Tokyo Hypno News

Positive Changes for 2012!

2012-01-05T16:36:00.002+09:00

Happy new year and welcome to a world of change!

I used to be afraid of change. I liked things to always be the same, consistent, predictable. I felt safe that way. I felt in control. Life is not about safety though; it is about growth. And safety is not always what it seems to be.

I've heard it said that A ship in harbor is safe - but that is not what ships are for. The Tohoku earthquake and the ensuing tsunami proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that ships in harbor are not always safe. They can in fact be smashed to bits. The earthquake and the aftershocks showed us that safety is an illusion. We can never be perfectly safe, nor should we want to be.

We cannot ride out our lives in harbor. And we cannot be sure we'd be safe even if we did. Resisting change makes it harder than if we embrace it, to go with the flow. This is easier said than done, you might say, but we can always change when we want to change. And we can endure anything for short periods of time. Humans always have.

In 2011, many changes were forced upon us, but now, at the start of 2012, we can choose what changes we want to make for ourselves. for our own betterment this year. Do something new this year. Let the resistance wash away and free yourself.

Check out this video for inspiration!

Grab a Book!

2011-03-21T11:04:00.004+09:00

When I was in high-school or home on a college break, my mother would often catch me with my nose in the pantry or the fridge. When she did, she would say, "Stop that restless grazing! If you're bored, read a book!" I would dutifully close the door and go grab something from my mother's bookcase.

My brothers ate constantly because they played sports like football and wrestling, which required them to bulk up and maintain weight. I also played sports and burned off calories quickly, but I didn't need to eat like they did. I snacked because I saw them doing it, and my mother redirected this into more productive behavior. I am glad she did, as reading has never harmed anyone but overeating certainly has.

In the days after the earthquake, I found myself doing a lot of two things: sleeping and eating. The sleeping I saw as beneficial. I felt much calmer and clearer after a nap. The eating, not so much.

At first, the food was comforting. It was reassuring to know that I had access to food when so many people did not, and some foods, such as sweets, release dopamine. I also rationalized the eating as biologically driven: bulk up now to withstand impending scarcity. By the third or fourth day of one meal blending into the next (punctuated only by naps!), I recognized my behavior for what it was: restless grazing. I picked up a book and started to read.

Once I started reading, I felt a lot better, a lot calmer. The book took my mind off the news, the crisis, the emails and reports coming in from around Japan and the world, and the constant wondering what the best course of action was. Caught up in the story, the world of my book, I didn't have any desire to eat.

The hysteria is dying down now. The tension of the first few days has faded. I am not so wound up that I retreat into slumber, food, or books.

I learned a lot about myself from my reaction to the crisis. I sleep and I eat. Next time, I will sleep and read.

What have you learned about yourself from the past week? Please share with your comments.

Crisis Resources

2011-03-18T11:07:00.003+09:00

Here are some useful resources for residents of Tokyo and/or Japan

Foreign Residents Advisory Center (Tokyo Metropolitan Government)
03-5320-7744

Migration Agency
-Earthquake and tsunami information for foreigners in Japan
www.iomjapan.org/news/press_237.cfm

Metropolis Magazine
-Information on electricity and train operations, Tokyo radiation levels, earthquake relief, and more
metropolis.co.jp

Tokyo English Life Line
-Suicide prevention line and telephone counseling
03-5774-0992
-Earthquake news, help, and resources
www.telljp.com

Reduce Stress with Sleep (Earthquake & Aftermath)

2011-03-17T12:36:00.003+09:00

Hello,
I hope this post finds all of you well. Certainly in stressful times like this, the best thing to do is to stay calm. In my case, staying calm has involved lots of sleep. Sleep restores the body to its best condition, better able to think and cope with the challenges we face while awake. If you are having trouble sleeping because of the stress, I suggest any of the following if possible in your part of Tokyo (access to milk, running water, etc.):

*journalling about your fears to process emotions
*drinking hot milk to induce sleepiness
*drinking chamomile tea or hot water to relax
*taking a hot bath to soothe the body
*stretching to release lactic acid and tension in the muscles
*exercising to burn off tension and restless energy
*deep breathing to release CO2 from the lungs and clear your mind
*meditating to center your mind
*hypnosis to relax mentally and physically

I am available for skype sessions if you need help relaxing or processing the emotions stirred up by this situation. Stay safe and get some sleep!

Best wishes,
Karen

Combating Stress with Hypnosis

2010-07-03T09:33:00.000+09:00

There can be many factors contributing to poor health, but one major cause is stress. When we are under stress, our autonomic nervous systems switch into survival mode, slowing down functions that are not essential to surviving. These include the immune, digestive, and reproductive functions. This is why people who are chronically stressed get sick more easily and heal more slowly, develop ulcers and digestive problems, and experience irregular menstrual cycles, infertility, and sexual dysfunction. A form of hypnosis called guided meditation can be an effective means of combating this stress.

Few of us experience true danger in our daily lives, but our nervous systems react to traffic, time constraints, loud noises, and other stimuli in the same way that we used to respond to bears, battles, and other dangers. Stress causes the body to prepare for fighting, fleeing, or freezing, not growing, eating, and reproducing. To bring these normal, healthy functions back online, we need to shut off the survival response. We can do that by relaxing, but many people find that to be more easily said than done.

True relaxation requires mental and physical relaxation. Most of us know how to relax physically but many of us find it hard to relax mentally. Even while receiving a massage, for example, our minds might be active. A mind full of worries or woes is triggering all the same physical stress responses that a massage, a bath, a game of golf, a beer, etc., is trying to remedy. Unless we can quiet the mind, the body cannot achieve complete relaxation.

The best way to quiet the mind is meditation. While there are many different styles of meditation, most people find it easiest to begin with a guided meditation. Most forms of meditation focus on clearing the mind of all thought or focus the mind on a single concept or mantra. In guided meditation, the thoughts are directed. Because the imagination is engaged, guided meditation is actually a form of hypnosis rather than true meditation.

Guided meditation combines progressive relaxation with positive imagery. The progressive relaxation induces a hypnotic state, thereby switching the nervous system out of survival mode into growth mode. The positive imagery then redirects the mind away from obsessive thoughts towards peaceful thoughts, such as imagining a beautiful garden. Since it addresses the needs of both the mind and the body, guided meditation helps you relax both mentally and physically.

