a kind of shorthand, is my belief. Sometimes the subconscious mind deliberately projects dreams into conscious awareness - "

" Hallucinations?"

" Maybe. But also if we wake in the night remembering a dream, or if we bring dream images up out of sleep with us in the morning: that can be a deliberate act of the subconscious mind."

" I think my self-confidence has dwindled since I had Floyd. People don`t recognise me as a person any more...Do you think this has something to do with my weight problem?"

" Well, ultimately everything is connected to everything else in the mind, like the strands of a spider`s web. But we`re looking for direct and significant links between the overweight and things that have happened in your life. Just to speculate consciously like this may not be enough."

" So what do we do?"

" We ask the part that watches wisely to do its thing. Just have it stand back and watch you - all of you - your body and all the levels of your mind, conscious and subconscious - and see what understanding comes forward."

" What if nothing comes?"

" The part that watches wisely is very patient..."

" Do I close my eyes?"

" Only if you`re comfortable doing that...I`ll shut up now and let you get on..."

" Maybe I`m just too complicated to understand myself," Kathy said with a kind of sigh, as her eyes closed and she became involved in the process...

Using this technique, the hypnotherapist too needs to be patient, responding only when the client needs a response; not feeling the temptation to hurry or interfere with the inner dialogue, nor to feel awkward during long silences.

Kathy sat quietly for five minutes, then she said, " My brain`s gone into a blank...I haven`t got any thoughts..."

" Now that`s really fascinating," I answered. " It takes a lot of skill - and a deliberate act - not to have any thoughts! It would be great to find out why you`re not having any thoughts. Let the part that watches wisely ask about that. Then stand back and find out..."

" I`m not getting anything at all - not even everyday thoughts."

" Ask about what`s blocking your thoughts, Kathy."

" I`m scared...I just thought, it`s almost like I`m scared because I don`t want to know why."

" Why are you scared of knowing why?"

" It`s all fuzzy...It`s working - If I know the reasons why, then I have to make the changes..."

" No, you don`t have to make the changes. If you know why, then you can make an informed choice, one way or another."

" All right...Now I`m not scared - Am I just saying this?"

" How do you feel right now?"

" I`m not scared."

" OK. Is part of you still blocking, then? Become sensitive to this."

Another minute went by. Kathy`s face held an expression of absorption, and of anticipation. She frowned, concentrating.

" I just thought - can I hold on to it? - Now when I was eleven my friend died of Leukaemia...On the Friday before she died we bought her a Chinese meal...I really wanted her to eat that meal, to nourish her...But she wouldn`t eat it...And she died on the Monday..."

" `And` she died on the Monday? Are you linking those two things, Kathy?"

She nodded slowly. " Maybe that`s why I eat too much, because I wanted her to eat...No, because I thought that if I don`t eat, I`d die like Louise had done..."

" Do you feel that`s right? Are these useful insights?"

" Eleven is around the age at which I started looking after myself - It`s a complicated story! - But that`s when I started putting weight on."

Kathy`s intuition about the incident that set her on the path to overweight felt right; her immature subconscious mind making the connection between not-eating and dying. There is a connection, of course - if we don`t eat, then eventually we`ll die. But in this case it seemed that the reaction was to over-react through overeating: it was a protective response triggered perhaps by Kathy`s changing circumstances when she started looking after herself at age eleven.

Needless to say, it was not for me to suggest these links to her. They are not called insights for nothing.

" When it comes to Chinese food, I`m really greedy. When I lived at home, with the family, and we had Chinese food at the table, I`d really make a grab for the stuff in the trays. I always used to think it was to stop my older sister getting some of my share. But I think there`s this deeper reason now...Wow, I didn`t know I knew this!...Now, it`s all gone blank again..."

Since our relaxation time was coming to an end, I told Kathy just to have the part that watches wisely offer thanks to the rest of herself for the valuable knowledge we`d gained; and, when she was ready, she could open her eyes and notice the ticking of the clock on the wall again!

" That really worked well!" she said, seeming impressed and full of pleasure.

" We`ll do the same thing again next time," I told her, " to see if there`s any more you need to know about overweight, and to begin to tackle that problem of your fear of the dark."

*

At the same time I was treating Kathy for the overweight problem, Frank was coming to see me for what he was calling stress.

" I`ve considered stress counselling," he told me. " What do you think?"

" Well, I`m not a counsellor, Frank, so I`m not qualified to say how effective it would be. All I would say is that the knowledge required to resolve your difficulty lies inside yourself, so I`d be suspicious of any kind of therapist or authority telling you what the problem is, or making links between the pieces of information you offer. Worst of all is when someone takes your unique and individual life experience, and pins it against some general theory of human motivation and behaviour."

