One massive Un-hypnotise a Zombie move
Zombies - If you think your Champion friends, trail blazing colleagues and proactive family members have turned into zombies, you are not alone. In 2012 the search term "zombie apocalypse" was at the No. 2 spot on Google's list of trending search terms. But don't worry: according to government scientists, the zombies were not coming for you.
What is a zombie anyway? If you are lucky enough to come across the Arizona State University website - your source for fresh brains - you will read:
“We define a zombie as an entity that is fully or partially under the control of another entity. This includes;
Host-parasite interactions
Autonomous technology
Coercion or control in human interactions
These dynamics, where one-entity-controls-another can lead to unanticipated biological, technological and social consequences,”
Let me be honest, while I dont think something can 100% control you, I'm definitely open to the concept of ‘partially under the control of another entity’
Cameron Carlson - Media director and board advisor for the ‘Zombie Research Society’ who is an active duty officer in the United States military (with the Second Fleet) first got into zombies, when he was doing his thesis (master's degree). “ I got hooked up with the Zombie Research Society then when I was doing a collaboration of public and private, uh, disaster relief for my thesis, and so the zombie apocalypse played directly into that, and that's how I kind of got started with this Zombie Research Society.”
In Hypnosis, the closest thing we have to Zombies is an ‘Abreaction’.
Terrifying- It’s the most frightening thing you can experience in hypnosis.
It’s total zombie - The patient is stuck in hypnosis - they can't hear you or see you.
Walking them up is tricky, we shouldn't touch them in case they get stuck in hypnosis even longer. The patient experiencing the abreaction might cry or scream (they can be highly emotional). They are stuck in hypnosis, eyes-closed-stuck!
We can't wake them up.
Possibly the easiest way to think about, is to compare it to people who get stuck-in-their-sleep. Sleepwalkers (people who walk in their sleep) it is widely accepted - to never wake them up due to the increased risk of:
Heart attack
Increased disorientation
Coma
The correct process if you ever come across a ‘sleepwalker’;
Lead them gently back to bed
Let them remain deeply asleep,
*It’s likely that they will not remember anything in the morning
In an ideal world, one day - There will be an acceptable ‘wake-up’ strategy for zombies.
Abreactions, if I use the wrong words in hypnosis, it could lead to an abreaction.
For example:
Client who wants to give up smoking.
They once had a traumatic experience and almost drowned (Client never tells me this).
Client history ‘intake form’ states ‘quit smoking’ (no mention of past trauma of nearly drowning)
Hypnosis session
“Imagine going deep, deeper, down, floating, drifting”
Flashback! The client falls into abreaction - they were not - ‘drowning words’- but they triggered a bad traumatic memory for the client.
I don't want to turn clients into abreaction zombies..they wanted to give up smoking.
People once thought abreaction were a good thing - it looked like - it was doing something good. World War I saw a great need for rapid psychological treatment intervention with traumatized combat soldiers. Hypnosis was widely used, not only to relieve symptoms but also for traumatic memories. The Freudian concept, that Emotion was ‘A quantum of energy’ (like a charge of electricity) implied there was a distinct pocket of explosive energy in the mind (or in the nervous system), attached to a memory. So, it was assumed an abreaction, was releasing this disturbing pocket of energy and it would be eliminated from the system. They were wrong, the abreactions increased the patients symptoms.
During World War Il, drugs became the ‘treatment of choice’ for ‘war neuroses’.A number of publications indicated that abreaction techniques were ineffective in the treatment of ‘war neuroses’ (and ineffective on everyday folk).
However there was still that silly theory, that there must be some therapeutic value of freeing pent-up emotions and acknowledging traumatic memories. So, things got worse, then came Vietnam, with its vast numbers of casualties and renewed interest in the treatment of post-traumatic disorders.
Hypnotherapy could delay a stress-response in a Vietnam combat veteran and could result in positive memories of a lost comrade, but Abreaction led to more abreaction
Hypnotherapists were still encouraged to elicit an emotional expression from the patient increasing the patient's risk for intrusive experiences (abreaction).
Say good-bye to abreaction, Thank goodness all great hypnotists still to this day refuse to practice an energetic model that emphasizes the emotion-releasing or memory-uncovering aspects of abreaction. We do everything we can to avoid it.
Here is the, One massive Un-hypnotise a Zombie move for 2022
An abreaction is no big deal - even if your client starts freaking out - these calculated moves can ‘get them out’.
Speak calmly and firmly.
Tell them to open their eyes and look at you (don’t touch them)
A. If the client opens their eyes - and they are freaking out - they are stuck in a memory.
Ask them about their immediate environment
What day is this?
Where are you right now?
What time is it?
B. If the client doesn't open their eyes.
Lead and dominate the situation.
Firmly (Calm) call the client's name “Janet”
Let them know they are safe “ You are safe in hypnosis”
Ask them to open eyes “On the count of 3 you will be able to open your eyes…1-2-3 open your eyes” (Repeat - loud and slow)
Keep repeating - loud and slow
Look for change in breathing - rhythmical and calm - they will soon open their eyes.
*Remember to anchor the client to a positive state, they arrived to quit smoking not have an abreaction