the Free Hypnosis Social Network
Parts Therapy case history
Welcome to the new Parts Therapy group!
I'd like to start a discussion thread with a parts therapy case history, and invite others to share an intersting case history as well. (Questions are also welcome.)
Some years back a woman came to me to quit smoking...whom I'll call Linda (not her real name). She told me that her doctor told her to quit because of healh problems in her lungs.
The part wanting to smoke called itself "Smokey," and its original job was to help Linda enjoy her freedom. The part wanting to quit called itself "Healthy," and its job was to keep Linda healthy.
These two parts argued considerably, and were unable to come to terms of agreement. Finally, Healthy told me that Smokey was: "...an entity that needs to be cast into the Light."
Rather than taking Healthy's word for it, I called out Linda's Higher Power, who asked me to call it "Higher Self." When I asked for words of wisdom for the two parts in conflict, Higher Self told Smokey that it had become a slave to the cigarette, which was the opposite of freedom. Higher Self told Smokey to change its name to Freedom, and remind Linda to smoke ONLY when she consciously chooses to do so: about five or six cigarettes per day. Higher Self then told Healthy to accept Freedom as a valid part of Linda, and cooperate rather than fight.
Smokey shouted out a "Hallelujah!" and accepted the new name of Freedom. Meanwhile, Healthy expressed concern that Linda either had to quit totally or be out of control. Higher Self encouraged to two parts to cooperate together, and they agreed to do so.
When the session ended, Linda told me she felt more at peace than anytime in over a year. Three months later she told me that she was only smoking five or six times daily, and felt that she might go the full distance someday.
The value of parts therapy to resolve inner conflicts sometimes brings surprises!
Roy Hunter, M.S., FAPHP
www.royhunter.com
I'd like to start a discussion thread with a parts therapy case history, and invite others to share an intersting case history as well. (Questions are also welcome.)
Some years back a woman came to me to quit smoking...whom I'll call Linda (not her real name). She told me that her doctor told her to quit because of healh problems in her lungs.
The part wanting to smoke called itself "Smokey," and its original job was to help Linda enjoy her freedom. The part wanting to quit called itself "Healthy," and its job was to keep Linda healthy.
These two parts argued considerably, and were unable to come to terms of agreement. Finally, Healthy told me that Smokey was: "...an entity that needs to be cast into the Light."
Rather than taking Healthy's word for it, I called out Linda's Higher Power, who asked me to call it "Higher Self." When I asked for words of wisdom for the two parts in conflict, Higher Self told Smokey that it had become a slave to the cigarette, which was the opposite of freedom. Higher Self told Smokey to change its name to Freedom, and remind Linda to smoke ONLY when she consciously chooses to do so: about five or six cigarettes per day. Higher Self then told Healthy to accept Freedom as a valid part of Linda, and cooperate rather than fight.
Smokey shouted out a "Hallelujah!" and accepted the new name of Freedom. Meanwhile, Healthy expressed concern that Linda either had to quit totally or be out of control. Higher Self encouraged to two parts to cooperate together, and they agreed to do so.
When the session ended, Linda told me she felt more at peace than anytime in over a year. Three months later she told me that she was only smoking five or six times daily, and felt that she might go the full distance someday.
The value of parts therapy to resolve inner conflicts sometimes brings surprises!
Roy Hunter, M.S., FAPHP
www.royhunter.com
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Linda Knight on
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Roy wrote that "the value of parts therapy to resolve inner conflicts sometimes brings surprises!" This is my story of parts therapy that simply gave a client peace and happiness during the final days of his life. In this instance, I used the processes of parts therapy initially to identify and clarify the purpose of a part that seemed to be disrupting our sessions for pain management, and from there on ... well it was out of my hands.
My client (let's call him Joe) had just been diagnosed with terminal cancer, so far progressed that surgery, radiation, and chemo were not options, the doctor's goal was simply to make him "as comfortable as possible" in the short time he left. He first asked for hypnotherapy as a method to manage his pain without drugs, as he wanted his mind to be as clear as possible as he went through the process of completing "unfinished business" (his words) with several family members.