By consistently practicing guided meditation, your body will gradually learn what a normal, healthy state feels like. If you have been stressed for a long time, you body may have become stuck in fight or flight mode. Guided meditation will help you to retrain your body to switch out of survival mode so it will become less responsive to stressors and recover more quickly when exposed to them. Your mind will be more peaceful when you replace an active mind with a peaceful mind. Between the mental and physical benefits of guided meditation, you'll feel calmer and more in control of your life, and your immune, digestive, and reproductive functions will flourish.

Afformations

2010-03-20T02:42:00.003+09:00

There are all kinds of therapy available to help you change your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors: hypnotherapy, psychotherapy, art therapy, music therapy, and more. One kind of therapy you can do by yourself is bibliotherapy. Perhaps you know how wonderful it feels to read a good book and escape into another world for a little while. That is one kind of bibliotherapy, but I am talking about self-help books.

You may think self-help books are not for you, but even business books can be considered self-help. Anything that helps you achieve your goals, that teaches you tips and secrets to get ahead or to approach challenges in a new way, is a self-help book. By reading a good self-help book, you can learn how to transform and release your perceived or actual limitations.

There is no shortage of self-help books on the market. Many of them are repetitive or insubstantial and some are even damaging or absurd, so it takes some wading through to find a good one. I am currently reading The Secret Code of Success by Noah St. John. The "secret" St. John presents is the concept of afformations. Afformations is a play on affirmations. In hypnosis, we use affirmations (positive statements) to change the way we think about ourselves. For example, if you often think "I'm a failure," you use the affirmation "I'm a success" to reverse that thought. Every time you start to think "I'm a failure," you substitute the affirmation. This can help over time if there is no benefit to thinking you're a failure. If there is a perceived benefit, then that belief would need to be examined through hypnotherapy or other means to release it. For example, being a "failure" may mean not having to try again, not having to change, not having to work, not having to move or leave home, not having to succeed, not having to maintain success, not having to be visible/responsible/independent/etc. There could be lots of subconscious benefits to being a failure. Until those perceived benefits are exposed and transformed, affirmations will never work.

In his book, St. John talks about afformations, which are questions rather than statements. Afformations are positive questions stated in the past tense, as though the goal has already been achieved. When we ask ourselves a question, our brain starts looking for an answer. For example, what did you eat for lunch yesterday? Your brain is looking for that answer now. By asking yourself an afformation, your brain starts looking for the answer. If there isn't an answer yet, then your brain will try to come up with a solution, like solving a riddle. This is how inventors, scientists, entrepreneurs, and other creative people work. By asking afformations, you are using your own creative subconscious mind to find solutions. St. John compares this to typing a few words into a search engine, like Google, and sending the query off to the internet.

So, to relate this to the example above, if you ask yourself, "Why am I such a failure?" your brain will start looking for answers to that question. Any answers you get are sure to be negative. If you transform that to a positive question, you would ask, "Why am I such a success?" and your brain would start looking for answers to that question instead. To make this an afformation, you would state it in the past tense or state it as if it were already achieved, such as "Why did I become such a success?" or "Why does success come so easily to me now?" This will get your creativity flowing so you can come up with even more answers. You might surprise yourself.

This is not all you have to do. Afformations is the "secret" in the book, but there are several steps that St. John outlines in his book to help you achieve your goals using afformations. It's a clear and handy self-help book with an interesting twist on the use of affirmations. If you like affirmations, use afformations to see if you can go even further. If you like to read, check out The Secret Code of Success. If you'd like to become a success, read the book, use afformations, and work through the action steps.

Choose Life!

2010-03-20T02:33:00.003+09:00

Last month when I was visiting Tokyo, I heard a report on NHK that 30,000 people commit suicide in Japan every year. The number peaks in March, which is the end of the financial year. If you are feeling stressed as the financial year closes, you are not alone. The economic situation in Japan and abroad has affected everyone, some more than others. However, this is a temporary situation. Economies go up and down. Suicide is not the answer to financial or other problems. If you are contemplating suicide, please call someone close to you or call the Tokyo English Life Line (TELL). TELL provides free and confidential counseling in a variety of languages. You do not need to speak English or to live in Tokyo to use TELL's services. If you need to talk to someone now, please call TELL at 03-5774-0992 immediately.

Starting Afresh

2010-01-22T12:47:00.003+09:00

Happy New Year! I hope 2010 has started off well for you. If not, here are two things to keep in mind. One is that it's never to late to have a happy childhood, and the other is that life is a journey.

When I read the books Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman and Negaholics by Cherie Carter-Scott, I recognized myself in many of the descriptions of negative people and negative patterns. I remember a conversation I had with one of my friends in 1994. She called me a pessimist and I said I was a realist. Her response? "All of us experience reality in our own way, but your way is negative."

I didn't agree with her and didn't feel I needed to change at that time... and perhaps I didn't. That world view worked for me at that point in my life. I was young and life was good. But eventually, seeing the world that way did not work for me, so I worked on adopting a more positive outlook. Books like the ones I mentioned above helped me see that thinking negatively was not helpful and was in fact quite harmful both mentally and emotionally. My negative outlook affected me physically as well. I needed to change.

One thing to change was the way I looked at the past. If you have experienced a negative event and you expect the future to be the same, then you naturally tend to be pessimistic. So it helps to revise your memory of the past. Instead of looking at the bad points, think about what you learned or gained from a negative experience.

I understand you may have had a serious trauma in the past. I did too. But there are people who came out of Auschwitz able to love again, able to trust again, able to succeed. Nelson Mandela came out of prison able to forgive and able to lead. These people are not divine masters. They are ordinary human beings. If they can move on from the past, then surely you can too. It takes time and effort but it is possible. When you can look back and see the good points or the learning points of your life, the future seems less scary. You can slowly dial down the negativity until you find that you no longer see the world so negatively anymore. You can have a happy childhood by reframing the way you see the past.

When you feel better about the past, it will be easier to face the future. Now go out and make it a happy new year!

