Relationship Attachment Styles (Part 3)
by Richard Yates MS, LPC, NCC, NBCFCH
SATISFACTION VS DISSATISFACTION
Our level of satisfaction in a relationship has as much to do with our personality characteristics as the relationship itself. The "International Personality Item Pool Representation of the NEO PI-R™" or IPIP-NEO is a personality test that is available online at http://www.personal.psu.edu/j5j/IPIP/> . Personality psychologists have identified five dimensions of personality that are commonly referred to as the "Big Five", based on the "five-factor theory" of personality. These include "extraversion", "agreeableness", "conscientiousness", "neuroticism" and "openness". These traits are measured by the IPIP-NEO and they are powerful indicators of how we view and interact with others.
Hypnotherapy is more effective than nicotine replacement therapy for smoking cessation...
Full title: Hypnotherapy is more effective than nicotine replacement therapy for smoking cessation: results of a randomized controlled trial.
BACKGROUND: The efficacy of pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation is well documented. However, due to relapse rates and side effects, hypnotherapy is gaining attention as an alternative treatment option. The aim of this one-center randomized study was to compare the efficacy of hypnotherapy alone, as well as hypnotherapy with nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), to conventional NRT in patients hospitalized with a cardiac or pulmonary illness. METHODS: We evaluated self-reported and biochemically verified 7-day prevalence smoking abstinence rates at 12 and 26 weeks post-hospitalization. Patients (n=164) were randomized into one of three counseling-based treatment groups: NRT for 30 days (NRT; n=41), a 90-min hypnotherapy session (H; n=39), and NRT with hypnotherapy (HNRT; n=37). Treatment groups were compared to a "self-quit" group of 35 patients who refused intervention. RESULTS: Hypnotherapy patients were more likely than NRT patients to be nonsmokers at 12 weeks (43.9% vs. 28.2%; p=0.14) and 26 weeks after hospitalization (36.6% vs. 18.0%; p=0.06). Smoking abstinence rates in the HNRT group were similar to the H group. There was no difference in smoking abstinence rates at 26 weeks between "self quit" and participants in any of the treatment groups. In multivariable regression analysis adjusting for diagnosis and demographic characteristics, H and HNRT were over three times more likely than NRT participants to abstain at 26-weeks post-discharge (RR=3.6; p=0.03 and RR=3.2; p=0.04, respectively). CONCLUSION: Hypnotherapy is more effective than NRT in improving smoking abstinence in patients hospitalized for a smoking-related illness, and could be an asset to post-discharge smoking cessation programs.
Complement Ther Med. 2014 Feb;22(1):1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2013.12.012. Hasan FM(1), Zagarins SE(2), Pischke KM(3), Saiyed S(3), Bettencourt AM(3), Beal L(3), Macys D(3), Aurora S(3), McCleary N(4). Author information: (1)Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, North Shore Medical Center Salem Hospital, Salem, MA, United States; Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States. (2)Department of Psychiatry, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States; Department of Behavioral Medicine Research, Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, MA, United States. Electronic address: Sofija.Zagarins@baystatehealth.org. (3)Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, North Shore Medical Center Salem Hospital, Salem, MA, United States. (4)Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States.
Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Psychophysiology of Dissociated Consciousness.
Recent study of consciousnessconsciousness provides an evidence that there is a limit of consciousness, which presents a barrier between conscious and unconscious processes. This barrier likely is specifically manifested as a disturbance of neural mechanisms of consciousness that through distributed brain processing, attentional mechanisms and memory processes enable to constitute integrative conscious experience. According to recent findings a level of conscious integration may change during certain conditions related to experimental cognitive manipulations, hypnosis, or stressful experiences that can lead to dissociationdissociation of consciousness. In psychopathological research the term dissociation was proposed by Pierre Janet for explanation of processes related to splitting of consciousness due to traumatic events or during hypnosis. According to several recent findings dissociation of consciousness likely is related to deficits in global distribution of information and may lead to heightened levels of "neural complexity" that reflects brain integration or differentiation based on numbers of independent neural processes in the brain that may be specifically related to various mental disorders.
Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2014 May 22. Bob P. Author information: Center for Neuropsychiatric Research of Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry and UHSL, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Ke Karlovu 11, 128 00, Prague, Czech Republic, petrbob@netscape.net.