" You mean, saying everything boils down to repressed sexuality!"

" Or boils up to repressed sexuality! That`s a good example to use. But anyway, I can`t advise you on stress counselling. Give hypnotherapy a try if you wish. What we call stress is a response to life`s events. The events are outside, but the unhelpful response is inside yourself. We just need to know why that response was created."

" Part of it, I think, is because I feel guilty about hurting others. I mean, maybe I`ll need to reprimand someone at work, but afterwards I`ll feel guilty about yelling at the guy, and take what I said back..."

" Perhaps you`re on the right track, Frank. But when I talk about guilt, I use the legal definition. True guilt comes when you intend harm, and then act on that intention. Did you intend to harm the man you yelled at?"

" Well, no. I was just picking him up on some shoddy work."

" That`s fine, isn`t it? You wanted to improve standards. I`m not saying that shouting was the best approach, but you didn`t intend to harm him - and therefore you didn`t act on any intention to harm. So do you feel guilty or not?"

" I suppose, not in that sense, no....It`s regret, I guess."

" So what purpose does feeling regretful serve?"

" I don`t know...None, really."

" So the mature, adult, intelligent conscious-you has come to realise that this sense of regret doesn`t help you in life. And if it forms a part of what you`re calling stress, then that stress itself is unhelpful, and you want rid of it."

" Is this stress counselling, Steve?" Frank asked, showing the first flash of humour I`d seen from him.

" Heaven forbid. You just let me know if you want to book up that first session of hypnotherapy..."

Frank did decide to go ahead, but as with Kathy, during the first session he felt he couldn`t relax.

" I want to co-operate, but it`s as though my subconscious mind won`t let me..."

" That could be true. But exactly the opposite might also be true - that your subconscious would be prepared to co-operate, and you`re consciously preventing the information from coming forward."

" Why would that be?"

" Am I the best person to ask, Frank?"

He considered for a moment. " Maybe I will try stress counselling after all."

" So you think that a stress counsellor you`ve never met before knows more about your problem than you do?"

" I never met you before last week, Steve?"

" Yes, but I`m not purporting to be an authority upon your unique life experiences. All I offer is a mechanism of allowing you to know yourself better."

" That`s what stress counselling would do."

" I won`t argue with that. I daresay a good counsellor would allow you to formulate the right questions for yourself, and hopefully show you a way of getting the answers. But I have met some rather dubious individuals who`ve set themselves up as therapists or healers or what have you - And frankly they have more hangups than most of the clients I`ve ever dealt with! To paraphrase Leslie Cameron Bandler, don`t get yourself cured of your therapist`s problems!"

" So what are your hangups?" Frank wondered with a mischievous grin.

" Nothing I ever bring into treatment with a client," I answered straight-faced.

Frank`s smile faded and he took a deep breath.

" OK Steve, I`ll give it another shot if you`re happy to do that."

" Perfectly happy. I used the lengthier induction last time, but since that didn`t seem to work for you too well, we`ll use a quick induction now - "

" I didn`t get on with those helium-filled balloons."

" They`re more trouble than they`re worth, - helium`s so expensive these days..."

It was my turn to grin, and Frank`s turn to look deadpan.

This time (for whatever reason), Frank relaxed very well. I had him imagine a safe pleasant place, then asked if the subconscious mind would speak directly to me, using Frank`s voice.

It was happy to co-operate, and revealed that the stress response had been created as a protection, a prevention, and for another purpose that it was not prepared to reveal to me, though would allow conscious-Frank to understand.

" Thank you for your help and advice in this matter, subconscious mind. I`ve explained the purpose of all of these questions...It`s not necessary for me to understand the significance of the events you have used to create and maintain what we`re calling a stress response. But it is necessary for conscious-Frank to understand, fully and completely, in order for a resolution of this conflict to be reached, so that all parts of the mind can work together to allow the whole individual to survive and to flourish in the world. Would you go along with this?"

Yes.

" That`s fine. And so, subconscious, since you`re happy to co-operate in this matter, would you now allow Frank the full understanding we`ve referred to?"

Yes...Not...now...

" Do you need to consider the matter, subconscious?"

Yes.

" Naturally we respect your wishes in this matter. Assuming that Frank books up our next relaxation for a week from today: would your consideration be completed in that time?"

Yes.

" All right. Please begin your consideration of the matter we`ve been discussing...But subconscious, I wonder if, as a token of your wish to co-operate, you would allow conscious-Frank to understand something significant about his stress response right now - not a complete understanding, but something that will reassure him you`re there, and working for the benefit of the whole individual?"

