LifeMind

What is Suggestibility?

My fiancé asked me to give her a ride the other day to pick up her car at the repair shop.  We were driving south on The Old Road towards McBean when I asked her where the repair shop was located.  She said, “Turn right here.”  To which I replied, “No, No…Where is your car?”  To which she replied, “Turn right here!” which made me very frustrated so I said even louder, “WHERE IS YOUR CAR?!”  You can guess what she said next.  Yup.  “Turn right here.”

“No, I don’t want to know how to get there.  I want to decide how to get there on my own and I want you to tell me where the car is located!”  By this time I was shouting and missing my opportunity to stay to the left and began driving down McBean, which I hate because at that hour there would be less traffic on Valencia if I was going to the auto dealer part of town. 

So what went wrong?  How did she not understand what I was asking?  How did I not get that she was answering my question but in the way she understood it?  Was she wrong?  Was I wrong? 

The answer is: Neither one is wrong.  This is a case of suggestibility.  Suggestibility is a term applied to how our mind listens and interprets ideas, words and concepts.  I was speaking “literally” and she was hearing “inferentially”.  When I asked where her car was, she inferred that I was wanting to know how to get there when what I really wanted to know was the latitude & longitude, or at least a cross street!  Most couples have the opposite style of suggestibility; one is literal and one is inferred and this can make for some pretty funny situations and some pretty heated arguments.  But it does not have to be that way.  We can actually change our suggestibility and learn to listen and speak more literally or inferentially.  The first step is to learn more about it from a trained professional such as a hypnotherapist.  The second step would be to actually get hypnotized and to receive suggestion in the opposite style we are conditioned for.  This will modify our existing suggestibility to the other one.

The little story I shared with you may be amusing.  But sometimes, these misunderstandings can lead to one partner feeling overly criticized and both feeling very misunderstood and unappreciated.  Suggestibility is a very important factor in all of our relationships.  It is the chief reason we argue with spouses and co-workers and especially our kids.  When we understand and modify our suggestibility our relationships and career experiences improve dramatically. 

Scott Spackey is a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, Life-Counselor & CA. Reg. Addiction Specialist who works with all ages, children to adults, in the SCV.

 661-299-1966, www.LIFE-MIND.com, Scott@Life-Mind.com

What is a Hypnotherapy-Counseling Session Like?

Relaxing.  Soothing.  Comforting.  Relieving. 

Most people are a little nervous about coming to see a hypnotherapist/counselor.  A good, qualified professional is accustomed to this and finds it easy to put the client at ease.  After you take a seat in a comfortable chair in an inviting room, some small talk helps to make the experience more natural.  The issues and goals you’ve come to talk about are probably sensitive so the conversation should be personable and easy going.  It is the therapist’s job to keep track of things clinically while the client enjoys the opportunity to talk and be heard; something that rarely happens in personal relationships.  With a therapist, your best interests are the only thing your counselor cares about. 

It doesn’t take long for things to seem natural and friendly, allowing you to discuss just what it is you are there to change or improve.  Even though your therapist should be hard at work, it will not seem like work for you.  I enjoy my work and am grateful for the opportunity to work with those who are motivated to improve.  This makes it hardly seem like work at all, even though I am tapping into a broad spectrum of training, life-experiences and varying modalities to help my clients build real, practical strategies towards their goals.

After I am aware of what the issues are, I begin to introduce strategies and ideas to you; custom building them to suit your individual needs, lifestyle and personality.  The process is fun and enlightening when you see complex goals and issues skillfully transformed into simple solutions and workable changes. 

I believe strongly in the process of hypnosis as an effective tool to re-condition the mind towards new behavior; modifying old, unwanted behaviors into new, exciting. positive feelings and perceptions.

Being hypnotized is not at all like it is in the movies or on stage.  It seems easy and everyone (yes- everyone) is hypnotizable if the professional understands the client’s suggestibility.  First, a few easy tests are done to determine that suggestibility and then a relaxing, soothing session of hypnosis is used to calm and relax the body and mind.  Once the right level of suggestibility is attained, positive suggestions are given to reinforce the new behavior while you remain aware and relaxed the whole time, enjoying the process.

You emerge feeling refreshed, invigorated and vibrant.  Feeling more capable than ever before.  It’s that simple.

