Category: Specializations

Specializations

War of the Psyche – 1 of 4

Brian Balke

When Alexander the Great set out to conquer Asia, he marched under the commission of the sages of Ancient Greece. They ordered him to spread Greek culture to the Pacific Ocean. To assist in the mission, one of their number marched with him. After his death in what is now Afghanistan, Alexander testified:

The seer won more battles ever than I.

Alexander was known for his uncanny intuition in combat, leading his mounted Companions in charge against the enemy lines at exactly the right moment to turn the field. His testimony reveals his reliance upon his advisor’s psychic skills to guide him.

A thousand years later, Central Asia was dominated by walled cities that resisted conquest. It was Ghengis Khan, considered by the Mongols to be not just a warrior but a great shaman, that brought an end to these empires, bringing gun powder from China to the battlefield. This innovation turned warfare into massacre. Men no longer fought face-to-face, but at increasingly great distances. Massed formations were marched zombie-like into artillery barrages. In a single day, losses of tens of thousands were not uncommon.

It was the will of their generals that sent men into slaughter – an indulgence only broken by World War I.

In the modern era, those with grievances against the state no longer dare to rebel openly – the lethality of state security services is overwhelming. The rebellious fight as insurgents, intimidating civilians and setting off bombs in public places.

Peace keepers must walk exposed through those spaces, ready to fight at a moment’s notice. These contradictory roles – peace keeper and warrior – create an internal psychic conflict that builds over days and years without cease. The modern warrior is always close to those that would cause harm – the enemy hides in plain sight until the moment of attack. In the field, there is no respite from the exhausting demands of fight and flight.

Specializations

Hypnosis and Discomfort – 4 of 4

Brian Balke

Hypnosis and Chronic Pain Relief

Chronic pain may originate from medical causes. Every sufferer from chronic pain needs to be under a physician’s care.

Pain of any sort, however, is always a signal from the subconscious that our behavior needs to change. The subconscious is shouting, “Hey! Conscious mind! Why are you doing this to me?” When the commitment to change is clearly communicated, the emotional insult moderates – and often the pain.

A direct dialog between conscious and subconscious, of course, is the unique preserve of hypnotherapy.

As in all hypnotherapy, the process starts in discussion that prepares the conscious mind to accept responsibility and to act. The circumstances that created the emotional stress are identified and discussed.

Deep breathing exercises facilitate a healthier flow of resources through the body. Tying to our emotional state, positive anchor words are sought to counter negative mood. “Peaceful” may be substituted for “conflicted,” or “calm” for “anxious.” Both breathing and anchors are tied into the hypnotic induction and reinforced throughout therapy.

Once in hypnosis, rigidity challenges are used to focus stressful emotions and channel them into major muscles, simulating the strain of the fight/flight response. The ancient biochemical need is satisfied, and healing flows can be liberated.

Moving to recovery, the therapy offers healing imagery – light, sensation, or sound – to the affected part of the body. The sensations of self-love flow back from the tissue into the mind, reassuring the subconscious and strengthening it to release the original emotional insult.

Dream therapy can then be engaged to focus the subconscious to turn its energies away from self-protection and toward creating new behaviors that bring greater satisfaction – and increasingly joy – into our lives.

Feeling good is something that many chronic pain sufferers lose sight of. Hypnotherapy’s great strength is that it unifies the mind in an immediate experience of relaxation, release and restoration. As the deepest parts of the mind become accustomed to that experience, they unify in its realization – and almost anything is possible!

Specializations

Hypnosis and Discomfort – 3 of 4

Brian Balke

Stress and Chronic Pain

When confronted with threats, the most primitive areas of our mind seek to stimulate action in our muscles. This ancient programming is beyond conscious control. Just as with a weaker wolf threatened by a dominant wolf, that program is still in play in socially threatening situations. Tension builds in the muscles, building toxins while restricting blood flow.

Eventually the muscles and joints begin to suffocate, screaming in pain. That pain lightens and interrupts sleep, minimizing the deep restorative rest required for healing. This vicious cycle causes the condition to grow worse.

It is only recently that medical science has come to recognize this connection between stress and chronic pain. Once established, discipline is required to exercise weakened tissues, loosening them so that normal blood flow resumes. In extreme cases, we turn to doctors for pain medication, while chiropractors and massage therapists can manipulate joints and muscles to increase flexibility. Even so, if tissue degeneration has spread to the joints, exercise may seem too painful to resume.

In desperation, many patients turn to surgery to restore ease of motion. The most common target of surgery is the back. A federal study of outcomes, however, shows that it in almost every case back surgery fails to provide long-term relief.

Ref: Ozanich “The Great Pain Deception”

Part 2 | Part 4

Specializations

Hypnosis and Discomfort – 2 of 4

Brian Balke

The Mind and Stress

Given the benefits of releasing muscle tension to promote healing and performance, we might wonder what happens if the tension isn’t released. When held at maximum strain, eventually muscles cramp, and if the cramp isn’t released, muscles harden to bone.

The subconscious knows better than to hold a muscle under such strain. It takes conscious will to sustain a cramp.

That extends to other kinds of strain. When faced with a threat, our subconscious promotes either the fight reaction (“I can eat that!”) or the flight reaction (“It can eat me!”). In nature, the outcome is usually resolved in a matter of seconds.

In society, however, those decisions are complicated by laws and social restrictions forced upon our conscious thinking. Confronted with a threat, we rarely can fight, so we transfer our reaction to another context (the gym) or stew in anxiety. At work, we cannot flee, so we either repress emotional expression or withdraw into depression. These are all decisions enforced by a conscious mind that understands the consequences of allowing our natural responses to run their course: social isolation or jail.

In neither case is the subconscious allowed to discharge the stress. In fact, it anticipates additional confrontation in the future, replaying the situation over and over in dreams seeking a resolution. That interferes with its ability to focus on other problems. As those problems degrade into conflict, stress spreads through our life like a cancer.

Part 1 | Part 3

Specializations

Hypnosis for Discomfort – 1 of 4

Brian Balke

Hypnosis and Acute Injury

When my sons had a tumble out the playground, I would see them tighten up and suggest: “It’s OK. Just breathe, relax, breathe. Don’t hold on to the pain – let it pass through you.”

We all know that initial moment of physical insult. We stiffen up and try to figure out how serious the damage is. The body has reasons for that: as well as protecting us from further harm, a tight muscle resists the flow of blood. That limits bleeding.

But when the insult is over, that tension causes strain on the surrounding tissues. Not good. And eventually blood must flow to support healing. The sooner we release the tension, the faster we recover.

The sequence of reactions is managed by our subconscious. When properly prepared with hypnosis, those reactions can be fine-tuned for miraculous benefits. During surgery bleeding can be controlled, and the conscious mind focused on pleasing images that greatly reduce the need for anesthetics and pain medication.

In sports competition, anxious stiffness can be replaced with fluidity that allows maximum blood flow and thus maximum performance. And when an injury does occur, in hypnosis we can focus subconscious attention on the site of the injury. Soothing imagery (coolness, comfort, or control-room dials) can be used to release anxiety that heightens our pain. Healing imagery (light, warmth or harmonious vibration) can be used to prompt the flow of resources to promote recovery.

Part 2