Drug Addictions, Anxiety And Antidepressant Withdrawals?

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Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on April 14, 2010 at 7:12pm

HI Doreen,

I would use some Parts Therapy to determine why she is hanging on to the anxiety, what purpose it is serving.

It's interesting, but the symptoms you describe coming from withdrawal of her anti-depressant also are common SIDE EFFECTS of using such medication. Can you turn that into a new awareness for her?

Is she unhappy that she is not having such a "deep" trance experience as before? Or, are you? If she is having trouble attaining a sense of comfort or whatever worked before, time again for some Parts inquiries, I think!

Sounds like a challenging case, Doreen, which I know you love! Let us know the outcome.

Best wishes,

Kelley

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Permalink Reply by Anthony Edgington Sr on April 14, 2010 at 7:30pm

Guess your are between a rock and a hard place and it is decission time tomorrow. You seem to be concentrating on the wrong thing and lack experience to cope with the addiction angle. Depth of trance is not the problem, your inablity to cope is, so no, confusion will not help and you need to pass her on to someone with more skill than you have. Replacing addiction is not that difficult, but it is not possible to pass the information on and have you competent by tomorrow nor is it practicle for someone who has had no contact with your client to be sure that any specific information will help. We are after all unique and must be treated as such....

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Permalink Reply by Doreen Cohanim C.Ht on April 14, 2010 at 9:46pm

Hello Kelly and Cynthia, I have used Parts Therapy and Age regression last visit and no luck, like I said, she is not going into a trance at all, she really tries, but at the same token some part of her make it stop, she use to be going so deep and now, she is not letting it happen, I did all I know, I even use the coma state and no success so far, where before she use to go so deep, and now nothing gets her in, we have had the same challenges for the last two sessions, and that is why I am not able to ask her all the right questions during hypnosis anymore..

Not sure, why she is hanging on to the anxiety or what is the purpose that serves her?

And I wish I can turn all this into a new awareness for her, not sure I can, but I'll do my best tomorrow.

I am OK with it, It is my client who is not happy, since she is not able to go into a deep trance as she used to, and like I said, I did do part and age regression, only with no success, when with others I had an outstanding results.

lol, yes I do like a challenging case, only the her father is on my case and she is around her 30's.

The other think is, last time we worked about decision making and responsibilities and that alone triggered a serious Anxiety, just so you know whats going on, she is dating someone who is a drug dealer, she swears that she is not using drugs, and that he only sells them, and the decision was around her choices in life, and she asked me what would I do If I was her, and If I was going to keep dating a drug dealer, and I tolled her that It was not my place to tell her what to do, and she needs to do that decision by herself, and guess what happened? she started having an Anxiety attack?

Now It's not my place to guess If she is on drugs or not, or to guess, If she tells me the truth or not, I mean It's not my Job to interrogate her, and she claims she wants help, so what do I do now? I mean, how do I deal with it? and Cynthia I'll check the spinning article.. Thank you guys..

By the way Scott, If you read this, can you please come to my rescue :)

Blessings, Doreen Cohanim C.Ht

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Permalink Reply by Doreen Cohanim C.Ht on April 14, 2010 at 9:56pm

Thanks Anthony, And I am sorry to Inform you, but your guess is out of line, and FYI I am not between a rock and a hard place, since I am experienced with addictions, and I didn't come here to share my thoughts, not my lack of experience as how to cope with the an addiction, and as to the depth of trance, for some hypnosis method you need to take the client into a depth and In some areas, you just don't have to, and I know that too, therefore the problem is not my inability to cope with addiction, and unfortunately, you are the one who forgot to pay attention to my request, and If I need to pass my client to someone with more skills than I have, then I will be happy to do that, so far, this was not the case, since I was not questioning my abilities, I was sharing the outcome, looking for other similarities from other professionals.

Just so you know, If you read my post, you will discover that I have decided what to do with my client tomorrow, and I came here to asked for an additional Information.

Thanks for your advice, will keep it in mind and wishing you the best of luck.

Respectfully, Doreen Cohanim C.Ht

www.HypnoCruise.com

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Permalink Reply by Doreen Cohanim C.Ht on April 14, 2010 at 10:10pm

Thanks Cynthia, I just finished reading your article and It may work, I will talk to my client and I may use this method on her followed some confusion and spacial peaceful place when It used to work, but not anymore.

Also, Her father contacted me believing that his daughter could be cursed by family members, any thought on that? Not sure If his daughter believes that, I guess I will find out when she comes tomorrow.

