Hello,
I've posted in the Abs forum that I've started seeing a local hypnotherapist recommended by my doc, who is a specialist in addictions. I decided to do this because I had gotten a little bored with the CD's and actually was falling asleep every time I listened to them. I guess all the mystery was gone? I knew what was going to happen? I was snoring by the time I got to the bottom of the "eskeylator."
Anyway, I thought I would start a thread here just to share my experience with a hypnotherapist one-on-one. This may not be an option for a lot of people, and it's a first for me, but I thought it might be of interest.
A good portion of the one hour session is actually spent just talking. The therapist (I'll call him Sam) wants to know what it is that drinking accomplishes for me. Q & A, just like in regular therapy. ("What I hear you saying is ...... is that right?") Anyway, "we" came to the realization that one of the major benefits I got from drinking was that it made me forget to be afraid. Especially in social situations. It made me forget to be afraid of talking to people, of being myself, of letting my guard down, of letting others see the real me. In other words, it didn't make me more sociable, it didn't give me any conversational skills, it didn't make me a more likeable person. It just made me forget to be scared, so that my strengths could come out. The strengths were there all along. What needs to happen is to find a way to forget to be afraid without alcohol.
So then comes the actual hypnosis. Unlike the sessions on the CD's, there is no long, drawn out relaxation period. Sam just asks me to take a deep breath and close my eyes as I let the breath out. He goes directly into a scenario. As he talks, his voice is melodic and relaxing. My breathing becomes slow and regular. I am completely aware of everything going on. I don't feel much different than any other time I would just be sitting in a chair with my eyes closed, except that I am extremely relaxed. I listen. I imagine the scene he describes. And after about 10 minutes, he says that I can start to come back to the room we are sitting in, and take a deep breath again. When I am ready, he says that I can open my eyes. Here is the weird part: when I open my eyes, I feel completely disoriented. It is the same feeling as when you've been on a boat and then you're suddenly on land again. You need a few minutes to get your land legs back.
So I look around the room, in a bit of a daze, and he looks at me with a knowing smile. He then does a very strange thing. He asks me a question completely unrelated to anything that has gone on. "Have you ever seen a pelican, Mike?" "Yes," I answer." "It's the ugliest, most graceful bird I have ever seen," he says. And then he makes small talk for another 5 minutes before ending the session.
I don't quite understand what is happening, or how. It is different than the self-hypnosis. It is more like what I have experienced when undergoing acupuncture. When I underwent acupuncture, I had a reaction that made me feel as if I had been shot up with intravenous valium. Just a tremendous sense of well-being and relaxation. That is the only way I can describe it.
Time will tell if this has an effect on my recovery. In the meantime, it is definitely an interesting experience. I will keep you posted. My next appointment is in two weeks.
Mike
I've posted in the Abs forum that I've started seeing a local hypnotherapist recommended by my doc, who is a specialist in addictions. I decided to do this because I had gotten a little bored with the CD's and actually was falling asleep every time I listened to them. I guess all the mystery was gone? I knew what was going to happen? I was snoring by the time I got to the bottom of the "eskeylator."
Anyway, I thought I would start a thread here just to share my experience with a hypnotherapist one-on-one. This may not be an option for a lot of people, and it's a first for me, but I thought it might be of interest.
A good portion of the one hour session is actually spent just talking. The therapist (I'll call him Sam) wants to know what it is that drinking accomplishes for me. Q & A, just like in regular therapy. ("What I hear you saying is ...... is that right?") Anyway, "we" came to the realization that one of the major benefits I got from drinking was that it made me forget to be afraid. Especially in social situations. It made me forget to be afraid of talking to people, of being myself, of letting my guard down, of letting others see the real me. In other words, it didn't make me more sociable, it didn't give me any conversational skills, it didn't make me a more likeable person. It just made me forget to be scared, so that my strengths could come out. The strengths were there all along. What needs to happen is to find a way to forget to be afraid without alcohol.
So then comes the actual hypnosis. Unlike the sessions on the CD's, there is no long, drawn out relaxation period. Sam just asks me to take a deep breath and close my eyes as I let the breath out. He goes directly into a scenario. As he talks, his voice is melodic and relaxing. My breathing becomes slow and regular. I am completely aware of everything going on. I don't feel much different than any other time I would just be sitting in a chair with my eyes closed, except that I am extremely relaxed. I listen. I imagine the scene he describes. And after about 10 minutes, he says that I can start to come back to the room we are sitting in, and take a deep breath again. When I am ready, he says that I can open my eyes. Here is the weird part: when I open my eyes, I feel completely disoriented. It is the same feeling as when you've been on a boat and then you're suddenly on land again. You need a few minutes to get your land legs back.
So I look around the room, in a bit of a daze, and he looks at me with a knowing smile. He then does a very strange thing. He asks me a question completely unrelated to anything that has gone on. "Have you ever seen a pelican, Mike?" "Yes," I answer." "It's the ugliest, most graceful bird I have ever seen," he says. And then he makes small talk for another 5 minutes before ending the session.
I don't quite understand what is happening, or how. It is different than the self-hypnosis. It is more like what I have experienced when undergoing acupuncture. When I underwent acupuncture, I had a reaction that made me feel as if I had been shot up with intravenous valium. Just a tremendous sense of well-being and relaxation. That is the only way I can describe it.
Time will tell if this has an effect on my recovery. In the meantime, it is definitely an interesting experience. I will keep you posted. My next appointment is in two weeks.
Mike
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