Blocking Pain

Pain is a message.

Some messages can be responded to so that pain is alleviated. For instance, if you are sitting for too long in one position, you may get pain in the neck or back. Standing and stretching may eliminate this pain.

Some messages cannot be responded to at that time to alleviate the pain. For instance, chronic pain from an injury or pain after a surgery may simply need to give you the message of pain, but there is nothing to be done about that pain.

In both cases, the pain is a message. If you can respond in a way that will fix the pain, do so. If you cannot respond in a way that will fix the pain, the message can be dismissed. I can teach you several techniques to accomplish this.

Some items that induce pain are by choice and simply need to be endured. For instance, getting a tattoo or having allergy testing. These pains can also be dismissed as there is nothing you are willing to do that will cause the pain to end at that time.

Be rid of pain in the body in all three circumstances through a combination of techniques that will teach your mind how to respond, give you the message, and allow you to dismiss it. Call for an appointment at 954-612-9553.

Autumn Hahn is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist practicing at Clear Mind Group in Weston, Florida. Call 954-612-9553 for a consultation. Follow Autumn on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. Sign up for the e-newsletter HERE.

Stress-Free Holidays

Would you prefer to go through this holiday season free of the stressors of last year? To move through family gatherings without feeling the pressure of living up to others' standards? To stay on budget and feel good about the savings and the purchases? To meet those little obligations, saying no to some of them without guilt or shame? To look at your to-do list with a sense of calm instead of panic? Hypnotherapy can frame your mind in a way that allows you to move seamlessly through even the formerly stressful portions of life, to gracefully handle this holiday season, and many more to come. Call Autumn to schedule an appointment at 954-612-9553.

Autumn Hahn is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist practicing at Clear Mind Group in Weston, Florida. Call 954-612-9553 for a consultation. Follow Autumn on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. Sign up for the e-newsletter HERE.

Focused Attention

Rapid Resolution Therapy® is especially beneficial to individuals with Attention Deficit issues and other easily distracted individuals. Hypnotherapy can be used to focus the mind on what needs to be attended to and remove that which is unnecessary.

For instance, when you see this photo, what do you notice? 

Now look at just the sky.

Now look at the wires and city life.

Attention can shift. Mind can be taught to do this seamlessly and quickly.

Schedule an appointment to learn this mind trick and increase your daily focus to get even more done with joy.

Autumn Hahn is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist practicing at Clear Mind Group in Weston, Florida. Call 954-612-9553 for a consultation. Follow Autumn on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. Sign up for the e-newsletter HERE.

Halfway to Goals

We're halfway into the year and I'm wondering about your resolutions. Are you on track? Are you a bit behind? Are you way behind?

This year I resolved to be much more mindful. I've been successful at that in most areas of my life. I've not been so great all the time, but have put effort in those directions.

The books are coming along a bit more slowly than I'd desired as I had some family stuff throw an energy-wrench into my life for a couple of months, but it's resolving. However, it's not what I'd call "way behind", so I'm fine with the progress.

The dice game for Butter Knife Concepts is also coming along and is only held up for financial reasons at this time; lawyers are expensive! This, too, is only "a bit behind" and energy is spent regularly on its progress.

I hope you are not having to run to catch up on your goals, and that if you are, you get to running.

If you are interested in using hypnotherapy for motivation or goal-setting, please call for an appointment.

Autumn Hahn is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist practicing at Clear Mind Group in Weston, Florida. Call 954-612-9553 for a consultation. Follow Autumn on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. Sign up for the e-newsletter HERE.

Enjoy the Now

This is becoming a theme in the world around me. I'm noticing so many people - on their cell phones, on their computers, working, feeding the machine - instead of living.

We get a short time to be alive. We get to meet all sorts of interesting people and filter out those we aren't into and keep those we really like to stay in our lives. We get to be exposed to all sorts of things and filter out those things we're not into to keep the things we dig. Let's do that stuff together. Let's share the stuff we dig with the people we like. Let's do that every day!

Let's not hashtag out lives away.

I was at Universal Studios last weekend, grateful to be taken along for free on my husband's company trip. We left our cell phones in the hotel room and talked to one another in line. We people-watched, made up stories about the relationships of others that we saw, rode rides, talked about life, and generally just enjoyed each other's company.

We saw ton's of people on their cell phones and it grated on the both of us - both of us are technophiles, I should mention; I have 3 Twitter accounts and am no stranger to the amazing wonders of technology. But you're on vacation; enjoy it. Don't #vacation #rollercoasters #havingagreattime. Actually do that stuff. Talk about it later.

Enjoy the now. There is nothing more.