Jerry M. Burger, PhD
Dr. Burger's recent research has focused largely on social influence, particularly compliance. He recently conducted a partial replication of Stanley Milgram's famous obedience studies that allowed for useful comparisons with the original investigations while protecting the well-being of participants. The research was featured in the January 3, 2007, broadcast of ABC News' Primetime.
Suggestion overrides automatic audiovisual integration.
Cognitive scientists routinely distinguish between controlled and automatic mental processes. Through learning, practice, and exposure, controlled processes can become automatic; however, whether automatic processes can become deautomatized - recuperated under the purview of control - remains unclear. Here we show that a suggestion derails a deeply ingrained process involving involuntary audiovisual integration. We compared the performance of highly versus less hypnotically suggestible individuals (HSIs versus LSIs) in a classic McGurk paradigm - a perceptual illusion task demonstrating the influence of visual facial movements on auditory speech percepts. Following a posthypnotic suggestion to prioritize auditory input, HSIs but not LSIs manifested fewer illusory auditory perceptions and correctly identified more auditory percepts. Our findings demonstrate that a suggestion deautomatized a ballistic audiovisual process in HSIs. In addition to guiding our knowledge regarding theories and mechanisms of automaticity, the present findings pave the road to a more scientific understanding of top-down effects and multisensory integration.
Conscious Cogn. 2014 Feb;24:33-7. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2013.12.010. Déry C(1), Campbell NK(1), Lifshitz M(1), Raz A(2). Author information: (1)McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada. (2)McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada; Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Québec, Canada. Electronic address: amir.raz@mcgill.ca.
Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Improve Your Writing with NLP
A book review by Tim Brunson PhD
Ranging from everyday people to highly educated professionals, one very popular goal of many is to have their ideas recognized in the form of a published book or article. Indeed, thanks to the opportunities afforded by the Internet, more and more people are expressing themselves in the form of blogs and even those ever-so-brief Facebook and Twitter updates. However, when their desire is to publish in a more substantial format such as an e-book, a printed self-published book, or even one that is done with the assistance of an established publisher, this often takes considerably more planning and discipline. These larger projects are often believe to present insurmountable obstacles But when the art of writing is mastered, efforts can quickly turn into a prolific hobby or source of income.
Future trends in mental health and hypnotherapy
by Tim Brunson, PhD
The relevance of suggestion and imagination as a tool for human transformation is still inadequately being explored. On one hand, the benefits of considering the validity of volition as a tool is largely prevented by those self-styled critical thinkers who sincerely believe that they are protecting the public rather than more likely defending the sanctity of their identity. They insist that their well-established and often legally protected beliefs are valid and supported by scientific evidence. Yet, when actually explored, almost always the strength of their thinking is not found in solid scientific research but rather in popularly held beliefs and editorials that grace staid academic journals. On the other hand, the foes of these skeptics are most likely idealistic thinkers, who insist that what they wish to believe is in fact true. Clearly, there must be a middle ground that both addresses unfiltered reality and allows space for human intellectual evolution to occur.
Management and Diagnosis of Psycogenic Cough, Habit Cough, and Tic Cough: A Systematic Review.
ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Several pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapeutic options have been used to treat cough that is not associated with a pulmonary or extrapulmonary etiology. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review to summarize the evidence supporting different cough management options in adults and children with psychogenic, tic and habit cough. Medline, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Scopus were searched from the earliest inception of each database to September 2013. Content experts were contacted and we searched bibliographies of included studies to identify additional references. RESULTS: A total of 18 uncontrolled studies were identified enrolling 223 patients (46% males, 96% children and adolescent). Psychogenic cough was the most common descriptive term used (90% of the studies). 95% of the patients had no cough during sleep; barking or honking quality of cough was described in only 8 studies. Hypnosis (3 studies), suggestion therapy (4 studies), and counseling and reassurance (7 studies) were the most commonly used interventions. Hypnosis was effective in resolving cough in 78% of the patients and improving it in another 5%. Suggestion therapy resolved cough successfully in 96% of the patients. The greatest majority of improvements noted with these forms of therapy occurred in the pediatric age group. The quality of evidence is low due to the lack of control groups, the retrospective nature of all the studies, heterogeneity of definitions and diagnostic criteria, and the high likelihood of reporting bias. CONCLUSION: Only low quality evidence exists to support a particular strategy to define and treat psychogenic, habit and tic cough. Patient values, preferences, and availability of potential therapies should guide treatment choice.