Yes.

" I`m grateful. Please communicate this thing of significance into Frank`s conscious awareness now, in the most effective way you know how. Go ahead with my thanks..."

When Frank came out of hypnosis, he told me he was astonished by the very strong images he`d received `When I was in deep.`

I explained that `being in deep` simply meant he was engrossed in whatever his subconscious mind was telling him, much as you might become deeply involved in a good novel or movie on TV.

" What was most meaningful was that I saw my father`s name - William - in large letters. And I felt I was in my room at home - I mean, the room I had at my parents` home when I was a boy. I could hear the Beach Boys singing one of their songs...I was very much into surfing and guitars. I still am, actually."

" These images do sound very important and useful to you."

" Yes, it was quite emotionally draining..." Frank said, with tears coming into his eyes.

On the strength of what had happened in this session, Frank decided to continue with hypnotherapy, which was successful after another two sessions. Much of the information the subconscious revealed was private and personal, and I never found out just what had started Frank`s stress response and feelings of `guilt`. But I did learn it came down to family (as many people`s problems tend to), and that Frank was able to make positive changes in himself as a result of the treatment - So proving to both of us that he was the best stress counsellor he could have chosen.

*

Chapter 4: Inner Wisdom.

Something that Kathy said stuck in my mind - `Wow, I didn`t know I knew this!`, and that I suppose sums up the power and principle of successful hypnotherapy. The equation is a simple one: knowledge + awareness = control. Once we know what we need to know to realise why we are as we are, then we can make beneficial and profound changes in our lives. What I call `patterns of behaviour` (and clients call problems) Stephen Wolinksy in The Dark Side Of The Inner Child defines as trances: frozen states of memory, learning and behaviour that run automatically in the here-and-now while the decision-making conscious self `sleeps` - that is, remains unaware that the answers lie within. Finding the answers breaks the problematical trances: one trance-ends to an empowered state of greater control and wellness.

Reading Wolinsky, one is left with the impression that the dark side of the Inner Child part of the subconscious maintains problems without thought or consideration. But to whatever extent this may be true, good counsel is also to be found in the subconscious part of the mind, which doesn`t just focus on the here-and-now, as does the conscious self. The subconscious has full and continual access to its map of reality, and to all that happens in the body down to a molecular level. So although the conscious mind likes to be in charge and make one`s decisions in life, the subconscious in a very important sense knows far more, and can frequently offer up advice which proves to be enormously helpful.

Christine came to see me for overweight. She also had a problem with confidence, and had been operated on for cancer some years ago: although the cancer was in remission now, she was interested to find out why it had happened and to see if the problem could be resolved `before it came back.`

We`ll return to these aspects of Christine`s treatment later. What`s pertinent now is that, as we chatted during the consultation, Christine mentioned that she was writing a book, a fantasy novel for adults. Since writing is also one of my great loves, we overran our consultation time rather, but enjoyed swapping anecdotes. A couple of things Christine said pricked my curiosity.

" What I don`t understand, Steve, is that although I`ve been planning my novel for months now, I`m having real difficulty making progress with it...I don`t know, I get all fired up with enthusiasm, but when I sit down and write I just pick at it and never really have a good run at it...Mind you, a couple of friends I met on a writing course, Jane and Julie, have said we can form a little support network - They`re writing fantasy too, so that should be really good..."

Since Christine was going ahead with treatment anyway for her other problems, I suggested we could use a little of our relaxation time to investigate why she wasn`t making progress with her book.

She grinned at me as though I was pulling her leg.

" How can hypnosis allow me to write a better book."

" It won`t," I told her. " That is to say, hypnosis isn`t capable of turning you into a best-selling author, unless you`ve got the potential there anyway! But think about it. You`ve been planning that novel for months. All of the creative ideas you`ve had have been feeding back into the subconscious mind. Apart from that, although perhaps you don`t know it, the subconscious has been working on your behalf, helping to enrich and consolidate the world of the story in your mind - so that when you do write, having tapped into your subconscious resource, all of that material comes out on to the page. Have you heard the old saying, `How do I know what I think until I see what I say?` That sums it up precisely. The fruits of the imagination are picked by the conscious mind, but the roots lie deep in the subconscious: hypnosis is one way of allowing the sap to rise...

" But having said that, your problem isn`t so much constructing the imaginary world of the novel; rather, you`d like to be able to make more progress with the book - get a better run at it, yes?"

Christine nodded. " It`s as though I know where I want to go, but can`t seem to get there."

" So something`s blocking you. Let`s find out what it is..."

