SUBCONSCIOUS

CONNECTION

ARCH Newsletter
Association of
Registered Clinical
Hypnotherapists
Winter Issue 2011
In this Issue:

Welcome to the Winter Edition of the

Subconscious Connection.
We are very pleased to have taken over the editorial
duties of the newsletter & are delighted that several
ARCH members have shared some of their client
experiences.
Thank you to all who have made welcome
contributions to this edition.
We encourage all members to share a thought, some
words of wisdom, a precious moment with a client or
send your questions to Auntie Arch if youre stumped!
We are grateful for your contributions.

Smoking
Cessation
Asking the
Right
Question
Auntie Arch
How to
Write a
Metaphor
Working
with
Children:
Daytime
Enuresis
Member Tips,
Submissions,
Feedback and
Suggestions
Welcomed!
We reserve the right to
refuse, select and edit any
and all submissions.

Please email
Subconscious
Connection Editors:
Andrew Bexson
Info@lightthewayhypnotherapy.com

Eileen McAdam

Wishing everyone a warm and prosperous winter.

Andrew Bexson and Eileen McAdam

AnamCaraHypnotherapy@shaw.ca

Combining Cognitive Counseling with Hypnosis

for Successful Smoking Cessation
By Susan Jennifer Grace RHt

Contrary to popular belief amongst some hypnotherapists and their clients, smokingcessation is one of the more challenging issues that a hypnotherapist will deal with in
their practice.
When I first set up my hypnosis practice 8 years ago, the majority of my clients were
smokers, seeking hypnosis in order to become smoke-free. By their own admission,
hypnosis was generally their last resort after trying every available smoking-cessation aid
on the market, and typically, every one of them thought that hypnosis would be a magic
wand that would make them WANT to stop smoking - and all of that in only one session!
One of my first questions during the client intake was always, On a scale of one to ten,
with ten being highly motivated and ready to stop smoking, where do you put yourself?
Since success with hypnosis very much depends on the motivation and desire of the
client to change, if their answer was less than eight, I would suggest that they come back
to see me if/when their motivation grew to a nine or a ten
Even those who put their level of motivation at a nine or a ten on the scale reported a
less than encouraging success rate after the one hypnosis session. In fact I was seeing
only about a 55% success rate. (This percentage was established after following and
documenting 25 of my smoking-cessation clients for a period of one year after their
hypnosis program).I decided that multiple hypnosis sessions must be the answer! With
that in mind, I proceeded to design a 3-session hypnosis smoking-cessation program.
I accepted smoking clients only if they were highly motivated and only as long as they
agreed to complete my 3-session hypnosis program. Still, the success rate for long-term
cessation did not improve the way I had hoped. Even though NLP and EFT were used
along with hypnosis, my clients seemed unable to remain smoke-free for more than a few
weeks or a few months.
After some investigating, I realized that the low success rates for smoking-cessation with
hypnosis were very common! Many hypnotherapists reported having the same
frustrations with their smoking clients. This revelation prompted me to do some in-depth
research on all aspects of smoking and the challenges of long-term smoking-cessation.
At about that time, I noticed that a one-week cognitive smoking-cessation course was
being offered by the Center for Addictions and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto. The
course was accredited by University of Torontos Faculty of Medicine.
(Continued Next Page)

(Continued from Previous Page)

I immediately applied to register and was informed that the course was only open to
medical practitioners. Refusing to give up, I contacted the course administrators at CAMH
and, after agreeing to pay my own course fee (the medical practitioners were offered the
course at no cost to themselves), and after sending in my qualifications along with an essay
on why I felt I should take the course, I was accepted into the course.