To learn more visit www.Life-Mind.com or call for a free consultation.  Changing your life can be just a couple hours away.

Scott Spackey is a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and Life-Counselor who works with all ages, children to adults, in the SCV.    661-299-1966, Scott@Life-Mind.com

HOW THE HECK DO YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT?

So how important is sleep, anyway?  70 million Americans have some sort of sleep problem.  Even minor sleep issues can rob us of our productivity and enjoyment of life by small degrees which can add up to larger problems down the line.  A busy person looks at sleep as a hindrance to success, a luxury to be indulged in on the weekends.

Sleep is critical.  Sleep is not something to be gotten out of the way like getting gas or stopping at the bank.  Without proper sleep, success is not only limited, but your happiness, mental and physical health is in jeopardy. 

There are a lot of expensive gadgets, gimmicks and sleep study centers, but the gadgets DON’T work, and you don’t need a sleep study to know if you’re perpetually tired and have a sleep problem.  What is required is something the specialist’s call “sleep hygiene”.  This is the set of routines and rituals that “train” you how to sleep properly.  The real sleep experts (and I’m one of them), know that the only way to overcome sleep issues is to learn how to sleep properly and train your body and mind to do it right.

This is easily done and the results are permanent, unlike pricey gadgets that monitor and soothe, but offer nothing real or lasting.

With proper training and the use of hypnotherapy and bio-feedback, you can train your mind and body to sleep correctly.  I’ve personally helped dozens of individuals who were “hopeless cases” who had tried “everything”. 

Here’s a few tips on sleep hygiene to get you started:

·        Avoid bright light several hours before bed (especially computer screens!)

·        Condition yourself to go to bed and to get up at the same time, every night

·        Avoid sugars, alcohol and too much liquid in evenings

·        Have only one coffee or tea in the a.m.

A single session of Hypnotherapy can get you sleeping and dreaming more effectively. 

With follow up sessions of bio-feedback, hypnosis and sleep training, even the most severe sleep issues can be resolved

Eliminate stress, feel better, change your mind and change your life.

Call today for a free consultation and learn more about sleep hygiene and other behavior changing strategies for anything you’re ready to change..

ScottSpackey is a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and Life-Counselor at LifeMind  661-299-1966, www.LIFE-MIND.com, Scott@Life-Mind.com

REWIRING THE BRAIN:

MENTAL HEALTH AND EMOTIONAL FITNESS

Something I hear a lot from people coming to me for help is that there is “something holding me back… I don’t know what it is… but even though I know what I should do and even try to do it there seems to be something, I don’t even know what it is, that gets in the way.”

That “something” that we cannot identify is the subconscious mind.  It’s not a bad guy and it means well, but sometimes it works a little too hard at its job and doesn’t listen to what we want to do.  The reason for that is because somewhere along the way we programmed it to follow a sort of script and it just keeps running that script, ignoring the fact that you’d like to make a few changes in it.  The old script doesn’t work any more and it’s time for a rewrite. 

The reason the subconscious mind ignores our conscious desire to change is because it is strong willed and is trying to protect us.  It believes that the current program is there for a reason and it will not allow you to rewrite it without a sort of password.  The password is: reconditioning.  By reconditioning the subconscious mind for the new and positive changes we want to make we can begin to succeed and find fulfillment again.  It’s kind of like a rewiring of the brain- from one way of behaving to another.

Now, this all sounds very clinical and it makes it seem as though anyone with the right mind wrench can do the job, but this is not so.  Even though the mechanics of the brain are somewhat clinical, there is still emotion involved too.  Working to make changes is a path of self-discovery and a journey towards greater enlightenment.  This is why I like my job so much.  I love to see people change; to see them try new things and become who they want to be.  I believe we can have great relationships, find contentment and good money in our careers, become healthier and even find that purpose that seems to be waiting for us that will make our lives full and meaningful.  What about you?

By Scott Spackey CCHt and Improvement Counselor at LifeMind  661-299-1966

CHANGE YOUR MIND, CHANGE YOUR LIFE

            Your mind is the greatest resource you have for change and success.  Without it, no amount of hard work or energy can help you accomplish the things that are most important to you.  It is the power of the mind that drives us, motivates us and allows us to create our reality. 

