Book Report: Dream Telepathy by Ullman, Krippner and Vaughan -- Research Methodology

Dream Telepathy, Scientific Experiments in the Supernatural, (c) 1973 Macmillan Publishing

Despite the enticingly spooky title, this book is based on scientific research form the Dream Research Laboratory at the Maimonides Medical Center Psychology department. If you're looking for an exploration of this exotic phenomena from researchers firmly grounded in psychological sciences and the scientific method, this is the book for you.

Telepathy may not be something discussed today in many scientific circles, but until the 1980s, no topic was unworthy of being eyed through the lens of science. In fact, in those days ESP and psychic abilities were big both in popular culture and in serious research circles, thanks to research initiated in the Soviet Union, and the possibility of psychic spying was beginning to be considered seriously in political circles, So the time was certainly ripe to explore what could be explored. Moreover, many of the pioneering figures of psychiatry discussed psychic phenomena, including Freud, Jung, Ehrenwald and others. Some therapists even complained about having psychic dream-communications involving their patients!

In the opening of the book, the authors related a number of historical and literary cases of telepathic and prophetic dreams, as well as the type of psychological patients that seem to experience dream telepathy, (emotionally detached patients often do, but schizophrenics never do). 

The central portion of the book describes the experiments (mostly conducted between 1948-1954) in great detail, and analyses their results and the shortcomings, which were often addressed in subsequent experiments. In the course of their research, they also learned about various sleep states (ie: REM sleep was unknown until 1950). A fairly small pool of researchers participated in the experiments, so that the data was able to examine the effect of their character traits on the outcomes, as well as the effect of the relationships between the senders and receivers of the psychic messages. 

The third part of the book, Theoretical Implications, examines the data for conclusions and useful information (science, after all, is about findings that are verifiable and repeatable). The most obvious are that positive rapport between participants and things with strong emotional charges were most likely to be successfully transmitted. They also discovered that men tended to make better psychic receivers ("percipients") than women, despite accepted wisdom. Interestingly, telepathic messages were not necessarily bound by time, and may not be received at the same time they were sent. 

 

 

Book Report: Advanced Techniques of Hypnosis and Self Hypnosis by Melvin Powers

Advanced Techniques of Hypnosis and Self Hypnosis (C) 1953 by Melvin Powers 

Background Information: Melvin Powers probably launched the careers of a generation of hypnotists, especially through his publishing company Wiltshire Books (http://www.mpowers.com/), a company that even today specializes in self-help books and hypnosis books, as well as various business how-to titles. Many of their self-help books are classics in the field (albeit, some a bit kitchy today). 

This book is pretty much what it says it is, a book of hypnotic techniques that are intended for someone who is already grounded in the basics and looking to go further. It's mostly solid, old-school techniques, clearly described by someone who evidently has a great deal of experience. There are an assortment of inductions, depth tests, convincers, etc., as well as some material on suggestion without trance, stage hypnosis and rapid inductions. 

His approach was probably cutting edge in the post-war years, and clearly things he'd practiced and taught extensively. The overall tone is authoritarian, as one would expect from an hypnotist of that time, but they're still workable today.

It's a good addition to a hypnotist's book shelf, even though in most cases there is more sophisticated material available nowadays.

Book Report: The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat by Oliver Sacks -- Psychology Case Histories

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, and Other Clinical Tales
(c)1970 by Oliver Sacks

This is the must-read classic for all students of psychology, neurology and anyone who is curious to learn about neurological problems. But it;s also very much a book about hope and the human spirit, and this is what has made it a bestseller for so long. 

Oliver Sacks' special genius is in being able to find an narrate the humanity in each person. To him they are not simply case histories, but each is a unique human with passion and history facing great challenges. Some stories are tragic, but many of the are heroic, too. In this book you'll meet Sailor Jimmie who's memories stopped at 1945, Witty Ticky Ray who funneled his Tourette's into jazz drumming, Mrs. O'C, who one day awoke to the sound of music from her childhood that persisted for months, Rebecca, who despite being severely mentally and physically challenged excelled in theater and poetry, and many others.

At the same time, the author has a technical interest as well. He describes how neurology (at least at the time of his writing the book) chose to look almost exclusively at deficits of ability, and also how the focus was almost exclusively on left-brain functions, which are the more mechanical, computer-like functions, rather than the right-brain functions which are the abstract and creative ones, which were also those that piqued his interest.