Blessings, Doreen Cohanim C.Ht

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Permalink Reply by Duncan Murray on April 15, 2010 at 12:49am

Hi Doreen

Is this really about addiction? Or is it that she has a realisation that in reducing her antidepressants her ability to dissociate herself from her own issues is coming to an end? As you said yourself 'Not sure, why she is hanging on to the anxiety or what is the purpose that serves her?' Secondary Gains from the antidepressants rather than addiction to them? - Just a thought....

As you said in your original post 'I asked her, do you know what you want from yourself, and the answer was "FREEDOM".'

The client often gives the answer themselves...as you have done Parts etc why not look at a different approach say something on the lines of 'content free therapy' - but with the guidance that she explores 'what 'FREEDOM' means to her in a present and a future that she wants to be' (and yes I did type that correctly - it is meant to sound stilted and slightly odd)... how she can achieve it with all the resources available in her subconscious mind...and possibly for her to also explore how she did feel about herself when she loved/liked herself and how she can bring that to her present and her future

Secondly give her a deepening suggestion that with every in-breath-in she is breathing in calmness and relaxation and with every out-breath-out she is breathing out unnecessary tension and anxiety (repeat twice) and that this will continue throughout the session as she naturally relaxes all the deeper with every breath, relaxes deeper and deeper with every breath....

But this all seems to me that she is anxious that she might actually get better and have to face up to those choices she needs to make....antidepressants are a 'wonderful' excuse not to accept self-responsibility as they effectively say 'I have a chemical imbalance in my brain, I am on tablets, I have less self-responsibility' ...and it can be really scary when you are told that you should be coming off them....'and her doctor ordered her to reduced the intake of her medication, and ever since she started to experience more anxiety,' hmmmm - makes me wonder

Anyway hope this helps

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Permalink Reply by Kathleen Hanover on April 15, 2010 at 7:42am

As someone who was once in the same boat as your client, Doreen, I really have to caution you to work extremely closely with your client's physician (and possibly even a good pharmacist.) Anti-depressants change how the neurotransmitters work in your brain. And obviously, that's going to impact how your brain functions (which is the point of antidepressants, of course.) Which is going to impact how hypnosis works (or doesn't work).

Antidepressants are life-savers. But they are extremely powerful medications, and if I remember correctly, some of them have a very long "half-life" once your body's tissues are saturated with them. The feelings of anxiety your client is experiencing, and all the other mental symptoms, may all actually be generated by the physical withdrawal process, and have nothing to do with her subconscious. (And therefore, hypnosis may not have as much of an impact on them.) The best you may be able to do is to give your client the ability to change catastrophic thinking patterns (conscious patterns) and increase her ability to visualize a positive future.

Until she's off the meds, and has totally detoxed, hypnosis may not work the way you hope it would, because her brain isn't working the way it should. And she's not in much of a position to help you help herself, if that makes sense. Antidepressants simply mess with your thinking processes in ways that are hard to understand, unless you've been on them.

As for this concept that the client is addicted to the antidepressant...well, technically, yes, she's physically dependent on them, if only to hold off withdrawal symptoms. It's not like heroin or ecstasy, though. Antidepressants generally don't make you feel awesome, on top of the world, ecstatic, etc. like street drugs do. In a lot of cases, they just make living seem like a viable alternative to suicide, and that's about it (but that's all you need to save a life.)

So I don't know that I'd really approach this as a typical "addiction" case either.

I wish I had more to offer...but sometimes you just have to "gut it out."

Duncan Murray said:

Hi Doreen

Is this really about addiction? Or is it that she has a realisation that in reducing her antidepressants her ability to dissociate herself from her own issues is coming to an end? As you said yourself 'Not sure, why she is hanging on to the anxiety or what is the purpose that serves her?' Secondary Gains from the antidepressants rather than addiction to them? - Just a thought....

As you said in your original post 'I asked her, do you know what you want from yourself, and the answer was "FREEDOM".'

The client often gives the answer themselves...as you have done Parts etc why not look at a different approach say something on the lines of 'content free therapy' - but with the guidance that she explores 'what 'FREEDOM' means to her in a present and a future that she wants to be' (and yes I did type that correctly - it is meant to sound stilted and slightly odd)... how she can achieve it with all the resources available in her subconscious mind...and possibly for her to also explore how she did feel about herself when she loved/liked herself and how she can bring that to her present and her future

Secondly give her a deepening suggestion that with every in-breath-in she is breathing in calmness and relaxation and with every out-breath-out she is breathing out unnecessary tension and anxiety (repeat twice) and that this will continue throughout the session as she naturally relaxes all the deeper with every breath, relaxes deeper and deeper with every breath....

