Acne
Also known as neurodermatitis, acne is a common skin condition that most people will face at some time during their lives. For some, acne may be no more serious than a periodic outbreak of blackheads or a few pimples at the time of puberty. For many others however, acne is more severe, and takes the form of deeper pockets of inflammation, or cysts containing sticky fluid. Moreover, it does not always disappear with the teenage years.
It is important to treat acne as early as possible because the teenage years--when most people develop the condition--are the years when most people are beginning to get to know themselves as adults . It is a time of great stress and insecurity, when peer and social pressures are deeply felt. Facing the challenges of maturing into adulthood can be difficult enough without shouldering the added burden of a poor self image. This is unnecessary, because simple remedies are available. Besides the psychological and appearance benefits of treating acne, there is another good reason: if untreated it can result in permanent scarring.
It remains a medical mystery exactly how hypnosis treats acne so successfully, but it does. Under light hypnosis, we instil the suggestion that the body will no longer send fluids to “feed” the pimples, or other eruptions; indeed the suggestion is made that the body insists that they go. While this is a simplification of the treatment, it is the basic premise, and it works. A similar approach will see warts, sometimes another manifestation of teenage years, disappear. If you are concerned about your own, or your teenagers acne, by all means contact us. Usually, young people, particularly those endowed with fertile imaginations, are excellent hypnosis subjects

Source:The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé
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Alcoholism
Alcoholism is one of the most complex, least understood and most damaging diseases of our age. It is by far the most expensive of all diseases in its cost to our society in terms of lost work time, family breakdown, violent crime and medical cost. The disease attacks men in only slightly higher proportions than women. It is present in all education and socio-economic levels to the same extent, and there are only slight changes in levels of alcoholism by ethnic extraction. Contrary to popular belief, alcoholism has genetic origins and addiction to alcohol has nothing to do with lack of will. In fact, a person can be an alcoholic without ever touching a drop of alcohol. Alcohol is simply the catalyst that brings out the symptoms of the disease. When activated, the symptoms get progressively worse with each intake of ethyl alcohol and remain until complete abstention or death, whichever comes first. A cross-addiction to drugs is frequently developed, particularly in young alcoholics.
In the mid-1980's, research studies on the disease of alcoholism at UCLA and the Harvard Medical School, simultaneously isolated the gene that, if present at birth, guarantees a propensity towards alcoholism. Thus a new understanding of the disease became available. However, while sociologists believe that public education about the disease should start in grade school, it remains conspicuous by its absence in the curriculum of most school boards in North America. Brewer's and distiller's profit levels are dependent on the disease, because it is estimated that the 10 percent of the population that is alcoholic consumes more than half of the alcohol sold in NA.
Recovery depends upon acceptance of the presence of the disease and a desire to stop drinking. There is no cure for alcoholism and the only treatment is abstinence. As of this writing, there is no method by which an alcoholic can be taught how to drink safely and become a social drinker.
Hypnotism can help a subject to overcome initial denial and stop drinking a day at-a-time. In the early stages of treatment, hospitalization is sometimes, but not always, necessary. The Pecarvé method reinforces rehabilitation, membership in such successful support groups as Alcoholic Anonymous, and provides powerful suggestions that help the subject refrain from ever again picking up a drink. Frequently, there are other psychological afflictions that are caused by, or accompany the disease, including lack of self esteem, paranoia, anxiety, or anger. Hypnotism can treat these attendant conditions effectively. Alcoholism is a very persistent and evasive disease, and the use of hypnotism in its treatment can make the difference in keeping the alcoholic sober and return them to full enjoyment of life and family.

Source: Alcoholism (Ch. 18) The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé
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Anaesthetic for Major and Minor Surgery - view picture
Hypno-anaesthesia is used as an alternative to the conventional use of drugs such as curare and other anaesthetics. It is a safe and proven method and can be used for surgeries that range from simple appendectomies to open heart surgery. Some who have hypertension are at high risk when under conventional anaesthetic. For them, and those who have phobias associated with conventional anaesthesia, or allergies to the drugs used in conventional anaesthetic, it enables needed surgery to be safely performed.
There is a fast recovery period and no side effects with hypnoanaesthesia because there are no drug effects to wear off. The patient is wide awake and lucid immediately after the operation. Bodily functions such as food and drink intake, urination and bowel movements return to normal much more quickly that with conventional anaesthesia. Hypno-anaesthesia is available through the Rubin Pecarvé Hypnotherapy Clinic.

Source: Beethoven in the Operating Theatre (Ch. 1) The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé
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Anger and Rage Control
Compulsive behaviour leading to verbal or physical violence is almost always a learned or reactive condition coming from early childhood experiences. It is as prevalent in females as in males. Normal actions in others can trigger uncontrollable anger due to the presence of unresolved issues. The sufferer is often unaware of the true reasons for his or her inability to control anger and erroneously believes it is caused by the person to whom he or she directs the anger at the heat of the moment. While anger is a normal and useful impulse, when a person is unable to control the impulses and they lead to verbal or physical violence (out of control), the condition is obsessive and can be extremely dangerous.
If the condition remains untreated, these unfortunate people can be, at best, impossible to live with and, at worst, a serious danger to themselves and society. Conjugal violence and child abuse frequently occurs because of unaddressed underlying issues that are the true cause of such psychotic behaviour. Sufferers are frequently in denial and this makes it difficult to get them to undertake the necessary treatment. There is a sort of sub-conscious justification that works something like this: because my mother and father beat me and each other I know its OK behaviour for me no matter what anyone else says. Until these misguided impressions are brought to the surface and corrected the behaviour will continue. This is, more often than not, a progressive condition that will get steadily worse if left untreated.
Fortunately, rage is a condition that can be effectively treated with hypnotherapy if the subject is able to be honest about their condition and come for help. In some societies this is difficult because of cultural tradition that condones violent behaviour towards spouses or children. However, in recent years Canadian and US laws have been enacted that place the onus for treatment and modification of compulsive, violent behaviour with the offender.
Hypnosis has the facility to get to the route of sub-conscious feelings very quickly, the true cause of the angry behaviour can be isolated and dealt with. I treat many men and women who have been ordered by the courts to attend anger control clinics and group therapy. The work of hypno-therapy complements this treatment. Successful treatment requires a true desire, on the part of the patient, to get better. When that occurs, there is a very high incidence of recovery and great improvement in the enjoyment of the life of former sufferers and those around them.

