I went to see a hypnotherapist.

[Tobin S.]

Like I was saying in an earlier OP, I had decided to go to see a hypnotherapist for an anxiety issue involving my physical certification to do my job. I need to pass this physical every year and it really weighs on me because I'm afraid that at some point I'm not going to be able to get by and I won't be able to work- at least, not as a truck driver. Then I'll have to scramble to find something to replace the income which has proven impossible for me because I've been trying to do that for the last four years with no success. That only adds to my anxiety.

So I went to see this woman in my little home town in Indiana. She was a great character. She was 66 years old and had been to Woodstock and had also met the members of Led Zeppelin. She has some great stories about that. She was a lot of fun to be around, and I think that helped with the hypnotic session. I was there for 2.5 hours. One hour was the actual session. The rest of the time was spent on an initial interview with me regarding my problem and then afterward with her telling her stories. It was an enjoyable experience, and I think I've made a new friend. Her husband is also a Mason like myself and belongs to my home lodge although I have never talked to him.

I'd never been hypnotized before. I was aware the entire time, perhaps more so than I am in my ordinary state of consciousness. We were able to zero in on the exact moment when I first felt this anxiety regarding my physical, and it was something that had not been registering in my awareness when I felt this anxiety. It was not some terrible, traumatic event that started all this off, but a really simple understated event that first planted the seed of doubt about my health in my mind. I quickly buried it, but it kept coming back as this anxiety around the time of my physicals. The actual event I did not recall until now. I just felt the emotion that it introduced.

The sensation that I experienced when hypnotized was of heightened awareness, not unconsciousness. I felt a lot like I do when I am deep in meditation.

Speaking of the unconscious, I wrote a little while back that I thought that the culprit regarding this issue might be an unconscious desire to sabotage my trucking career because I find it undesirable and would really like to do something different. This woman told me that the unconscious mind is truly an ally and is where all of our truth resides. The unconscious mind doesn't want to hurt us in any way. It's a step beyond old Freudian psychology and into the realms of the profession that I find most attractive- Jungian and transpersonal psychology.

[ret5hd]

1. OK now...cluck like a chicken.

Did you do it? No?

I guess you're in the clear then.

[Tobin S.]

2. Nah, there's no Manchurian Candidate stufff going on there.

Have you ever seen that movie? I mean the original with Frank Sinatra and Angela Landsbury. It's a classic.

[BigmanPigman]

4. I have seen it on TV over a dozen times in the past two years.

I hardly ever saw it before the moron wasn't elected POTUS. I think there is a reason for this new increase in programming. About 1 1/2 years ago I noticed the cover of the DVD on a stack of newspapers by my Trader Joe's (a free one that a person obviously left for someone to pick up). I took it and made an almost identical cover but with Hillary, Putin and tRump.

I tried getting hypnotized by a therapist but it didn't work, I really tried too. Oh well. I am glad you had better luck.

[shanny]

8. It's funny you should mention the movie schedule of late.

I remember, during Watergate--back in the day when there were 3 networks and PBS--seeing airings of "Z"*and "A Man for All Seasons"**

*Following the murder of a prominent leftist, an investigator tries to uncover the truth while government officials attempt to cover up their roles. "

**Robert Bolt’s portrayal of More as the ultimate man of conscience. As one who remains true to himself and his beliefs while adapting to all circumstances and times, despite external pressure or influence, More represents "a man for all seasons.

It was just a coincidence, I'm sure

[BigmanPigman]

9. One station that has shown it a lot is TCM which is hosted by

Ben Mankiewicz. He is very political and on The Young Turks a lot so I suspect he had a hand in the programming on that station anyway.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. This is fascinating stuff, my dear Tobin!

You've got me interested in where your story will go next.

[Tobin S.]

5. The next installment in this saga will be in August.

That's when my next physical re-certification is. I'll be sure to let you all know how it works out. I think I'm going to be okay.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. I suspect you will be too.

[MLAA]

7. Glad the session made you feel better. 🙂

[cwydro]

10. Very cool.

Thanks for posting this.

[MissouriLibrul]

11. Tobin... thank you for talking about your experience

Sounds like you found a hypnotherapist you had a strong rapport with, which I think is important to whether or not a session is successful.

I quit a 30-year, pack-a-day smoking habit by going to a hypnotherapist. Best $150 I’ve ever spent. Quit smoking that day and just celebrated my five-year anniversary on 11/11. My memories of the session are exactly like yours.. no “trance-like” feeling; just a deep state of relaxation and an ability to better understand certain thoughts. My husband still smokes and thinks hypnotherapy is a bunch of “hocus pocus“ despite evidence to the contrary - ME, his wife who hasn’t touched a cigarette since 11/11/14.

I always tell him the best that could come of trying hypnotherapy is he’d quit smoking like I did, and the worst would be “losing” $150. When I went to Joan (the hypnotherapist), I was very honest with her. I told her I LOVED smoking. It helped me with stress and I considered sitting down with a nice cigarette (always outdoors) as a “reward” upon finishing housework or work projects. I never had lung infections; not even so much a a chest cold with a cough. But taking care of my dad as he was dying and watching him continue to smoke right up until he died at 70 yrs old was the initial catalyst and then taking care of my mom as she was dying (and still smoked despite being on 24/7 oxygen; (she’d take off the oxygen tube and sneak out to her back deck for a few drags, then almost have to crawl her way back inside because she couldn’t breathe)) was what made my decision clear.
I KNEW no matter how lucky I’d been until then, I was watching my future unfold before my very eyes. No way I wanted to go down like that.

So Joan worked that information into her “script,” and even though there have been times I’ve really wanted a cigarette (ironically one of the hardest times to refrain was when my mom passsd of advanced COPD), I still haven’t smoked since the day I left Joan’s office. My husband has been all too willing to offer me one of his cigs when he knows I’m having a weak moment (but I’m onto his lame psychological mind-game; if I start smoking again, he doesn’t have to feel constant guilt because he won’t try to quit).

Anyway, I love hearing others’ hypnotherapy success stories. Have you made a decision about your career?