During the course, I learned that the long-term success rate for the CAMH smokingcessation (free) clinic was about 24% compared to the 55 % success rate that I was seeing
in my practice.
Since CAMH smoke-free clinics deal mainly with the addiction aspect of cigarette smoking
while hypnosis deals mainly with eliminating the habit and changing the associated
behavior, it occurred to me that the success rate for my smoking clients might increase
substantially if I combined cognitive addiction counseling with hypnosis into my smokingcessation program!
Upon successful completion of the CAMH course, I re-designed my 3-part smoking
cessation program, incorporating a cognitive counseling session.
Since then, I no longer turn away smokers who lack the motivation to quit. By incorporating
cognitive smoking-addiction counseling skills, I am now able to help smoking clients move
from the contemplative/ambivalent stage (which I consider to be 1 through 7 on the
readiness scale) to a highly motivated stage (a 9 or a 10).
As well, during the initial session, techniques are taught in order to help manage physical
and physiological symptoms associated with withdrawal. Together, we address the addiction
aspect of tobacco smoking.
In some instances, I suggest that the client reduce the number of cigarettes smoked each
day (I call this harm reduction) until a higher degree of motivation and readiness is reached.
In other words, I meet and work with each smoking client at wherever they are in their goals
and desires to become smoke-free.
During the second and third sessions of my program, hypnosis and NLP are used for the
habit elimination, establishing new behaviors, and adopting a well-rounded healthy lifestyle.
In nearly every case to date, clients who enrolled in this 3-session program, report success
in becoming smoke-free by the third session and more impressive, they are continuing to
maintain their new smoke-free lifestyle.

Its all in the Questions We Ask

By Irene Mock, CHt.
After my third session with a client who had a sleep issue (waking up at night and unable to
go back to sleep) I had an interesting breakthrough.
In that session I asked a question I now always ask in the first session:
When do you feel most like yourself?
Her answer: "In the evening, just before bed. The worst time for me is when I wake up in
the morning." (Followed by a discussion of why.)
So I thought, why not reframe "waking up at night" as an opportunity to experience what
she likes best, the moments before going to sleep. To do this I of course had her describe
the elements of that experience and then, using her own words, recreate it in trance. Then I
had her experience herself waking up when she didn't want to at night (in trance) and
reframe this experience as an opportunity to sleep, reinforcing it with what this was like for
her.

I wanted to share this with you because it seems so simple a solution.

Much depends on the questions you ask.

Ask Auntie Arch

Going forward, this space will be devoted to Auntie Arch who will answer questions, offer
opinions (which you are free to refute/replace with your own), and consult with experts &
guest consultants. Want to be a guest consultant? Send us your name!
Who is Auntie Arch?
A mysterious, qualified hypnotherapist who cares so much for all of us and to protect the
innocent is willing to take on this onerous task only under the pen name Auntie Arch.
Please forward your questions, issues & comments to Auntie Arch c/o Andrew & Eileen.
Auntie Arch thanks you!

How to Write a Metaphor for Hypnotherapy

By David Mason www.key-hypnosis.com 2009
A metaphor is something that reminds you of something else, in such a way that the
something else lets you think about the original something in a different way. To write a
metaphor for therapy, take the situation, strip away all the details until only the structure is
left, name each part in the most general words, then write the hypnotic metaphor by
replacing the general structure with specific words from a different situation.

How to write a metaphor for hypnotherapy

To write a metaphor you follow the same process as writing hypnotic stories. You identify
who is involved in the problem, what the behaviour pattern is, and what elements make
up the behaviour pattern. Then you identify a metaphor situation that would be acceptable
to the client.
You write the metaphor using common stereotypes and symbolic ideas in order to hook
into the client's belief system. For example a common stereotype is that all French are
great cooks, all Italians are excitable, and all Scotsmen are mean. An example of a
symbolic idea for metaphor would be an enchanted forest with elves and unicorns or any
other well known characters that the client can be expected to recognize. The actual
metaphor situation doesn't matter as long as the client can identify with the powers and
failings of the characters in the metaphor.
Then you create one metaphor character to represent each character in the problem
situation. You create one metaphor activity for each element in the problem behaviour,
and then one metaphor solution for each element. Then you link them all into a logically
coherent metaphor story.
The following example shows how I went about writing a metaphor when I was asked to
create a metaphor suitable for a ten year old boy who has frequent asthma attacks.
Where to set the metaphor?