Source: Compulsions (Ch. 16) from The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé
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Anhedonia (absence of feelings of pleasure)
Anhedonia is a chronic absence of feelings of pleasure in things or acts that normally give pleasure. Including, for example, sex, a good movie, parties, people, food, a day in the country. The symptoms can be the inability to climax during sexual intercourse, finding the taste of a candy bar bitter, never having fun at a party, negative hallucinations, being served a gourmet meal and not appreciating it.
This condition is sometimes caused by ambitious parents who set standards or expectations that are way above the abilities of the child. These children were never praised for doing small things. In fact, nothing they did was good enough for either parent. Sometimes the misguided parents set an act that was too difficult to follow. As a result the child was deprived of the normal pleasure he should derive from parental approval of small accomplishments and the inter-personal act of mutual appreciation. Because pleasure is considered a reward and these children never believe they have deserved a reward in the first place, they can' t feel normal pleasure or satisfaction with self or others, or appreciate acts of kindness or even pleasant surroundings.
To treat this condition with hypnosis, we take the negative surface feelings as they are manifested, dismantle the uncomfortable ones, and replace them with pleasant thoughts. We reinforce and underline self-worth. This is not as difficult as it sounds because the subjects are so deprived of approval, they are only too willing to accept praise and acknowledgement from a trusted source. When it sinks in that there is nothing wrong with enjoying the great pleasures that life offers, they soon start to lead a different life. The happiest are the ones around them.

Source:The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé
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Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia
Anorexia, and the related disease Bulimia, are essentially psychological illnesses. Anorexia Nervosa means "nervous loss of appetite." The condition is prevalent among girls 14-17 years of age although occasionally males or older women develop this preoccupation with body size. Dieting turns to refusal to take nourishment. After several weeks malnutrition sets in because of lack of minerals and vitamins. Cessation of menstrual cycle is common. Losses of half the body weight can occur while the anorexic continues to believe they are still too fat. Anorexia is fatal in 10 to 15 percent of cases despite intervention by family and doctors.
Bulimia, which is from the Greek boulimia meaning "great hunger" is related to anorexia. It is characterized by gorging food followed by vomiting, fasting or purging by use of laxatives. Use of amphetamines and other appetite suppressants is frequent. The syndrome involves frequent bouts of overeating to satisfy insatiable hunger followed by a compulsion to be rid of the hated food. Bulimia is not as dangerous as anorexia because bulimic adults can usually function normally.
As is true in so many psychologically based illnesses hypnotherapy can hasten recovery. Frequently in anorexia and bulimia it is necessary to regress the patient to early childhood and hypnosis can accomplish this effectively and quickly. In such cases however it is important that the hypnotherapist works in close consultation with psychiatric professionals.

Source: Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia (Ch. 11) The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé
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Anxiety Neurosis
Anxiety neurosis is caused by deep-seated, discomforting impressions on the subconscious due to the psychodynamic effects of environment or upbringing. The condition is characterized by an abnormal concern about present or future conditions or events. Patients are irritable, anger easily, apprehensive, tense and overreact to routine life situations. Anxiety attacks may be accompanied by physical manifestations such as trembling, rapid pulse, excessive sweating, dizziness and headaches. It can bring on vomiting, diarrhoea, and nausea. The condition is accompanied by depression and a severe sense of dread.
Some anxiety has realistic bases such as lack of financial resources or impending bad weather when at sea in a small boat. This type of anxiety helps us to prepare for emergencies and will pass as the crisis passes. But neurotic anxiety is virtually unfounded except in the victims mind. This constant or recurring chronic psychological condition is known as anxiety neurosis and prevents normal pursuit of happiness. The right medication can definately help this condition.
However, for a more permanent solution, hypnosis is at its best in dealing with psychologically based conditions such as anxiety. Hypnosis can quickly get to the cause of the anxiety, which resides deep in the subconscious. As we uncover the underlying causes we are able to deal with them and reinforce new, positive ways to deal with feelings of anxiety.

Source: The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé
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Asthma
The condition of asthma exists when a nervous spasm of the bronhioles, allows air to enter the lungs easily enough, but creates considerable difficulty in expelling it. This is caused by the expansion of the small muscles around the air passage. Sometimes the patient feels helpless, as if he or she is held in the grip of a giant vice. The highly unpleasant feeling of suffocation gives rise to fear and increased tension which only prolongs and aggravates the condition. Emotional upheaval contributes to asthma attacks and worry and anxiety create more tension that can lead to a vicious cycle that is hard to break. Indeed, it is hard to find a case of asthma where a history of considerable emotional disturbance is not present. The condition is worse at night particularly in the early hours of the morning.
Orthodox medical opinion is at a loss to explain the cause of the complaint. Allergy is thought to play a big part and sensitivity to things that vary from house dust or flowers to cats and dogs. Interestingly however, it is a fact that those who believe they are sensitive to the smell of roses will have an asthmatic attack at the sight of an artificial rose.
Conventional medicine uses drugs and inhalants to prevent and treat ashama attacks. These treatments are more often than not directed at the symptoms of the condition rather than the causes.
Hypnotherapy treats the causes of asthma and eliminates it. We have treated hundreds of patients who have never again had to use an inhaler or take drugs to combat attacks. Sometimes patients seek hypnotherapy for this condition as a last resort after orthodox treatment has failed to give more than temporary relief. But as education spreads hypnotherapy is slowly becoming the treatment of first, rather than last, resort for asthma and many other conditions.
In therapy, a patient is taught under light hypnosis how to relax, and is re-educated as to how to deal with problems without developing nervous tension. While we do not know the exact causes of asthma we do know that when we treat the emotional causes that trigger the symptoms we are successful in curing the condition. The treatment usually takes about six sessions and has a very high incidence of success providing a patient accepts that they need to treat the causal emotions and understands that they are suffering from a nervous condition.

