Motivation

It's good for a therapist to have therapy sometimes. I didn't realize I needed an issue cleared until I was at another Rapid Resolution Therapy training this weekend.

I told you in a previous blog entry that I have been working on another book, yet, progress has been painfully slow. This book is research-based and research is one of my least favorite things. I have a solid outline and about 10% completed, but that is far from the deadline I set for myself for the end of the year. I know, if I just worked 15-30 minutes on it daily, I could chip away at it and it will get done - not by the end of this year, but maybe in a couple of months. I feel like the book will sell, and will be a benefit to others as well as myself for having finished it.

So what was standing in my path? I didn't want to do the research. I want the project completed. It is a goal that is attainable as I know how to do it and can complete it successfully. I want to have looked back and been proud of my accomplishment, yet I wasn't taking action to move forward. Sound familiar?

So there we were in training, some 15-20 of us mental health professionals, discussing "motivation" and how to increase such things in clients and here I was dragging my feet on a project that I chose to start, that I chose to continue leaving on my plate, that no one in the world would have been disappointed in me for discarding, and still not doing it. Why? Dr. Connelly worked with me for about 3 minutes on the issue. He asked if I am capable of doing it - yes. If I want to get it done - yes. If the desire to do the work (15-30 minutes each weekday is the goal I set for myself) is greater than the pain of not doing it (which was more than 15-30 minutes each weekday) - yes. And like that, the goal had benefit, possibility, and appeal.

So, yesterday was the first weekday I had to work on my project. I had a bunch of other things that absolutely had to get done, and they did. So all day I kept thinking of "When do I get to work on my book?" Did you catch that? Get to! Not "have to,", "get to." That's huge! I no longer dread the research. I kind of relish the idea of being able to get the book finished. The appeal was in the end of the project and I needed it in the daily steps. Sound familiar? This was just what I needed, and I didn't even know I needed anything until I was in that moment.

If you have a project goal - personal or professional, dealing with health and wellness or any other thing, and you're dragging your feet on it, let me get you from "have to" to "get to", bringing in the elements of benefit, possibility, and appeal! Watch your life change as your mind shifts.

Autumn Hahn is a licensed mental health counselor and hypnotherapist practicing in Weston through Clear Mind Group and West Palm Beach. You can reach her for consultation at 954-612-9553.

Stress Relief

Give the gift of serenity!

Stress is a killer; literally and figuratively. Stress makes your heart work harder, your blood pressure raise, your blood course faster, your lungs pump faster, and your perspiration increase. These things are good for you in sincere moderation - by working out, by taking a brisk walk, by making love - but not in a prolonged state as can come during or after (or even before) a big event like a move, a new child, a job change, or a relationship change.

Prolonged stress puts pressure on your nervous system and can lead to your physical collapse. Before this happens, there is almost always an emotional and mental toll which can include: crying, moodiness, feeling "not myself" for more than a day, exhaustion, or a lack of pleasure in daily activities. Does this sound like anyone you know?

Give the gift of serenity with a certificate for 50 minutes of stress relaxation!

I will spend the better part of an hour teaching your friend or loved one:
proper breathing technique
breathing techniques to use during intense stress
progressive muscle relaxation
guided meditation

These techniques can be used together or individually, as best suits the person using them, to automatically decrease pressure on the nervous system without any additional work on their part!

Gift certificates are available for yourself or a friend. Cost is $50 for 50 minutes and you will get a take-home sheet of the progressive muscle relaxation techniques to practice on your own. The rest you will learn quickly and easily in the session with no handouts required.

Come and enjoy Serenity Now!

Autumn Hahn is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist working out of offices in Weston and West Palm Beach. Appointments and inquires should call 954-612-9553.

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. 

Free eBook Autographs

New technology allows authors of books purchased in electronic formats to send the readers a free digital autograph for your copy of the eBook!

If you'd like an autograph for your copy of Mini-Missions, please click here to be taken to Authorgraph or use the photo link in the right column.