How to Choose a Hypnotherapist

2009-11-04T18:09:00.005+09:00

When I opened Tokyo Hypnotherapy in August 2007, there were only a few foreign hypnotherapists practicing in Tokyo. At that time, people chose a hypnotherapist primarily by location-- west Tokyo, east Tokyo, or central Tokyo. I estimate there are about a dozen foreign hypnotists, hypnotherapists, or hypnosis-trained psychotherapists practicing in Tokyo now. If you add Japanese practitioners, there may be several dozen. With so many to choose from, how can you decide? I recommend you consider purpose, experience, cost, and rapport.

1. Purpose

A hypnotist, a hypnotherapist, and a hypnosis-trained psychotherapist have different levels of education and training, and the purpose for visiting each is different.

A hypnotist can write suggestions for you, put you into trance, and then read the suggestions to you. This requires minimal training, perhaps as little as 50 hours. Many hypnotists receive their training by distance or in a weekend workshop. Hypnotists tend to specialize in one area, such as smoking cessation or weight loss. They frequently read the same script to every client, but the script can be very effective if it is constantly revised and improved. Suggestions that are written expressly for you, rather than a script, can also be very effective if you accept the ideas.

A hypnotherapist uses hypnosis to explore beliefs held at the subconscious level and then helps the client release these ideas through a combination of questioning and suggestions. This generally requires a minimum of 300 hours of training and includes supervised practice. Hypnotherapists are more effective than hypnotists when there is subconscious resistance to change, which is often the case. [The resistance is a protective mechanism, so the reason for it needs to be uncovered for it to be released.]

A psychotherapist has an advanced degree (usually an MSW, PhD, or MD) and can diagnose and counsel clients with mental health issues such as addiction, anorexia, bulimia, depression, domestic violence, schizophrenia, sexual abuse, trauma, and so on. Hypnosis may help with the treatment of some of these issues, but it should only be done by a licensed psychotherapist for your own safety and well-being. There are a few hypnotherapists in Tokyo who have doctorates in fields unrelated to psychology or who claim to have doctorates in hypnotherapy*. They are not trained to work with mental health issues. Please seek the help of a licensed psychotherapist for mental health issues. You can find one using the links to IMHPJ and TELL on the side bar.

2. Experience

Every mind is different. The more practice a hypnotist or hypnotherapist has in working with people, the more adept he or she becomes at writing suggestions and/or guiding the therapeutic process. Therefore, experience (and natural ability) is extremely important. Some of the best-known hypnotherapists had little formal training, including David Elman, Ormond McGill, and Gil Boyne. These three men became leaders in the field by developing their own processes through trial and error as they worked with thousands of clients over several decades. David Elman was self-taught yet became a seminal figure in medical hypnosis. His scripts are still widely used today. These men are exceptional. Most people need a good foundation before they can improve, but experience can produce powerful results.

3. Cost

The cost of a hypnosis or hypnotherapy session can vary widely. Hypnotists usually charge less than hypnotherapists unless they have a specialty. For example, some smoking cessation experts charge $500 for one session. Many of their clients quit simply because they spent so much money on the session-- money is a very powerful motivator!

Before you schedule a session, I suggest you consider whether you are ready to change and how willing you are to do so. If you are committed to change, then commit to the full course of treatment regardless of cost. Those who commit 100% always see the fastest results. If you stop going to sessions because you believe you cannot afford to continue, then you may stop short of your goal. On the other hand, if you choose someone inexpensive and inexperienced, you may never reach your goal. Most issues can be resolved in 3-6 sessions. For this reason, most practitioners sell packages to ensure their clients will reach their goals.

4. Rapport

Rapport is an integral part of an effective hypnosis or hypnotherapy session. All of us are intuitive. When you are in hypnosis, this ability is enhanced. If you do not trust the hypnotist or hypnotherapist, your critical thinking mechanism will reject what they say, and the session will be ineffective. Most hypnotists and hypnotherapists offer free consultations. Call the practitioner and ask a few questions. A good hypnotist or hypnotherapist will be able to establish rapport within 5-10 minutes and put you at ease before you schedule the session.

In sum, you have many options when choosing a hypnotist or hypnotherapist in Tokyo. First consider your purpose and seek the kind of practitioner who is best suited to helping you. Then consider the experience of the practitioner and how much you are able or willing to spend. Read a few websites, ask a friend for a referral, and speak to a couple practitioners before you make a decision. Finally, consider rapport. If you do not feel comfortable with the person you chose, then start the selection process over again. Ask yourself again if you are ready to change. Then commit 100% so that you can reach your goals. Then look forward to becoming the person you want to be.

* There is no doctoral degree in hypnotherapy offered by an accredited university in the US. There may be such programs in other countries.

Change in the Air

2009-10-05T15:25:00.004+09:00

Tokyo Hypnotherapy will be closed from November 18 to January 5 while I relocate to the US and set up a medical hypnosis practice there. From January 6, 2010, I will offer health coaching and hypnosis by phone for clients based in Tokyo and around Japan. I will also return to Tokyo periodically to offer in-person hypnotherapy sessions and self-hypnosis workshops. The first of these visits is scheduled for February 22-26, 2010.

Change can be unsettling when information is limited, so I have answered some FAQ's about this upcoming change below.

How will phone sessions work?

In general, coaching of any kind-- executive, small business, life, etc.-- is conducted over the phone for reasons of time and privacy. Therefore, health coaching by phone is no different than other forms of phone-based coaching. I have been offering phone-based health coaching for clients in Japan and Asia since March of this year. (For more information on health coaching, please scroll down.)

In a typical hypnosis session, we discuss the issue you would like to resolve at the conscious level, then I induce hypnosis and give suggestions to you based on what we discussed. When we are finished, I bring you out of trance and assign you accelerators (i.e., homework). Telephone-based hypnosis requires a hands-free phone and a comfortable and stable chair or couch near the phone. If you have a speaker phone or a headset (such as for skype), then it is easy to have a hypnosis session by phone. If you do not have a hands-free phone or do not want to have trance induced over the phone, then I can make a personalized hypnotic recording for you following our telephone discussion. I began offering phone-based hypnosis in July of this year.