            There are 2 parts to your mind: the conscious and the subconscious.  We like to believe that it is the conscious part of our mind that has the voice in what we do and in how we behave and make our choices.  But the conscious mind is only working part time.  When we are asleep, the conscious mind stops working all together.  If we are focused on a task, like our health or our work or a relationship, it is working.  But what happens when we get distracted?  For example, if a relationship distracts us from our work, or our work distracts us from our health or diet.  Then it is the subconscious mind that is working and having its way.

            The subconscious mind is always working: when we sleep, when we dream and especially when our conscious mind becomes busy with other things.  It is the subconscious mind that is influencing our behavior 24/7 while the conscious mind is only working part time. Conscious willpower is great; it seems like it’s always there… except when we need it the most!

            Almost everyone is in favor of some type of health routine like yoga, cardio, working-out, proper diet.  You may even go to a spa for a massage or treatment to relax.  Many people meditate to relieve stress and to become “centered”.  We put a high priority on our mental and physical health but we neglect the most important element of this process: the Mind.

            It has become almost common knowledge that hypnosis is an effective method for habit control like smoking and weight loss and other conditions and issues.  But hypnosis is highly effective in helping us become more centered and finding balance in our lives.  It can enhance your workout, your diet, your yoga even your affection for your children and loved ones and your happiness at work and play.  It is an excellent aid in meditation, helping you get the most out of yourself each and every day.  A few sessions of hypnosis are more effective for most people than that massage or work-out.  In fact, when these activities are combined with a behavior enhancement program like hypnosis, these regimens can only become even more powerful in our daily attempts at transformation.  Highly successful, highly effective.

            Hypnosis can help you reach new heights in every area of your life.  It’s not just for smoking and motivation anymore.  It is for your entire being, mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally. 

By changing your mind you can change your life. 

Hypnosis: Massage for the Mind Equals Positive Change

Hypnotherapy is a sort of massage, but for the mind.  Not only is a session of hypnosis extremely therapeutic but it also relaxes, rejuvenates and recharges the mental faculties.  What a spa treatment does for the skin, hypnosis does for the mind:  You come in tense and anxious and full of the stress of daily living (or worse) and leave feeling more relaxed, pampered and hopefully better able to deal with work, kids, spouse etc. 

Unlike pampering yourself at a day-spa or with a masseuse though, the differences you experience through Certified Hypnosis and qualified Life-Coaching can become permanent, making your investment of time and money something long lasting and far reaching.   

Hypnosis is helpful for a host of symptoms and conditions, proving time and time again to reduce anxiety/depression, enhance sexuality and relationships, improve motivation and help you to feel better, succeed more and help you to finally realize the potential that is hiding inside.  It isn’t just for those who feel “bad”, but even for those who feel good and realize that there is no limit to feeling even better and succeeding even more. 

Hypnosis can help you improve by using the greatest tool for improvement, your own mind, and help you experience the miracle of living without suffering or confusion.  Life is truly a miracle and you can experience it that way and hypnosis and life-coaching can aid you in reaching those goals that seem to elude you time and time again.  What is the difference between yourself and those who seem to have it all?  Looks, money, confidence?  Sometimes others have those things but it is not the real difference.  The difference in making your dreams a reality and making positive and permanent changes is merely the way your mind has been and can be conditioned.  Conditioned properly your mind can conceive and achieve anything.  Hypnotherapy conditions the mind for the changes you want to make.

New Technology For Stress, Anxiety, Depression…

Stress is detrimental to all aspects of health.  There is little difference between anxiety and depression is actually the same since depression is simply another form that stress takes and vice-versa.  Up to 90% of all health problems in the U.S are stress related. It isn’t stressful events that create potentially chronic problems, it is the individual’s stress coping skills which are determined by thousands of almost unknowable life-factors.

A new strategy, called bio-feedback, teaches and conditions clients to cope with stress, depression and other negative states of being.  When Bio-Feedback is combined with other therapeutic techniques it perfects emotional management, creating maximum functioning and enhancing all spheres of human experience.  This system is effective in treating:

Insomnia                                         Anxiety                                     Tics/Tourettes

Stress                                             Depression                                           ADD/ADHD

Habit Disorders                              Anger                                                   Asthma

Performance Anxiety                      Emotional Dysregulation                        Pain

Sexual Dysfunction             IBS                                                      Hypertension

You have millions of chemical, neurological, psychological and emotional resources your body and mind can use for a positive living experience.  However, without proper training, conditioning and understanding of these resources they are commonly wasted on inefficient coping with life stressors and events; whether these are common or severe events, they add up.  When many of our resources are unavailable, stress turns into something more chronic and every day living can become difficult to manage.

