Somatic Hypnosis?

Chances are you have heard about the mind/body connection. Many understand it in regards to how thoughts influence the workings of the physical body-which is in part true but also incomplete. Recent advances in neuroscience inform us that physical sensations of alarm in the body almost invariably precede anxious thoughts for example. The thinking brain basically makes up a story about what we are feeling. It stands to reason then if you are struggling with stress, anxiety, or unhealthy self-soothing behaviors you want to address the physical aspect first.  There is a saying that goes, "you cannot think your way out of a feeling problem."

I recently completed a course of study with Dr. Richard Nongard on this very topic and I have also done a deep dive into this topic over the past few months. It is quite a shift from when I first became a hypnosis practitioner way back in 1995. Then the basic model of understanding problems and how to solve them was:

A= there is a stressful internal or external ACTIVATING event taking place, what we often call a cue or trigger. 

B= in turn there was your BELIEF about that event which would lead to the:

C= CONSEQUENCE or emotional reaction. 

From this idea came the notion that if you corrected your 'stinking thinking' or faulty BELIEFS your problems (CONSEQUENCE)  would resolve.  Yet what modern research proposes is that when we go into the stress response our thinking brain goes offline or is impaired.  The mammalian or emotional part of the brain evolved long before the neocortex came into being and handles our basic survival instinct. When in a state of alarm everything else takes a back seat.  A model proposed by Griffin and  Tyrell (2003) is called APET:

A=there is a stressful internal or external ACTIVATING event taking place. 

P=within microseconds the brain does a PATTERN MATCH about how you responded to that in the past, this produces:

E=an EMOTION (physical sensation) arises and then,

T=there is a THOUGHT about that emotion; you make up a story to explain what you are feeling. That story may or may not be accurate and often isn't

This is not to say that adopting a more rational and positive set of beliefs isn't important or helpful, it's just that you should get yourself out of the fight, flight, and freeze response first and then you can focus on the thinking component.  This can be done with a number of interventions that involve the body that you can learn to use independently. Are you ready to live a calmer and happier life? To learn more, please feel free to call/text me at (732) 714-7040 or fill out the Life Enhancement Strategy Form and I will get back to you ASAP.