Is Hypnosis the most mocked vocation?

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Permalink Reply by Pete & Lorraine on December 29, 2009 at 10:51am

I think most mental or spiritual healing type therapies are mocked through negative perception. Having said that hypnotherapy is becoming more respected as time and positive results go by. it must be, as more people are turning to hypnosis as the drugs seem to create more problems than they solve with all the side effects, and the cost!!!!!!!! Also there are more requests to regulate it, Melissa Roth (pain management)has been asked at a hospital to teach pain management to nurses, the NHS here in the UK are looking to do trials on the Hypno-Band (the hypnosis version of the gastric band) which is very effective and miles cheaper. People usually mock what they don't understand or fear, but as this therapy grows it is becoming more and more acceptable.

Pete

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Permalink Reply by Saul Rosenfeld on December 29, 2009 at 11:19am

Although hypnosis has always been, and still frequently is, the object of mockery (in cartoons, in movies and TV shows, in comedy routines, etc.), the profession of lawyer is perhaps even MORE prone to mockery- and deservedly so!
Here are a few gems that caught my fancy, but there are plenty more where they came from...; - )


The devil visited a lawyer's office and made him an offer: "I'll increase
your income five-fold", said the devil, "your partners will love you,
your clients will respect you, you'll have four months of vacation each
year, and live to be a hundred.
All I require in return is that your wife's soul, your childrens' souls and
their childrens' souls rot in hell for all eternity."
The lawyer thought for a moment: "What's the catch?" he asked.



A local United Way office realized that the organization had never received
a donation from the town's most successful lawyer. The person in charge of
contributions called him to persuade him to contribute.

"Our research shows that out of a yearly income of at least $500,000, you
give not a penny to charity. Wouldn't you like to give back to the community
in some way?"

The lawyer mulled this over for a moment and replied, "First, did your
research also show that my mother is dying after a long illness, and has
medical bills that are several times her annual income?"

Embarrassed, the United Way rep mumbled, "Um ... no."

The lawyer interrupts, "or that my brother, a disabled veteran, is blind and
confined to a wheelchair?"

The stricken United Way rep began to stammer out an apology, but was
interrupted again.

"or that my sister's husband died in a traffic accident," the lawyer's voice
rising in indignation, "leaving her penniless with three children?!"

The humiliated United Way rep, completely beaten, said simply, "I had no
idea..."

On a roll, the lawyer cut him off once again, "So if I don't give any money
to them, why should I give any to you?"


Q. If you are stranded on a desert island with Adolf Hitler, Atilla the Hun and a lawyer, and have a gun with only 2 bullets, what should you do?

A. Shoot the lawyer twice.



Q. What do honest lawyers and UFO's have in common?

A. You always hear about them, but you never see one.



Q. What do you have when a lawyer is buried up to his neck in sand?

A. Not enough sand.



Q. What's black and brown and looks good on an attorney?

A. A doberman pinscher.



Q. What's the difference between a dead dog in the road and a dead lawyer in the road?

A. There are skid marks in front of the dog.



Q. Why did God make snakes just before lawyers?

A. To practice.



Q. Why does California have the most attorneys and New Jersey the most toxic waste dumps?

A. Because New Jersey got first pick.



Saul (NOT a lawyer!)

www.HistoryOfHypnotism.com

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Permalink Reply by Roger Moore on December 29, 2009 at 12:15pm

I have never, ever felt mocked. Both on the small island that I live and in Seattle, I have always been treated with respect. People are curious about hypnosis and ask lots of questions. Sometimes there is the nervous giggle about becoming a chicken - but I usually beat them to the punch on that one. In January I will be starting at a new cancer treatment center and in February I will begin working out the the Forks hospital once each month. I have been asked to meet in January with the dentists in the Medical Dental Building where I have one of my offices to talk about developing a hypnosis training program for their assistants.

Around here the medical community is hearing of the work that we are doing from their patients (our clients) and they are responding positively.

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Gruber - www. ask-the-hypnotist.com on December 29, 2009 at 12:54pm

I have to report a similar personal experience to Roger's.