In a typical hypnotherapy session, we discuss the issue you would like to resolve at the conscious level, then I induce hypnosis and we discuss the issue again while the subconscious mind is open. This is to see if the conscious and subconscious minds are in conflict, and if so, we work to bring them into agreement through questioning and self-analysis. Since hypnotherapy is a deeper process than hypnosis, I will only be able to offer hypnotherapy in person when I am in Tokyo.

Why are you moving?

I originally envisioned Tokyo Hypnotherapy as a medical hypnosis practice. I am happy to work on any issue with anyone who truly wants to change, but I am especially interested in hypnosis for medical issues. I became a clinical hypnotherapist to manage my own medical ailments, so I am especially interested in helping people with chronic pain and illness. Unfortunately, the Japanese medical community is not as accepting of medical hypnosis as the American medical community, so I have decided to base my practice in the US.

When will you be back?

I will be in Tokyo from February 22-26, 2010. If you would like to have a hypnotherapy session now, please come in by November 17. From January 6 to February 17, hypnosis and health coaching will be available by phone. I can also refer you to a Tokyo-based hypnotherapist or to IMHPJ, which has some hypnosis-trained psychotherapists among its members. These are not medical hypnotists, but they would be able to help you with other issues such as insomnia, creative blocks, and confidence.

What do you recommend for childbirth hypnosis?

I am developing my own childbirth hypnosis program, which will be available from March 2010. In the meantime, I recommend the self-study kits from HypnoBabies or Hypno-Beginning.

What is health coaching?

Coaching is about asking the right questions to get you on track and then guiding and encouraging you as you move along that track. Executive coaches help managers move up the career ladder; career coaches help people find the right career for them or move further along the career path; and life coaches help people find work/life balance. I believe that no matter what you do, good health is a prerequisite to achieving happiness. My approach focuses on holistic health (physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual balance), so I use the term health coaching. I combine coaching techniques such as motivational interviewing and NLP with healing arts such as acupressure and energy healing. Depending on your goal and your interests, we will use one or more of these techniques.

More Questions?

If you have more questions, please contact me so that I can address them individually or on this blog. Thank you for your patience as I undergo this transition.

Attitude of Gratitude

2009-09-14T10:41:00.004+09:00

When I first began to study energy healing in 2002, my Reiki teacher told me it was important to keep the 'attitude of gratitude' in my daily life. I was learning Reiki to treat chronic pain. Since chronic pain causes depression, I did not feel I had a lot to be grateful for at the time. Furthermore, within the month, I tore a ligament in my knee while skiing. With this new additional source of pain, I felt even less grateful. I also started having increased stress at work due to my limited mobility and frequent absences for doctor's visits and physical therapy. It seemed like trouble upon trouble, which made the attitude of gratitude seem unattainable.

However, even in the midst of this, I had a lot to be grateful for. The first doctor we visited suggested we inject my knee with pain medication and forcibly straighten the leg. My husband, a competitive skier familiar with knee injuries, knew this did not sound right. He refused treatment, and we left the hospital. It is extremely unusual to refuse a doctor's treatment in Japan, but he did, and I benefited.

As soon as we got home, my husband searched the Internet for a doctor specializing in knee injuries in our area. The second doctor said the ligament would have torn further if we had followed the first doctor's advice. If that had happened, I would have needed surgery to fix it. As it was, the only treatment I needed was medication for the pain and swelling. I am extremely grateful to my husband for his intervention. I'm also grateful that I could use the Reiki I had just learned to reduce pain and promote healing in the knee.

When I started physical therapy, which lasted six months, many friends and colleagues told me I would have permanent pain and limited mobility in my knee. It's amazing how many people want to tell you their own horror stories when something bad happens to you. They may think it is helpful, but it's not. I see this happen again and again to my clients, who come in traumatized by the advice of seemingly well-meaning people. It's important to ignore this information and focus on healing, which I did. Within two years, I had overcome the constant dull ache in my knee. Within three years, I was skiing better than I ever had before. I'm grateful that I completely recovered from the injury.

The chronic pain that led me to learn Reiki spurred me along a healing path that eventually led to hypnotherapy. Once I learned hypnotherapy, I was able to reduce pain and inflammation anywhere in my body at any time for extended periods of time. I was free from carrying around pain-relieving ointments and pills. I didn't need days of rest to recover from bouts of intense pain. Hypnotherapy was so much faster and longer-lasting than pain medication that I suddenly had a lot more hours of activity than I was used to. I am grateful that Reiki led me to hypnotherapy, and I'm grateful that hypnotherapy improved the quality of my life so significantly.

I cannot say I am glad I tore the ligament in my knee, but I am grateful that what started off as a negative experience did not get worse. Even better, it turned into a positive one. I am grateful that I learned so much from the experience, including how to ski better! Seven years later, I now find it easy to keep the attitude of gratitude in my life, and I am much happier as a result.

If you have trouble keeping the attitude of gratitude in your life, I recommend keeping a journal with a nightly gratitude list. Make a list of everything that is going well in your life. These can be small things like 'I caught the train on time' or 'The sushi at lunch was really fresh' to bigger things like 'I got a raise at work' or 'My baby is healthy.'

You can also write down any and all benefits that have come out of a negative situation. Write as many things as you can on your list. Repeat them from day to day as you add new things, so that your list grows even longer. The more attention you pay to what's good in your life, the more gratitude you will feel in all areas of your life. Instead of focusing on pain, you'll be focusing on joy. That is the attitude of gratitude.

Childbirth Hypnosis

2009-08-26T15:09:00.004+09:00

I became interested in teaching hypnosis for childbirth when a fellow hypnotherapist was preparing to give birth to her third child. Her hypnotherapy practice specializes in childbirth, so she had studied both the HypnoBirthing (Mongan Method) and Hypno-Beginning programs. While she liked both programs, she felt that neither one had all of the elements she needed for a peaceful and comfortable childbirth experience. She drew largely on her own knowledge of hypnosis for pain management, which we had learned in hypnotherapy school.

After learning of her experience, I researched other childbirth hypnosis programs and discovered HypnoBabies. HypnoBabies is unique because it aims to be a comprehensive childbirth education and hypnosis program. While some women may take a childbirth education course from a midwife and a hypnosis course from a hypnotist, HypnoBabies combines all of the information into one long, detailed, information-packed course. Course content includes the stages of pregnancy and childbirth, bonding with the baby in utero, support for the birth partner, hypnosis for pain management, and more. There is so much material to cover that it requires a substantial time commitment to learn it all. Unfortunately, that does not permit any opportunity to deviate from the material or to tailor the content to individual needs and concerns.