Chest. 2014 May 15. doi: 10.1378/chest.14-0795. Haydour Q, Alahdab F, Farah M, Moreno PB, Vertigan AE, Newcombe PA, Pringsheim T, Chang AB, Rubin BK, McGarvey L, Weir KA, Altman KW, Feinstein A, Murad M, Irwin RS.
The role of hypnotherapy for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases.
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic disorders of unknown aetiology which are characterized by episodes of exacerbations and remissions. There is evidence that perceived distress contributes to IBD symptom flares; anxiety and depression are frequently found in patients with the active disease. Because there is no cure, treatment has to focus on prevention of complications, induction/maintenance of remission and improvement of quality of life. Gut-directed hypnotherapy (GHT) has been used successfully in functional gastrointestinal disorders. Few experimental studies and case reports have been published for IBD; GHT increases the health-related quality of life and reduces symptoms. Additionally, GHT seems to have an immune-modulating effect and is able to augment clinical remission in patients with quiescent ulcerative colitis.
Expert Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2014 May 12:1-6. Moser G. Author information: Abteilung für Gastroenterologie und Hepatologie, Univ. Klinik für Innere Medizin III, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, A-1090 Wien, Austria.
Mentally Created Neuroplasticity
by Tim Brunson, PhD
In prior articles my focus has been on how neuroplasticity follows sensory-deprivation or changes in how the senses are used. Findings derived from his work with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) patients led Jeffry Schwartz, MD, (2002) a University of California – Los Angeles Medical School neuropsychiatrist to the realization that the signals capable of creating neural reorganization can also come from the mind. His analysis of the causes and treatment for OCD focuses on a small handful of neural substrates. These include the right orbitofrontal cortex (R-OFC), the striatum [i.e. the region of dopamine receptors to include the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)], the limbic system's amygdala, and the caudate nucleus. Together he calls them the "OCD circuit."
Beverly Taylor
Founder and Director of the Easy Key to Life, is an author, speaker, life and wellness coach, teacher and certified hypnotherapist. She endeavors to help improve our world around us. She is the founder of the Easy Key to Life method, which is a simple, yet profound, way of clearing out emotional pain to access one's true love, happiness and wisdom. She has created "Source Healing", in which clients heal the source of their issue and heal from their higher source. This is in addition to having had careers in teaching and computer systems analysis and project management, and as a researcher at the NIH (National Institute of Health).
Beverly is certified in Advanced Hypnotherapy, Medical Hypnotherapy, Pain Management Hypnotherapy, Habit Control Hypnotherapy, HypnoCoaching, Transformational Healing Method, Sports Enhancement Hypnotherapy, and LuxMani Energywork and holds a multiple subject Bilingual Teaching Credential and BA from UCLA. She one of only two people certified to teach the Transformational Healing Method by Marilyn Gordon. Beverly is an honored member of the Cambridge Who's Who and has been awarded the 2005 Achievement Award in Hypnotherapy and 2006 Angel Award from the International Hypnosis Federation, in addition to being a charter member.
Beverly is the author of seven guided meditation CDs, the first-of-its-kind Clutter to Clarity™ Hypnotherapy Program and books, "Client-Focused Smoking Cessation" Manual and numerous courses. Beverly is on the faculty of the Center for Hypnotherapy Certification in Oakland, CA.
For more information, visit www.hypno-therapies.com
Hypnotherapy for labor and birth.
Hypnotherapy is an integrative mind-body technique with therapeutic potential in various health care applications, including labor and birth. Evaluating the efficacy of this modality in controlled studies can be difficult, because of methodologic challenges, such as obtaining adequate sample sizes and standardizing experimental conditions. Women using hypnosis techniques for childbirth in hospital settings may face barriers related to caregiver resistance or institutional policies. The potential anxiolytic and analgesic effects of clinical hypnosis for childbirth merit further study. Nurses caring for women during labor and birth can increase their knowledge and skills with strategies for supporting hypnotherapeutic techniques.
Nurs Womens Health. 2014 Feb-Mar;18(1):48-58; quiz 59. doi: 10.1111/1751-486X.12093. Beebe KR.
© 2014 AWHONN.
Marilyn Luber PhD
Dr. Luber has been practicing Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) since 1992. She is an author and the editor of two books on EMDR. Her expertise includes treating issues related to early and recent trauma. She also addresses general psychological issues and problems such as relational and family issues that arise through life transitions or setbacks.
Are the "memory wars" over? A scientist-practitioner gap in beliefs about repressed memory.