In this case the client is a child so some sort of magical power might be both acceptable
and memorable. I needed to set the metaphor in some magical place. I often set my
metaphors in exotic places where strange things can happen so I chose to use India as
somewhere a boy might have heard of but not know much about.
Who are the actors?

Is the situation just something the client does, or is it about relationships with other
people? Create a character to represent the client and each person in the situation. In this
case there is only one character, the client, but I thought the child would need some
assurance of an outside resource, so I created a metaphor character to represent the
therapist.
(Continued Next Page)

What is the behaviour cycle?

Is there a cycle of events? For each event in the cycle create a matching event in the
metaphor and a matching way out of the problem.

Current
situation

Metaphor Situation

Metaphor
Solution

Sudden stress

Appearance of
snake

Graduated
exposure

Loss of control Fright

Learning control

Panic

Panic

Resource is there

Breathlessness

Breathlessness

Breathing control

Eventual calm

Out --> down

Fear of repeat

Avoiding snake

Pride in ability

Anxiety

Staying away

Snake goes away

Target

You can write a metaphor

for any situation with a bit
of practice.

What resources does

the client need to get?

Belief that he can

control the anxiety.

Metaphor Dialogue

Comments

I wonder if you know that I used to live in India?

Set up magical
place

India is an amazing place. There are monkeys in the trees and

elephants walking down the streets.

Emphasis
strangeness

And in the streets and you can watch people juggling with swords and Metaphor for
eating fire and spitting out big flames and getting tied up in chains
strange abilities
and padlocks and escaping and everyone applauds and throws them
money.
And there are snake charmers. They have a great big cobra, a real live
snake, in a basket, right there in the street. And when the man takes
the lid off the basket the snake wakes up and it rises out of the basket
standing there angry and hissing and flicking its forked tongue
ready to bite anybody and all the people move back but the snake
charmer plays a thing like a flute and snake hears the music and
with just the music the man makes it dance this huge poisonous
snake with two big fangs sways from side to side while the man
plays the music and when the music stops it goes to sleep again.

Set up the story

situation a
dangerous
thing controlled
by magic

Metaphor of the problem

Identity

I used to know this boy who was there.

Main character

He was about your age and one day he was there and he didnt notice Problem starts
that the snake charmer took the lid off the basket and the snake came
out right next to the boy.
And the boy got such a fright he became afraid to go into the street
and every time he had to go there he got this feeling of panic and a
feeling in his chest like he couldnt breathe.

Match the boy's

problem

And he always worried that he might have to go there again. Even just Similar anxiety
thinking that maybe he would have to go there again made him feel
= metaphor
breathless sometimes.
And just thinking about the snake he always imagined it as cold and
slimy and fierce and huge and he got really afraid to go into that
street anymore.

Metaphor for the cycle

Similar
Helplessness

Metaphor for the cycle

Well the snake charmer heard about this and he wanted to help the New resource =
boy.
therapist
Behaviour

He got the boy to come into the street and he showed him that the
lid was on the basket so the boy could relax.

Safe to look at
the problem

Then the man surprised him - he lifted the lid for just a second
Graduated
and put it back on again. The boy saw the big snake sleeping inside exposure
but it was so quick that the snake did not have time to even move.
The man did this many times lift, look, close until the boy felt
comfortable about it.
Capability

And then the boy got really brave. He asked the man if he could lift Finding
the lid himself.
resource

Capability

And the snake charmer looked at him and said Yes: you are old
enough now to be able to do that.

Behaviour

So he copied what the man did lift, look, close. And soon he was
quite relaxed about it.

Indirect
suggestion

In fact he got quite too casual about it, and started showing off,
and left the lid off too long and the snake rose right up in front of
the boy.

Sudden panic

And the boy was so frightened that he felt his chest close up and it
was hard to breathe and felt he might die of fright.

Reminder of
asthma

Metaphor for the resources

But the snake charmer wouldnt let that happen.

