Dear fellow 5-PATHers,

As some of you may already know, my internship with Cal has ended. Right now I'm loading up the last boxes into my car and by sunset I should be driving down to Mexico (Puerto Vallarta), where I'll live and setup my full-time practice (it's only a 2,000-mile drive through deserts, snow-capped mountains, jungles and beach towns, so it should be pretty entertaining ;-)).

I'd like to extend my most sincere gratitude to Cal, Maureen and every single member of the Banyan team; during my internship practice there not only did I learn tremendous amounts of information and techniques, but I also had the pleasure to getting to know a truly amazing family of people with a great heart and a great spirit.

Particularly, I'd like to applaud Cal for his knowledge, mastery and care for the profession; and for having a relentless attitude of teaching and giving. It has been a life-changing experience to work under you, Cal; and I can't say 'Thank You' enough for leading us all in the development of the amazing tools for human progress you were inspired to create: 5-PATH and 7th Path. Now is my turn to extend and share your knowledge with the millions of people in Mexico and Latin America, let's set this planet on fire with relentless compassion!

Yours in the path,

his week, of the many things I've learned, three were salient:

ONE. The Effectiveness of an Affect Bridge is proportionate to the
intensity of the affect, and intensity of affect is dependent on 5
factors:
1) How much affect the client is carrying
2) How deep in hypnosis the client is
3) How complaint he/she is
4) How willing to experience strong emotions they are
5) Congruence in hypnotist's voice and tone

Since we don't have much control over 1, 3 and 4; we really need to
focus in making sure the client is truly in somnambulism or deeper AND
we have to be very concious of our voice tone, pitch, tempo and
intensity, so as to be congruent with what we're saying and in so
doing facilitate the client's connection to his/her emotions; very
much like actors do when they're acting their part and are able to
convey emotions to the audience.

TWO:  When doing AR, it's always good to remember to get the cognitive
component of the emotion, as people often missname feelings. One sure
way to do this is to ALWAYS use the Fav 5:
1) What's Happening?
2) What are you Thinking?
3) What are you Feeling?
4) How Old are you?
5) Is that feeling Familiar or New?

Additionally, it's good to keep the counting of numbers congruent, so
you'll count backwards to move to the past, forward to move to the
future AND never lead client (if it's not clear if event is in the
past or future of the point where you're at, don't use numbers, simply
do the "touch-touch-touch" thing).

THREE: When using an Affect Bridge for AR, you build up the feeling in
the present so as to use it as a bridge to the past BUT when client is
already in regression, you NEVER build up the feeling there, if you do
that, you'll be modifying the past and possibly creating false
memories (you'll be making them experience MORE emotion than they
actually had back then). If you want to make sure emotion experienced
is the strongest (for instance, if they're being a little resistant to
further regress), it's OK to say "When I count from 1 to 3, you'll be
at the most emotional moment of this event or situation" and then use
that feeling to regress more (IF feeling is familiar, of course ;-)).

One last note, affect bridge is useful only when based on Primary
Emotions, Secondary and Tertiary Emotions (frustration and depression)
should only be used when that's all that client is able to express.

That's it for today, remember to read and re-read your scripts until
they roll off your tongue effortessly and accurately, watch your own
taped sessions to see what you did right and where you need to improve
and always review your training material (videos, books, notes)
related to the client you're going to see... And do your 7th Path
daily, it'll keep your mind and spirit sharp and ready to take on
whatever comes your way.

Until next week,

Great news: My first child client (whom I feared might not show up due to lack of confidence in Hypnotism by the father) did come back and pleasantly surprised me with MAJOR improvements after the first session. Tics are 90% gone, he's sleeping much better and has been so relaxed during the week -despite a tremendous homework load- that both parents were very impressed with the results and excited about the process (not to mention grateful, as some of his Obsessive/Compulsive behaviors had started to cause major problems in the boy's life). Needless to say, I felt great for having been an instrument in the kid's improvement, especially after learning that his family Doctor, Neurologist and Psychologist were not able to help him, despite trying their best for months. I was sure to let parents and boy know that all improvements were due to the child's subconscious, and I was merely a coach in teaching him how to leverage such a powerful element of his mind (the kid liked that very much).