The "memory wars" of the 1990s refers to the controversy between some clinicians and memory scientists about the reliability of repressed memories. To investigate whether such disagreement persists, we compared various groups' beliefs about memory and compared their current beliefs with beliefs expressed in past studies. In Study 1, we found high rates of belief in repressed memory among undergraduates. We also found that greater critical-thinking ability was associated with more skepticism about repressed memories. In Study 2, we found less belief in repressed memory among mainstream clinicians today compared with the 1990s. Groups that contained research-oriented psychologists and memory experts expressed more skepticism about the validity of repressed memories relative to other groups. Thus, a substantial gap between the memory beliefs of clinical-psychology researchers and those of practitioners persists today. These results hold implications for the potential resolution of the science-practice gap and for the dissemination of memory research in the training of mental-health professionals.
Psychol Sci. 2014 Feb;25(2):519-30. doi: 10.1177/0956797613510718. Patihis L(1), Ho LY, Tingen IW, Lilienfeld SO, Loftus EF. Author information: (1)1Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine.
Pain and the Thermally Injured Patient-A Review of Current Therapies.
Thermally injured patients experience tremendous pain from the moment of injury to months or years after their discharge from the hospital. Pain is therefore a critical component of proper management of burns. Although the importance of pain is well recognized, it is often undertreated. Acute uncontrolled pain has been shown to increase the incidence of mental health disorders and increase the incidence of suicide after discharge. Long-term poor pain control leads to an increase in the incidence of persistent pain. Most burn centers have used opioids as the mainstay analgesic, but recently, the significant side effects of opioids have led to the implementation of new and combined therapeutics. Pharmacological agents such as gabapentin, clonidine, dexmedetomidine, and ketamine have all been suggested as adjuncts to opioids in the treatment of burn pain. Nonpharmacological therapies such as hypnosis, virtual reality devices, and behavioral therapy are also essential adjuncts to current medications. This review aims at identifying the currently available pharmacological and nonpharmacological options for optimal pain management in the adult burn population.
J Burn Care Res. 2014 May 12. Retrouvey H(1), Shahrokhi S. Author information: (1)From the *Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; and †Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Sensory-Based Plasticity
by Tim Brunson, PhD
A major contribution regarding sensory-based plasticity came from the work of a team of neuroscientists in California. In 1996, Michael M. Merzenich, PhD, a professor emeritus neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco (Begley, 2007; Doidge, 2007) and his colleagues reported that when the arms and fingers of monkeys were exercised, the related areas of the motor cortex began to expanded radically, taking over areas that had previously controlled other parts of their bodies. This alone overturned the dogma that stated that the adult brain cannot change. He insisted that the experiences of life sculpt the brain and retain imprints of experiences and performed behaviors. He said, "These idiosyncratic features of cortical representation have been largely ignored by cortical electrophysiologists." (Merzenich et al., 1990).
Laura Amoroso
Laura G. Amoroso is the executive director of the Action Institute for well being in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has been a full time Advanced Clinical Hypnotherapist since 1994 and a Certified Hypnotherapy Instructor since 1997. Laura is certified with, is a member of, and an instructor for: the National Guild of Hypnotists (NGH), the International Medical and Dental Hypnotherapy Association, the International Association of Counselors and Therapists, and the American Board of Hypnotherapy.
Laura has been a speaker faculty member of the NGH convention from 1998-2004,. She has spoken at Gilda's Club, Shiner and Mason events, and teaches for the Mount Airy Learning Tree. A Hypnotherapy Instructor since 1997, Laura has taught Advanced Clinical Hypnosis to research scientists, doctors, nurses, and lay persons.
As a hypnotherapist. Laura has helped well over 1,000 people during the past eleven years assisting them with quitting smoking, losing weight, study habits, pain management, IBS, and reacting to life situations in a calmer manner. She uses hypnosis and NLP for anesthesia for child birthing and pain management, phobias, and age regression therapy. For more information about hypnosis sessions for behavioral changes, visit www.voicenet.com/~lauraa/.
Laura has worked successfully with groups for weight management hypnosis and smoking cessation in union with The Learning Studio's from 1998 to 2002, the Heart Care Group in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 2002, and the Northeast Orthopedics Muscle, Bone, and Joint Center in Philadelphia since 2000.
In the light side of hypnosis, Laura performs a corporate, professional hypnosis stage show giving suggestions for life "confidence" throughout an exciting and funny hour and twenty minutes of volunteers who sing, dance, and talk Martian. The show has been utilized for charity events, school events, and office parties throughout the U.S.