If you have not yet purchased Mini-Missions, it makes a great stocking stuffer, gift exchange item, or inspirational read for someone making big changes in his or her life!

It is available in paperback and eBook format, both under $10, and is eligible for free 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime.

Autumn Hahn is a licensed mental health counselor and certified clinical hypnotherapist practicing in South Florida. For an appointment or consultation, please call 954-612-9553.

One Wish

Let's play a little game:

If you had one wish - and think carefully - what would you spend that wish on? No cheating with extra wishes or time travel back to the moment you got the wish. You just get one.

Place your answers in the comments below. What happens after your wish comes true? What makes it such a good fit for you?

I'd wipe out everyone's student debt so the computer banks showed "Paid in full" on every single account. I imagine that the relief, the happiness, the joy spread by the lifted weight of crushing student loan debt so many young (and no longer young) people feel would spread like an amazing ripple. I'd publicize that I'd done it and set up a fund that anyone could send $100 to that would all go to charities. Imagine the good that money could do! And I bet some people would send a lot more.

And then me? I'd go back for my doctorate. Once I had the ability to take on new projects without that big bill from prior education, I'd pay for it as I went, taking out no loans. As it is, I'm starting to adjust to the idea that I'll never get my doctorate - and honestly, that's the only thing I wanted to be as a kid, a doctor of some kind, though I knew it wouldn't be traditional medicine - so it really bums me out to have to say goodbye to that dream. But with my loans as they are, there's no way I can responsibly go back to school. Oh, don't get me wrong: I'm not blaming anyone but myself for poor financial planning. But this is a skill I learned after I had debt, not before. Future Me would go back and tell Past Me to do it differently.

Faster Therapy

Our society is becoming faster paced and our attention spans are getting shorter. We're inundated with commercials and advertisements so often that it feels like that is normal, and so it is becoming. So how can we take therapy into this modern age? Do it faster!

Therapy used to take years. Who has time for that?
Freudians still believe in speculating on your childhood as a life-long process. This isn't for everyone.
Rapid Resolution Therapists believe that a single issue can be solved in 1-8 sessions. More and more often, I'm finding this to be hugely valuable.

Here are some of the benefits of rapid therapy:

• Less suffering. You're over it and back on to your happy life quickly.
• Less cost. Even a $20 co-payment gets expensive after awhile.
• More happiness. We're not dredging for sadness; we're mining for gold. It's all in the approach.
• Less time off work for sessions, dropping the kids off at the babysitter, etc.
• Less fuel burned driving to the office, as you only visit a handful of times.
• No homework. We do all the work in session. And by "we," I mean "I." You speak honestly, and tell me when something does and doesn't fit for you. I will adjust myself accordingly.

With RRT, change is immediate and lasting. You will leave each session feeling well, happier, refreshed, and energized. 

Autumn Hahn works in private practice at Clear Mind Group, LLC. in Weston, Florida. She is a licensed mental health counselor and certified clinical hypnotherapist. Appointments can be made by calling 954-612-9553.

Parenting Book

I've been hard at work on my second book! I've set myself a deadline of finishing and publishing by the end of the year, which seemed far away a couple of months ago, but time passes quickly, the older you get, it seems, and that deadline feels like it is fast approaching.

This book, unlike the self-help style of Mini-Missions, is a parenting book. Specifically, since I work with trauma, I hear a lot of things people have said happened to them, that could have been avoided. This book will be guidelines to parents of simple things they can do, and avoid doing, in order to keep their kids from being victims of trauma.

I have the cover photo and 2 completed chapters, out of 8, as well as the outline and topics for all the other chapters. It's a matter of doing the research and editing to put the rest together. I'm anticipating you will hold me accountable to my deadline by telling me you want to read it and asking about my progress.

If all goes as planned, this book will be available for Kindle and in print by the first of the year. Mini-Missions is available in both formats now, and qualifies for Prime 2-day free shipping.

Stay tuned for more information on another of my book projects, already in progress, called 5 Things. Off to the top right navigation column is a space where you can type in your email, and get my blog entries sent directly to you!