Huh? Individuation?

Individuation is a process of intensely personal self-discovery.  It may be initiated at any time, typically at a mature stage of life when one has the opportunity and experience behind them to evaluate and question one’s transpersonal place in the universe.  It is a process that may have many levels of depth as self-deceiving layers are identified and peeled back to gain insights into who someone truly is and who he or she feels they are meant to be.  As a process of examining one’s place in the world and one’s interactions with oneself and others, it is not something that can be directed or provided as a formula.  Each person must follow his or her own path and come to his or her own conclusions.  It is an iterative process, with each level of discovery potentially launching a new round of inquiry and building up a sense of self understanding that increases self-actualization.  It is a process that once started, does not end as understanding only continues to deepen as further self discoveries are made.

More than introspection, it starts with an effort to understand oneself and proceeds to explore soul purpose or place in the world.  It is an umbrella term to describe the effort to answer the questions “Who am I?” and “Why am I here?”  By its nature, individuation is a personal quest that not only will be a different process for each individual, but also will yield completely unique results.  It is not a taxonomy of traits or a personality analysis, but rather an exploration and celebration of the individual that each of us is.

Self-actualization may be a measure of how comprehensive a person has individuated, but even that is a stretch as I do not think that there is a comparative scale.  The idea of comparing degrees of individuation would challenge the individuality of the process.  Even without a conscious effort to seek it, I believe that everyone individuates to the degree that they are driven to do so.  For some, this may be very little and they may enjoy a contented perspective of themselves and their role with little or no need to drill down into the matter.  For others, they may be restless to discover answers to questions about themselves that are not immediately obvious or necessarily answerable.

Hypnotherapy, particularly Integrated Imagery Regression Hypnosis can help start or deepen a journey on the path of individuation.  You remain in control at all times as the hypnotherapist facilitates your access to your own subconscious.  Meanwhile, Handwriting analysis is a way of checking in with your subconscious.  Not what you write, but how you form the letters and place them on the page are direct ideomotor indicators of subconscious traits, feelings and concerns that can help situate you on the individuation road.

References

Kappas, J.G. (2009). Professional hypnotism manual: Introducing physical and emotional suggestibility and sexuality (5^th Ed.). Tarzana, CA: Panorama Publishing Company.

The Centre of Applied Jungian Studies. (n.d.).  The conscious living programme: Individuation. Johannesburg, South Africa: Author. 

Hypnosis for Integration of Positive Changes

Some of my integrated imagery clients have experienced both present life memories that they had consciously forgotten as well as scenes that included both present life memories and odd elements that were not part of present life. In one case a memory of skating with a brother that was not a present life brother morphed into a present life memory of skating in his childhood backyard with his present life brother. For another client, a familiar place (a trail in the woods) had a large rock that is not part of the real trail today and that my client wanted to climb feeling great accomplishment to do so.

Both of these cases illustrate the significance of using hypnosis to let clients go "where the subconscious leads". In each case, the clients were fascinated by the familiar setting having some alternative twist associated with it. In debriefing after the sessions, both of these seemingly mundane incidents interested the clients greatly because of the potential for there to be some meaning or message from the subconscious involved. I suggested that they reflect upon the potential meaning or relevance of what they saw and experienced.

These cases also afforded me the opportunity to offer post hypnotic suggestions for re-scripting scenarios related to the subjects' concerns. One was to imagine a mental thermostat to help control feeling cold and anxiety about the cold; the other was an imaginary coin that could help decrease annoyance and negativity to allow greater enjoyment and excitement in life. In both cases, my guiding of the re-framing/re-scripting scenarios allowed the clients to practice using the techniques within the trance state, enhancing their own willingness to use the techniques out of trance, in their everyday lives.

One of these clients warned me that he had been a subject for hypnosis before and that it had never worked. I believe that with a good rapport between hypnotherapist and client, that resistance can be managed down and the client can enter the hypnotic trance state while remaining in control and comfortable at all times. Many of my clients have complimented my tone, the way that I guide and the effectiveness of what we have accomplished, but it is really the client who does the work of resetting their own neural pathways and changing their old habits. It may take several hypnotherapy sessions to successfully strengthen a suggestion to make it truly useful, and a combination of the techniques of integrated imagery regression hypnosis, with transpersonal and more general hypnotherapy can be customized to meet each client’s particular needs at the time of the session. This is the value that I imagined being able to bring via both integrated imagery/regression and using it as part of a broader hypnosis practice. It is very rewarding to be able to provide some useful help to people rather than just exploring forgotten memories "for fun".