During our first session, he went easily into hypnosis, and was able to achieve a glove anesthesia which brought him a great deal of relief. However, he kept complaining about seeing this little white dot dancing before his eyes, that was simply distracting to him. I decided to follow that where it would lead me, and ended up in a very wonderful parts therapy session unlike any other I had ever done before. I first asked him if he could ask this little dot it's name. The dot identified itself as "Charlie". Charlie told us that his purpose in Joe's life was twofold... to cheer him up (at this point the little dot proceeded to do a little dance for my client), and to give him hope. Joe immediately began to accept Charlie as an ally, rather than fighting him And thus began the most interesting series of sessions I've ever participated in.
The next day, Joe told me that when he had practiced his self hypnosis the night before, Charlie performed a little concert, singing to him and taking him on a "guided tour" of his body. Joe had been complaining about pain in his leg, and Charlie showed him what he believed to be a large "aneurysm" on his leg, and told him to talk to the doctor about it first thing in the morning. Joe had called, and the doctor ordered a scan of his leg, which revealed, not an aneurysm, but a blood clot in the exact place that Charlie had shown him.
Throughout the coming weeks, Charlie would guide Joe to his place of peace, and would encourage him to explore this place. He would often urge Joe in sessions to seek contact with his higher power, some days he would "dress up" in a general's outfit and lead the march to "kill us a few cancer cells", or simply perform what Joe called "corny little song and dance routines." Joe took a lot of comfort from knowing that this little part of him could bring him such joy and happiness.
One day, Charlie led Joe on a kind of treasure hunt within his place of peace. Each spot they stopped at, Charlie would bring Joe a "clue" to perfect peace. Finally, Joe was able to describe a green glow in the distance, and he moved toward it with Charlie. Suddenly Charlie stopped, turned to him and said, "there's your treasure, but it's not quite time to claim it yet." Joe's awe at this glow in the forest of his peaceful place, his description of it is, even after 3 years, difficult for me to put into words, but his body and spirited relaxed so completely I was overwhelmed at just being a part of something so profound. We continued to have sessions for pain management while he was in the hospital, and one day not too long after, I got a message on my phone from Joe, telling me that he felt it would not be long until he was able to claim that treasure. He passed away that evening, and his father told me later that when he had visited Joe that afternoon, he finally felt as if his son had forgiven for their past, and that they were at peace with each other. He said Joe's last words to him were, "I think I want to just go into hypnosis to decrease this pain. I love you dad." When he left the room, he said, Joe was already repeating his affirmations and going into hypnosis, and as his father (who knew nothing about Charlie) left the room, he heard Joe say very quietly... "ah there you are Charlie, what will you show me today?" He shared this with me because he didn't see anyone else in the room, and wondered if I might know who Charlie was.
I post this as an example of a part showing up and providing encouragement and insight to a client in a totally different setting. Joe found an ally in Charlie, a constant source of entertainment and encouragement. He drew on this part of himself to find the courage to face his death with dignity, to resolve old hurts and to experience a healing in his relationships with several family members.
So that's my story. Unconventional. And yet I have used that experience many times to explain to people that no matter what situation we find ourselves in, there are several parts of our being within in us who are waiting to help us through them. -
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Permalink Reply by Roy Hunter on
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Thank you for sharing that very touching case history.
Best wishes,
Roy Hunter -
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Permalink Reply by Wendy on -
Very heart warming. Thanks for sharing Linda.
The wonders of the mind never cease to amaze and delight me.
Keep up your most valuable work.
Wendy -
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May I use your story in my "Hypnosis Tips" ezine?
Best wishes,
Roy Hunter -
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Yes you may... provided you share info about how to subscribe ... smiles... I'm glad you found it helpful.