Since I have a background in curriculum development as well as hypnotherapy, I wanted more control and flexibility in designing and teaching a childbirth hypnosis course than any of these programs would allow. I also wanted to empower my students by teaching them how to hypnotize themselves without relying on CDs to talk them down into hypnosis. I decided to become certified in the Painfree Childbirth Program, which is the hypnotic component of HypnoBabies. I combined the Painfree Childbirth Program with other hypnosis techniques to create an original childbirth hypnosis course that can be tailored to the individual. In the past 18 months, I have continued to revise and improve the course based on feedback from fellow hypnotherapists and former clients.

There are many self-study programs besides HypnoBirthing, Hypno-Beginning, and HypnoBabies. The advantages to studying childbirth hypnosis at Tokyo Hypnotherapy are that you can ask questions, you can tailor the content to your needs, and you can learn skills that you'll be able to continue using long after your child is born.

Get Fit with Word Power

2009-08-11T19:28:00.014+09:00

I hate to exercise. I always have. But... I love to ski, I love to swim, I love to take long walks and hikes. Just don't call it exercise! That word takes all the fun away for me. Why is that? It's because I think of exercise as work but skiing as fun. The subconscious mind moves away from pain towards pleasure, so we naturally choose to do things that are fun and avoid those that aren't. We are hard-wired that way. That's why many people who hate exercise will walk around a mall or a museum for hours. That's fine; they are still exercising! They just aren't calling it that.

If you need to exercise, but don't like the images or feelings that the word exercise conjures up, then stop using it. Use the name of the sport or activity you enjoy, such as racquetball or hula dancing. Each time you say exercise, you are undermining your will power. Each time you say hula dancing, you are reinforcing your will power. This strategy puts the hard-wiring of your subconscious mind to work for you.

This word game is also effective for making healthy food choices. Many restaurants have dressed up ordinary dishes by giving them a fancy name, and many mothers have disguised vegetables by using funny names. Studies* have shown that people are more likely to eat chicken or spinach when they're called slow-roasted free-range chicken or Popeye Power. If you don't like salad very much, then calling it rabbit food will not make it more appealing to you. On the other hand, calling it a fresh green salad or a crunchy garden salad might.

The most effective word substitution for your fitness plan is changing the word have to choose. If you have to do something, it generally isn't fun any more. If you choose to do something, then you can motivate yourself more easily. If you make a regular habit of saying choose to instead of have to, you'll find that you can overcome your resistance and feel purposeful and proactive.

Word choices are important. When you begin to use positive word choices, you will find it easier to move towards your goal and stay on the path to success. Here's to a healthier you!

* Please see the book Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink.

Reading, Writing, Self-Confidence

2009-07-28T12:42:00.003+09:00

You can achieve anything when you put your mind to it. How many times have we heard that or a variation of it? We may have heard it from parents, teachers, coaches, or friends. We read it in newspapers and hear it in films. Unfortunately, many of us lack the confidence to believe we can have a fraction of what we want, let alone all of it. Without confidence, most goals will remain unattainable. So how can we develop self-confidence?

One of the best ways to start developing your self-confidence is to gather evidence of all of your skills and talents. Make a list, and then read and rewrite it frequently. By gathering this evidence, you begin to appreciate yourself. By reading it over frequently, you reaffirm your self-appreciation. By writing it over repeatedly, the evidence filters down to the subconscious so that you can begin to believe in yourself.

In making your list, the first step is to think about your past and current situation. Think back all the way to the time you were small up to the present day. What did you used to do well or do well now? What awards, scholarships, commendations, or other special recognitions have you received? What skills have enabled you to succeed professionally, socially, athletically, etc.? What leadership roles have you held in professional, social, or other organizations? What makes you unique? Write all of this down.

The second step is to think in a larger circle. Think about those who love, like, respect, or care about you. What do you think they like about you? What are you complimented on? What do you have that others envy? What nice, thoughtful, or helpful things have you done for others? What can you do as well as or better than anyone else you know or admire? Write all of this down on your list.

Once you have exhausted your own thoughts, the third step is to ask close friends and family members to check over your list and add their suggestions. Ask them the same kind of questions you asked yourself. This will help them to think of a wider range of skills and talents, including those that they might have otherwise overlooked. Write this on your list.

Now that you have a lengthy and informative list full of ways in which you are unique and special, the fourth step is to believe that this is true. Every day, you will read over your list, add to it, and copy it out again by hand. By reading it, you are seeing visual proof of your worthiness. By adding to it, you are increasing your awareness of how special you are. By writing it out, you are internalizing the information. This repetition will send the evidence down to your subconscious, where it will take root. Your confidence will begin to grow and flourish as a result.

Building self-confidence takes time. If you give up too quickly or too easily, then you are telling yourself that you are not worthwhile, that you don't deserve to feel good about yourself. That is not true. You do deserve to feel good about yourself. By taking the actions above, you can begin to believe in yourself. Once you believe in yourself, you can achieve anything you put your mind to.

Portable Home

2009-07-14T11:56:00.014+09:00

Now that summer is upon us, many people look forward to having time to return home. For many Japanese, this means traveling to the countryside during the Obon holiday. For many foreigners, it means flying overseas.

It's wonderful to have a place where you can feel 100% at home. Unfortunately, many Tokyo residents feel like we have to travel someplace else to feel that way. Why should it be that home is someplace other than where we live?

When we are at peace with who we are, we feel at home no matter where we are. We are able to adapt to different cultural, professional, or social expectations and demands without losing our sense of self. By remaining true to ourselves, the feeling of being at home becomes portable.

We can remain true to ourselves by taking time daily to reflect, meditate, or pray. Quiet time for ourselves is often undervalued and overlooked, but it's essential to developing and maintaining a sense of peace and balance. Time spent reading, listening to music, watching tv, or exercising does not count as quiet time. These are activities that stimulate the mind, rather than quieting it.