For more information, visit www.lauraamorosohypnosisshow.com
Relationship Attachment Styles (Part 2)
by Richard Yates MS, LPC, NCC, NBCFCH
So, the independents, in my view, fall into these two categories; productive or unproductive. The same will be true for the dependent attachment styles. The productive independents veer toward the autonomous styles of attachment. The unproductive fall into the avoidant types of attachment.
Mindfulness-based hypnosis: blending science, beliefs, and wisdoms to catalyze healing.
We live in a global village, comprised of people with diverse cultural and religious orientations. How do we integrate these different beliefs and values into our clinical practice? Mindfulness-based psychotherapy (MBP), an evidence-based psychological intervention, provides a secular template for assimilating various cultural beliefs and wisdoms in therapies. MBP represents a cross-fertilization between Western psychological practice and Eastern meditative disciplines. Guided by MBP, this article describes how intention, mindfulness, acceptance, gratitude, and the "heart" can be combined with cognitive hypnotherapy to catalyze healing of emotional disorders-particularly depression. This integrated approach is referred to as mindfulness-based cognitive hypnotherapy (MBCH) as it assimilates cognitive hypnotherapy with mindfulness strategies. MBCH represents an attempt to broaden the comprehensiveness of hypnotherapy as an integrated form of psychotherapy. Additionally, based on new understanding of the heart as a complex information center, an innovative hypnotherapeutic strategy for generating psychophysiological coherence and psychological well-being is described.
Am J Clin Hypn. 2014 Jan;56(3):285-302. Alladin A.
Using suggestion to model different types of automatic writing.
Our sense of self includes awareness of our thoughts and movements, and our control over them. This feeling can be altered or lost in neuropsychiatric disorders as well as in phenomena such as "automatic writing" whereby writing is attributed to an external source. Here, we employed suggestion in highly hypnotically suggestible participants to model various experiences of automatic writing during a sentence completion task. Results showed that the induction of hypnosis, without additional suggestion, was associated with a small but significant reduction of control, ownership, and awareness for writing. Targeted suggestions produced a double dissociation between thought and movement components of writing, for both feelings of control and ownership, and additionally, reduced awareness of writing. Overall, suggestion produced selective alterations in the control, ownership, and awareness of thought and motor components of writing, thus enabling key aspects of automatic writing, observed across different clinical and cultural settings, to be modelled.
Conscious Cogn. 2014 May;26:24-36. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2014.02.008. Walsh E(1), Mehta MA(2), Oakley DA(3), Guilmette DN(4), Gabay A(5), Halligan PW(6), Deeley Q(7). Author information: (1)King's College London, Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, London, SE5 8AF, UK; Cultural and Social Neuroscience Research Group, Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Kings College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK. Electronic address: eamonn.walsh@kcl.ac.uk. (2)Cultural and Social Neuroscience Research Group, Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK; Cultural and Social Neuroscience Research Group, Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Kings College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK. (3)Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK; School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK. (4)Stonehill College, Easton, MA, USA. (5)King's College London, Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, London, SE5 8AF, UK. (6)School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK. (7)King's College London, Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, London, SE5 8AF, UK; Cultural and Social Neuroscience Research Group, Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Kings College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK.
Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.
Robert G. Meyer PhD
Dr. Meyers is an internationally known speaker and trainer who has delivered trainings throughout the USA and in 12 countries around the world. Dr. Meyers has trained therapist from 6 of the worlds 7 continents. He has published over 100 scientific articles or chapters and co-authored 5.
Hypnotizability and Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT) polymorphysms in Italians.
Higher brain dopamine content depending on lower activity of Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT) in subjects with high hypnotizability scores (highs) has been considered responsible for their attentional characteristics. However, the results of the previous genetic studies on association between hypnotizability and the COMT single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs4680 (Val(158)Met) were inconsistent. Here, we used a selective genotyping approach to e-evaluate the association between hypnotizability and COMT in the context of a two-SNP haplotype analysis, considering not only the Val(158)Met polymorphism, but also the closely located rs4818 SNP. An Italian sample of 53 highs, 49 low hypnotizable subjects (lows), and 57 controls, were genotyped for a segment of 805 bp of the COMT gene, including Val(158)Met and the closely located rs4818 SNP. Our selective genotyping approach had 97.1% power to detect the previously reported strongest association at the significance level of 5%. We found no evidence of association at the SNP, haplotype, and diplotype levels. Thus, our results challenge the dopamine-based theory of hypnosis and indirectly support recent neuropsychological and neurophysiological findings reporting the lack of any association between hypnotizability and focused attention abilities.