With new bio-feedback technology the client learns how to transform negative emotions into free energy (freeing up resources) for personal and professional effectiveness while improving health and well-being. 

The combined techniques begin with cognitive understanding (talking about the problem and gaining right understanding).  Practical strategies are then prescribed to minimize life’s challenges and maximize resources.  The client then relaxes in a comfortable chair while connected to a monitor on their index finger.  The monitor records heart rate, perspiration changes and other subtle nervous system functions.   While listening to therapeutic suggestion and subconscious conditioning instructions, balance is shifted to increased parasympathetic activity.  The client actually “learns”, consciously, subconsciously and physically, how to self-regulate and manage negative states and transform them into positive ones and the monitor records it all for later use.

The age of medication as a health solution is waning.  Self-regulation and awareness are key, life-long techniques that promote and protect long term health.  Call to see if you are a candidate for this new treatment.

Hypnosis & Therapy Vs. Meds?

Pharmaceutical companies spend billons of dollars convincing people to use medication rather than learn how to treat their problems.  Even though medication is sometimes beneficial, or necessary, mental health professionals are often too quick to medicate without exploring other options that might be even more helpful.  Here are just some of the arguments that mental health professional have for therapy over medication:

·        Medications cannot address the complexity of the human mind and behavior.

·        Medication treats symptoms. Therapy treats the person and the mind.

·        Therapy aims at growth and will.  Medication often creates dependency on the drug or the doctor.

·        Medications reduce symptoms, discouraging sufferers from finding real solutions.

·        Medications do not teach adaptive and coping skills, mend broken hearts or fill empty lives.

Over 80% of those who seek therapeutic treatment for emotional or mental issues such as depression or anxiety get significant results.  This figure is much lower for medication. 

As a hypnotherapist, I am thrilled to work in a field of service that transcends both mental and medical.  With hypnosis I can treat symptomatically like medications and causal like therapy.  The mind is the most powerful organ we have and it is “in charge” of the feelings we have as well as the corresponding chemistry we experience that makes our feelings “real”.  With hypnosis, I affect both.  By conditioning the mind, we change the chemistry.

Hypnotherapy has proved time and time again to provide highly effective treatment and an alternative to drugs.  It’s the New Year.  And anything you want to change is available to you, whenever you’re ready to live to the highest potential.    

The best remedy is the one that works; be it medication, therapy, hypnosis or anything else.  A professional should be willing to explore every available option for their client in an effort to help them.  Personal coaching and counseling teaches strategies and techniques like self-hypnosis or meditation that stay with the client for life, resulting in permanent, positive changes that YOU control!  I even once suggested that a client stand on their head in an effort to feel something… anything, different.  And it worked.   

Hypnotherapy & Life-Coaching/Counseling

Vs.

Psychotherapy & Psychiatry

You are a very unique person.  Everyone is.  There is no single formula that can serve as a remedy for the masses when it comes to overcoming mental and emotional issues.  In other words, a customized plan of treatment must be applied if a counselor is to help someone move beyond their issues.

Too often, conventional therapeutic approaches stick to a general formula when treating a patient or client.  First an evaluation is made, then a diagnosis and then the required treatment, often involving medications.  These are the right steps, but there must be something personal about the process for it to work.  Even if someone suffers from a text-book-diagnosable problem, the treatment must be customized for that individual and not merely prescribed like a generic product from an assembly line.  And when counseling, the counselor will have to do a lot more than lead the client to realizations.

Realizations and meds can be very important and occasionally a required part of the process on the road to perfect health.  However, they are not a panacea, or a “total” remedy.   