If you choose to reflect, this does not mean judging yourself. Reflection means recalling pleasant memories, noting progress or achievements, or dreaming of the future. If you choose to meditate, this does not mean you follow your thoughts when they intrude. Instead, you just notice them as they arise, then let them go and return your focus to your breathing or mantra. If you choose to pray, this does not mean focusing on what you lack and begging for assistance. Prayer means expressing gratitude for prayers answered and then turning your problems over to God.

By taking time daily to reflect, meditate, or pray, you will come to know and understand yourself more fully. As a result, you will find it much easier to remain true to yourself. You will develop a sense of calm and peace that you can carry with you. When you make time to quiet your mind, you cultivate a sense of being at home in your own body. That is something you can carry with you wherever you go.

Think Positive

2009-07-01T13:11:00.003+09:00

There are many benefits to positive thinking, but negative thinking has it benefits too. For example, when you design a product or launch a company, you need to believe it will succeed, but you also need to think of everything that could possibly go wrong so you can prepare for and prevent it. That's a good balance of positive and negative thinking.

Unfortunately, for many of us, positive and negative thinking can fall out of balance. Some people might be overly optimistic when some negative thinking would be useful. Fortunately, optimistic people bounce back from problems easily because they know the next time will be better. On the other hand, pessimistic people who encounter problems find it harder to bounce back because they expect the next time will be the same or worse. This can lead to further negativity.

Negative thinking can lead to excessive self-doubt and self-criticism. Self-doubt can be useful. If you think your public speaking skills aren't up to par, you might be motivated to work on improving them. Self-criticism can help you refine your techniques. But excessive self-doubt and self-criticism can lead to an erosion of self-esteem and self-confidence. Negative thinking that continually undermines your ability to value and believe in yourself is not productive and can lead to depression. You can halt and repair the damage by replacing negative statements with positive statements.

This may sound too easy to you. It may sound like it would never work. The fact is you may have already spent many years telling yourself negative messages or hearing them from someone else. Repetition bypasses our critical thinking and gets ideas into the subconscious. This is why commercials and nursery rhymes are repeated over and over. The good news is that repeating positive messages to yourself can override and rebuild the confidence that has been eroded. Hypnosis and hypnotherapy can speed up the process considerably.

Weight Loss Roadblocks

2009-06-13T22:19:00.008+09:00

How many of us would like to lose a little weight so we can look and feel better?

Maintaining a healthy weight requires motivation and dedication. While most people have plenty of both when they embark on a weight loss plan, many give up before reaching their goals or stop paying attention to their health as soon as they do reach their goals. After taking a little break and gaining as much or more weight back, they try again with another program, diet, or workout plan... until they give up again. Does this describe you?

One reason that people give up is that they focus on weight loss. If you keep telling yourself you need to lose weight over and over like a mantra, your subconscious mind takes this literally. Subconsciously, you start to think, 'Oh, I lost something; I had better go find it!' This can lead to weight gain. It's better to focus on returning to the best weight for you. This is an idea your subconscious can support without undermining your conscious efforts.

Another reason that people give up is that they may use food to comfort themselves or their weight may serve as a protective barrier. Sometimes this is conscious, but often it is not. If your subconscious mind wants to eat large amounts of comfort foods or maintain that protective barrier, your conscious efforts to eat right are going to be overruled. To lose weight, these subconscious beliefs must be released. Once those are gone, it's easier to stay on track and achieve your goals.

Weight loss is one of the top concerns of most people-- and one of the top three uses of hypnosis. Hypnotherapy can release the subconscious beliefs that are sabotaging your weight loss efforts and bring your conscious and subconscious mind into alignment so that you can achieve your goals.

Be Happy!

2009-06-01T18:34:00.003+09:00

No matter what initially causes a person to embark on a journey of self-improvement, the underlying goal is always the same: to be happy. People seek to make a change when they have reached a limit on their pain and suffering, when they are bored with the current state of affairs, or when they feel a yearning to get more out of life. They are seeking fulfillment, contentment, and satisfaction-- synonyms of happiness.

One woman dedicated a year of her life to following all of the advice from various self-help books and turned it into a blog called The Happiness Project. You can find all kinds of useful ideas about how to become happy at her site.

After you read through and implement some of the advice, you might find you get stuck in places or you just can't seem to progress as far as you'd like. If you have made a conscious effort to be happy and you have not reached your goal, this is when hypnotherapy can be the most effective.

Hypnotherapy removes the roadblocks to happiness by enabling access to the subconscious part of our minds. All of our negative beliefs about ourselves are stored in the subconscious. Using hypnosis, we can find those negative beliefs and release them. When the subconscious and conscious parts of our minds are in agreement about what we want, this is when lasting change can take place. True happiness is attainable; it's as close as we believe it to be.

Expectations

2009-05-18T15:18:00.007+09:00

Long before I became a hypnotherapist, I visited a hypnotist as a client. I wanted to stop biting my fingernails. I didn't have a lot of faith that it would work, but I thought it was worth a shot. Before we began, I asked the hypnotist if this could be fixed in one visit. She said that if it was just a habit, it could be. I settled in and prepared to be cured. Unfortunately, I started biting my nails again within five minutes of leaving her office. When I contacted her later, she said I would stop when I was ready. I was thoroughly disappointed with her answer and gave up on hypnosis. I didn't understand at that time how our expectations influence the results we get. I hadn't expected hypnosis to work, and-- surprise!-- it didn't.

When I was suffering from chronic pain a few years later, I looked for a non-medical way to manage the pain. After quite a lot of research, I developed high expectations that hypnosis would be effective. I had read a number of articles from various mental health journals, medical websites, and newspapers like the New York Times, had watched a number of news programs about hypnosis, and had spoken to a doctor who had witnessed a surgery performed with hypnosis in lieu of anesthesia. By the time I saw a hypnotherapist for pain management, I was convinced that hypnosis would work, and --surprise!-- it did.

This is not to say that the results were instantaneous, but I knew that if hypnosis could work for other people, then it could also work for me. I was also much more motivated to stop feeling pain than I had been to stop biting my nails. I realized I couldn't take a passive role and expect to be cured. I had to be proactive. I had to participate in my treatment by using self-hypnosis and doing the exercises assigned to me by the hypnotherapist I saw. When hypnosis worked for the chronic pain, I realized that I had given up too easily and too early on nail-biting. I hadn't really believed hypnosis would work for that, and I hadn't really wanted to stop. However, I knew that hypnosis would work for chronic pain, and I really wanted the pain to stop. Different expectations--and different levels of motivation--produced different results.