The Power of Personal Experience

I recently attended a wellness fair sponsored by the local community health center. Many people approached my display about hypnotherapy, integrated imagery and advanced handwriting analysis and asked questions. Many asked about my credentials and experience. It occurred to me that aside from my training and practical experience, the fact that I too have undergone general hypnosis and regression hypnosis sessions is an advantage in working with clients.

I completed a graduate certificate in Integrated Imagery Regression Hypnosis at Atlantic University in Virginia. The three levels of integrated imagery classes, residencies and volunteer sessions provided me tremendous personal experience with hypnotic induction, deepening and using various techniques in addition to the specific regression techniques being taught. In general, those residential practicums helped build my confidence in hypnotherapy as well as in regression work. The hours spent in residency and practice sessions also provided many of the required clinical hours to complete my external certification as a hypnotherapist by the Hypnotherapists’ Union.

The third level regression course, which focused on spiritual regression in particular, inspired me to seek additional training and qualification in more general therapeutic work. I can personally attest that accessing the superconscious and higher wisdom to resolve issues and help clarify perspective can be dramatic. Additional training and resources such as the Simpson Protocol for superconscious access, the Heartmath Institute’s work on Coherence, and the Transpersonal Hypnosis Institute’s training program have all been very motivating and personally as well as professionally relevant.

My personal experiences as a client undergoing regression hypnosis at many of my training courses raised my self-awareness and have allowed me to better empathize with the experiences of my clients. Resolving issues from my own past was powerful and effective in raising my confidence in the efficacy of this work. Reaching my own higher state and learning on both the physical and nonphysical levels has been a wonderful growth experience.

Finally, being able to study and practice both in person and online has been great. The mentors, instructors, teaching assistants, and classmates that I have learned alongside, guided and been guided by have made my professional growth a shared experience. Contact me to see how we can work together and draw on both of our experiences to help you learn, grow and reach your own potential!

References

McCraty, R. & Childre, D. (2002). The appreciative heart: The psychophysiology of positive emotions and optimal functioning. Boulder Creek, CA: Institute of HeartMath.

Salisbury, A.F. & Hasegawa, Y. (1995-2005). Transpersonal Hypnotherapy Protocols Workbook. Golden, CO: Transpersonal Hypnotherapy Institute.

Simpson, I. & Robinson, T. (2011-2013). The Simpson Protocol instruction manual: Working interactively in the Esdaile State and beyond. Hempstead, NY: Inner Healing Press.

What is Integrated Imagery - Regression Hypnosis?

Integrated Imagery, a technique to aid in psychological and spiritual growth through exploration of the unconscious mind, was developed over twenty years of psychotherapy practice by clinical psychologist John Z. Amoroso, Ph.D. This technique uses a positive psychological approach focused on purposeful living and creativity.  The use of hypnosis to induce a light trance state can help set the concerns of the conscious mind aside by creating a more relaxed condition.  The unconscious mind, which holds the deeper wisdom and guidance of the inner self, can then be more effectively accessed.

Regression hypnosis is an accepted psychotherapeutic technique.  Exploration of the unconscious mind has roots in the work of preeminent psychologist Carl Jung and is widely noted in the premises and theories of transpersonal psychology.  One may refer to the experiences one has in such a session as past life memories, or memories of the collective unconscious, according to one’s personal beliefs. It is not necessary to believe in reincarnation in order to use Integrated Imagery techniques.

Regression hypnosis differs from such techniques as reverie or guided imagery in that it takes the traveler along a time continuum.  The session may lead the traveler to explore earlier present life experiences and may include memories that are not real from the present life.  These memories may be direct communications from the subconscious mind or may represent the birth experience or even further back into previous lifetimes. Through this exploration, clues to current life challenges often unexplained by current life experiences and the preoccupations of the conscious mind can be found.  The unconscious mind guides the traveler to images or incidents that are important or useful to know.

The full participation of the traveler is required during the trance journey. The traveler is never unaware or out of control during the session and verbally works with the guide throughout, as the guide helps the traveler navigate the many stages of the journey. The traveler is recognized as a being of body, mind, and spirit and may find physical, emotional or spiritual connections throughout the journey. 