Linda -
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Permalink Reply by Pete & Lorraine on -
Hi Linda
I have just read through your post. That was amazing, I work part time as a care worker and I worked with a cancer client who died last Xmas so it brought up some memories as he was a real character from the cockney area of London, a good jazz drummer by all accounts, fortunately he was at peace with himself and his family.
Pete -
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Permalink Reply by Pete & Lorraine on
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Just a quick one. Working with a client on Hypnoband my client arrived for the op and was nervous. I did a bit of NLP to shift the feeling but it would not shift fully. It was a part of her that expected to fail. She had slipped in eating but had got it back on track. I got the sabotaging part up called horrible it was there to protect her and was willing to listen to the part that wanted to succeed. The part called (clients name) if the other part wanted to help the successful part wanted the final say. I got both parts to agree to help my client lose weight and eat in a healthy way. I brought her up just before the operation and she felt more congruent and expected to be successful in her goal.
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Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on -
Hi Roy,
Great case studies; they are similar to the amazing results I have experienced with clients using parts therapy.
I also want to share how the idea of parts therapy created change over the telephone:
Yesterday, a woman phoned me and introduced her self, along with the fact that she is an attorney. She then explained that she was interested in whether hypnotherapy can help her 12 year old son improve his study habits, which are lacking. After some conversation, I mentioned that I might use a process in which we invite the part of him that manages his studying to be acknowledged and express itself, along with parts which might motivate him, etc. In this setting, we can mediate and negotiate change (I specifically used language relative to her work).
Shortly following this, the caller exclaimed, "I think I'm the one who needs to come and get help in being a more effective parent!" She's coming in next week. I will hopefully also get a chance to work with the boy, which is always a treat!
Happy New Year! Kelley
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Permalink Reply by Nathan Welch on -
Hi Roy and all
I think I use parts therapy in some form in nearly every session I do, as a family therapist I work with children daily and use nested dolls to help me work parts therapy with them.
I have found that using nested dolls and then using nested loops with the dolls individual parts allows children to understand and integrate the therapeutic techniques in an age appropriate way. It also allows for play, drama and fun to be built in to the session around the dolls and the parts we are working with. As a therapist who works from a narrative approach I have found that parts work creates a great platform for telling and reshaping the clients stories, where we both can collaborate on making and telling much more positive stories with happier endings.
Also when working with the whole family parts work allows some disassociation to take place so that the more sensitive and potentially conflict generating aspects of the families story, can be discussed out in the open with a lot less blame, anger and arguing taking place. Which often leads to the first honest, transparent and positive communication the family has had in some time, which on its own can lead to some pretty powerful changes.
Smiles Nath
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Permalink Reply by Susan French on -
Nathan,
What a super idea about using nested dolls. I really like that because it can be hard to explain.
Susan
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Permalink Reply by Susan French on
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That's so neat, Kelley. I love it when things work like that. It must have been so satisfying. WTG, girl.
Susan
Kelley Woods said:Hi Roy,
Great case studies; they are similar to the amazing results I have experienced with clients using parts therapy.
I also want to share how the idea of parts therapy created change over the telephone:
Yesterday, a woman phoned me and introduced her self, along with the fact that she is an attorney. She then explained that she was interested in whether hypnotherapy can help her 12 year old son improve his study habits, which are lacking. After some conversation, I mentioned that I might use a process in which we invite the part of him that manages his studying to be acknowledged and express itself, along with parts which might motivate him, etc. In this setting, we can mediate and negotiate change (I specifically used language relative to her work).
Shortly following this, the caller exclaimed, "I think I'm the one who needs to come and get help in being a more effective parent!" She's coming in next week. I will hopefully also get a chance to work with the boy, which is always a treat!
Happy New Year! Kelley
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Permalink Reply by Susan French on
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Your beautiful story reminds of something that Richard just said in the Advanced Pain Workshop. He pointed out that many people with traditional psychological backgrounds view dissociation as negative but dissociation can be used so positively. Parts therapy induces 'dissociation' to allow client and therapist to do what we do in music to work out difficult passages: "isolate and attack."