Since becoming a hypnotherapist, I have worked on a number of personal issues. Using hypnosis, I have overcome allergies, asthma, and chronic pain and have set and achieved many other personal goals. Ironically, nail-biting was the most difficult behavior to stop. The main problem was motivation: there didn't seem to be any penalty to continuing a behavior I had been doing for over 30 years. If you don't have a clear reason for changing your behavior, then chances are good that you won't. Finally I thought, "I'm a hypnotherapist, what message does this send to my clients if I bite my nails?" Shortly afterwards, I stopped!

Mind Control vs. Thought Control

2009-05-12T11:17:00.005+09:00

Many people associate hypnosis with some kind of mind control. Hypnosis is often depicted as mind control in cartoons, movies, and television shows. The hypnotist swings a watch or spins a psychedelic disk in front of a subject's eyes and then suddenly has total control over him or her, like a kind of puppet master. If you have seen a live hypnosis stage show, you may have witnessed this phenomenon firsthand. However, like watching a magic show, what you think you saw and what you actually saw were not the same.

Hypnosis is about controlling the mind. However, we all control our own minds. Even when you are in hypnosis, you have control over what information you will tell a hypnotist and what suggestions you will accept from the hypnotist. The participants in a hypnosis stage show are carefully selected. Anyone who resists the hypnotist's suggestions will be asked to leave the stage, and those that remain on stage are choosing to accept the silly suggestions and perform for the audience. It's like someone pretending to be drunk so that they can get away with behavior they might otherwise be too inhibited to do. However, it is not like being drunk-- you are always in control when you are in hypnosis. If you hear a suggestion you don't accept, you will either ignore it or come out of hypnosis.

Many of us feel like we can't control our minds. We can't control our thoughts. However, controlling our minds and controlling our thoughts are not the same thing. We all have thoughts throughout the day. Thoughts arise just as surely as blood flows. Meditation and spiritual practices can teach us not to attach to those thoughts-- let the thoughts come, notice them, and let them go. If you can resist attachment to your thoughts, then you are controlling your mind. Unfortunately, it can take years to learn how to do this.

Hypnosis replaces negative thoughts with positive thoughts. This is much easier to do than learning not to attach to thoughts. Most of the thoughts we have throughout the day are repetitive and many of those are negative. What we say to ourselves about ourselves is what we tend to believe about ourselves. Therefore, if these thoughts are negative, we feel terrible about ourselves, and if these thoughts are positive, we feel great about ourselves. This is mind control: controlling the kind of thoughts we have rather than allowing the thoughts to control us.

About Tokyo Hypnotherapy

2009-05-08T18:42:00.004+09:00

Tokyo Hypnotherapy is a private hypnotherapy practice owned and operated by Karen Mattison, a clinical hypnotherapist, life coach, and Reiki Master. Tokyo Hypnotherapy offers:

hypnotherapy for medical support and pain management
hypnotherapy for personal and professional development
stress management training in self-hypnosis, meditation, or Reiki
life coaching

Karen is certified as a clinical hypnotherapist by the American Council of Hypnotist Examiners (#108-054). Karen has completed advanced hypnotherapy training in accelerated healing, pain management, painfree childbirth, and cancer support. Karen is also a life coach and teaches self-hypnosis, meditation, and Reiki.

Karen became interested in alternative medicine after developing chronic pain in the wrists and weakness in the hands, which required extended periods of rest and increasing amounts of pain medication. She first learned Reiki to promote healing in the wrists and hands. While this also provided temporary pain relief, the pain in the wrists kept returning from overuse.

Karen looked for other alternative therapies for managing pain and discovered that hypnosis can be used to eliminate pain in childbirth, surgery, and chronic pain. Now when Karen has pain, she can use hypnosis instead of medication to manage or eliminate it. Since chronic pain can greatly impair one's life and lead to depression, Karen is particularly interested in helping clients with pain management.

Although Reiki and hypnotherapy are often called alternative medicine, Karen prefers the term complementary medicine. Reiki and hypnotherapy are best used to complement traditional (allopathic) medicine not as an alternative to it.

In addition to her training in complementary medicine, Karen has a BA from the University of California at San Diego and an MA from the Monterey Institute of International Studies. She has lived in Japan for more than ten years.

Events

2009-01-01T11:25:00.000+09:00

2010
January:
Trained in Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)

February 18-26:
Sessions in Tokyo. Now scheduling!
Email tokyohypno@gmail.com for your preferred time and date

March:
Training in BlissBorn Childbirth Program

2009
January:
Trained in Vipassana meditation

February:
Conference presentation on How Hypnosis Can Help You and Your Students for Women Educators and Language Learners conference

March:
Joined an EAP provider as a workshop trainer and EAP therapist

April:
Conference presentation on Learned Optimism through Meditation for International Mental Health Professionals of Japan conference

Elected to serve as Outreach Coordinator on the IMHPJ board

May:
Joined Tokyo English Life Line as workshop trainer

Newspaper article entitled Hypnosis Can Have Physical Benefits for Daily Yomiuri, Fresh Perspective Column

June:

Corporate presentation on Building Resilience to Stress

July:

Community presentation on Hypnosis for Painfree Childbirth for Tokyo Pregnancy Group

August:

Corporate presentation on Active Listening

September:
Newspaper article for Daily Yomiuri, Fresh Perspective Column

October:

Corporate presentation on Tips for Managing Stress
Corporate presentation on Benefits of Proper Breathing
Corporate presentation on Instant Calm Techniques

November:
Relocation to US

Dec and Jan Events

2008-11-07T19:10:00.001+09:00

Tokyo Hypnotherapy will be closed for December and January while I pursue additional training and relocate the office.

Happy Holidays to all!