Second session went real well, this time I used the Blast-off induction, and I included the standard Eye-Catalepsy convincer plus Arm Catalepsy (just because I know he'd enjoy that and probably feel even more convinced of the power of hypnosis), and then proceeded to do AR work. Session was long, due to his high intellect and overly analytical mind trying to get in the way, so I had to remind  him a few times that anything was possible in the magic of the mind and that his subconscious had the data there and could access it simply by suggestion, if he let his conscious mind relax and not attempt to intellectualize every request (to give you an idea, when trying to regress to ISE, he said something like "long term memory capacity is not really complete until past the 9th month of life, so I don't think I'll have the capacity to remember or relive anything prior to that"" and "How will I be able to communicate with you if I'm just a baby without the ability to speak?"  cute, right? ;-) ). Anyway, we did find ISE (at birth), performed ICT and run him through ISE and a few SSEs, ending up with putting the little one in his center and a segue way to DS (there is nothing wrong with you, etc...).

I'm looking forward to next session, where we'll re-run through ISE just to make sure changes have been permanent and then move through all remaining significant SSEs. If time permits, I'll try to move into FOO and FOS, because it might be hard for him to live a whole week with unreleased anger. All in all, I'm very pleased with this boy's progress and am excited to know that now his mother has also requested to go through 5-PATH with me (starting this Thursday), and his father has explicitly said that he'll be next. It's great to know that one can help a precious life avoid years of pain and suffering, while also promoting our practice to new clients.

In another good note, this week I served as Graduate Teaching Assistant during the Week of Power (5-PATH and 7th Path training for experienced hypnotists) and the experience was incredible because:
1) One always learns more when you're teaching others (and I helped Cal coach students during their practice exercises)
2) All students had years of experience in the field, which made the class an enriching experience, as they all drew from their experience and prior training and shared with the group.
3) Doing 7th Path in a group potentiates its power significantly, so it was really nice to re-live the group experience after having gone almost a month of individual practice alone.
4) Receiving the class material again, GREATLY enhances the mastery of the class content. It was inspiring to see Cal deliver a top-notch class once again, and many important points came through in a new light. So I highly encourage everyone to take advantage of Cal's free re-take policy and attend a class again, you'll see how much better you understand many concepts and how much more confident you grow by reviewing 5-PATH and 7th Path.

Lastly, on a bad note, my first client for 2-session smoking cessation didn't show up for this 2nd session. I should have known better when he said his commitment to quit was "none, I'm just here because my girlfriend payed" but I guess my unbridled optimism made me expect better, since first session went great (but if it didn't, I'll bring tape to supervision meeting to make sure I didn't make any mistakes or if I did, to correct and improve so as to avoid recurrence of no-shows).

In summary, what I learned this week is:
1. Never underestimate the power of hypnosis to effect great change, even where Neurologists and Psychologists have failed and despite doubts from parents.
2. Re-take classes whenever possible, you'll reinforce what you learned and most likely understand the material to deeper levels.
3. Don't expect someone who doesn't even pay for his own sessions to be a great hypnosis client. If his pocket is not at risk, his commitment is zero.

Hope everyone have a great V-Day weekend (Veteran's Day in the US).

Yours in the Path.

Here's my internship report for this week:

1. I had my first Child client on Thursday (a pre-teen boy). In the days leading to the first session, I went through a bunch of books and DVDs (Gerry Kein's Working with Children, Kathleen Skott-Myhre's Hypnosis & Hypnotherapy for Children, Cal Banyan's Supervision CDs Volume 19 Parts 1 and 2,  Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy with Children by Olness Kohen and 101 Healing Stories from George Burn) and was VERY pleasantly surprised to find out that indeed children are awesome hypnosis participants (was tempted to say subjects, but pictured Cal's face frowning upon the term ;-)). Induction went incredibly well (used Kein's "blowing up balloons" deepener after a modified "Magic TV" induction) and client was very complaint and passed covert somnambulism tests with flying colors (loosing the numbers and fractionation). Since client was more fond of videogames than TV, I made him play a magic game on his "PS4" where all his favorite video game characters were there, and reacted to the game in unusual but very funny manners. He got so much into it, that I almost laughed with him as he was enjoying the absurdity of the non-complaint game characters on the game (loudly). I then proceeded to use one Del Hunter's Great Escapes script (Burning the Ship) and he really got a work out of writing all his pressures down for later burning. Then we did lots of ego-affirming DS and finished up with the Red, Red, Red post-hypnotic suggestion/convincer.

The problem is two-fold: The kid is a certified genius (IQ of 150) with everything going for him (money, good family, social skills, lots of friends, exceptional intelligence, musical prowess, outgoing personality, kind demeanor, perfect physical health, sports ability, responsibility, etc...). Only problem is he's too concerned with being perfect (to the point of obsession/compulsion) and that's bringing out undesirable traits such as ticks.
Additionally (or perhaps because of it), parents are not bad parents, but in the contrary, they seem to be trying WAY TOO HARD to be good parents, and that seems to be bringing up a lot of unreasonable demands on the child.
Session went well, but I would improve in 2 particular areas as follows:

WELL DONE= Parents were not willing to leave boy alone for session (though his psychologist and neurologist both advised parents to have kid try hypnotherapy, it seems parents never had allowed him to be alone with anyone, including his psychologist!). I assured parents that all sessions were recorded for the protection of the child as well as the hypnotherapist, and that California State Law gave them specific rights to such records if they ever decided to subpoena them, but that I would ask them for a verbal agreement that we could work in confidentiality with the child and that they would not request session videos unless it was absolutely necessary.  This helped calm them down and they finally agreed to leave the room. Another big shocker for them was my suggestion that at least one of the parents go through 5-PATH as a means of showing the kid they were willing to go through the process with him (in separate rooms and sessions, of course) and to make sure they would fully understand and support his moving through the 5-PATH therapeutic process.

IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED = Because I was so nervous, and so focused on reading and learning child-specific techniques, I forgot to include convincers (overt tests) for the benefit of the client, so that he would have further assurances that he had been indeed hypnotized. This is a particularly important point, considering that the father -in front of the child during the pre-hypnosis interview and after the session- voiced outright skepticism of the whole art and science of hypnosis; and that was my second weak point: I should have talked to the parents SEPARATELY from the child to let them know how important it was for them to show they believed in the process, technique and outcome, as children borrow Critical Factor from parents or tending adults and a negative view from an authority figure can undo the Direct Suggestion work done during the session. If I could do it over, not only would I have told parents to reserve their "witch-doctor" assessment of hypnotherapy to themselves at least when the child was present; but I would also have gone through AR to provide more relief to the kid. In the other hand, kid was unofficially considered ADHD (not formally diagnosed, but parents referred to him that way), and between watching the 2 videos (pre-talk and TSLOF), going through an extensive pre-hypnosis interview and about 30 minutes of actual hypnosis session, I guess he was a little tired. Still, having seen the change on him right after parents left room (his hyperactivity and nervousness went away, and as the door was closed, he exhaled a sigh of relief, as if a big weight had been lifted from his shoulders, which should have let me know that I needed to either go through AR right there and then or offer some "protection" like in the "water off a duck's back" patter, to give him some relief at least from his external pressures...).

Anyway, both kid and mom are due for sessions next Thursday, and if they come in, I'm going to be far more prepared to offer them more effective hypnotherapy (I'll do AR with kid and MAJOR convincers with mom so that both can walk out feeling hopeful and convinced, with big improvements on the child's symptoms). Whether they come in or not is an open question, as bill-paying dad didn't seem too convinced. I'll keep you guys posted (cross your fingers, as I'd really love to save a precious life from suffering for years if his issues are not resolved now).