One of the unique aspects of Dr. Amoroso’s approach to regression hypnosis is what he terms the Energetic Chain of Experience.  This relates to the soul’s stream of consciousness throughout its continuous journey in life, death, birth and the periods in between the life experiences.  His methods seek to also uncover memories of the time the soul spends planning the next life, choosing a life situation, the time spent in-utero prior to birth, and the streams of potential outcomes the soul envisions from a future life experience.

Communicating directly with the subconscious, unlocking memories that have accumulated over the skein of time, discovering the origins of both positive and negative themes that affect personality, and using this information to benefit the traveler’s current life situation is the objective of Integrated Imagery Regression Hypnosis.

Although each lifetime is unique, Integrated Imagery Regression Hypnosis can help unlock greater potential and facilitate growth and healing by accessing subconscious feelings, images and sensations from deep within your present self. The spirit brings forward both positive and negative imprints from former incarnations that may influence the current life. Some examples of positive imprints might be “natural” musical skill, especially strong leadership ability, or an inherent fondness for animals. Examples of negative imprints might include lack of self-esteem, feelings of abandonment, or lack of self-confidence unsubstantiated by present life experiences.

I have completed a Graduate Certificate in Integrated Imagery Regression Hypnosis from Atlantic University as well as certification in Regression Hypnosis through the American Hypnosis Association.  Contact me if you want to discuss a session to help you realize your potential.

A New Year! More on Moss, Dreams and Connections

If you have not read Robert Moss, do so, just to amaze yourself at the connections he can show to your own dreams and personal experience. My dreams shift from those that are reflections of events of the day, to those with deeper meaning happening closer to the time I wake up. My mindfulness practice tends to sometimes allow my mind to wander into seeking the meaning behind what I dream. I was particularly struck by Moss’ description of approaching the ancient Temple of Dream Healing for its similarity to the beginning of Zen training. In seeking to learn from a Zen master, traditionally the student sits outside the monastic gateway and demonstrates that they are truly interested and dedicated to the pursuit of enlightenment until they are noticed and brought inside this “gateless barrier”. In my case this process was metaphorically achieved through an online application and subsequent interview process with a seemingly interminable waiting period. I recall that feeling of anticipation and impatience as I stumble forward through dream quests.

Two years ago, I undertook first degree Reiki training and experienced a confluence of imagery from dreams, and from regression work. During the workshop, after the master had completed my own attunement and moved on to another student, I distinctly felt a fatherly hand upon my head, whether in blessing or reassurance, I am not sure. It reminded me of specific experiences from one of my regressions and led me to a series of images that were so strong that they could have been the remnants of a dream. I subsequently conducted a self-regression and gained further insight into these images. All of this makes me think of Moss’s idea that we “can sometimes meet master teachers” in dreams. A quote by Kekulé reported by Moss seems to be especially true for me: “Let us learn to dream, gentlemen, then perhaps we shall find the truth.”

Keep on dreaming!

References

Amoroso, J. (2012). Awakening past lives. Virginia Beach, VA: 4th Dimension Press.

Hoshin, A. (1992). The bodymind of the way: Zen teachings on Dogen zenji's Shinjin Gakudo. Ottawa, Canada: Manuscript in preparation.

Moss, R. (2009). The secret history of dreaming. Novato, CA: New World Library.

Reed, H. (2005). Dream solutions! dream realizations!: The original dream quest guidebook. Mouth of Wilson, VA: Hermes Home Press.

Shibiyama, Z. (1974). The gateless barrier: Zen comments on the Mumonkan. Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications Inc.

Dreams, Robert Moss and Regression, Wow!

I spent a full year faithfully recording my dreams in a dream journal. Dream journaling yielded many interesting connections to other areas of my life and my studies. Several of my dreams involved going on a journey, several involved various forms of secrets and hiding places and several involved interesting women. Most had great plots and inspired me to include elements of them in the fiction that I write. The settings of most of these dreams have been places like trains and hotels that seem vaguely familiar but more like a composite of places I have actually been rather than any particular real location. In many of the dreams, I was searching for something.

All of this travelling and searching really made me notice passages from Moss’s The Secret History of Dreaming such as where he notes “The map is inside the dream … but to follow it you must become a traveler in two worlds.” Meanwhile, mindfulness meditation seems to dovetail nicely with some of Moss’s remarks such as the comment that “Ayurvedic physicians maintain that we are deluded if we believe we are fully awake and conscious in our everyday lives”. This reminds me when I asked my Zen Dharma teacher about dreams and their place in mindfulness. Her reply was that before I started worrying about awareness in dreams, I had to wake up and become aware of reality. As Moss says, “What we think is reality is a mundane dream”.

