Hypnosis and the brain

Newsweek  Article - September 27, 2004. Hypnosis can help with problems from  anxiety to pain. How it works, and what it does in the brain.

"It's actually a way of enhancing people's control, of teaching them how to control aspects ot their body's function and sensation that they thought they couldn't"

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Wall Street Journal

Altered States -- Hypnosis Goes Mainstream

Major Hospitals Use Trances For fractures, Cancer, Burns; Speeding Surgery Recoveries.

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Sports Performance and Hypnotherapy

Performance For Athletes, Better Focus With Hypnosis

"What hypnosis does is it takes the champion's best performance, makes it available 100% of the time"

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Test-Taking:

By Brad Bonhall, Times Staff Writer

The Power of Suggestion

The Benjamin Moss Hypnosis Center, in Irvine, lately has emphasized hypnosis' potential to help pass tests.

Kent Peppard, a clinical psychologist in Irvine, went to Moss a year ago to help prepare for a written exam for his psychologist's license. "I needed increased retention so I could study longer, " Peppard says. "Some people use hypnosis to lower their anxiety when they're taking a test, but I didn't really need that. I had three sessions, and I was able to increase my study time to 12 hours a day and passed the test the first time."

For Clients who fear test situations, Moss first builds their confidence. "Then I use hypnotic suggestion to enhance focus and concentration, and the third step is positive visualization--getting rid of the image of freezing when walking into the test room," Moss says.

Fleming's Fundamentals of Law, a Mission Viejo firm that helps law graduates pass the bar exam, has a hypnotist on staff, as do other such companies. "We started using hypnotists in 1985 for relaxation and stress reduction, "says director, Jeff Fleming. "Since 25% of the bar exam is mental [preparation], I'm a big believer in anything that reduces stress.

Exercise:

By Michelle Nicolosi, The Register

Mind over Matter

Hypnotists say suggestions can get enough couch potatoes moving.

Amy Heintz aches to be an FBI agent: to wear the chic, navy jacket splashed with bold yellow lettering to right wrongs, to have excitement in her life. But before she can pass training in October, she needs to slim to a size 13. Until recently, although Heintz wanted more than anything to exercise to that end, she just couldn't make herself do it.

I'd get home and I'd just be dead tired, " said Heintz, 31. "I would just blow it off." Desperate, Heintz turned to Irvine Hypnotist, Benjamin Moss, in mid-May. A few sessions later, Heintz is faithfully walking four times a week, her weight is dropping, and she feels fitter than she has in years.

How does it work? Heintz can't quite say. "It was...almost like an out-of-body experience. Continue

Smoking Cessation:

Hypnosis Therapy Battles Bad Habits

Benjamin Moss, a hypnotherapist certified by the American Council of Hypnotist Examiners, helps people stop smoking, lose weight, improve study habits or overcome fears and build self-confidence.

What if I can't be hypnotized?

Nearly everyone can be hypnotized. Hypnosis is a natural state, a state of profound relaxation in which the subject becomes more receptive to suggestions.

Will I be under your control? Continue