BETTER DONE= On a better note, I also had my first Quit Smoking 2-session client. He came in with absolutely no desire to quit smoking "I'm here only because my girlfriend pressured me... and she paid" was his introductory statement. Normally that would have been automatic grounds for not moving forward, but somehow I felt he really did want to be there, just couldn't admit it to himself. I told him it was obvious he didn't really have a problem with nicotine, but that there was something deep inside him that perhaps he hadn't allowed himself to feel so he used tobacco as a distractor (went through a rapid-fire introduction to TSLOF), and gave him the choice of either walking out now and saving himself time and money or staying and switching to a 5-PATH program, where we would uncover what was really going on inside him that needed resolution, and that quitting smoking would be only a by-product of solving the underlying issue. Fortunately, he told me nobody had talked to him that way before, but that it made sense and that he knew some anger and frustration had been building up on him for various reasons. He agreed to stay and do the full 5-PATH, and when we did session (using Low Road/High Road script), he was an incredible hypnosis partner. Lost the numbers on 3, eye lock worked like glue by number 2 and his whole facial expression changed dramatically -for the better- when session was over. Time distortion went like a charm (he thought session lasted less than 10 minutes, when in fact it lasted one hour, since I also gave him the first recognition of 7th Path). All in all, it was very pleasant to turn around an impossible client into a deeply convinced one, he was soooo into the session, I almost had to kick him out! (just kidding there, but I got the feeling that if I didn't move things along, he would not mind staying another hour in post-hypnotic interview and we don't do counseling).

LAST NOTE= Week has been full of events, so I apologize if this has been too long already, so I'll be brief: Today the "week of power" has started and I'm attending as a Graduate Teaching Assistant (pretty much filling the role that Marc played during our recent class). The beauty of it is that all the participants are hypnotists and hypnotherapists that have been practicing hypnosis with clients for years. As always, Cal has attracted a high-caliber class from all over (from Switzerland to Wisconsin) and each one of them is bringing a wealth of experience and wisdom, so I'll be coaching them in specific 5-PATH and 7th Path techniques, while also learning from their tips and tricks that only experience can bring.

Have a great week and feel free to comment, critique or ask anything.

Yours in the path,

Today, we received our Intern Orientation from Cal and Maureen, and all I can say is WOW.

Everything here at the Banyan Center for Hypnosis (I'll refer to it as BCH from now on) is superbly organized with efficiency and effectiveness, and  with the client's best interest in mind.

I got my schedule to see clients assigned for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and I'll be sharing office space with our good friend Mark, while Kelsey will be sharing Cal's. So we both got top-notch hypnotherapy offices and won't have any excuse to perform exceptionally well ;-)

My first client is scheduled for Monday evening (quit smoking 2-session), and I'm very excited to have the opportunity of helping someone achieve that goal (I myself just became a non-smoker recently through hypnosis). I'm a little bit anxious about performing my first session well, but am confident that with the knowledge that Cal shared with us during class, the session should go exactly as it should. 

It's hard to summarize what I've learned today, but if I had to sum it up in two sentences, it would be:

1. The importance, method and art of keeping client records.

2. When doing AR in special 2-session smoking cessation program, it's OK to have client modify SPE so that she doesn't actually light up that first cigarette. In 5-PATH, as you may remember, the ICT allows the little one to re-live the ISE EXACTLY like it happened, only with the knowledge necessary for such event not to negatively affect client). I know we covered this in Class, but somehow it didn't click well until today.

For those kind souls that have been asking me about the fires that are spreading across the Southland: The Santa Ana winds keep blowing heavy smoke everywhere, and sometimes it's hard to keep one's eyes and throat clear, but otherwise we've been largely unaffected by such terrible natural disaster (though there are theories that they were not completely naturally-caused, an arsonist might have started or contributed to them... this goes to show you how much our skills and abilities in hypnotherapy are needed in this world...).

That's it for today, I'll keep posting what I'm learning, feel free to ask me anything about my experiences and I'll be glad to respond here (within the constrains of confidentiality and common sense, of course).