The book is divided into several sections. The first are deficiencies, losses of ability, awareness or memory due to tumors or other neurological problems. There patients might have lost memories or perceptions or the abilities most of us take for granted. The second part of the book studies excesses where neurological disease has brought on sudden changes in behavior or awarenesses. The third section offers us the transporters, those people who found themselves transported to altered states of consciousness. Finally he explores the world of the simple, those people who were traditionally considered to have compromised intellects with an inability to process abstract thinking, but, to the author, their concreteness of thought gave them strengths to excel in their own particular areas of interest, and there are examples in mathematics, arts and history.

Sacks also ponders how these neurological aspects impact on the patients' soul and what that might be, even whether this science helps define it. 

If you're interested in mind sciences, this a must read. Some stories are heart-breaking, and others are inspiring, but all the tales are told with a deep respect for the humanity of the patients.

Book Reports!

Science library of Upper Lusatia in Görlitz, Germany. Photo by: Ralf Roletschek

Hypnotists love to read material that we can apply to our practices, right? I'm no exception. 

Now, there seem to be two types of material we love to read: one is the latest scientific research and material, the other is historical material and pop-psychology. I like both, but I have to say the second category is my guilty pleasure. Sure, some of them are downright silly and unworkable, but they are extremely positive and often have really useful metaphors and perspectives that I can use with my clients.

I often find these selling inexpensively in used book stores, and how can you resist a book that promises to grant all your wishes?

As time permits, I wanted to share some "book reports" on some of my favorite titles.

Effective Weight Loss Tips

I’m writing this in December of 2020, right in the midst of the holiday season and during the COVID-19 lockdown. In the best of times, the holiday season is a challenge to sensible eating, but this year, as we’re all encouraged to stay home, the opportunity to nibble, snack, munch, and taste is just about inescapable.

Here are a few practical, easy-to-follow tips that have gotten great results with my clients, and hopefully, they’ll work for you, too!

First, Do a Self-Assessment
If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you’ve arrived?
Here are three questions to ask yourself that will speed you on your way. Actually writing down your own specifics is a really important first step, because when it comes to body image, most of us fall into two camps. Either we look in the mirror and see physical perfection (even if no one else sees it), or we  look, but we only see our flaws. Both views are more of a reflection of our feelings than the truth, and neither is really helpful if you want to make a change. That’s why it can be very revealing to actually make a list and write your answers down as honestly as you can. Come back to it occasionally, since it’s going to change as you make progress.  

1. Is my weight mostly constant, or does it change noticeably?  
This is a really important question. Most people find their body settled at one specific weight (even though it often increases a bit as we get older). Write down your weight right now. Has it been pretty constant?
It’s unusual for weight to vary considerably over a short period of time, but if it does, write down how it varies. Is there a pattern to it? Do you have any health considerations that affect your weight?
The majority of people have a pretty consistent weight, so this article is more geared towards them, but these questions will also reveal things for people whose weight fluctuates. 

2. What are my eating and activity habits right now? 
A lot of people say that they’re failing at meeting their physical goals, but this isn’t true! YOUR CURRENT WEIGHT AND PHYSICAL CONDITION ARE THE RESULT OF SUCCESSFUL BEHAVIORS! You are successful, but the habits you’ve been following so successfully are just leading to the wrong results. It’s a matter of finding a better direction. Even the best driver will never reach their goal if they’re driving down the wrong road.
Write down all the things you’re doing right now to achieve the weight you’re at.

--First write down your eating habits and behaviors. Do you snack often? Eat meals at regular times, or haphazardly? When you sit down to a meal, do you feel stuffed when you’re done? Do you eat from boredom or frustration? Does your emotional situation affect your eating?
--Then write down the kinds of foods you consume. We all consume proteins, carbohydrates, sugars and roughage. Begin to notice how much of each you consume. A lot of people find it helpful to actually keep a food diary, at least for a week. You may find your habits are actually different than you think they are.

3. What are my weight goals? 
Write them down. It can be anything you want -- lose 5 pounds, gain 10, lose 300 pounds. It’s no surprise that the bigger your goal is, the more time and commitment it may take to achieve it. So the next question is, are your goals reasonably achievable all at once, or would it be better to break it down into several, more achievable steps?