My dreams seem to shift from those that are reflections of events of the day, to those that have some sort of deeper meaning or symbolism as the night goes by. It makes me agree with the Dalai Lama’s advice to pay attention only to those dreams that happen “around dawn”. Last year I finished writing a novel based upon a man who becomes obsessed with a vision in a dream and then strives to find the lady of his dreams in the real world. The novel’s structure is modeled upon the Hero’s Journey or the “Monomyth” showing a modern man’s voyage into another world that he is not sure has any basis in reality. The ancient philosopher Sinesius said “dreams show us the future, because dreams are experiences of soul”. An excellent summary of my protagonist’s hope that his dream girl is real.

Moss’s book also references past lives. I have experienced amazing regressions despite my initial reluctance to accept the likelihood that such remembered lives are real. I have made peace with the idea that even if not real, the past life regressions that I have personally experienced and helped guide others through represent direct communication with sources of wisdom within oneself – the subconscious or superconscious mind. Amoroso speaks of finding one’s soul purpose reflected in multiple lifetimes of experiences and I have found some semblance of that purpose for myself through regression work. Jewish mysticism holds that Gabriel is the bringer of dreams and the soul’s knowledge of its destiny. I cannot help but wonder if my dream locations that have vague familiarity are echoes of past experiences that point me to the future.

References

Amoroso, J. (2012). Awakening past lives. Virginia Beach, VA: 4th Dimension Press.

Apostrophe S Productions (Producer). (1988). Joseph Campbell and the power of myth. [DVD]: Available from Mystic Fire Video.

Moss, R. (2009). The secret history of dreaming. Novato, CA: New World Library.

Using Your Brain

Scientists can summarize how the brain works in carrying out simple tasks like picking up a pencil. The thought of picking up the pencil arises; the eyes locate the pencil; the occipital lobe registers the image; the temporal lobe finds past associations that lead to new thoughts or choices arising; the frontal lobe maintains attention while it also works with the parietal lobe to initiate the body movement to reach for the pencil and to establish the sensory anticipation in the fingers of what the pencil will feel like when finally grasped; the parietal lobe confirms the feeling of the pencil in the hand; and the cerebellum simultaneously directs fine motor control to actually reach out and grasp the pencil. Throughout the process, electrochemical activity is ongoing through the nerve cells as neurotransmitters pass the messages required to coordinate this symphony of activity.  Once the pencil is grasped, however, the actual creative process to use that pencil to write or sketch or tap out a rhythm becomes more mysterious. Andreasen describes the understanding of how creativity happens as “hunches, buttressed by modest evidence”.
          My own use of hypnosis to access a person’s subconscious allows exploration of associations, episodic memory and free associations. Hypnotic induction provides access to memories of events in a trance state that were not physically experienced (whether considered past life experiences or fantasies). Inner life explorations such as dreamwork and meditation can also demonstrate these aspects of the mind. I believe that creativity stems from some access to unconscious mental places where words, thoughts, and ideas can combine freely and take shape as creative output. I also believe that like any mental process or learned skill, neural pathways can be built and strengthened by repeated use, so once one starts to create, one can get better at it just as repeated hypnotic inductions make it easier for a subject to enter the trance state. Similarly, post hypnotic suggestions can help us better access and make use of our own subconscious associations. We can use such creative processes and supports to keep our brains active, if not evolving using our natural ability of neuroplasticity.
          Ultimately, creativity is the product of the creative person interacting with their specific environment including both internal and external factors. Nature and nurture work together to shape the human mind. Similarly, I think that the brain’s chemistry and the unique personal circumstances of each individual work together to shape creative work.

References

Amoroso, J. (2012). Awakening past lives. Virginia Beach, VA: 4th Dimension Press.

Andreasen, N.C. (2005). The Creative Brain. New York, NY: Plume.

Dispenza, J. (2007). Evolve your brain: The science of changing your mind. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications Inc.

Hinshaw, S.P. (2010). Origins of the human mind: Course guidebook. Chantilly, VA: The Great Courses.

Kappas, J.G. (2009). Professional hypnotism manual: Introducing physical and emotional suggestibility and sexuality (5th Ed.). Tarzana, CA: Panorama Publishing Company.

May, R. (1975). The courage to create. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company Inc.