Source: The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé
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Bed Wetting--Enuresis
Children with emotional behaviour problems display a variety of symptoms. Among them are anxiety, hysteria, asthma, allergic disorders, nail biting, delinquency, bed soiling and bed wetting to name a few. Some of these are outgrown, others can remain into adulthood. All of these conditions can be treated effectively by hypnotherapy.
Of all the conditions mentioned, the most common one that confronts the paediatrician is bed wetting at night (nocturnal enuresis). Ten percent or more of children fail to have control of their bladder by the time they reach five years of age. Bed wetting after that age causes distress and anxiety on the part of both child and parents. The resulting embarrassment leads to humiliation and loss of self esteem. Misguided parents who use punishment at this time, when their child most needs parental understanding, are contributing to the vicious cycle that establishes an anxiety- tension habit.
When bed wetting is in response to a newly born sister or brother it is almost always a subconscious, attention-getting mechanism--an attempt to regain mother or father's lost focus. In fact, most cases of hostile feelings stem from the subconscious, and that is why hypnosis can be most helpful in treating night time bed wetting in the child that is old enough to understand--usually from six years of age onwards. At the Pecarvé clinic we work very closely with the paediatrician in these cases and have a very high rate of success.
Bed soiling (nocturnal copresis) has similar causes and treatment.

Source: Enuresis--Bed Wetting Ch. 17 of The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé
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Bed Soiling (nocturnal copresis) See bed wetting

Blushing
Blushing occurs when an event, usually embarrassing, triggers the controlling beta cell which is our controller of emotion. The beta cell triggers the hypothalamus, which is the main link gland connecting to the pituitary, the overall controlling gland, which in turn, activates adrenaline and asks the heart to keep up with its need for more blood. The heart responds and, trying to keep up, pumps blood harder and faster. If the resulting surge of blood went directly to the brain it could cause death by stroke. Instead, the body miraculously diverts this flow of blood from the usual ceratoid or jugular vain route to the brain, and "stores" it temporarily in the facial blood vessels or capillaries. This causes the reddening of the face we know as blushing.
This process is initiated by the recall of an embarrassing or awkward event, triggered through the re-meeting of people that were present at the time the event occurred. For example, if a modest young girl was unexpectedly surprised, naked in the bath by a visiting family friend or relative, then each time the child sees that person they will blush. Sometimes very minor embarrassments or even complimentary comments by others, particularly a member of the opposite sex, can trigger a bout of blushing.
We treat many victims of chronic, repeated blushing. Hypnotherapy helps counteract feelings of guilt associated with blushing by uncovering the cause of blushing attacks and rationalising it. In most cases this can be accomplished in two or three clinical sessions.
Note: Interestingly, blushing is the reverse of the fainting process where the brain is all but drained of blood because of rapid beating of the heart, requiring lubrication. This can be caused by fear or extreme emotional disturbance. When, as a defence mechanism, the subject passes out from lack of oxygenated blood in the brain, the trauma is no longer affecting the brain function and consciousness returns. Fainting can be repeated over again unless the cause is removed or assurances given that the threatening condition can be coped with. While this is not a condition we treat with hypnosis--smelling salts is the usual remedy--we are including the information here because it is another one of the body's clever tricks to keep us alive.

Source: The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé
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Bulimia, See Anorexia

Cancer
Some time ago when a friend of mine lost his young wife and mother of his three children to cancer I could not help but ask myself: "Did this have to be?" I wondered if I could have helped her concentrate her subconscious mental power to battle the cancer cells that finally triumphed over her body. As it turned out, working together with oncologists who shared my belief that our mind could contribute significantly in the treatment of cancer, I was able to help several cancer patients not only cope, but actually conquer the disease.
Hypnosis in the treatment of cancer consists of focusing the will of the patient to fight the intruding cells and thus reinforce and complement the prescribed treatment such as radiology or chemotherapy. This powerful combination produces remarkable results, significantly better than when the medical treatment is carried out without reinforcement by hypnosis. Self-hypnosis plays an important role in this treatment. In fact, patients at the Pecarvé Clinic continue to use self-hypnosis as a sort of preventive medicine even after they have received a clean bill of health from their oncologist. As in all such medical cases we work in close cooperation with the patient's oncologist.

Source: Cancer: Coping and Conquering(Ch. 24) The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé
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Childbirth with Complications - view picture
Hypnotherapy can make the birth process a pleasant and painless one. My clinic has helped scores of women in this way. Again, we work very closely with the obstetrician. It is advantageous, but not essential, to start hypnotherapy in preparation for birth, early in the pregnancy. The second or third month of gestation is preferred. Then when the time arrives the mother is totally prepared. Relaxed and confident. If complications are expected, or difficulties with previous births were experienced, I usually put the expectant mother into a deep trance, before contractions become painful. Hypnosis can diminish or banish any pain if the subject is in a trance before the onset of real pain.
We also assist with many Caesarean sections which are performed with no anaesthetic, so any potential harm conventional pain killing drugs may bring to the newly born is eliminated. Doctors who have performed complicated deliveries with the aid of hypnosis all confirm that they would rather have a patient under hypnosis than one who is heavily drugged. Babies and mothers are the big winners here.

Source: Natural, Painless Childbirth (Ch.16) The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé
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Compulsive--Obsessive Behaviour
We all have impulses, some of them are positive and necessary for survival, some are negative and directed towards others. Some are irrational. Most of us, through learned social behaviour and self preservation instinct, are able to sort out the acceptable from the unacceptable and refrain from acting out impulses that would harm ourselves or others.
A compulsive condition is said to be present when one is unable to control those impulses and they become obsessive. In some who have "compulsive personalities" there is a tendency to do everything to excess whether it be related to work or play but these people, while they may not be easy to live with are not usually a danger to others. Sometimes an obsessive compulsive person will be preoccupied with an obsessive washing or hands or bathing, tidying up, picking tiny pieces of lint off their clothing and general picayune behaviour toward their being and immediate surroundings. This obsessive behaviour is usually because the person has difficulty in facing the fact that their own life and innermost feelings are not in order.
Some examples of more destructive compulsive behaviour are habitual gambling, lying, shoplifting, deviant sexual behaviour, alcohol or drug abuse. While these forms of obsessive-compulsive behaviour are usually directed inwardly and no prior desire to hurt or harm others is present, we are moving into borderline sociopathic behaviour.
In the case of the sociopath, compulsive behaviour towards fellow humans is often in the form of aggressiveness and intolerance. Sometimes it is manifested by a chronic inability to live in harmony with others, It shows up quickly in insitutionalized environments like the armed services or schools. A marked inability to accept authority or criticism is particularly prevalent. Sometimes the behaviour takes the form of "attacks" on individuals or society as a whole. For example, child and spousal abuse ( see anger and rage control ) is a common expression of compulsive aggressive behaviour. This behaviour is an outward expression of the paranoia that resides in the sub-conscious. This reactive anger can surface at the most inexplicable times and lead to habitual lawbreaking, violence and even rape and murder. Thus we find those who's compulsions, when acted out, do hurt and harm others.
Hypnotherapy can play a healing role in the treatment of all manner of compulsions. We apply the method of regressing a subject to childhood to uncover the route causes of the compulsive-obsessive behaviour. These causes remain present in the subconscious mind, but are not easy for normal therapy to uncover. In fact, hypnosis can usually help even those cases that fall into the category of criminal compulsion, and are the product of the truly psychotic schizophrenic mind.