The accurate answers to these question will give you resources to build an accurate plan of action. The answers to these questions will change as you take action, so be sure to reassess them occasionally, and make changes as needed.

Time Travel--Who are You and Who Will You Be?
Right now, you’re probably sitting and working at home, not getting out as much as you’d like, and maybe you’ve arrived at this condition from working a regular job and allowing the mundane demands of life shape your life and fitness. So your eating behaviors have been shaped by that, and that leads to the state you’re getting right now.
Now imagine yourself in your ideal body. First, imagine what the characteristics of it would be. Muscles? Flexibility? Attractiveness?. Now imagine what kind of a person would have that ideal body. Would they be a gymnast, a runner, a dancer, a secret agent? Now imagine you have that body, and you are that person. Feel what that body feels like, feel what that body does for you. Now imagine looking back to how you achieved that body. What did you do to get to that place? What do you do to maintain that body? And what does that body do for you? When you have that knowledge, take it, and begin to use it to steer your behaviors to where you want them to go.
Take this little trip into your future whenever you feel you need a little direction, or want a little motivation. 

Don’t Diet!
Really? Yes! A diet is a temporary change in behavior to reach a goal. The problem with a diet is that a temporary change creates temporary results. They also usually need a lot of will power to stick to, and all along the dieters are looking forward to the final day of the diet. Sometimes, they even gain more weight once they’re off the diet! Instead, modify the behaviors that you’re already using to get where you are, but change them to steer you to a better direction. You’ll find that once you’ve streamlined your dietary habits, eating the wrong things, eating too much will seem as out of the ordinary as dieting does now.

The “Setpoint”
For most of us, our bodies find a weight that it thinks seems is best, based on our emotional states, how active we are, and how much we eat, and once it’s there, it tries to keep us at that “setpoint.” It seems like that setpoint doesn’t ever really change much on it’s own. You’ve probably noticed that you might go without eating all day, and feel pretty hungry, but it doesn’t really affect our weight in the long run. It’s also true that we might go to a big thanksgiving dinner and eat much more than we usually do, but that doesn’t really affect our long-term weight either. So a little cheating is allowed.
It takes a slow and steady change in behaviors to convince your body to adopt a better weight and keep it. Even though you might achieve a quick change, maybe from a diet, it’s consistency that will convince your body that it is worthwhile to maintain itself at a better weight, and that’s when permanent change occurs. 

Fitness and Exercise
This is worthy of a whole article to itself, but when you can combine fitness and exercise goals with your weight goals, you’ll get better results faster, and feel better. And you may even have more fun, too. Sticking to an exercise program gives you a real feeling of accomplishment every time you do it, and if you aren’t used to regular exercise, you may discover that results start to come pretty quickly.

Watch Out for Landmines!
There are some “landmines” we have from our past that can sabotage our weight loss efforts. Some of us have gotten used to seeking emotional refuge in dinner after a stressful day. Some of us are used to eating until we feel really full. (This is doubly bad, because so much food at one time puts a strain on your digestion and is more likely to lead to further fat formation than a smaller meal).
We may have been brought up in a family or culture whose diets included a lot of carbohydrates--bread, potatoes, rice or pasta. Our bodies generally love carbs, because they are the fuel that makes our muscles run, but unless we’re working on a farm or running marathons, we have no way to use up all that carbohydrate, so it gets stored as fat. Sticking to those old, established patterns of eating might bring us comfort and refuge, but also keeps us in our old, established weight. From now on, let’s move into the future with new, effective habits for a new result.

Build Your New Strategy
Armed with the information you now have, you can start to streamline your current dietary habits to steer your waistline in a different direction. You can tailor your strategy to your exact needs, but it will probably include:
--Being more aware of your snacking and either cutting down on snacks or snacking on better choices, or both.
--Being more aware of what and how much you eat at mealtime.
--Cut down on carbohydrates
--Eat more proteins.
--Eat more roughage, like fruits and non-starchy vegetables.
--Eat smaller portions.
--Enjoy the feeling of being hungry sometimes

Motivation
You’re embarking on a terrific new project to build something wonderful--yourself! Be excited about the possibilities, and enjoy the process. You’re exactly like a sculptor or a carpenter creating a work of art!
Remember, change can come fast, or it can come slowly, but if you start changing your behaviors, your results cannot help but change. It’s going to come with frustrations, but also rewards. Imagine what happens when you see the first results of your work. Work at it like a long term project, consistently chipping away where it needs it and building it up where you want to.
Make it a fun journey, and also be forgiving to yourself if you need to. Setbacks aren’t important if you don’t let them stop you. Keep plowing forward!