Reassurance

He took his flute and started playing again and the snake began to
sway and then it went back into the basket.

Demonstrate
control

And then the man said to the boy Can you keep a secret?

Resource

And the boy said he would never tell the secret.

Resource

The man made sure there was nobody else around and then he
whispered Its not the music that charms the snake back into the
basket. Snakes are actually deaf.

Revelation of
weakness

Capability

To charm the snake, all I have to do is to move the end of the flute
side to side and the snake follows, and when I move the end of it
down the snake goes down.

Secret ability

Identity

And the boy learned that that great big snake wasnt so strong after Giving
all, it couldnt even hear, and it was so stupid that it would do
superiority
whatever it was told. And the boy laughed about that.

Capability

And after the boy knew that he was able to start to learn how to
control the snake.

Suggestion

Behaviour

The man showed the boy how to lift the lid and move away and
when the snake rose up the man started playing the music and boy
pretended to be playing the music along with him and the boy
started to breath in time with the music, he discovered that when
he breathed out the snake would go down a bit, and then another
gentle breath and the snake would go down a bit more...and pretty
soon that boy could control the snake just by breathing.

Metaphor for
how to manage
the panic
feelings

Identity

The man was really impressed. He said You do that thing with
your breathing so well. You could be a snake charmer yourself.

Reframing

Rule

Metaphor of getting rid of the triggers

And you know that boy was never bothered by the snake again. He Problem
could run around in the street and often waved at the man and he resolved
even got a bit fond of the snake in the end.
And when he grew up the snake got really old and it was too old to Let the problem
dance and too old to frighten anybody as well but they didnt say
go into
that... so the boy and the man took it out to the countryside one
extinction
day... and let it go. And its retired now.

Working with Children: Daytime Enuresis

By Pierre Benoit, CHt, RCCH

When we talk about enuresis (bedwetting) we mostly think that it happens at night. However, here is
a case where I had to deal with daytime enuresis.
I had a young 7-year-old client come in with her mother. She was dry during the night but wet her
clothes everyday for the last 2 years. Her parents had brought her to everyone (doctors,
psychologists, etc.) before coming to see me. They had utilized every conceivable means to help
her and they were down to having her wear Pull-Ups.
Her mother was very desperate and her daughter was now in First Grade and she didnt want her to
have to face what she had to in Kindergarten.
In the first session we set the rules down:
1. They needed to get a calendar where they would track the dry days
2. Mother needed to trust her daughter to be successful
3. They had to follow my instructions completely
I also made sure that she understood that I did not have a magic wand. That her daughter had put
some time to train herself to be that way and that inadvertently, they had supported this behaviour.
Then I explained, using my drawing board, how the brain and the bladder communicated to the child
and mother. And we saw that the only problem there was that they did not communicate as well with
each other as they did during the night. That was the only thing that we had to fix.
Then I did my hypnosis session with the child after having Mom go to another room to wait. I never
have a parent in when I do the hypnosis part of the session.
In the second session (one week later), Mother was doing fine as the daughter had two dry days.
Both were very proud of this. We continued repairing the communication lines during the hypnosis
session. Our next session was to be three weeks later as they were going out of town.
Upon their return, although she had more dry days, Mother was discouraged and we talked about
what belonged to her (her needs and expectations) and what belonged to her daughter (doing the
work and being successful). This had quite an impact on her as she laid off the pressure on her
daughter. We continued our work in hypnosis.
At the fourth session, both were really glad as she was dry six out of the seven days. Mother also
told me that, when they were three weeks away, the daughter stayed with her Grand-mother and the
Grand-mother did not fill in the chart properly. They found out that she had put a wet day even when
she was going to the bathroom but had a few drops in her underwear as she sat down to urinate.
By the fifth session, she was completely dry and getting herself to the bathroom when needed. We
reinforced the work and I told her to continue her exercise upon awakening until she felt she did not
need them anymore.
Both were very happy with the turn out of the sessions.