Our emotional and psychological issues emerge from our subconscious mind.  If they were coming from our conscious mind, we would have defeated the problem long before it even occurred.  With our conscious mind, we understand that a way of thinking or behaving is negative or unhealthy.  But this realization is rarely enough to help us stop the problem.  What is needed is practical and accessible methods we can adopt into our daily living to change the patterns and conditioning within the subconscious mind.  It is for this reason that conventional therapeutic methods are so limited in their ability to permanently remove symptoms and issues.  A blue or pink pill is not enough to do the job.  A new perspective of the same problem is not enough either.  We need to get to the root cause of the problem: the subconscious conditioning that is reinforcing the unwanted behavior, thinking or emotions.

Hypnotherapy goes directly to that root cause and allows us to recondition the mind for new, positive mind-sets; Life-Counseling and coaching draws from every available resource, including sociology, psychology, mentoring, management, counseling and even western and eastern philosophy, and goes beyond the text-book formula.

You are very unique.  Your problems are also unique.  You don’t need answers that are simply repeated from a training manual.  You deserve unique and individual solutions that are as graceful and beautiful as your mind is.   

How the Mind Works

            It is the power of the mind that drives us, motivates us and allows us to create our reality. 

            There are 2 parts to your mind: the conscious and the subconscious.  The conscious portion of our mind is almost insignificant and only works part time.  When we are asleep the conscious mind stops working all together.  When we keep our conscious mind focused, it is working, but when we get distracted by our relationships, work, stress or other issues, then it is the subconscious mind that takes over.

            The subconscious mind is always working: when we sleep, dream, become stressed or emotional it is the subconscious mind that is influencing our behavior 24/7. So… conscious willpower is great; it seems like it’s always there… except when we need it the most!

            The subconscious mind’s number 1 job is to reinforce behavior based on our conditioned responses.  This means that it does what it knows and has been taught to do, regardless of whether that behavior is healthy or not.  If we have been taught or have self-taught bad behaviors the subconscious will enforce that, no matter how much we want consciously to change.  This is why it is so difficult to lose weight and keep it off, quit smoking and stay that way, cope with stress effectively and rid ourselves of self-defeating attitudes and disorders. 

            The conscious mind is 12% of the mind and the subconscious is 88%!  Trying to defeat it is like to trying to take a banana away from a 400 pound gorilla!

            Fortunately, there are tools we can use to recondition the mind.  By using suggestibility properly, we can provide new conditioned responses to the mind in a healthy, natural way with hypnotherapy and the correct style of counseling and coaching.  Training provides the right thinking and strategies, which can then be combined with hypnosis to condition the subconscious for positive associations.  This fascinating process must be experienced to appreciate.  If you want to learn more, you don’t even have to know what to ask, a good professional will know how to guide you.  With a powerful mind, you can do anything.

Scott Spackey is a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, Life-Coach, CA Registered Addiction Specialist and Interventionist.  He works with all ages and issues.

                                    661-299-1966 www. Life-Mind.com

ADD: AFFECTING ADULTS AND KIDS

            ADD is Attention Deficit Disorder and can be a debilitating condition that is often misdiagnosed.  ADD is widely misunderstood and it used to be believed that it disappeared by adulthood.  But it is now known that many adults can be diagnosed with ADD.  What is ADD?

ADD is the inability to maintain attention on specific tasks for very long.  It is characterized by certain symptoms:

• Difficulty in concentration, focus and attention
• Physical restlessness (hyperactive)
• Mental restlessness (fleeting thoughts)
• Impulsivity (acting or speaking without thinking things through)
• Mood variability (moody, temperamental, changing moods frequently and abruptly)
• Difficulty with organization

These symptoms often lead to anxiety, depression and low self-esteem.  However, just because someone has one or many of these symptoms it does not mean they are ADD.  Diagnosing ADD can be very difficult since this condition is highly elusive and many in the mental health field do not even acknowledge it exists (yet are willing to profit from it.  I recently heard of a client paying up to $6,000 just to be tested for ADD.  Consumers beware!). 

The current and most modern view of ADD is that it is not a “disorder” at all, but is actually just a different style of “brain wiring”.  People who have the above described symptoms are also often very creative, imaginative, sensitive and loyal.  Once trained in methods that help them to work around the negative aspects of ADD, these individuals can become highly productive. 

