Archive for April, 2009

Oprah Magazine suggests hypnosis for coping with financial stress

April 23, 2009

Oprah Magazine

Below is an excerpt from “5 Ways to Cope with Money Stress,” Nancy Palmer’s article recently published in Oprah Magazine. At the top of the list is “Get Hypnotized.”

For years people have turned to hypnosis for help quitting smoking and losing weight, but the technique is also becoming popular among business types desperate to overcome financial stress, according to a November report in The Wall Street Journal. Generally, in hypnosis, a therapist uses verbal cues to put clients into a deeply relaxed state, where they become absorbed in their inner thoughts, then offers suggestions to shift an attitude so they can better tackle a problem. In this case, the suggestions might be “Money is energy that comes and goes” or “Your net worth doesn’t equal your personal worth,” to deflect the paralysis and insecurity that financial panic can cause. Ideally, clients learn the process on their own.

“Hypnosis is very similar to meditation,” explains Dwight Damon, president of the National Guild of Hypnotists, who recommends trying a professional session before using the method on yourself. “While it won’t make you richer, it will help you handle, and feel better about, the money you do have.” Click here for the article.

An interesting NPR article on willpower

April 19, 2009

NPR logo

Here is an excerpt from Alix Spiegel’s 4/6/09 article, “Willpower: A Game of Strategy.”

Willpower is a very familiar phrase, but what is it really and where does it come from? What happens in the mind when you resist your impulses in the face of temptation?

One person who has looked at this question in detail is a psychology professor at Columbia University named Walter Mischel. Mischel, who is sometimes referred to as the grandfather of self-regulation research, designed a series of very famous experiments in the 1960s now popularly known as the marshmallow tests.

To do the experiments, he put hundreds of 4-year-olds in a room, one by one, with a marshmallow or cookie on the table in front of each. He told them he was going to leave the room and that the child could either eat the treat immediately or, if they could wait until he got back, and have two instead. To read on, click here.

New urine test for smokers may reveal lung cancer risk

April 19, 2009

NPR logo

Here is the opening paragraph of Joanne Silberner’s 4/19/09 NPR article, “Test May Determine Smokers’ Lung Cancer Risk.”

A new urine test appears to distinguish which smokers are likely to get lung cancer and which are not, by detecting whether smokers have a particular chemical in their urine that’s been linked to lung cancer.

The article points out that this does not mean it is safe for those who are at low risk to smoke:

Researchers say this test is no license to smoke; tobacco causes other health problems, such as emphysema, heart disease and other types of cancer.

But the test could be used as a signal that people with high levels of NNAL should be screened more frequently for lung cancer, says Tyler Jacks, the incoming head of the American Association for Cancer Research and a lung cancer researcher with MIT. That way, cancers can be detected early, when they’re more treatable.

Archives of the Journal of Hypnotism

April 10, 2009

Journal of Hypnotism, May 1951

I was just on the National Guild of Hypnotists website and discovered that they have recently posted PDF archives of the Journal of Hypnotism, the organization’s quarterly journal. The first publication came out in 1951. (See above.)

As the NGH website says, the electronic archives serves as a “preservation of the history of the development of hypnotism as a profession in America since WWII.”

As a member of the National Guild, I always look forward to the Journal arriving in the mail. (Volume 24, Number 1 was just delivered yesterday.) It includes articles written by contributing professionals on topics including techniques, studies, marketing ideas, and legislative and governmental concerns. It will be interesting to go through the archives and see how much the profession has evolved. A quick look suggests we’ve come a long way!


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