Linda Knight said:Roy wrote that "the value of parts therapy to resolve inner conflicts sometimes brings surprises!" This is my story of parts therapy that simply gave a client peace and happiness during the final days of his life. In this instance, I used the processes of parts therapy initially to identify and clarify the purpose of a part that seemed to be disrupting our sessions for pain management, and from there on ... well it was out of my hands.
My client (let's call him Joe) had just been diagnosed with terminal cancer, so far progressed that surgery, radiation, and chemo were not options, the doctor's goal was simply to make him "as comfortable as possible" in the short time he left. He first asked for hypnotherapy as a method to manage his pain without drugs, as he wanted his mind to be as clear as possible as he went through the process of completing "unfinished business" (his words) with several family members.
During our first session, he went easily into hypnosis, and was able to achieve a glove anesthesia which brought him a great deal of relief. However, he kept complaining about seeing this little white dot dancing before his eyes, that was simply distracting to him. I decided to follow that where it would lead me, and ended up in a very wonderful parts therapy session unlike any other I had ever done before. I first asked him if he could ask this little dot it's name. The dot identified itself as "Charlie". Charlie told us that his purpose in Joe's life was twofold... to cheer him up (at this point the little dot proceeded to do a little dance for my client), and to give him hope. Joe immediately began to accept Charlie as an ally, rather than fighting him And thus began the most interesting series of sessions I've ever participated in.
The next day, Joe told me that when he had practiced his self hypnosis the night before, Charlie performed a little concert, singing to him and taking him on a "guided tour" of his body. Joe had been complaining about pain in his leg, and Charlie showed him what he believed to be a large "aneurysm" on his leg, and told him to talk to the doctor about it first thing in the morning. Joe had called, and the doctor ordered a scan of his leg, which revealed, not an aneurysm, but a blood clot in the exact place that Charlie had shown him.
Throughout the coming weeks, Charlie would guide Joe to his place of peace, and would encourage him to explore this place. He would often urge Joe in sessions to seek contact with his higher power, some days he would "dress up" in a general's outfit and lead the march to "kill us a few cancer cells", or simply perform what Joe called "corny little song and dance routines." Joe took a lot of comfort from knowing that this little part of him could bring him such joy and happiness.
One day, Charlie led Joe on a kind of treasure hunt within his place of peace. Each spot they stopped at, Charlie would bring Joe a "clue" to perfect peace. Finally, Joe was able to describe a green glow in the distance, and he moved toward it with Charlie. Suddenly Charlie stopped, turned to him and said, "there's your treasure, but it's not quite time to claim it yet." Joe's awe at this glow in the forest of his peaceful place, his description of it is, even after 3 years, difficult for me to put into words, but his body and spirited relaxed so completely I was overwhelmed at just being a part of something so profound. We continued to have sessions for pain management while he was in the hospital, and one day not too long after, I got a message on my phone from Joe, telling me that he felt it would not be long until he was able to claim that treasure. He passed away that evening, and his father told me later that when he had visited Joe that afternoon, he finally felt as if his son had forgiven for their past, and that they were at peace with each other. He said Joe's last words to him were, "I think I want to just go into hypnosis to decrease this pain. I love you dad." When he left the room, he said, Joe was already repeating his affirmations and going into hypnosis, and as his father (who knew nothing about Charlie) left the room, he heard Joe say very quietly... "ah there you are Charlie, what will you show me today?" He shared this with me because he didn't see anyone else in the room, and wondered if I might know who Charlie was.
I post this as an example of a part showing up and providing encouragement and insight to a client in a totally different setting. Joe found an ally in Charlie, a constant source of entertainment and encouragement. He drew on this part of himself to find the courage to face his death with dignity, to resolve old hurts and to experience a healing in his relationships with several family members.
So that's my story. Unconventional. And yet I have used that experience many times to explain to people that no matter what situation we find ourselves in, there are several parts of our being within in us who are waiting to help us through them. -
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