Source: Compulsions (Ch. 10) The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé
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Concentration, (Lack of ) see also Memory Problems
Lack of the ability to concentrate can effect our life and livelihood. Students of any age who are unable to focus are unlikely to do well. The well paid jobs in the technology sector, all require the ability to concentrate on, and remember, details. In fact all employers are reluctant to have people around the workplace who can not concentrate on the job at hand. In a child, lapses in concentration are a normal phase of growing, but as the child matures, the power to concentrate increases. By the time he is in the first or second grade he should be able to keep his mind on his school work for longer and longer periods. When he can not, or when concentration ability disappears or fades in adulthood, then hypnotism can help.
Chronic inability to concentrate is caused by early childhood trauma that renders the subject unnaturally preoccupied with self. This preoccupation is omnipresent and does not permit normal concentration on other people or surrounding events. Sometimes it is necessary to eliminate these blocking thoughts, when we find out what they are, so the subject can concentrate on studies, work, friends and family as well as themselves. Hypnotism will get to the route of the clutter in the subconscious, clear it, and replace it with positive suggestions that will facilitate improved concentration. The problems causing poor memory and procrastination are related and can be addressed at the same time. The success rate is high. This is an excellent application for hypnotherapy.

Source: The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé
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Dentistry
There are two problems that hypnotism can help in this area.
For those who are allergic to drugs used to anaesthetize for major dental surgery, hypno-anaesthesia can be administered with very good results.
Secondly, many people also have phobias about going to the dentist. In some, it is so intense that their dental health suffers. Hypnotism can find the causes of these fears, and deal with them, so that routine visits to the dentist are no longer traumatic events.

Source: Beethoven in the Operating Theatre (Ch. 1) of The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé
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Depression
Depression is a mental disorder manifested by a lowering of mood and spirits and a generally gloomy outlook. It is often accompanied with anxiety, tension and agitation. Clinical depression, when properly diagnosed, frequently requires medication in addition to psychotherapy. This is particularly true if suicidal tendencies are present. Depression is much more common than previously supposed and interferes with normal enjoyment of life. It strongly effects the family environment.
This is one of those conditions that hypno-therapy is very successful in treating but it must always be undertaken in co-operation with medical professionals, usually psychiatrists. The combination of professional medical and professional hypno-therapeutic help can work wonders in a person who might have previously been resolved to a life in a "black cloud".
One of the Pecarvé Clinic's patient's thank-you letters reflects the depths into which a depressed person falls and can rise from: She said "...life for me was like living in a black cloud or swimming in murky water...I did not want to face another day... now I see clearly all around...thank you for giving me back my life and my family..."

Source: The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé
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Drug Addiction
The growth of narcotic drug addiction in the past half century is such that it is difficult to overemphasize the importance of seriously dealing with the problem on a governmental scale. This has not been done as yet. The jails of Canada and USA are filled with user-addicts. More than ever it is left to overcrowded and under-funded rehabilitation centres, dedicated therapists, doctors and psychologists to try and help the increasing flow of human jetsam washed up by the tide of drug addiction.
The reader who would like to know more about the causes and treatment of drug addiction is encouraged to read more about alcoholism because most drug addicts are genetic alcoholics and cross-addicted, thus a similar level of understanding is necessary before we can start to help the suffering drug addict.
To start with, the terms addiction and habit are not interchangeable. Generally speaking habit refers to psychological dependence while addiction is physical.
All narcotic drugs have an effect on the user but when the chronic disorder of addiction is present they effect a person's ability to function and may be accompanied by bodily side effects that are life threatening. Since low morale contributes to all chronically ill persons, psychotherapeutic techniques are part of most rehabilitation programs. That is where, in some cases, hypnotherapy can help.
Therapists agree that no drug addict or alcoholic can recover until they reach a "bottom." Unfortunately for some, this is synonymous with death from overdose. If the addict escapes this very real possibility and finds himself in the hands of a good treatment centre or psychiatrist he may make it back. Sometimes it takes more than one attempt at recovery. With each failed attempt death comes closer. Working closely with psychiatrists and psychologists, a good hypnotherapist can help the addict deal with acceptance of his condition and the difficult period of withdrawal. Like an alcoholic, which the drug addict may very well also be, it is necessary to bite off the recovery a manageable pieces. Initially minute by minute, then, hour by hour and eventually, day by day. Later, hypnotism can reinforce the need to join and maintain contact with other recovering addicts. This is very important in recovery because there is something about drug addiction that those of us who are not addicts will never quite understand no matter how sympathetic we may be. On the other hand, the fellow recovering addict does understand and the peer fellowship is very important in the recovery process.
One of the major goals of hypnotherapy is to deal with old fears that reside in the sub-conscious and rebuild self esteem. With the new sense of worth a sense of confidence and purpose should emerge. Slowly a sense of responsibility will follow and many a former addict becomes a useful member of the society that so despised him at the time of his "bottom".

Source: Ch. 19 and 18, Drug addiction and Alcoholism, The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé.
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Fear of Flying
There is a phobia that relates directly to flying in an airplane known as aerophobia, however, many who have a fear of flying suffer from a variety of phobias such as acrophobia (fear of heights) claustrophobia (dread of closed spaces), agoraphobia (fear of wide open spaces or crowded places). Psychotherapy is used extensively in treatment but hypnotherapy has become an excepted procedure because it has a good success record - about 80 %.
Contrary to many beliefs, most fearful flyers have never had a really rough flight, let alone a near-crash. They develop fears of anticipation usually over several years. They will die a thousand deaths as the date of flight grows closer. They anticipate the loss of control, panicking in public or worse--crashing.

The highly successful method we use at the Pecarvé Clinic requires that the sufferer undertake the following steps:

1. A determination to do something about their fear of flying.
2. Attend three or four hypnotherapy sessions where confidence in planes and flying is induced subliminally. This is a painless and pleasant process.
3. Learn some techniques of self-hypnosis to induce numbness in a little finger at will. This will enable to the subject, when the numbness is present, to take his or her mind off flying. The numbness will disappear after the flight is over and the plane is on the ground. This is not at all difficult and a skill that will serve the subject well, not only in fear-of-flying situations.
4. Practice self-hypnosis at home.
5. When fully confident, they either go on a graduate flight themselves or accompanied by their therapist. The whole process takes only a few weeks.