I am vaguely aware (don't pay too much attention) of the stories that some hypnotists tell and cartoon type stuff that was featured here recently that appear to cast hypnosis in a mocking light. However, as I say, that is not my personal experience. I have a 4 month waiting list for clients at the Health Complex where I have my practice and some of those clients are from the mental and medical health community itself. Whenever people find out what I do at social gatherings and the like they just want to learn more about it. It is true that a few people might make a joke initially at those gatherings along the lines of "oh, don't look in his eyes," but that usually only reflects their desire for attention. Nothing in my experience has yet to give me the idea that most people mock hypnosis.

Expect to be taken seriously and you will!
Stephen

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Permalink Reply by Richard Nongard - NLPBoard.com on December 29, 2009 at 1:01pm

i have never felt mocked. In fact people are interested and curious, like Roger said. I just got back from teaching a class required by the state social work board to a room full of social workers. All licensed, and degreed. I introduced myself as a hypnotherapist, and offered by course in hypnosis certification. None of them think anything of it, other that it seems like a smart way to increase skills and business.
My kids friends (I have a house full of teens) think it is the coolest thing in the world.
When I meet strangers they say, "A hynotist? I have an aunt who quit smoking using hypnosis! That's cool"
Or they say, "Really? We love to see the hypnotists at the fair each year"
When I meet MD's (a lot of my friends are MD's so I meet there freinds and dinners etc.) They all say the same thing, "WoW! I used ot have a professor in med school who used hypnosis. I should attend a class"
Even my own mother, a conservative evangelical says, "Hypnosis? Interesting. I think it could help some people"

Now and then I see something lame about hypnotists written on the internet. Who writes this stuff? I don'tsknow. My you tube videos have over a million hits, with a 50:1 favorable comment to unfavorable, and those unfavorable ones are so stupid they are not worth dignifying.

Do I agree with the premise that hypnotists are disrespected? NOPE.
Now it does seems psychologists are down on hypnotists. But do I really give a rats ass what they think? It is about the money for them. And frankly in relation to the general population, pscyhologists are really not very plentiful and their opotions not well ehard or in my opinion respected anyway. Laypeople make FUN of psychotherapists. Take stewart Smally for example and Dr Phil is the standardbearer? If they are down on us who cares, that is the pot calling the kettle black.

So I disagree that hypnotists are not respected. That is not my experience.

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Permalink Reply by Saul Rosenfeld on December 29, 2009 at 1:29pm

If Roger's, Stephen's and Richard's experience was the norm rather than the exception, then the use of hypnotherapy would be the norm rather than the exception.
Hypnotherapy would be lovingly taught in every single medical school on the planet as an important tool for every physician on earth.
It would also be taught to every single psychologist/psychotherapist, and would be a primary course of study in nursing schools and for emergency medical technicians (ambulance personnel) as well.

As matters (still) stand however, hypnosis is, at BEST, regarded as an "alternative" or "complementary" adjunct to health care; and is practiced by an INFINITESIMAL number of licensed health care practitioners.
I couldn't tell you what the actual "percentage" is, but that it's ludicrously small compared to the TOTAL number of physicians, psychotherapists, nurses, etc. is a cold hard FACT and is not open to debate.

Do some hypnos have mostly positive reactions from those who hear what they do? Yes, I don't doubt for a minute that this is possible.
But that's the exception, NOT the norm.
I've thoroughly researched this very topic for almost thirteen years, and the evidence was absolutely conclusive.
And here's what Michael Ellner had to say about this topic on an earlier thread:

"I have had contact with tens of thousands of desperate people with AIDS and cancer who were investigating alternative medicine who were willing to try just about anything that might help them short of hypnosis, because as desperate as they were, they had greater concerns and fears about losing control. My guess is that 75-80% of people sampled about their opinions of hypnosis would share those misconceptions.
I have also had contact with 1000s of family physicians, neurologists, oncologists, and pain specialists and I have been shocked at how these otherwise well-educated people believed hypnosis involves losing control."

Saul

www.HistoryOfHypnotism.com

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Gruber - www. ask-the-hypnotist.com on December 29, 2009 at 2:20pm

Hello Saul,

May be we are looking at two different dimensions of this. I would suggest there is a difference between something being "mocked," i.e. not taken seriously, and ignorance. Most of my ensuing discussions when people find out what I do are indeed to deepen people's minimal understanding of the subject (I do try to talk about other things at social gatherings but I am always pressed for info when the hypnosis subject comes up:-)).

Could not the issue of people thinking they will "lose control" imply that they take the "power" of hypnosis very seriously?