© 2021 Jeff Sauber

 

Where Do They Come Up With These Wacky Beliefs?

 

 

"How do they believe such blatantly false stuff?"

From Hillary's child-brothels on Mars to Republicans sacrificing children in pagan rituals, Flat Earthers and Alien Invasions, people are willing to accept a lot of baloney, and even elevate those people who spout the baloney to figures of authority, there's a lot of wacky on the web. Recently I got to see it evolve right in front of me.

In a discussion group on line, someone posted a picture of some young people sitting in an apparent art gallery with paintings on the walls, but they're all looking at their smart phones. That's all, no caption or further explanation. It's not a unique image, and images like it get posted from time to time by Mean Old People, poking fun at the Smart Phone Generation. The majority of people who see the picture will either laugh or shrug, and move on. A few people will post curmudgeonly gripes like "Kids these days!," which are inevitably followed by "Old people don't understand technology!"

Of course, being the internet, a few people devote WAY too much time and thought to it, and that's where it got really revealing.

Some of the Smart Phone Generation got really upset by the ribbing, and posted long responses about how the Mean Old People really don't understand what was going on anymore, and not to judge and so forth. And some of the Mean Old People responded with overlong discussions about the destructive nature of smartphones on society and kids these days!

And of course there were ad hominem attacks against each other's intelligence.

And so it went, until Some Guy explained (ie: rationalized an answer out of his imagination) that what we were actually looking at was a Class Trip to the Museum, and the Teacher assigned them to look up the art on The Museum App. And the Mean Old People were deliberately ignoring that. Those members of the Smart Phone Generation who felt most hurt by the arguments immediately embraced the Class Trip to the Museum theory and repeatedly referenced the Museum App, even though there was nothing in the picture to indicate those, or even that the people holding phones in the picture were connected to each other in any way other than sharing a bench. Some posters even cited Some Guy as an authority with statements like, "why are you asking about the existence of the Museum app, when Some Guy already explained it?"

In a nutshell, we have THREE diverse perceptions:
1--An image of some people sitting in a gallery looking at their phones.
2--An image of a generation so addled by technology, that they ignore the reality around them.
3--A bunch of people all on a class trip to The Museum, where The Teacher assigned them to pull out their phones and pull up The Museum App in order to finish an assignment.

The first perception is the objective one; the second is a subjective one, based on a presupposition about youth and technology, possibly ignoring the fact that the art may be very boring; the third is subjective, reactive to the previous interpretation, and based on a feeling vulnerability and a need to defend oneself. So much so that, failing to find the necessary information within the image, they happily embrace unsubstantiated suppositions. But because they fill a need, those become facts for them. And further, some are willing to elevate the person who introduced those pleasing rationalizations to a position of authority.

 

If you've studied hypnosis or NLP you've probably learned that people "add, subtract or revise their memories to conform with their currently held beliefs about themselves or the world." But it goes even further than that. They will even add, subtract or revise the perception of what they experience to conform with their currently held beliefs about themselves or the world.

So what do we learn by this? Of course, paramount for yourself is the importance of being objective, particularly if you're in a field where clear, unbiased perception is important. But when you hear someone spouting something clearly detached from reality, realize that it's probably not LSD in the drinking water, but rather something they NEED to hold onto to support their emotional beliefs, perhaps about the world or perhaps about themselves. 

(Image courtesy WikiCommons, user Manuel7.25)

Some Abreactions and Observations with The Staircase Deepener

The Staircase Deepener. It's such a common part of hypnotic inductions that it's almost a cliche:
"You are going deeeper and deeeperrr... like a long staircase, down.... down... doooowwwwnnnnn..."

The Staircase Deepener is an odd one. In my experience, it’s extremely reliable and something that most clients can comfortably embrace, but it’s also something that can occasionally trigger unexpected reactions in a way that few other deepeners do.

