Professional Articles

Rachel, God’s Little Messenger

Working in the helping professions, we never know what the next phone call will bring. Our challenges, opportunities, and lessons often come in strange ways. And the call I received from Rachel’s mother is certainly no exception.

Rachel was almost seven years old when her mother called me in absolute desperation. When Rachel was five, she accidentally drank drain cleaner, which burned her mouth, throat, esophagus and stomach. She had undergone several surgeries, but would not swallow. The doctors advised her mother that unless Rachel started to swallow again, it would become necessary to permanently close the esophagus, an operation that could not be reversed.

When Rachel came to my office for a consultation, she carried a small bottle that she used to spit into rather than swallow her saliva. She had a feeding tube that bypassed her esophagus, which was used for both food and liquids. Her mother told me that it was necessary to change Rachel’s pillowcase every day, because Rachel would not swallow even while asleep. I was told that I was Rachel’s last hope to lead a normal life. I offered only a slim glimmer of hope for success using hypnotherapy. However, I promised to do my best to help and said a silent prayer for guidance. We arranged an appointment to get started.

At Rachel’s first appointment I learned that she knew her Guardian Angels. She and I invited them to help and we got started with hypnotherapy. Before the first appointment was concluded I discovered a lot about this beautiful child that God had sent to help me. She spoke knowledgeably of things that few children her age could conceivably know. She assumed a meditative position at the beginning of each hypnotherapy session. She called her Guardian Angels by name. Her mother couldn’t explain how Rachel knew the things she knew, much less where she learned about meditation. For me there was only one explanation. Rachel is an Incarnate Angel.

Although she still would not swallow, by the third appointment Rachel was sipping from a straw. During her fourth appointment she began to take tiny sips of water. At her fifth appointment she drank a full glass of water. Following her sixth appointment she asked her mother if she could have some macaroni and cheese for dinner. She arrived for her seventh appointment with exciting news that she was making frequent trips to McDonald’s for hamburgers and fries. Shortly thereafter she announced that fried chicken had become her favorite food.

It has been just over a year since I have done hypnotherapy work with Rachel. She asked her mother to bring her by my office after school a few days ago to just visit and catch up with news. It was really good to visit with the Little Angel. She told me that the incision where the feeding tube had been was completely healed and that she can and does eat just about anything she wants. Her doctors are astonished at what this dear, sweet Angel has been able to do. Some call it a miracle. She has used the God-given power of her mind to miraculously heal her body. I am honored that God brought her into my life. She has inspired me.

Stop by my office and I’ll show you a beautiful autographed crayon and glitter work of art that Rachel did for me for my birthday last year. It’s my favorite treasure.

Forensic Hypnosis

Hypnosis is mentioned in the news more and more often these days. And it is gaining nationwide acceptance as a very viable tool to help society in numerous ways. Weight control, smoking cession, pain management, stress reduction, athletics, study skills and anxiety are just a few of the areas where it is being used.

One very significant and interesting use of hypnosis that is gaining wide acceptance is Forensic Hypnosis. We are learning through the media that forensic hypnosis has become an important tool to not only help solve crimes, but also in both criminal and civil litigation. Today many of the nation’s law enforcement officers, lawyers, and professional investigators are finding that hypnosis can be an effective aid in the judicial system. Often when a police officer or attorney becomes frustrated by the victim, witness or client saying, “ I’m sorry, but I just can’t remember”, forensic hypnosis provides a remedy, the only solution to the memory problem. It can mean the very thing that is needed to prove the case so that justice can prevail.

In many cases, even a reluctant witness can be induced to remember what he or she preferred to forget. A victim, who genuinely desires to recall what took place at the scene, will not only recall while hypnotized details previously forgotten, but will find the memory of the entire incident much more clearly. When that occurs, he or she becomes a much better witness in the courtroom.

By hypnotizing a witness, a properly trained forensic hypnotist can delve deep into a witness’ subconscious and get vital clues needed to solve a crime. It may be an automobile license plate number, or an accurate description of an offender that the witness could not otherwise recall.

Investigators for a law firm or insurance company my use a forensic hypnotist to help obtain information regarding an automobile accident that a client had difficulty remembering because of the intense traumatic nature of the accident. The hypnotized client can be regressed to the time of the accident and accurately relate the details of the accident and the events that took place immediately before and after the accident.

Hypnosis is a natural mental process and is always safe so long as it is done by a properly trained person. When hypnotized a person is not asleep or unconscious, as some people believe, but is actually in a heightened state of awareness in which the conscious, rational, and reasoning mind is temporarily bypassed. In that relaxed state hidden memories can be uncovered and brought to the surface.

Today law enforcement agencies nationwide are turning to the use of forensic hypnosis to get to the true facts in civil and criminal cases. It is being used here in Louisiana to assist in fighting crime. Hypnosis is a tool that is destined to become even more widely used in forensics as we become more educated to its value, use and purpose.

Conrad Adams has a private hypnotherapy practice in Baton Rouge. He is also the Owner and Director of Infinity Hypnosis Institute, Louisiana’s first and only licensed proprietary school of hypnosis.

STOP SMOKING WITH HYPNOSIS?

If you think that smoking is no longer a threat to society, think again! Even with all the publicity today about the health hazards of the use of tobacco, smoking remains high on the list of the causes of death not only in America, but worldwide. According to sources such as the American Cancer Society and the American Lung Association, smoking kills six people a minute worldwide!

There are two principal reasons people smoke; identification and replacement. Identification smokers indulge in the habit because others whom he admires do so – peers, parents, entertainers, sports figures, etc. Identification smoking is the most common and easiest to eliminate.

Replacement smoking occurs when smoking is used to replace some deficit in life – lack of companionship, love acceptance, self-esteem, security, independence, etc. – or to replace some pre-existing habit such as overeating, anxiety, boredom, etc. Replacement smokers often derive sensual gratification from smoking – feeling the cigarette, tapping the pack, seeing the flame of the lighter or the curling of rising smoke, or the smell of burning tobacco. Lighting the cigarette in itself becomes a ritual. Replacement smoking is quite often a true and severe addition.

Since smoking is both physical and mental, success in a stop-smoking effort must change not only the mental attitude of the smoker, but the physical reaction as well. Of all the options available to stop smoking, hypnosis is perhaps the easiest and most effective way to eliminate the habit because it can help change both the mental attitude and the physical reaction.

Today smoking cessation runs a close second to weight reduction as America’s reason to use hypnosis. And there is a logical explanation of both how and why hypnosis works to discontinue the smoking habit.

Our habits are stored and operated by the subconscious mind, which is like a computer. It records everything we experience, but it doesn’t reason like the conscious mind. It just reacts. And over a period of time as we continue a habit (good or bad), it gets the idea that the habit is suppose to be a part of our nature. The habit become difficult to break.

Hypnosis distracts the conscious mind and allows reprogramming of the subconscious mind to bring about new behaviors. For hypnosis to be effective, a readiness to discontinue the habit and a firm believe that hypnosis will help break the habit is vital. Then, with repetition of positive suggestions given to your subconscious mind, the habit can be broken.

Some smokers can discontinue the habit with only one or two sessions of hypnosis. However, the majority of people will need a number of sessions – three, four, or five - to bring about the desired change. And there is a small percentage of people who need to smoke and may need more extensive hypnotherapy sessions.

For all smokers individual sessions are more advantageous. Individual sessions have the advantage of being adjustable to deal with the cause of the smoker’s habit, the gratification provided, the characteristics of the smoker and similar matters that are not possible in group sessions.