We agree that there remains much educating about hypnosis work to be done!
Stephen

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Permalink Reply by Saul Rosenfeld on December 29, 2009 at 3:21pm

Hello Stephen,

You're right- technically speaking there IS a difference between people "mocking" hypnosis because of widespread and pervasive misunderstanding (often about the issue of ceding "control" or being "dominated" by the hypnotist's stronger "Will"), and mocking certain aspects of the phenomenon due to sheer ignorance.
But for all PRACTICAL intents and purposes (e.g., the sad fact that it remains, to this day, so woefully underused by the VAST majority of health care professionals), it doesn't really matter, because the end result is exactly the same.

Yes indeed, universal misunderstanding and trepidation about the issue of a hypnotist's "control" over his "hapless" subject DOES imply that they take its "Power" seriously- but all this has done is to make it even MORE distasteful and highly suspect as a supposedly benevolent "force for healing".
This topic has been rather thoroughly debated on Michael Ellner's recent thread "Talking Point: Instant Inductions and Modern Hypnotic Practice- Gil Boyne in Budapest", and you would probably enjoy reading the various comments posted on there.

Saul

www.HistoryOfHypnotism.com




Stephen Gruber - www. ask-the-hypnotist.com said:

Hello Saul,
May be we are looking at two different dimensions of this. I would suggest there is a difference between something being "mocked," i.e. not taken seriously, and ignorance. Most of my ensuing discussions when people find out what I do are indeed to deepen people's minimal understanding of the subject (I do try to talk about other things at social gatherings but I am always pressed for info when the hypnosis subject comes up:-)).
Could not the issue of people thinking they will "lose control" imply that they take the "power" of hypnosis very seriously?

We agree that there remains much educating about hypnosis work to be done!
Stephen

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Permalink Reply by Richard Nongard - NLPBoard.com on December 29, 2009 at 3:51pm

I have found most of the people I talk to or encounter are just plain ignorant of hypnosis. They do not really have deep-seeded feelings on it, nor are the misunderstandings they have firmly planted. It is not true that respect would translate into widespead use, teaching in all medical schools and psychology programs. There are a zillion difffernt things that are respected on the planet and not all of them are taught everywhere.
99.9% of the people I meet, professionals or regular people, are pretty neutral on hypnosis, and if they do have a bias, overcome it easily by simply meeting a hypnotist. For the few who do have unforgiving biases, I do not worry about them nor try to convert them. There are a lot of people on this plant who believe bizzare things, I have no need to convert them either.

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Permalink Reply by Saul Rosenfeld on December 29, 2009 at 4:27pm

Richard,

You might want to carefully re-read my earlier post. If what you say is true (which I'm not denying), then it is true for YOU, and NOT for the majority of others. It is a cold hard FACT that the VAST MAJORITY of both the general public AND health care professionals have biased, antiquated, and mostly negative preconceptions about hypnosis and hypnotists.
MOST (but not all) of these negative attitudes stem from the stereotypical view of hypnotists as controlling and dominating the (weaker) "Wills" of their subjects. MOST (but not all) of THESE negatively biased views are the direct result of what takes place in public exhibitions of STAGE hypnosis.
You can deny this all you like, but that doesn't change the facts one iota.
It's also quite understandable that you prefer to deny that this is a root cause for so much misunderstanding and negative PR because you yourself are directly involved in this aspect of the profession (both teaching and performing stage hypnosis), and therefore view this as an indirect "personal" attack.
I do not mean it as a "personal" attack on ANYONE, but simply as FACT.

I have neither the time nor inclination to re-hash this whole debate (which has been thoroughly discussed in previous threads)- but let me state, once again, that YOUR "personal experience" bears little relation to the reams and reams of fully documented EVIDENCE dating from the 1780's all the way up to the present day.
Like I stated before, I have thoroughly researched this VERY topic for thirteen (13!!) YEARS, and am not fabricating it out of thin air.
Nor do I have ANY "personal" or financial stake whatsoever for saying something like this.

And yes, it IS true that widespread respect and understanding would translate into widespread use in medical schools, etc.
Probably SO quickly that our heads would spin!
It is non-invasive, fairly easy to employ, has no adverse side effects, and becomes easier and easier to apply in subsequent sessions!
There is, in fact NO viable reason WHATSOEVER for physicians and psychotherapists NOT to teach and use it EXCEPT for the fact that it suffers from such a terrible IMAGE.