This is not a hopeless condition. It can be cured. Take this first step. Decide you are going to lick the problem and contact a therapist today.

Source: Fear of Flying (Ch. 21) The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé
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Frigidity and Impotence
In most cases, lack of sexual libido is termed as frigidity in the female partner and impotence in the male. Good sex therapists are available and if more couples sought help for their afflictions instead of burying them in silence, marriages would have much greater durability. While no two cases are exactly alike, the psychosomatic nature of the route of most such conditions make them particularly suitable for treatment by hypnotherapy.
There are, in very rare cases, disease related reasons for impotency. Some prescription drugs will also effect libido. True frigidity, however, is less likely to have disease related reasons and more likely to have psychosomatic origins.
Any kind of worry or stress, business related tension, health or unrest in the family can exacerbate the problem. For example it is very common for a man who has lost his job to lose his sexual appetite. It will return when his financial security is back to normal.
It is beneficial to understand that once any human being feels threatened, nature inhibits sexual feelings. If however, none of these conditions exist and the cause for either frigidity or impotence is not self evident, then it must be brought to light. This is where hypnotherapy can frequently help. Age regression is usually employed followed by the replacement of negative sexual notions in the sub-conscious, with a positive sexual attitude. Hypnotherapy has a high success record in permanently correcting these two complaints.

Source: Impotence and Frigidity (Ch. 12) The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé.
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Gambling, Obsessive-compulsive
This is one of the most self-destructive compulsions. Until fairly recently gambling was in the hands of organised crime or local bookies and confined to the back alleys and illicit gaming joints. Along with bootlegging, loan-sharking, prostitution and drug trafficking, criminal elements have always profited from the vices of the population. Now, in Canada and the USA, gaming is largely in the hands of the state, and wears a new cloak of respectability. There are good and bad consequences. Now the state collects the enormous profits that formerly went to gangsters. On the other hand millions who would not have risked the pay check on a role of the dice, have now become addicted to a range of gambling attractions that include casinos, high prize lotteries and poker machines in bars and restaurants. Huge advertising campaigns lure the addicts along with the recreational gambler. Unlike the recreational gambler, but just like an alcoholic and drug addict, the compulsive gambler will pursue the self-destructive behaviour until he has lost everything. He is unable to quit while he is ahead or has lost a budgeted amount.
The reasons for compulsions reside deep in the subconscious. Through therapy it is possible, and necessary, for the route causes to be revealed and dealt with. Hypnosis is the quickest and one of the most successful ways of accomplishing this. Self-hypnosis plays a role in this therapy. As with quitting smoking or curbing overeating, this vice can be eliminated. It is however one of the most insidious compulsions and it's hold on a victim should not be underestimated. In the first place it must be understood that complete abstention is necessary, there are no half measures, it is all or nothing. Like a recovering alcoholic who can never again pick up a drink, a compulsive gambler must never again place a bet. Thus, the first move has to be on the part of the gambler--they have to want to quit. Good hypnotherapy reinforces a day-at-a-time approach, and encourages membership in support groups such as Gamblers Anonymous.
Success rate is high with those who are determined to change their destructive behaviors.

Source: The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé.
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Hypertension (high blood pressure)
Blood pressure is the force used by the heart to keep the blood circulating adequately throughout the blood vessels of the body. The condition of High Blood Pressure or Hypertension is believed to be caused by the narrowing of the smaller arteries throughout the body, causing the heart to pump harder to get the blood to the extremities. There is a hereditary tendency toward high blood pressure but it's presence in a parent does not necessarily mean the children will be affected. Overweight contributes to high blood pressure, women tolerate it better than men and black people are more susceptible that whites.
While high blood pressure is not curable, we are fortunate to have excellent medication that will treat hypertension and control it so it does not cause death from heart failure or stroke. Imprudent living and emotional excesses are definitely aggravating influences on blood pressure, even in those who do not have a diagnosed condition of hypertension. In these cases, emotional stress will cause elevated blood pressure for several hours, days or weeks. When the stress is eliminated, the blood pressure will return to normal. In a stressful situation like an argument, the brain sends messages to the central nervous system to tell the heart to pump blood faster to cope with the emergency. This can, in extreme cases burst the vessels in the brain and cause stroke, or in the heart, to cause heart failure.
Hypnotism and self-hypnosis can be employed to effectively control or avoid stress related hypertension (see also Stress). Overweight and smoking contribute to the risk that accompanies hypertension and they can also be treated with hypnotism. (see Obesity, Smoking.) Sometimes a fundamental change in lifestyle is called for, or at least a new way to deal with stressful situations. Hypnosis can play an important role in affecting these changes that will lead to happier, healthier living.

Source: The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé.
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Impotence, see Frigidity

Insomnia
Sleep is essential to sustain physical and mental health. Lost sleep can not be made up and can be a factor in premature ageing.
There are at least two types of sleep that our bodies require. The first is physical sleep, where the body, it's muscles and it's organs are rested and returned to full functioning capacity; and r.e.m (rapid eye movement) sleep where the mind is rested and events of the waking hours are recycled, "filed in order," and memory replenished. It is a process that accomplishes for the mind what defragmentation of the hard disk does for a computer.
Insomnia is present when we have difficulty getting sufficient rest thus depriving the body of one or both types of sleep. Depravation of physical sleep will render our body without the strength to function at full efficency. Depravation of r.e.m. sleep will render our brain dysfunctional and temporary insanity will follow. In effect, our computer will crash.
There are many causes of insomnia: anxiety, depression and stress, lead the list. The unconscious state that occurs when a person passes out from alcohol or drug abuse will not deliver r.e.m. sleep. The resulting depression that follows requires a drug or alcohol solution, and a difficult-to-break cycle is established. This self-depravation of r.e.m. sleep causes the paranoia and other mental disorders that accompany the cycle.
Suffice it to say that insomnia, no matter what its cause, can be harmful to health. The stereotype is the business man who brings the office worries home and finds it difficult to sleep because he can't "turn it off." He finds himself tossing and turning in the early hours of the morning until finally through sheer exhaustion he passes out. This starts another vicious cycle, because the next night he not only has the worries of the office on his mind, but also the fact that he could not get to sleep the previous night, and so it goes on.
Barbiturates that are frequently taken to induce sleep, may relieve the nervous tension. However, like tranquillizers, they do not get to the underlying causes, are habit forming, and potentially dangerous.
In hypnotherapy treatment of insomnia, due to the inability to get the office or other concerns off the mind, we essentially teach self-hypnosis techniques that the subject can employ at any place and at any time. During a clinical session we introduce a highly suggestive scenario or story line which ends in the subject being able to go to sleep. Being easily recallable, the subject then uses this scenario whenever he wants to sleep. This is a very effective use of self-hypnosis. With a little practice my patients get better and better at this, and the time it takes to fall into a restful sleep is reduced to minutes. Self-hypnosis is one of life's very useful skills and once learned, will never be forgotten.

