Rob's Blog

Hypnosis is all around us. Close your eyes in a moment and listen to this masterpiece of poetry by Edgar Allen Poe - The Raven, read by the brilliant James Earl Jones. Take a few long breaths, and then immerse yourself in the words. Just let them wash over you. Poetry is hypnotic, through it's rhythm and it's rhyme. Loose your self in it' words, it's time - and enjoy this Halloween self-hypnosis. If you want to learn a little more about The Raven - you can do so here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raven You can learn much about hypnosis by listening to the use of language, the rhythm, the timbre of voice used here. Actually understanding the words is not really necessary. it's more to do with the delivery and rhythm. Our therapist Svetlana is a master of using her voice well, even in another language (in her case Russian) her words can induce hypnosis. RH

There's a quote one of my staff mentioned to me recently which stuck in my mind. 'It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.' Jiddu Krishnamurti It is not dissimilar to something my son said recently after returning from Germany where he had visited Dachau concentration camp. 'Anyone who was not a terrorist in Nazi Germany was guilty.' Lance Hadley There is something very unforgiving about the wisdom of the young. Regardless of whether this is a matter with which you agree, the fact is society plays a massive role in what we consider healthy. When Maria, one of our therapists, recently attended a first-nations healing gathering, she described some of the situations she worked with. She talked about working with clients from her own community - something she has done for several years. The manner in which some problems were managed was radically different to what one might expect. In describing the situation it b...

We are often asked by clients if they will be 'out' or 'under'. These phrases are somewhat misleading and deserve a degree of explanation. In many cases a prospective client may expect to be put into a deep trance - as they may have seen in hypnosis shows - and yet very deep trances have little therapeutic value. At Vancouver Hypnotherapy Inc., all our hypnotists are expected to be able to perform on stage, and have a thorough knowledge of all hypnosis techniques - stage or otherwise. These can be useful from time to time, but generally in a therapeutic setting are not used. Deep trance usually is not really remembered. On stage many people simply have no memory of what happened. This would make for a very poor therapy session! During therapy a more gentle and light level of trance is appropriate. I like our staff to be all round hypnosis experts, and so expect them to be able to execute fast hypnosis, such as the example below. However, this really is not for therapy p...

If you were to go back to an age when we all lived in caves, and wore skins or nothing, owning a precious object or stone was considered a status symbol. We know this because in many ancient burial mounds we see the grave adorned with the precious objects which we assume the deceased owned. In more recent years we see equally ostentatious displays of wealth throughout society. Whether it is a watch, a ring, a car or a suit, the outward display of wealth is something we humans seem to have an unusual talent for. It’s not just us, though. Magpies and crows are often drawn to shiny objects, and sometimes line their nests with them for apparently inexplicable reasons. There is probably something to be said for the fact that this is an attempt to attract a mate. The advertising maxim that boldly says that ‘sex sells’ is interesting in this context. When selling a sports car it used to be thought that if we stick a poorly clothed blonde on the bonnet of the car surprisingly it had me...

Finding America by Charlene Smith: Drugged to their eyeballs – how over-use of medica... : "by Charlene Smith (c) Forget the Mexican drug lords and the Medellin Cartel; more Americans are addicted to prescription drugs, especially..."

Do you lie to yourself? Can you tell, at any level, if you are deceiving yourself? This is a fascinating broadcast that forces you to question yourself in an uncomfortable way. Have a listen, and then squirm a little. We've used many of the techniques you hear here, in a surprisingly effective manner. Listen to the broadcast and let us know what you think.