Do older adults change their eyewitness reports when re-questioned?
OBJECTIVES: This study examined how older adults responded to different types of pressure to change their responses when questioned a second time about their memory for a crime. METHOD: After watching a video of a crime and answering questions about remembered details, younger (18-22 years) and older adults (64-91 years) were either given negative feedback about their memory performance, were told that most people their age did poorly on the memory test (stereotype threat), or were simply asked to answer the questions again. This was done regardless of their actual accuracy, and the questions were then repeated. RESULTS: Results showed that both younger and older adults changed significantly more responses following negative feedback and changed more responses on misleading than on nonleading questions. Among older adults, as age increased, accuracy decreased and rate of response change increased. People were moderately confident overall about both their correct and incorrect responses. DISCUSSION: These results highlight the dangers of repeatedly questioning older witnesses with misleading questions and suggest that the responses that are changed may come to be remembered confidently-regardless of whether they are correct or incorrect.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2014 May;69(3):356-65. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbt071. Henkel LA. Author information: Correspondence should be addressed to Linda A. Henkel, Department of Psychology, Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT 06824. E-mail: lhenkel@fairfield.edu.
Using Interference as the Key to Transformation
by Tim Brunson, PhD
Regardless as to whether or not the phrase "finding the hero within" truly symbolizes that potential will emerge; the route taken during transformation depends on whether the locus of neural functioning is cognitive or limbic-related. This is the same consideration that was discussed a previous article when the propensity for intellectual behavior was balanced with that for pattern-driven behavior. This locus is synonymous with an individual's temperament, as it balances the behavioral activation system and the behavioral inhibition system. [Note the similarity of this concept with the toward and away from meta-patterns taught in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).] Again, each of these involves specific neurotransmitters and specific substrates (Davidson, 1992).
The behavior activation system involves how an individual seeks out stimulus and reacts to the world. It is a more cognitive, frontal lobe entity. Therefore, it is more concerned with the intellect as new perceptions are continuously generating new neuro-physiological patterns. The formation of explicit memories is more prevalent.
Richard Yates, MS, LPC, NCC, NBCFCH
Richard Yates is a Licensed Counselor (LPC), National Certified Counselor and National Certified Fellow in Clinical Hypnotherapy. He has worked as a psychotherapist since 1996 and his experience spans outpatient work in community mental healthcare with the severely mentally ill, inpatient and partial patient care at a psychiatric hospital and practice at a large psychiatric outpatient practice since 1998. He has developed highly successful and innovative couples counseling techniques and strategies and has successfully integrated Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, along with other traditional approaches, with hypnotherapy.
Gary De Rodriguez
Gary De Rodriguez is founder of Life Design International and a State Licensed school for Life Coaching in Santa Fe, NM that provides public and corporate trainings throughout the United States, Australia, Canada and Mexico. His experience, humor and knowledge ensures a content rich cutting edge training experience. He has studied for 15 years with the top NLP trainers in the country, holding several Certifications in Hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).
Gary De Rodriguez is an internationally acclaimed expert in psychology based systems of success in human behavior and experience. For nearly a quarter of a century, Gary has integrated the most effective models of education, psychology, business, philosophy, and influence into a diverse series of programs entitled Life Design.
For more information, visit www.garyderodriguez.com
Evidenced Supported Principles of change
by Tim Brunson, PhD
Psychotherapy is currently undergoing one of the most radical periods of change seen for the past hundred or so years. Originally, those who practice what we have come to consider as the sciences of mental health focused either on replicating methodologies associated with medicine or remained in the idealistic realms (i.e. Jungian). However, most recently those in the inner circles are now beginning to think more systemically and thus have created a hybrid that combines science and more holistic thinking. This trend has already crept into official literature. The recently published DSM-5, upon which most psychotherapists heavily rely, incorporates this new way of thinking for the first time – albeit while still holding on to the diagnostic categories contained in previous editions.