As a deepener, it’s easy to take for granted. It usually works well whether you're an doing Ericksonian or Elman approach, or something else, and doesn't require much from the subject in terms of holding onto a visualization, like, say, Disappearing Numbers. 

The various parts of an hypnosis session all function together like the parts of an engine, and when any part fails to work, it has specific reasons for breaking down, and specific solutions. I've been lucky enough to work with a variety of different subjects and had some interesting unexpected reactions to the seemingly innocuous Staircase Deepener, which I'll share with you followed by my assumptions about why, as well as some simple solutions. 

First, let's be sure we're all on the same page.
The Staircase Deepener asks the client to imagine standing at the head of a long staircase going down. With suitable tonality and ancillary imagery, the hypnotist suggests that with every step down, the client is becoming more relaxed, stepping down into warm, comfortable relaxation, maybe stepping down into a place within themselves that is safe and secure. The hypnotist will usually suggest a number of steps (generally around 10-12), with the final step being the step off into total relaxation. Numbering the steps is very useful in reducing client uncertainty, and at the end of the session, the hypnotists can walk them right back up the stairs by reversing the count. As a "deepener" it's something that we introduce when the client is already in the process of being hypnotized, usually already relaxed and with closed eyes.

The strengths of this technique are that it combines a little visual imagination with some tactile imagination, and it has a distinctly limited length according to the number of steps. And because people commonly describe relaxation as the sensation as "sinking" or "going down” and "waking up" is synonymous with "getting up," it ties comfortably into ordinary everyday experiences of waking and sleeping.

So what can go wrong? An abreaction can occur when the hypnotist touch on something within the client that is emotionally difficult and powerful and it may or may not be related to the issue that the client has come to see you about.
The people I've experienced who have abreacted to the staircase deepener tend to be people with unresolved abuse experiences and, interestingly enough, police detectives, though I'm sure there are others you may come across. 

It's odd that something so seemingly innocuous can bring out such strong reactions, and it can catch a novice hypnotist off guard, particularly if the abreaction occurs during something like a light-hearted hypnosis demonstration, or in a private session with a client where no strong personal feelings are expected to come up. Murphy's Law being what it is, those are probably the first time you'll experience it.

The signs that the Staircase Deepener is taking a wrong turn may be subtle or they may be obvious. As the experience becomes less fun for the subject, you may see physical stiffening or tightness in the neck and shoulders, tightness in the face and around the mouth and eyes, change in breathing, or perhaps other signs of resistance. Their eyes may tear up, and they may even come out of trance completely. You must be sensitive to the client's subtle expressions and don't try to force the deepener. Instead of going down, go up. Reverse the count and have them climb upwards into someplace bright and friendly. Maybe even turn them into a bird and fly into the clouds. Sometimes, once the negativity starts to manifest, they'll get stuck on one of the negative feelings, in which case suggesting something like "you can come back to these feelings some other time, anytime you feel safe and comfortable and in control doing so, but right now let’s go in a different direction."

If the feelings around the abreaction do not seem to be involved in the issue for which you've hypnotized them, respect their privacy and lead the trance back on its correct path. Even if the client specifically and explicitly asks to explore these difficult feelings, it's usually best to explore with another approach that allowed the client to access those inner feelings in a way that gives them more of a feeling of control. Since part of the abreaction for the client is feeling helpless or even a feeling of being controlled by these emotions, I'd generally take an approach other than walking down into a dark cellar, horror-movie style.

I suppose that unresolved, strongly emotional issues, such as abuse, get stored away deep within a person, and as they imagine going down within themselves, it may lead  to that place within themselves where these things are stored, even if that is no one’s conscious intention.

But why might a police detective, in particular, have a bad reaction to the imagery of a staircase? Rather than psychological, it's a purely experiential one -- when a detective has to go down a staircase into the unknown in real life, it's never a good thing. What's waiting for him at the bottom may either be an armed suspect, or a decomposing body! In this case the deepener is revivifying a prior experience of dread. Sometimes the unintentional trigger is one that touches directly on memories, rather than something more psychological or metaphorical.   

It's important for both hypnotists and subjects to know that while the Staircase Deepener might accidentally access hidden emotions and experiences, as in the rare cases mentioned above, it won't compel the client express those feelings or memories out loud if they don't want to. It's not a truth serum. Trying to use it as such may only compromise the client’s trust.

©Jeff Sauber 2018