Restful Nights with Self-Hypnosis

Everyone has those nights where you wake up and can't get back to sleep, or can't seem to fall asleep even though you might feel tired. If this happens more than once a month, you may have categorical sleep problems. Here are ways to combat restlessness:

1. Schedule  Go to bed at the same time every night, even weekends. You'll only have to do this as long as it takes for your body to learn the routine. This could mean as little as a few weeks or as long as a year; your mileage may vary.
2. Routine  Do things to unwind before bedtime every night. Have a cup of decaffeinated tea, a warm shower, read, or do whatever it is that puts away today's stressors.
3. Eat Well and Exercise Daily  Taking care of your body and expending unused calories will help your nervous system to regulate your body and make you tired.
4. Self Hypnosis  Come see me and I'll teach you a technique that you can use at home to put yourself to sleep or back to sleep that takes just a few moments and requires nothing more than your own mind.

Autumn Hahn is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist practicing at Clear Mind Group in Weston, Florida. Call 954-612-9553 for a consultation. Follow Autumn on Twitter and Facebook.

SPECIAL: Family Drama Intervention

Pass the stuffing, but not the knives this holiday season. Dealing with relatives you only see every now and then can be stressful, especially if you are staying in their home, or worse yet, if they are staying in your home. Most of the time, distance (whether in miles or in moments) makes all people tolerable. But when there are back-to-back occasions where family will come into play, many people experience anxiety just at the thought, before a word has even left anyone's mouth.

I invite you to have a more enjoyable holiday experience! For November and December only, I will run a "family drama" intervention session for you, bypassing my usual process of getting your personal  history in the first session and laying out what you need for the remainder of your sessions. For these "crunch time" months, I'll offer you a 2-hour session to clear out any holiday family drama stress and free you up to experience your relatives (and you holiday) with joy, happiness, and all the spirit of the season you would like to have pouring forth from you.

You will come in with your complaints, and we will determine together what the goal is - less stress, less anxiety, more joy, more openness, the ability to tolerate that certain someone's biting comments - and get you there fast!

Autumn Hahn is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist practicing in Weston and West Palm Beach. 

Forgive is Not Forget

 

Who do you need to forgive? A parent, a friend, a relative, yourself? Remember that forgiveness has nothing to do with approving an action. If someone wronged you, harmed you, or blocked you from greatness at a given point in time, you can forgive the action without condoning it. 

We each are doing the best we can with where we are in life at this moment. If you think of people in that way, as doing the best on their limited resources in that moment, in every moment, you can begin to see where forgiveness can take place. You can see that moment with clear intentions and that those actions, though harmful in the end, were an act of compassion or caring or maybe even negligence, but not malice. And unless someone acts maliciously, we can forgive them. We can see people as misguided and wrong, even, without acting with intent to harm. And that's something we can forgive. 

We don't want to forget. We want to move forward with clear hearts and clear minds so we can see people as they are and live each full new experience being fully present. But those feelings of resentment, of anger, of hurt, of turmoil, those can be released, freeing up the energy it took to store them and utilizing it for healing, dreaming, thinking, learning, and loving. 

"Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself," said Suzanne Somers, and it's true. That energy you use holding onto negativity hurts only you. The other person may not even know you feel that way anymore. Are you ready to explore forgiveness?

Autumn Hahn, LMHC, CHt holds sessions in Weston, Florida and can clear trauma and resentment in 2-6 sessions. Call 954-612-9553 for an appointment and to discuss your specific treatment needs.

War is Hell

One of the best things about the technique I use is that veterans never have to say anything that is classified. There are techniques to get around anything that they feel would be compromising while still getting all of the job done and the client cleared of traumatic memories.

I've worked with several veterans from a couple of different wars and they have reported a decrease in nightmares, a decrease in substance cravings as a result of self-medicating, a decrease in intrusive thoughts and images, and an increase in restfulness and peace. The results are often surprising and are almost always very fast.

End years of suffering with just a few visits and feel relief begin after the very first meeting.

I offer a military discount. Please ask when calling for a free consultation at 954-612-9553.

Guest Blogs

The newest feature is Guest Blogs!

I would like to feature a new blogger each month.

If you are interested in submitting a few paragraphs for my blog, please contact me by email here. Also, if you have a blog you love that you think I should read, let me know!

Topics should be relevant to some aspect of:

• trauma
• therapy
• mental health
• hypnotherapy
• Rapid Resolution Treatment
• hypnosis
• testimonials

What is trauma?

Trauma is something that leaves a seemingly-indelible mark on you. It can affect your feelings, your thoughts, your sleep, and your relationships. It may even affect how you think of yourself.

Typical examples of trauma include rape and war atrocities. These are but the tip of the iceberg. Bad events from childhood, death of a loved one, threats, bullying, witnessing a crime, domestic violence, specific encounters with scary things (perhaps a big dog), being in a dangerous situation, isolation, sudden break-ups, and medical issues like a surgery or amputation can all be traumatic. The abrupt nature of the event is traumatizing because the victim has no warning, no time to prepare defenses or use coping skills. This leaves a mark on the mind that causes a facet of the mind to attempt to prepare defenses after the fact. When those don't work, the mind becomes confused and attempts to replay the event until the defenses work; they cannot work, as the mind cannot create safety where it was not, and the result is flashbacks (when waking) and nightmares (when asleep).