Relationship Attachment Styles (Part 1)
by Richard Yates MS, LPC, NCC, NBCFCH
A number of factors contribute to the ways we connect and bond to relationship partners. Genes that are passed down from our parents can impact who we desire and how we attach to them. For example, the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) gene cluster can be unconsciously detected by a woman, particularly during ovulation. Through her heightened sense of smell she can tell if a man's immune system will complement her own to ensure healthy children (see Rachel Hertz, Ph.D, "Scent of Desire"). The thoughts, behaviors and emotions of our parents also weigh heavy in our romantic bonds. Michael Meaney, PhD at McGill University's Department of Neurology discovered that when he switched rat pups from a calm rat mother to a nervous rat mother, the pups expressed the genes of the mother they were with and also became anxious. Conditions in our childhood environments and the children we played with helped form our personal relationship behaviors. A child who is abandoned by her parents at age 3 may be more likely to fear abandonment by a relationship partner as an adult than a child from a perfect home environment. Biological factors can also influence how we function in relationships. Low IQ, brain injuries or abnormalities as well as disease often limit the ability to form a relationship bond. As in the case of autism, a person may not value a relationship partner above a computer. So, how we attach to relationship partners is affected by many factors.
The use of hypnosis in therapy to increase happiness.
In their journey through life, most people are looking for happiness. Definitions of happiness and the concepts of a pleasant, good, meaningful, and a full life are reviewed. Next, Seligman's (2002) concept of "authentic happiness" and a happiness formula, S+C+V (Set + Circumstances + Variables), are discussed. An integration of happiness, as a goal, and hypnosis, as a facilitative approach, are presented. Hypnotic techniques with case examples are given. Hypnosis is presented as an efficient companion intervention to work on these variables in a creative way and to pave the way to a happy and full life. The following results are presented: (1) hypnosis allows for increased executive attention with control of emotions, (2) focusing on positive imagery contributes to strengthening "happy pathways," and (3) emotions about the past, present, and future are subject to change.
Am J Clin Hypn. 2014 Jan;56(3):269-84. Ruysschaert N.
Age and interviewer behavior as predictors of interrogative suggestibility.
OBJECTIVE: The main objective was to explore the influence of interviewer behavior-abrupt versus friendly-and the age of participants on interrogative suggestibility. METHOD: The study involved 42 young adults and 50 elderly participants. The Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale 2 was used. Data analysis involved a 2-factor between-subjects design (interviewer behavior × age) and mediation analysis. RESULTS: The scores of elderly participants were significantly lower than younger adults on memory indices and significantly higher on some suggestibility indexes. Some suggestibility indices in the abrupt experimental condition were higher than those in the friendly experimental condition. Elderly participants who were interviewed under the abrupt condition were more likely to change their answers after receiving negative feedback than younger adults. Memory quality was a mediator of the relationship between age and the tendency to yield to suggestive questions. Self-appraisal of memory was a mediator between both age and interviewer behavior and the tendency to change answers after negative feedback. DISCUSSION: Mechanisms of the relationship between age, interviewer behavior, and suggestibility are discussed on the basis of the mediational analyses. The findings suggest that a friendly manner should be adopted when interrogating witnesses.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2014 May;69(3):348-55. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbt023. Dukala K(1), Polczyk R. Author information: (1)Correspondence should be addressed to Karolina Dukala, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Al. Mickiewicza 3, 31-120 Cracow, Poland. E-mail: karolina.dukala@uj.edu.pl.
House call counselors
More and more licensed professional counselors are providing counseling services in a clients home. This is fully discussed in an article, which appeared today in Counseling Today The article is by James Todd McGahey, who is a LPC and assistant professor at Jacksonville State University, located in Jacksonville, Alabama. (Incidentally, this university is nearby our headquarters in Anniston, Alabama. Also, we have conducted several courses on behalf of the schools continuing education department.)
The article includes very valuable information concerning the pros and cons of conducting in-home counseling services. We particularly liked the analysis of several of the problems, which may occur, and possible solutions.
Older adults have 'morning brains': Noticeable differences in brain function across the day
This article cites research that indicates that older people have improved cognitive performance early in the day. This is correlated with greater activation of the brain's attentional control regions, which are the rostral prefrontal and superior parietal cortex.
The implications of this is that older adults should focus on more complex tasks earlier in the morning. Also, we believe that tasks such as reading (i.e. speed and comprehension) is greatly enhanced earlier in the day.
It is also noteworthy that the mentioned neural substrates also have a direct role in the hypnotic process. Thus the further implication is that hypnosis, to include self-hypnosis, would be more productive in the earlier part of the day older adults. This is a hypothesis that should be studied further.