Christine was a very good hypnotic subject - which is to say, she was open-mindedly curious to see what hypnosis was all about, and well motivated to have her problems solved. It was a quick and easy matter to gain access to her subconscious mind, which agreed to co-operate in allowing us to understand the nature of Christine`s difficulties with the novel.

" Subconscious, since you`ve agreed to work with us on this, are you prepared now to allow conscious-Christine to understand what she should know and do in order to - as she puts it - make better progress with her book?"

Yes.

" Thank you. Will you do this right now, subconscious mind, as effectively as you know how, and in a way that will be immediately accessible to conscious-Christine?"

Yes.

" Then go ahead with my thanks..."

Less than a minute later, Christine`s expression changed. She had been frowning for awhile, but now smiled.

" Subconscious, have you completed the work you just agreed to?"

Yes.

" And now that conscious-Christine realises what needs to be done to make better progress with her novel, will you continue to guide and advise her until that book has been completed?"

Yes.

We went on to discuss some of the other matters that had brought Christine for treatment, but upon bringing Christine out of hypnosis, the first thing we talked about was her writing.

" I had very very clear pictures...I know what I need to do now..."

" Will you tell me about it?"

he nodded. " The first image I got was of me writing at the computer. I do my rough notes in longhand, then my first draft straight on to the PC. The image I got was of me writing away, but the monitor screen was switched off!"

" I don`t understand that."

" But I do," Christine grinned. " Even as I`m writing, and the scene is unfolding beautifully, I can`t resist going back and editing the text - picking away at sentence structures, altering particular words, wondering if the scene should be longer - or shorter! In other words, I interrupt the creative flow of my writing by trying to redraft even as I`m generating the raw material. The fact that the computer screen was switched off was significant: my subconscious was telling me to take no notice of what was on the screen - just get down and write, Christine!"

" Good advice. Did you get any more?"

" Oh yes. After that impression had been made, I had a powerful picture of Jane and Julie - with a big red cross through them. I had thought, or maybe it was hoped, that they`d support me as I wrote. But I think I was being told two things...First, that I should rely upon my own intuitions and decisions when I write; in short, to be independent. And also, I think my subconscious was telling me not to trust Jane and Julie as much as I intended...I don`t know, but I got the feeling they were not doing things entirely for my benefit."

I pointed out that a great deal of information about our environment, and about people, reaches us subliminally - beneath the threshold of our conscious awareness. Folks who are intuitive are sensitive to, and often act upon, the feedback offered by the subconscious to that subliminal material. Intuition us not a gift bestowed upon a few. It is a skill that can be developed, and self-hypnosis is a powerful and effective way of doing so.

I wished Christine luck with her novel, and told her I looked forward to reading it when it was done.

" And I also look forward, Christine, to helping you to explore an even more intriguing story - the story of your own life, and how it has led you to the problems we`re going to solve in the coming weeks..."

*

Janet`s difficulties were quite different. She came to me with the problem of poor recall, which in the end derived from a conflict that had existed between her and her mother when Janet was a little girl; and the fact that the family had moved from a house she`d loved, to one she hated on sight.

When Janet arrived for the penultimate session of treatment - the watershed session, as I call it - she complained of a migraine headache which had been plaguing her for three days. And earlier that day, she`d one of her `dizzy spells.`

" Some years ago I had a serious virus infection which damaged my inner ear. I`ve had dizzy spells on and off since then. They tend to be bad when things are not going so well at work..."

" You`re sure the virus damaged your inner ear?"

Janet smiled tiredly. " I`m an audiologist, so I ought to know."

" And you`re sure the dizzy spells are caused by that damage?"

" What else could it be?"

" Well, since I`m sure we`ll have time this session, why don`t we ask the part of you that can give us some answers...?"

Janet often came for her evening appointment looking tired. She had told me previously that she was finding the pressures of her job hard going, and so appreciated the chance to `switch off` in relaxation during our sessions. She went into hypnosis, therefore, very easily and quickly - with relish, you might say. So I was quickly able to ask her subconscious mind for its co-operation.

" Subconscious, you are aware that Janet has the impression that her inner ears were damaged by the virus infection she suffered some years ago...Is this impression accurate and true?"

Yes.

" I see. Is there anything you can do to repair the damaged parts of her inner ears, subconscious?"

No.

" Subconscious, Janet also reports to me that the dizzy spells she`s been having are due to the damage to her inner ears. Is this impression accurate and true?"

The response was ambiguous, a little Yes and a little No. This was not because the subconscious didn`t know, but because it had not been able to answer my question unequivocally.

" Subconscious mind, are some aspects of Janet`s dizziness caused by the damage to her inner ears?"