But this all seems to me that she is anxious that she might actually get better and have to face up to those choices she needs to make....antidepressants are a 'wonderful' excuse not to accept self-responsibility as they effectively say 'I have a chemical imbalance in my brain, I am on tablets, I have less self-responsibility' ...and it can be really scary when you are told that you should be coming off them....'and her doctor ordered her to reduced the intake of her medication, and ever since she started to experience more anxiety,' hmmmm - makes me wonder

Anyway hope this helps

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Permalink Reply by Duncan Murray on April 15, 2010 at 8:47am

Hi Kathleen

I agree with what you are saying - I was ignoring the dreadful drug reduction stuff as I thought Doreen had that covered in her initial post - antidepressants are horrendous drugs to be on and come off...I know myself...and yes the half-life in the body is quite a consideration, but more so the regaining of a non-drug neurotransmitter balance...and avoiding bottoming-out so to speak

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Permalink Reply by Hugh Cole on April 15, 2010 at 8:53am

Doreen ....... Listen to Kathleen! She knows what she is saying. It is not about the anxiety, She (your client) had it before the drugs. She has it after the drugs. (albeit a slightly differant flavor). I have helped people off of tranquilizers before. (See Scott's 5K discussion for pertainent facts on one such case.). You need to beat the addiction first, then hypnosis can be very effective in treating the underlying anxieties, Tranquilizers (benzo's) change your body chemistry, and until they are out of the system and you are detoxed, the source of the "anxiety" is most likely chemical. When I have done this sorta of work I considered myself a part of a team that included a doctor and a pharamacist who made "precise dosages" per the Doctor's instructions,
Anthony has also given you great information. Addictions can be substituted. I personally would use hypnosis to decrease the pleasure of the "bad" addiction and increase the pleasure of the "good" addiction while GRADUALLY decreasing dosage of the tranquilizer...I would in that way minimize symptomology while maximizing the speed of withdrawal. That makes the client able to handle the incremental step downs in dosages and stay the course till the end. Of couse the "good" addiction is easy to discard once the (benzos) are out of the system. (See BDP's drug of choice induction or his "drunken finger" skit for ideas on installing "good" addictions) Hope this helps.

Hugh Cole
The Pretty Goodest Hypnotist on the Planet

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Permalink Reply by Licentious Maladay on April 15, 2010 at 10:16am

Hi Doreen,

Speaking as a client here, I too was not going into a deep trance, but my hypnotist helped me to an important realization, deep trance is not necessary for therapeutic results. In fact, it's possible to do parts therapy without going into trance at all. Many psychotherapists use parts therapy without trance.

Something that made a big difference for me was using an ideomotor pendulum. With it, I determined that my subconscious had a fear of going into a deep trance. A friend gave me the brilliant advice of asking my subconscious whether that fear was helping us (i.e. my subconscious and myself). When I got the answer "No", I was able to ask whether it could remove the fear. I was amazed to get the answer "Yes" and with that, I was able to go deeper. Note that no induction or trance is necessary for the pendulum to work.

Like me, your client was trying too hard. She may have lost confidence in HERSELF as a trancepartner. She needs calm confidence radiating from you. Stick to your guns. Don't keep trying new approaches. Keep telling her she doesn't need to go deep to get better. She can just pretend to go into trance and it will work. All she has to do is focus on your words and let go . . .

Lic

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Permalink Reply by Donna Carter on April 15, 2010 at 12:10pm

Don't forget fractionation! ~grin.

For those moments when you want a deeper trance.

Sean Michael Andrew gives a great demonstration on the hypnosummit (I believe you can buy that video for those reading this who are interested in learning more about that). Good stuff.

~D.

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Permalink Reply by Scott Sandland on April 15, 2010 at 12:38pm

Doreen-

Your client is experiencing a flood of chemistry in her body and brain that is actually measurable in parts per million in her bloodstream. That needs to be resolved, over time, by the reduction of her medication. In the meantime, she will be going through some roller coasters.

Imagine cutting someone with a knife and telling them to heal quicker. While there may be some accelerating based on the mind body connection, time is an important part of the healing process. It won't happen over night or in front of you. It's not supposed to.

an important part of this is patience during transition and helping her reframe to focus on the progress and reassure/future pace what things can be like later.

Hope this helps,
Scott

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