Source: Self-Hypnosis(Ch. 9) The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé.
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Memory Problems, see also concentration
When we have a lapse or loss of memory it is almost always because we have not properly "filed" the thought or fact we need to recall. For example, if we are distracted by personal thoughts or a disturbance in the class at the time the teacher is extolling knowledge, we are very unlikely to learn that knowledge. Further, if you throw things into your memory in a junk room manner, you will not be able to retrieve them easily. Only the items on the top of the pile are readily available. Thus, it is important to understand that the primary reason for a poor memory is that when one is too preoccupied with oneself, to pay attention to our boss, our spouse or our children, then any information they impart is not likely to be retained. This can be a chronic condition that renders a person very difficult to live with and, possibly threaten their ability to perform a job effectively.
Unnatural preoccupation with self or self-centredness which leads to the inability to take in, and thus remember facts, is usually caused by early childhood trauma. It is very unlikely to have anything to do with current events. It is a general rule that the one we know as selfish or self-centred is also very likely to have a poor short-term memory. In practice, the preoccupation with self does not permit the subject to care about others or what they have to say or do. In fact, there is no room in the mind for any information that does not directly benefit themselves. Interestingly enough, these people will usually have a good memory about themselves, activities they enjoy or perceive will benefit them. Indeed, when these subjects are approached , the subject is "all ears" and absorbs the information like a sponge.
In children, the learning possess is effected by these route causes of poor memory. Contrary to claims of widely publicized products, there is no quick fix that a memory game can remedy, miraculously turning children, thus afflicted, into "A" students.
The job of hypnotherapy is to clear the clutter that early life experiences have installed on the subconscious and allay anxiety that will not permit the subject to concentrate when facts have to be stored. We help the subject to focus on the impression of the information on the mind, the retention of the information in the brain, and the effective recall of the data when it is required. A healthy consideration for others helps us to concentrate on them, and what they wish to tell us, but this can only be developed when thoughts of self and self preservation take a realistic place in our persona.
This is a good application for hypnotherapy which succeeds where other therapies and "miracle" memory cures have failed. Children over six who have problems with concentration and memorizing school work can benefit greatly from this application of hypnotherapy and make good hypnosis subject provided they have healthy imaginations.

Source: The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé.
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Menopause
What a source of fearful apprehension the idea of "the change of life" has been for women. There has been a marvellous alteration of the false ideas of decades past, and now most women face menopause with no fear. This is largely due to improved communication of the facts. These are that eighty per cent of women pass through menopause without any ill effects at all. Most of the remaining twenty per cent have only mild symptoms. Notwithstanding, some women are of a nervous temperament and the more nervous a woman is, the more apt she is to have the discomfort she expects.
It is of course true that some important changes take place in the reproductive organs of the female during this period. The ability to produce offspring comes to an end. The ovaries cease to produce and liberate eggs, or ova. The womb abandons its monthly regeneration of a new lining, and the haemorrhage that precedes the new lining, as the old lining is shed, ceases. But a women is still very much a women and now she can enjoy her freedom from the fear of becoming pregnant and the need to use pads or tampons.
Thus, while "the change" is not the choicest time of life, it is just another process of aging that begins at birth. It is not a time to be dreaded and has its compensations. It can be a time of great fulfilment leading to years of healthy sex life, happiness and serenity.
Doctors refer several patients to me that fall into the category of those with a nervous disposition who are having trouble dealing with the transition. The main role of hypnotherapy in menopause is to replace misconceptions that reside in the patient's mind, and instil the rather happy truths about the period in life. We can deal with any pain or discomfort, real or imagined, and provide positive feelings towards self and future.

Source: The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé.
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Migraine Headaches
Migraine comes from the Greek words meaning half-head. Ten per cent of all populations suffer from migraine headaches. Women are about twice as likely to suffer as men, while children and teenagers are not immune. The first attack will probably come between the ages of ten and thirty. Attacks in those over fifty are much less common. The most common misconception is that migraine is psychosomatic. It is not, it is a very real physiological condition. When tensions build up to a certain level, or pressure, or a trigger incident occurs, impulses (or messages) are sent through the nerves from the subconscious mind to the blood vessels. This causes over-constriction of these blood vessel, which in turn, cause a diminished blood supply to a particular part of the brain. This is known as a spasm of cerebral vessels and this is what starts the tingling or warning that a migraine is about to come on. We call this the 'aura.'
Today, we can say with confidence that hypnotherapy is the most successful treatment of migraine. The combination of hypnosis and self-hypnosis has brought long term relief to about 80 per cent of my clinic's migraine patients.
Hypnosis works with your biology and is able to help improve it at the cellular level. Hypnotic suggestion can actually induce cellular changes within the body. By making hypnotic suggestions, we drain blood from the vessels in the head, and return the balance to normal, thus actually treating the migraine condition not just the symptom of pain.

Source: Migraine Headaches (Ch. 22) The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé.
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Nail Biting
Just as we can eliminate stuttering and stammering, bed wetting and smoking, we can, through hypnosis, cure chronic nail biting. Like thumb sucking, this habit comes from a need for oral pacification and is very frequently related to early anxiety over adequate food or milk supply from the mother. It can also be a reaction to the form of discipline a parent may administer, and how the parent themselves react to the nail biting or thumb sucking. Like bed-wetting, when the circle of punishment, reaction and repetition is established, the habit is likely to persist into adulthood and become a major embarrassment.
Getting free of this unpleasant habit gives those who accomplish it a new confidence. If you are bothered by unsightly nails caused by an inability to keep your fingers out of your mouth, then hypnosis can help. It usually takes three or more clinical sessions backed up by self-hypnotic suggestions. Hypnosis has a very good success record in treating this affliction.