Saul

www.HistoryOfHypnotism.com




Richard Nongard - HypnosisGurus.com said:

I have found most of the people I talk to or encounter are just plain ignorant of hypnosis. They do not really have deep-seeded feelings on it, nor are the misunderstandings they have firmly planted. It is not true that respect would translate into widespead use, teaching in all medical schools and psychology programs. There are a zillion difffernt things that are respected on the planet and not all of them are taught everywhere.
99.9% of the people I meet, professionals or regular people, are pretty neutral on hypnosis, and if they do have a bias, overcome it easily by simply meeting a hypnotist. For the few who do have unforgiving biases, I do not worry about them nor try to convert them. There are a lot of people on this plant who believe bizzare things, I have no need to convert them either.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Nongard - NLPBoard.com on December 29, 2009 at 4:44pm

"THESE negatively biased views are the direct result of what takes place in public exhibitions of STAGE hypnosis."
Back to your distain for stage hypnosis.

"Nor do I have ANY "personal" or financial stake whatsoever for saying something like this."
Don't you have a book for sale that tells us all our woes can be traced back to stage hypnosis? I could be wrong, but I think it is for sale rather than free.

"There is, in fact NO viable reason WHATSOEVER for physicians and psychotherapists NOT to teach and use it EXCEPT for the fact that it suffers from such a terrible IMAGE"
There are ALOT of resons to teach something else in school than hypnosis, since they are not attending hypnosis school nor proporting to be hypnotists. Knowing how to fix a fuel injection system is very valuable. No hypnosis training program I have ever attended taught me how to fix a fuel injection system. And I know of no hypnotists who offer automotive reapir in the same office. A MD is NOT a hypnotist.

Reality: People LIKE hypnotists, think it is interesting and they like BOTH stage hypnosis and clinical hypnosis. Anyone who I have ever met who feared "loss of control" easily understood the truth after about 2 minutes of explaination, with no further resistance. That is both clients, stage hypnosis volunteers, and regular old people who didn;t know anything about hypnosis.

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Permalink Reply by Saul Rosenfeld on December 29, 2009 at 5:18pm

My "disdain" for stage hypnosis is based entirely on the fact that it has been DIRECTLY responsible for RUINING the IMAGE of hypnosis as a viable mode of HEALING for the past TWO centuries.
Back in the 1800's it was called "mesmerism" or "animal magnetism", but as everyone with even a minimal knowledge of its history should know, they are all one and the same phenomenon.

Yes indeed, Richard, I spent thirteen years researching and writing a book on the subject, but if you think I devoted all those years of toil in order to earn a few lousy bucks in pitiful royalties (about $3.50 a book!), then you're sadly mistaken.
From the outset, I never expected to earn a DIME on sales of this book, because in order to recoup even a fraction of the THOUSANDS of hours I spent researching and then writing it, it would have to sell like a Stephen King blockbuster!

And I'm not even factoring in all the money I spent buying hundreds and hundreds of primary and secondary sources for my own private collection (many of them very expensive rare antique books from the 1780's and early 1800's). There are over 550 of them listed in my bibliography, and these are ONLY those sources that I quoted directly or paraphrased- the (38 page) bibliography does NOT include MOST of them- which number over 1,000.

I embarked on this "mission" for one purpose ONLY: to reveal the reason(s) WHY mankind has squandered, misused, feared and/or ignored this remarkable phenomenon for the past TWO centuries, DESPITE all the evidence that hypnosis is fully capable of effecting almost-miraculous cures in a large number of ailments- and with NO side-effects to boot!
If you take a moment to read some of the stellar reviews and testimonials about it on my website instead of feeling insulted by what I discovered about the great harm STAGE hypnotism has always done to its IMAGE, then you might perhaps even begin to consider that what I'm saying is NOT so that I can earn a few lousy dollars in pathetic royalties.
Indeed, so far I have GIVEN several thousand dollars worth of complementary copies away to various teachers and schools- at my OWN expense (e.g., FREE). I am fortunately in a position to be able to do this without a problem; and I will CONTINUE to do it for years to come as long as I think it will ultimately be of some benefit to the profession.

Saul

www.HistoryOfHypnotism.com

P.S. No indeed, an M.D. is NOT a "hypnotist"; but if one day they finally stop regarding it as a kind of "carnival trick" that's used for "entertainment", then MAYBE they'd actually WANT to learn how to use it...!

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