Often, the difficulties that come with ADD like symptoms can weaken someone’s self-esteem and confidence.  But with proper understanding and strategic learning, self-esteem is quickly repaired and confidence becomes strong and the individual soon feels empowered more than ever and can even be tempted to be an overachiever, rather than afraid to achieve at all.  Hypnotherapy has proven to be a highly affective method of treatment for the symptoms that are associated with ADD.  The efficacy of Hypnotherapy to increase focus, concentration, confidence, feeling calm, reducing anxiety and depression and regulate moods and become better organized has been well documented.  If you would like to know more about this or any other area of improvement for your life, you can call the LifeMind Hypnotherapy Center here in SCV.  A qualified, certified, clinical Hypnotherapist can explain how safe, positive and relaxing hypnosis can be. 

Call today for a free consultation.  

Selecting the Best Help For Your Life

There are many forms of treatment and help available for you to change your life.  What you want and need is the most comprehensive and effective way of doing that.  Some people explore conventional therapy. In this format, the client talks about their problems and the therapist helps them explore their feelings and patterns to help them come to greater realizations.

Unfortunately, realizations are rarely enough.  The fact that you sought help confirms your realization, yet does not solve the problem. 

The next step people try is medication.  Medication masks symptoms and has many unwanted side effects.  Not only do you not actually remove the real problem, you have now added other ones through the effects of drugs.

Some people try self-help books, not realizing that books are made to sell copies to as many people as possible and cannot give you the level of personal insight you need to solve your unique situations.

Then there’s hypnosis which is an excellent tool for reconditioning the mind for better behaviors and attitudes.  It is effective and fast and is a profound, organic alternative to medication.  It works great but is limited to symptomatic treatment and does not completely address the core issues.

Life-Coaches are very popular these days and more and more college degreed therapists and psychologists are becoming Life-Coaches as well.  Life-Coaches are unconventional and have fewer boundaries in the capacity of helping people.  They can be like a very objective and very wise best friend who advises you.

But what if you could roll all of these into one person?  A trained and certified counselor who is also a hypnotherapist who is also your life-coach.  You would be able to gain insights and new realizations AND recondition your mind for new attitudes and behaviors AND get great new strategies and practical advice on changing your life and living to your fullest potential. 

Some people are looking to solve some minor issues and move towards self-improvement to live a fuller life.  Others are facing serious and more debilitating emotions and behaviors that require the very best attention and multi-dimensional approach to solving them.  Don’t settle for less when you invest your money and time to improving your life.  Consult with several professionals before you choose the one to work with your precious life and mind.

Scott Spackey is a Certified Life-Coach, Hypnotherapist, Addiction Counselor and Interventionist. www.LIFE-MIND.com  Scott@Life-Mind.com  661-299-1966

HELP: STRESS, A.D.D., ANXIETY, DEPRESSION

It's sad when those who reach out for help for themselves or their children are taken advantage of by "professionals" who are underqualified, not qualified or straight-up con-artists take advantage of those who are desperate and ignorant as to what can really help them.  Many treatment processes can cost thousands of dollars and by the time a family figures out their bogus it's too late.

The Drake Institute in the valley has been promoting a bio-feedback process and other techniques for years to treat A.D.D. in kids and adults and anxiety disorders that has been very lucrative for them and a total goose-egg for everyone else.  Some organizations pray on the vulnerable and have a really great sales pitch sounding very effective and technical, but is like the emperor's new clothes- an illusion only perceived by the creator and an impressionable mind.  Paying thousands of dollars for a package of stickers to apply a "dot" to everything that causes you worry is infantile and ineffective to say nothing of all sorts of electrodes and earphone sounds that are supposed to rearrange brain waves.

Folks, if you want to change and minimize A.D.D., depression, anxiety or anything else, be careful and remember that if something sounds too good to be true it is.  A real helping professional does not require long term contracts or down payments- we work with clients week to week and the results are evident.  If you are not seeing results you should be able to stop and move-on if you like.  Not only should there be a scientific explanation of the method or treatment your professional is using with you, it should be something that is understandable.  A professional who truly knows his craft can make his methods accessible to you in "laymans" terms.  You should be able to understand the logic in how it will work as well as experience observable results either immediately in most cases or very quickly in ALL cases. I am fascinated and passionate about how the mind works and functions and how to create change.  As a result, I can explain, in detail, how my methods work and show results.  Please be careful when selecting someone to help you by interviewing them THOROUGHLY.  It is painful to hear the horror stories of those who had the misfortune of work with unqualified "professionals".