Source: The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé.
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Obesity, Overeating and Weight Control
Of all potentially life threatening medical conditions overweight is near the top of the list. A direct cause and effect line can be drawn from obesity to heart diseases. No matter how fat you get, your heart remains the same size and the more work it has to do. If an obese person allows this problem to get out of hand, something is going to give, and it will probably be the heart. Obesity also contributes to failure of kidneys and the circulatory system. The overworked digestive system is a risk in over-eaters, and overweight is extremely dangerous in diabetics, and will have an adverse affect on existing conditions such as arthritis.
Obesity is said to be present when you are 20% over your ideal body weight. Thus if your weight chart says you should be 120 lb. and you weigh in at 145 then you are obese, not just a "little overweight" but obese. In very rare cases this condition is caused by glandular dysfunction but in absence of disease causes, the only way you become obese or overweight has to do with what, and how much, you eat.
While obesity can be treated surgically by removal of part of the large intestine, the safest method is behaviour modification that results in a reduction of calorie intake. Diets that favour one of the food groups over another don't work and can be unsafe.
Hypnotherapy is an excellent therapy for eating disorders. The correct hypnotheraputic method is to persuade overweight patients to eat less food from the four recommended food groups. A steady, one or two pounds a week loss is aimed for, and fasting or skipping meals is discouraged.
The value of exercise, in conjunction with good eating habits, can not be over emphasized. Like the maintenance of an internal combustion engine it is not reasonable to expect the body to perform at efficient levels when we don't keep it in tune. Thus, the combination of exercise and sensible food intake is the norm we instil in our patients.
Self-Hypnosis also plays an important role in recovery, and suggestions to seek new interests, particularly those that involve physical activity, help replace the need for excessive food intake.

Here are the six hypnotic suggestions we induce:

1. The patient will cut down the intake of food in every possible way.
2. The patient will digest his food much faster, the metabolism will be speeded up thus preventing fat from accumulating in the body.
3. Fattening foods, such as candies, chocolates, pastries, junk food, and similar calorie laden food will not be desired.
4. The bowels will function frequently, regularly and completely.
5. Physical exercise is required by the body to function properly and a regularly scheduled program of cardiovascular and muscle toning exercise will become a part of the patients way of living.
6. That the subject has it in his power to accomplish these goals and it will happen.

Don't treat this problem lightly. Along with stopping smoking, bringing your weight into line is the most beneficial thing you can, and must do, for yourself. The resultant positive feelings of accomplishment and return of self esteem, will completely change your outlook on life. You have but one body. Look after it.

Source: Compulsive Eating--Obesity(Ch. 10) The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé.
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Pain Relief
I have performed anaesthesia by hypnosis for major abdominal surgery including open heart surgery. We frequently help mothers through the pain of child birth, even complicated child birth, including caesarean section. Migraine headaches are commonly dealt with through hypnosis. Similarly, we can help arthritis and back pain sufferers; although I must add that sometimes back pain can be effectively treated by exercise and weight loss. The pain caused by cancer or cancer treatment can also be controlled without drugs, by hypnosis.
We teach pain control through self-hypnosis and this is a valuable skill. I can control my own pain completely. For example, I never require freezing or anaesthetic for dental work. I do not, however, recommend that the newcomer to hypnosis try this himself. The point is hypnosis is one of the most effective preventive measures you can employ to control pain.

Source: The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé
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Phobias
Phobias are irrational fears of common objects or life situations. They prevent the sufferer from leading a normal life. Phobias are many and have varying degrees of severity. Some who suffer from grave emotional or mental disorders have phobia's that can not be easily treated by therapy, and require medication. However, those who have phobias that prevent them from full enjoyment of life, are encouraged to see their doctor about the potential of hypnotherapy to cure their own phobia.
The removal of phobias is frequently undertaken by me when they were encountered and 'cleaned up' while I was conducting the hypnotherapy for an entirely unconnected condition. Anytime the subconscious is probed it is a good idea to clean out irrational fears, even if they have no apparent connection with the chief reason for which hypnosis is being conducted.
We do have a very high level of success in curing the patients we treat (better that 80%). Here are some fairly common phobias: fear of cats or dogs, fear of dead bodies, fear of water, fear of open spaces, fear of crowds, dread of closed or confined places, fear of flying, fear of knives or sharp objects, fear of heart attack, fear of elevators, fear of travelling in a car, bus, plane, train, or boat.
Sometimes, just getting rid of the symptom manifested by a phobia, will not help the sufferer for very long. Thus the revelation of the underlying conflict is necessary. Each case is unique and requires a unique approach and hypnotherapy can be the wrong approach and long hours of definitive psychotherapy is required. No one should attempt hypnotherapy for their phobia unless a clinical psychiatrist or physician is involved.

Source: Phobias (Ch. 14) The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé.
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Procrastination
Chronic procrastination is a debilitating condition that can prevent us from reaching our full potential at work or play. It is caused by a fear of failure, or dread of being judged wrongly when the task is done. These feelings are known as anticipatory negative reactions and usually stem from early childhood. They are caused by negative parenting practices on a continuing basis or by a single traumatic event in which the child was punished unfairly, or judged wrongly for something they did or did not do.
The condition can effect children as well as adults. It is manifested by a powerful reluctance to tackle any task that is more than routine, because of the fear of failure and its consequences. Competitive situations, in particular, are recoiled from and avoided. Since life tends to be a competitive process, this inhibits the procrastinator's normal achievement and the rewards it brings. In the work place, the easy task is always chosen over the more challenging. Why? Simply because we have sub-conscious knowledge that time will run out and the difficult task will have to wait for another day.
In hypnotherapy we are able to replace these anticipatory negative feelings with competing alternate positive imagery. After two or three sessions, subjects find themselves able to tackle more and more difficult tasks and are less likely to put them off. The self hypnosis we teach enables immediate positive action in work situations. I have seen former chronic procrastinators be promoted to managerial positions because of their willingness to take on new challenges.

