SELF-HYPNOSIS
The key to success and happiness
Valerie Austin
FOR MY SON
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 A Victim Of One’s Mind
Chapter 4 Using Self-Hypnosis To Better Your Life
Chapter 5 Client Case Histories
To Peter, my love and thanks for years of patience. My agent and friend Roy Stockdill, whose encouragement, loyalty and occasional bullying helped me enormously.
Gil Boyne, who was responsible for introducing me to hypnosis in the first place.
Ormond McGill, an American gentleman in the true sense of the word, who brought dignity to his wonderful skill.
My colleagues and friends, Pat and Vic Leslie, for many years of comradeship.
Frank Lennon of the British National Register of Advanced Hypnotherapists.
Kay Kiernan for being a loyal friend in difficult times.
All my students, each one expanding my experience.
My thousands of patients.
Dr Michael a’Brook, for sending me many of the above and for his wonderful sense of humour.
Dr Acharyya for his faith and support.
Mavis, Azman and Nina, Hj Ayub Abdul Ghani, Malaysia Airlines, the Malaysian Tourist Board, and the lovely people of Langkawi for their help and guidance.
Uri Geller for his positiveness and for mending my watch.
Paul McKenna, a brilliant stage hypnotist.
And finally my fondness and admiration to Mr Adam, wherever you may be now.
You may find that the information in this book will help you, your relatives or your friends to relieve many problems, such as insomnia, smoking or weight control, to name but a few. But if you know someone who is in pain constantly and he or she would like some relief, the correct suggestions in the somnambulism state can give relief for hours. This is not a cure, just a natural relief, and should not be used to delay a visit to the doctor. But for someone with arthritic problems or pain-related illnesses or diseases, any relief will be a blessing.
Words you will encounter throughout this book that sometimes cause confusion…
Abreaction: A raw emotion triggered off in hypnosis which then surfaces to the conscious level.
Deepeners: Specially selected words that form instructions for the purpose of guiding the mind into a much deeper feeling of relaxation in trance.
Hypnosis: Not sleep but a heightened state of awareness, similar to a day-dream. A state that a subject can be guided into by relaxation techniques or which can be induced by confusion or shock.
Hypnotherapist: A person who uses therapy while his or her subject is in hypnosis.
Hypnotist: A person who guides another into hypnosis.
Induction: A type of script carefully formed to guide the mind into relaxation.
Suggestion: Words that encourage the subconscious part of the mind into some sort of participation, either physically or mentally.
Trance: Many hypnotherapists do not like this word, but I am using it to establish a state of hypnosis. When a person is in a day-dream he or she is also in trance.
one
It all began with the car accident, the night I almost died—the extraordinary twist of fate that led me to become a hypnotherapist. I would never have believed at the time that there would be a time in the future when I would count the awful calamities and traumas I was to experience as blessings, allowing me to put something back into life in the form of helping people. If I had not had the car crash I would not have had to seek treatment for a serious memory loss and would never have been forced into discovering hypnotherapy as