November Events

2008-10-22T11:34:00.004+09:00

November 29
Prep for the JLPT! A Self-hypnosis Workshop

Overcome test-taking anxiety
Improve concentration
Improve memory and recall
Learn self-hypnosis and NLP skills to remain calm and focused

October Events

2008-09-01T11:07:00.000+09:00

October 9
Presentation to Tokyo Pregnancy Group
http://tokyopregnancygroup.blogspot.com/

October 18
Run for the Cure (5 km walk)
http://www.runforthecure.org/index_en.html

Ongoing: schedule private training!
Hypnosis for Childbirth Training

Break through the fear-tension-pain cycle so that you and your baby can have a calm and comfortable childbirth experience
Learn self-hypnosis and NLP skills for power napping, pain relief, concentration, and calm that you will be able to use the rest of your life
Receive book and CD to further your training
Recommended to start the course at 28-32 weeks
Birth partners are welcome to attend

September Events

2008-08-14T11:41:00.012+09:00

Sept 24
Presentation & Demonstration at
College Women's Association of Japan Evening Program
http://www.cwaj.org

Sept 27
Let Go of Stress!
A Self-Hypnosis Workshop
Tokyo is great, but living in a big city can be stressful. When we are stressed, our bodies go into a fight-flight-or-freeze mode. The long-term effects of this stress on our bodies can lead to poor health and disease. By using hypnosis, you can switch your body out of the stressed mode into a state of profound relaxation. In this workshop, you will learn visualization and self-hypnosis techniques to quiet your mind and relax your body. You will also learn how to use hypnosis for power napping!

This workshop is being repeated by popular demand. It is now one hour longer to allow more practice of the techniques. Register early and pay in advance to receive a discount.

August Events

2008-07-16T21:52:00.008+09:00

August issue of InTouch
Article on Visualizations for Stress Relief
This magazine can be found at the Tokyo American Club

End of Summer Special: 5000 yen sessions!
Curious about hypnosis, NLP, or Reiki?
Experience a 30-minute session for just 5000 yen.
Try all three for just 15,000 yen!

Available August 29 and 30 only

July Events

2008-06-04T21:13:00.007+09:00

July 31
Improve Your Game!
A Self-Hypnosis Workshop
Olympic athletes use hypnosis and visualization to improve their sports performance and now you can too! Learn the techniques that world-class athletes use in this self-hypnosis workshop.

June Events

2008-05-03T20:39:00.000+09:00

June 11
Guest Speaker at
Tokyo New Mothers Group
http://tokyonewmothers.blogspot.com/

June 14
Event Sponsor of
Being A Broad Golf Tournament
http://www.being-a-broad.com/

June 14
Event Sponsor of
People for Social Change's
Skylines Networking Event
http://people-for-social-change.blogspot.com/

Hypnosis for Childbirth Training
Learn self-hypnosis to manage or eliminate pain during childbirth!
Recommended to begin training in weeks 28-33 of your pregnancy

Private classes: 4.5 hours total, CD included
Group classes: 9 hours total, CD and book included

May Events

2008-04-05T21:09:00.000+09:00

May issue of Being A Broad
Article on Advice from Mom about Living Abroad
This magazine can be found at locations around Tokyo

Reiki I Training
Learn how to channel universal energy for your healing and relaxation! Once you have been opened to this energy, you can use it anytime anywhere on anyone.

Since Reiki is completely painless and can be passed without any manipulation of the body, it is safe for use on anyone, even those who cannot tolerate other complementary therapies.

Reiki requires no chemicals (like homeopathy or aromatherapy), no touch (like reflexology or kinesiology), and no manipulation (like cranial-sacral therapy). Reiki also causes no pain (like acupuncture or shiatsu) and does not require standing (like taichi or qigong). Therefore, Reiki is suitable for use by and with everyone.

Reiki energy cannot be overused, misused, or harmful to either the practioner or the recipient. Reiki I can be learned in 4-6 hours depending on class size. Follow-up training is also available.

Private or Group Classes conducted by request

April Events

2008-03-31T19:53:00.003+09:00

Apr issue of Being A Broad
Article on Train Rage
This magazine can be found at locations around Tokyo

Apr 13
Presentation & Demonstration at
International Mental Health Professionals of Japan Conference
http://www.imhpj.org

Apr 20
Participating Healer at
Illumination Healing Festival
http://www.unicorncenter.com/healing/

Apr 20
Guest Speaker at
Circle of Light
http://www.naturalhealingcenter.com/creative/circle_of_light.htm

March Events

2008-02-17T19:52:00.000+09:00

March 16
Event Sponsor of
Foreign Executive Women's Career Strategies Seminar
Article in seminar handbook

March 27
Hypnosis for Hayfever: Lecture and Demonstration

March 29, April 2, 9, and 19
Hypnosis for Childbirth: Self-Hypnosis Training Course

February Events

2008-01-08T21:00:00.004+09:00

Feb issue of InTouch
Article on Stress Relief

Feb issue of Tokyo Families
Interview with Louise George Kittaka

Feb 28
Let Go of Stress!
A Self-Hypnosis Workshop
Tokyo is great, but living in a big city can be stressful. When we are stressed, our bodies go into a fight-flight-or-freeze mode. The long-term effects of this stress on our bodies can lead to poor health and disease. By using hypnosis, you can switch your body out of the stressed mode into a state of profound relaxation. In this workshop, you will learn visualization and self-hypnosis techniques to quiet your mind and relax your body. You will also learn how to use hypnosis for power napping!

January Events

2008-01-08T20:53:00.005+09:00

Jan issue of Being A Broad
Article on Hypnosis for Childbirth

Jan 12 Japan Times
Interview with Angela Jeffs

Jan 17
Presentation to Tokyo Pregnancy Group
http://tokyopregnancygroup.blogspot.com/

Jan 24
Make Your Resolutions Stick!
A Self-Hypnosis Workshop
We send ourselves messages all the time, but often the messages are negative and ineffective at reaching the goals we set for ourselves. In this workshop, you will learn how to frame your self-messages in positive terms to make them more effective and then learn self-hypnosis skills so these positive messages can reach your subconscious. By combining your positive self-messages with self-hypnosis, you will be well on your way to making this year’s resolutions a reality.

2007 Events

2007-12-30T20:52:00.000+09:00

Sept 16
Participating Healer at
Illumination Healing Festival

Oct 24
Presentations to
Tokyo New Mothers' Group
Foreign Nurses' Association of Japan

Nov 18
Participating Healer at
Illumination Healing Festival