Source: The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé.
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Self Confidence (see Stage fright)

Stage Fright, developing self confidence
It is not always true that a traumatic experience has to live solely in the subconscious to have a dramatic impact on our lives. Some are well aware of the experience, isolated or repeated, that made it difficult to assert themselves or speak confidently to groups. Hypnosis can not only deal with stage fright, but it can restore or install self-confidence. The therapeutic method I have used with almost 100 per cent success is a modified version of hypnotic suggestion. It works extremely well with those who have a clear understanding of why, when confronted by audiences, they have a strong desire to run away and hide. Others, are not clear why they lack self confidence.
To determine the suitability of the correct approach, I regress my patients to early childhood to make sure there are no other deep-seated traumas in early life that have to be dealt with.
In treating stage fright, for example, we can install powerful suggestions and real information such as a true story of Winston Churchill: Churchill, perhaps the greatest orator of the twentieth century, had stage fright because of the disapproving presence of his alcoholic father in an audience, during his early school years. This works well with admirers of Churchill. To deal with his fear of the audience, Churchill imagined that the assembled throng were in their underwear. This put him on a better than equal status with his listeners and he no longer feared their ridicule as he had his father's.
Many of those who recover from stage fright come to enjoy public speaking. While like all of us, they have apprehension before a speech, once they get to the podium all fear leaves, and they are comfortably at home with their audience.

Source: Stage Fright--Developing Self-confidence (Ch. 23) The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé.
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Smoking--Nicotine Addiction
Only the disease of alcoholism takes a greater toll on human life and financial liability to our society, than the smoking habit. Not a disease in itself, sometimes nicotine addiction combines with the disease of alcoholism to hasten death. More frequently, the dangerous drug's effect on the body's organs manages the job without the help of alcohol.
Lung, stomach and throat cancers are not the only diseases nicotine delivers to its users. Hardening of the arteries, emphysema and hypertension, all leading to cardiac failure or stroke are contributed to by smoking. In fact, the chances of dying before your full life span is virtually assured if you smoke. On the other hand it is never too late to quit smoking. The body has remarkable recuperative powers. One who quits this deadly habit can return his or her life expectancy to normal after a few years of smoke free living.
The start of the smoking habit can be traced to a multitude of causes, among them, peer pressure, the desire to emulate the father or mother, or a simple ego-boost to reflect a stereotyped tough guy or sophisticated women image. Inhaling is learned and with it a true chemical need builds up as the body requires its regular nicotine fix.
Fortunately, hypnosis can help many who want to, quit. But watch for poor techniques. If a hypnotist tells you he can make you quit by suggesting you will find the taste of tobacco objectionable, walk the other way. The method will almost certainly fail. Certainly, instilling a taste aversion to tobacco can often cause the subject to quit smoking for a short period, but unless the true cause of the patients need to smoke is uncovered it is likely that another habit, equally self destructive, will replace it.
Stopping smoking is helped greatly by self-hypnosis and a good therapist will implant suggestions during the office visits that can be reinforced by self-hypnosis at home. The combination of three or four clinic visits, reinforced by daily self-hypnosis, sometimes supplemented by audio tapes, and return visits to reinforce the suggestions, works well. Appetite control suggestions should also be introduced and will guard against substitution of one life threatening habit for another.

Source: Nicotine Addiction--Stopping Smoking (Ch. 20) The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé.
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Sociopathic (anti-social) behaviour, see Compulsions and Anger and Rage control

Stammering and Stuttering
Stuttering and stammering can be seen to be more of an embarrassment than an actual affliction by all but the sufferer. Nonetheless such problems can be controlled or removed completely by hypnosis, even when conventional speech therapy has been ineffective.
The difference between stuttering and stammering is that the conditions are identified differently, although the communication block remains the same. Stuttering impedes the clarity of speech because of an inability to pronounce syllables with repeated efforts. A stutterer is unable to select the sixty sounds that make up the human language from the six hundred or so labial sounds that include, retching, sucking, and other primal noises which have little connection with lingual clarity.
The stammer differs from the stutter in that the stammer involuntarily repeats a consonant, syllable or word and may transpose or mispronounce such consonants. The diction may be clear enough but the hang up of repetition obstructs effective communication.
Medical opinion sees the condition as a personality problem. In almost all cases the sufferer has no problem talking when they are alone. They can also talk to animals. Few cases have been found which are directly due to neurological causes or anatomic deformity. The cause would rarely be related to a malfunction of the palatal or lingual muscles related to speech. In the vast majority of occurrences, a tense and stressful environment in childhood is what brings on the attack of stuttering on stammering condition.
Dr. Smiley Blanton in the Journal of the American Medical Association writes: "...When stuttering persists into adolescence and adulthood, the person's whole personality is involved, and not just the speech organs. The subject must be trained to understand themself and to learn to adjust to other people without fear and tension...".
Hypnotherapy is an ideal tool for such adjustment. In most cases it is necessary to regress these patients in age to reveal the route of the problem. Being able to get to the root or the problem makes it possible for the therapist to successfully cure cases of stuttering which have stubbornly resisted all other orthodox treatments. Once the route cause is uncovered, then progress is usually rapid. Indeed, to the point where a former stutterer can recite tongue twisters that would stump most of us who have normal speech.

Source: Stuttering and Stammering (Ch. 13) The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé.
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Stress
Stress control is the objective of most hobbies and pastimes. Working out, swimming, running, fishing, even stamp collecting can help us relax and alleviate the symptoms of stress. In my treatment of cancer I emphasize the power of relaxation to heal. Stress that is not dealt with, will give cancer or another diseases a place to start. The medical profession believes that one of the major causes of cancer is a person's inability to dissipate the stresses of everyday life. The stresses that so accumulate are thought to take their toll by inhibiting the body's natural immune system.
Cancer or heart disease is often an indication of problems elsewhere in a subject's life. Objective research has shown that many who contract cancer or heat failure very frequently have suffered severe stress involving loss of a relationship, job, or death of a spouse or child, some twelve to eighteen months prior to onset of the disease. Spousal relationships that are bitter, abrasive or abusive are a major cause of negative stress and must be changed. In fact, unless the subject changes recognizable causes of stress such as this, he or she will undoubtedly bear the consequences in health breakdown sooner or later. This is particularly true if you already have hypertension. Stress is an enemy waiting in the wings. Don't give it a chance to kill you.
We use several hypnotic techniques for dealing with stress, and they vary with the type of stress and the individual. Stress control should be ongoing. That is where learned self-hypnosis is so valuable. My therapy encourages pleasant hobbies and physical activity to combat stress, but when a stressful situation strikes in the middle of the work day it is invaluable to have the ability to self-hypnotize oneself through the crisis.
If you are concerned about stress in your life, see your doctor about using the considerable power of hypnosis to combat this silent killer.

Source: The Hypnosis Book by Rubin Pecarvé
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