Typically, in adolescents and adults, trauma manifests itself through crying, sadness, withdrawal, re-experiencing the event as if it were happening again, and nightmares. In children, the symptoms are more varied as children are less adept at compartmentalizing memories and coping with things like flashbacks in a situationally-appropriate way. With children, you find behaviors such as crying, aggression, anger, isolation, nightmares, mood swings, confusion, and irritability. These symptoms may persist the life of the victim, from the time of the trauma on. If these things come up at any time, the issue is not yet cleared and needs to be cleared. Even if "it only hurts when I do this, doctor," the answer is not "well, don't do that," but "let's make it not hurt anymore."


With trauma, the mind's gears grind to a halt and attempt to free themselves by repeatedly forcing the same action. Unlike other mental health issues, trauma is specialized in that the therapist must adjust that facet of the mind that is malfunctioning at the precise point of stuck-ness. This is not done by reliving the experience - or the mind would have done this during a flashback or nightmare. The commonly accepted technique is narrative therapy, which is the retelling and reframing of events so that the victim becomes the hero. This is a bending of the truth - or creating a better truth. A more effective method is Rapid Resolution Treatment. With RRT, you will be talking, laughing, losing stock in Kleenex, and staying present, in the moment, while telling - but not living - the experience, with the kinds of emotions you would have in an everyday conversation.

If you are interested in clearing your trauma, or want to refer someone you know, you can call 954-612-9553 and make an appointment in my Weston, Florida office. Trauma is my specialty, and can be easily cleared in 2 sessions, or about 4 hours. (Just as a comparison, narrative therapy takes about an hour a week for about 8 months.) If you do not live locally, I do travel frequently, and may be able to make arrangements to come to you, but the price will be significantly higher. Instead, you may find an RRT therapist in the US and Canada at the Institute for Rapid Trauma Resolution.

Breaking Through

There are those moments in one's career that bring things all together.

In December 2010, I was working for an outpatient substance abuse clinic, seeing adults for individual and group therapy who had been using drugs or alcohol, generally for a great many years. Substance abuse is a funny thing in that it's not generally the addiction that you're treating, but all the stuff that was done that fed the addiction - the lying, stealing, prostitution, homelessness, death, and loss of trust. There's a lot of guilt and shame in substance abuse, especially long-term use, that needs treating so those issues don't become reasons for using again.

Specializing in trauma, also prevalent in substance abuse, I attended a training for trauma and hypnotherapy. I was a self-taught hypnotist, but did not practice it. I thought it would be a good fit for me, and boy was I right! Knowing nothing of the training, the methods, or the trainer, I signed up for level 1 at what, to me, was a pretty hefty out-of-pocket price. There was so much information thrown at me that I went home after each of the three long days of training with my head swimming. Rapid Resolution Therapy is a way of conceptualizing a case through the lens of how you see the person as if they were to walk out your door completely free of their burdens. This seems like what every therapist should be doing with every case, right? But we're never taught that in college - at least I wasn't. Once you start seeing clients as whole and fixed, it it's just a matter of getting them there; but that is in Level 2, which I immediately signed up to attend.

I went home from that training, eager to try out the things I'd learned and start seeing my clients as resolved. Into my office that first week came an older-looking gentleman that we'll call Earl. Earl looked about 70, but was only in his mid-50s. He'd been using crack for over 20 years steadily and was referred by the justice system. My job was to get Earl to answer a grueling 2-hour questionnaire on his history of substance abuse and mental health issues. The more of the story he could give me, the faster I could make it go, but Earl was stonewalling me at every turn with yes and no answers, and sometimes just a steady silence. Working in community mental health is always a balance between getting the mountainous job down quickly and really getting the good work done. I needed Earl to go more quickly, but pressing him wasn't going to get me anywhere. I turned aside from the computer and said "Earl, I know the court's making you come here, and you're trying to get yourself out of trouble, but if you could change one thing about your situation, what would you want to do? How can I best help you to get where you want to be?" Earl looked at me for a long while, saying nothing. You could see his gears turning. As a trained therapist with almost a decade under my belt, I was going to ride out his silence - and if the questionnaire didn't get finished in time, we'd reschedule and I'd own that to my supervisor.

Then something happened, as we sat there in silence, sizing each other up. Earl broke down crying. "Miss Autumn," he said, "do you really care?" "Earl," I told him, "you're stonewalling me left and right. I see you have a lot of defenses up and I don't know why, but it's not going to do either of us any good. There's something going on with you that you're here for, not just court. If you're willing to tell me what it is, I'm willing to help see you through it." He looked at me again, a hard clear look and began to tell me about his daughter who was "about your age", though she was about 10 years younger (I get that a lot) who hadn't spoken to him in years due to his drug use, lying, and stealing. "I stole from my family," Earl said simply, and it was clearly the worst thing he could think to ever do. I helped Earl see himself as free from drugs, as clear of mind, as happy and himself again. We finished the questionnaire in record time. "I don't know what you did to me, Miss Autumn, because I don't tell nobody about my daughter, my life." But he left smiling.