Yes.

" Is it the case, then, that some other aspects of Janet`s dizziness are caused by factors other than the damage to her inner ears?"

Yes.

" Was the dizzy spell that Janet suffered today caused by factors other than the damage to her inner ears?"

Yes.

" I see. Subconscious, we are grateful for your help and advice in this matter...Are you willing and able to use your powers to eradicate these other factors from Janet`s life?"

Yes.

" That`s fine. Is there anything that conscious-Janet needs to know and do to help you with this work?"

Yes.

" Are you now prepared to go ahead and allow Janet to understand what it is she needs to know and do to help you eradicate the other factors causing dizziness in her life?"

Yes.

" Proceed with your task, subconscious, in the most effective way you know how, and with my thanks..."

After a minute, Janet`s expression changed and I knew that task had been completed.

" Subconscious, does conscious-Janet now understand what she must do to help you eradicate the other factors causing her dizziness?"

Yes.

" OK...I`d like now to discuss the topic of what Janet is calling migraine headaches. Are you prepared to co-operate in this matter?"

Yes.

" Good...Janet told me earlier that she has not suffered from migraine headaches before. Is this the case?"

Yes.

" Subconscious, is what Janet is now calling a migraine headache actually a migraine headache?"

Yes.

" Have you created the migraine headache as a pattern of behaviour in Janet`s life?"

No.

" Has the current migraine headache been caused by something other than your endeavours?"

Yes.

" Is the current migraine a purely physiological problem?"

Yes.

" And are you willing and able to use your powers to eradicate this current migraine?"

Yes.

" And are you prepared to offer conscious-Janet advice and guidance on how she can remain free of these migraine headaches in her life?"

Yes.

Again I asked the subconscious to project its understandings in the most effective way it knew how, and subsequently, when I brought Janet out of hypnosis, I asked her to tell me what she`d learned.

She looked a little sheepish.

" The two things are connected - "

" What, the dizziness and the migraines?"

" Yes...When you asked the subconscious to tell me about the dizziness, I saw my kitchen at home filled with bags of coffee beans and Coke bottles - "

I laughed at the image. Janet shrugged wryly.

" It`s actually not funny...I live on coffee and Coke at work. It keeps me going. And when I get home, what do I drink when I try to relax?"

" Coffee and Coke."

" I know I`ve got to give up caffeine, because that`s what`s been bringing on the dizzy spells."

" Sounds like good advice," I said. " What about the migraine?"

" Um, well, what I didn`t tell you was that three days ago, at the weekend, I went out on the town and overdid the white wine a little bit...The migraine started soon after, and it hasn`t gone away...What I saw when you were talking about it was a huge cascading waterfall...Steve, you don`t suppose I could have a glass of water, do you?"

I fetched the water (Janet drank three glasses before she left), and after she`d guzzled it she completed the picture.

" The fact is, I just don`t drink water: if I`m thirsty, I`ll have a glass of Coke or a cup of coffee...I realise now that all that white wine dehydrated me, and that what I did to remedy the matter was absorb more caffeine! How could I be so stupid!"

" Stupidity isn`t being unaware, but failing to act sensibly when you are aware. You know now how to avoid dizziness and migraines. Not to follow your mind`s good counsel would be stupid."

Janet agreed with that. We went on to discuss her poor recall problem for a while longer, and by the time Janet left the house, her migraine had vanished completely.

*

Of course, because the conscious-self is the part of the mind that does make the decisions in life, it`s under no obligation to follow the advice offered up from the subconscious - as we saw with June`s smoking treatment earlier. Occasionally a client will hang on to the symptoms of a problem because that problem itself brings benefits - what are often called secondary gains. Thus, somebody might decide not to dispose of, say, migraine headaches because when she has a migraine, she can shrug off responsibility by shutting the curtains - thereby shutting out the world - and just lie down and relax. The sufferer might also get plenty of TLC from her loved ones, plus sympathy and attention...All of which constitute a benefit that`s not worth giving up to be migraine-free.

As I`ve said before, you can`t force a client to change her beliefs - and no competent therapist would attempt to do so. You must work with the beliefs of the individual, because beliefs are the result of interpretations of life-events, and can only be changed once those events - the circumstances that created and maintain the beliefs - are accessed and reviewed by the client herself. And if she chooses not to change them, there`s really nothing you can do.

Anthony came to see me with an unusual problem. He called it lack of confidence, but I could tell he wasn`t happy with that label, and said so.

" Well, you`re right. In just about all areas of my life, I`m very confident and assured. It`s just this particular situation...Do I need to tell you about it for you to help me?"

" You don`t have to," I replied. "