Hypnosis for Cancer
One of the scariest things to hear from your doctor is “You have Cancer.”
One can be left feeling terrified, anxious, depressed and out of control. These are all natural responses to a life-changing diagnosis. However, Hypnosis for cancer has proven to be extremely valuable in the treatment of cancer patients both emotionally and physically.
Many studies have been done verifying that working with a hypnotherapist has been successful in stress reduction associated with cancer. In the revolutionary bestselling book “Getting Well Again”, doctors O. Carl Simonton M.D. (Author), James Creighton Ph.D. (Author), and Stephanie Matthews Simonton (Author) profile the typical “cancer personality”: how an individual’s reactions to stress and other emotional factors can contribute to the onset and progress of cancer — and how positive expectations, self-awareness, and self-care can contribute to survival. https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Well-Again-Bestselling-Revolutionary/dp/0553280333
Hypnotherapy is a fantastic tool that can help assist the patient in many ways including helping them feel more in control, less fearful and anxious. One scenario involves using guided mental imagery: visualizing their body’s immune system working with the medical treatment to help annihilate the disease. Another scenario is when hypnotherapy can be used to comfort patients by guiding their focus on something other than their current illness and environment, thus giving them a new perspective on their situation. Much as with deep relaxation and meditation, the patient will feel empowered and comforted in such a way as to allow their body to expend its energy in healing or fighting the disease.
The physical pain patients inflicted with cancer commonly experience after chemotherapy, radiation or surgery is a well-known fact. It’s reassuring to know that hypnosis for cancer has been proven successful in diminishing and managing the side effects of treatment. Sessions often begin with an analysis of the patient’s fears, diagnosis, and treatment plan. Then, after guiding the patient into a state of hypnosis, the therapist offers suggestions to help relieve symptoms. For example the therapist may suggest that the patient replace the feeling of pain with an alternative sensation such as numbness. The specific form of these suggestions will be adapted to the patient’s unique situation and needs.
Hypnotherapy may not be able to cure cancer but it certainly can improve the patient’s quality of life.
Further reading on interesting studies regarding Hypnosis and Cancer:
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022347682800401
- http://www.apa.org/monitor/2011/01/hypnosis.aspx
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00207144.2010.499353
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3755455/
Contact Claire Hester for hypnotherapy sessions in Los Angeles, CA.
The Mind is Everything … you are what you think.
Our mind is who we are and our perception of our lives create the fiber of the life we live. We should remind ourselves to be conscious of our subconscious mind, as this is where the answers lie.
Our world today is becoming increasingly paralyzing and distracting through the constant and incessant news channels, media and social media. News channels compete for ratings through fear mongering. The media sensationalizes the lives of the rich and famous. Social media companies such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter compete by encouraging constant updates, notifications, photos, live streams, chats, and real time stories. It seems that today’s media has no boundaries and the onus is on us to learn to step away and limit these influences, in order to live healthy and present lives.
Social Media has created a new and powerful phenomenon – Fear of Missing Out (FOMO). The constant Social Media culture is not only addictive but can lead to social anxiety, envy, self doubt, sense of inadequacy, depression and irritability. The continuous updates indulge us to compare our lives with those of others, as it suggests that we to ‘can have it all’. It enables us to easily slip into another’s reality and observe relationships, spending, social lives, business investments, job opportunities. This leaves many with a feeling of vulnerability, resentment, isolation, and regret about their own life choices. For some this fear of ‘missing out’ serves as a catalyst for anti social behavior. One can become inclined to stay home, increasingly addicted to looking in on what they’re missing out on, whilst inadvertently missing out on their own lives.
It is worth remembering that our thoughts create our feelings and our emotions become our behavior. Behavior shapes our character, our reality and our destiny. Through hypnotherapy, working with the subconscious mind we can create new thought patterns, changing old behavior and initiating a new, positive healthy reality. Fears are only as real as we make them, so find time to turn off your phones every now and then. Turn off the news. Change it up, make your day fun, watch comedy, laugh, create positive pathways!
Start your day with gratitude, be kind to yourself, see beauty in simplicity, and learn to live in the fullness of the moment and not the emptiness of the media.
If you need any assistance and feel you can benefit from Hypnotherapy, you can always contact me.
Hypnotherapy Can Help You Overcome Grief
Hypnotherapy Can Help You Overcome Grief
I decided to write this blog after recently experiencing a sudden and tragic loss. I am also writing because I am especially aware that the holiday season, as wonderful as it is, can be a painful, overwhelming and lonely time for many who are experiencing deep grief and unresolved loss.
Loss is inevitable, and will affect most of us at some point in our lives; whether it is the death of a parent, child, loved one, close friend, pet, or divorce. As painful as this process can be, mourning should be a transitional phase and not a permanent state. However for many, feelings of hopelessness, emptiness, isolation, despair, anger and blame leave them feeling ‘stuck’ and unable to move on. This is where hypnotherapy can be used as a powerful tool to help manage both the physical and emotional symptoms of deep grief.
Those in the throes of life changing trauma and grief find themselves in a state of numbness and shock, which in turn triggers the sympathetic – or parasympathetic – nervous system to overwhelm the body while trying to relieve the ‘heartache’. This type of shock leaves some unable to focus on everyday life. They can feel the need to keep busy, thus dulling the deep pain and loss that they feel. Some feel overwhelming tiredness and anxiety, and find sleeping a lot numbs the sorrow. This can result in depression, nightmares, detachment and exhaustion. Chronic grief may lead to the development of unhealthy and destructive behavioral patterns, such as alcohol abuse, substance addiction, compulsive spending and eating disorders.
Intense grief often becomes an energy stored in the body. We hold onto our feelings, refusing to confront loss while burying the hurt deep in our subconscious. This emotional pain can manifest into physical illnesses such as heart disease, IBS, fibromyalgia and a weakened immune system. By working with gentle visualization and positive suggestion, hypnotherapy enables a person to identify the root cause of their grief. The subconscious mind is able to open up, and relieve the trauma of a death in complete safety. Memories and unresolved emotions are able to come to the surface of the conscious mind, allowing you to finally let go and experience release.
Hypnotherapy cannot eliminate grief, and neither should it. The various stages of mourning play a vital role in the healthy processing of loss. Hypnotherapy can aid in identifying the grief and effectively change thought patterns of profound sadness into emotions of love, acceptance, closure and ultimately inner harmony.
I wish all of you a very happy holiday and New Year filled with love, gratitude and peace,
Claire
Change Through the Power of Hypnotherapy
Welcome to my first blog! It has been an incredible life journey for me to reach this point where I feel empowered to share elements of the wonderful personal path I have traveled. A journey of incredible high points and some very deep low points.
