Associated Counseling Professionals
2255 S. 132 St. - Ste. 200 - Omaha, NE
402-334-1122
Mary Bozak, LIMHP

When you think of hypnosis, many will recall seeing hypnosis performed as entertainment at a night
club, bar, or fraternity party. Maybe you saw hypnosis portrayed in a movie, TV show, or cartoon. Still
others will know that people often seek hypnosis for weight management, or to stop smoking.

So, you might ask, is that pretty much the list of objectives for the use of hypnosis? Just
entertainment and habit control? No -  this is quite an incomplete list. In clinical practice, hypnosis has
the potential of being used to help with a wide range of problems and personal issues. Let's take a look.

Anxiety during performance-intensive activities
Even the best students can have jitters over tests. Even a seasoned musician can feel
uneasy about an audition for an important professional opportunity. What can you do?
Just study harder and longer? Put new strings on your viola? Perhaps, but over the years, I've had the
privilege of working with students from high school through graduate school helping them both study
more effectively, and to deal with the testing situation with less worry and distraction.

How does that work, you might wonder? When it comes to test preparation, you do still
have to read the material and review your lecture notes. But students can learn a technique known as
alert hypnosis. Until his recent retirement from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, David Wark, PhD,
taught the strategy to generations of collegians. When I needed to learn this myself, as I developed a
treatment plan for a client, Dr. Wark kindly shared his ideas with me, in correspondence. Using alert
hypnosis allows the student to simultaneously remain aware, highly focused, and deeply relaxed.
Learning can be encouraged and made more efficient.

We practice in the office, and I encourage students to practice the skill frequently in the next several
weeks, applying the technique to their studies. Like any other skill, this one gets better over time, with
repetition and dedication to the process. I wish someone had taught me this back in high school. It
would have made it easier to learn my Latin vocabulary!

The other component to study enhancement is the test situation itself. Even the best-prepared student
will feel a measure of anxiety before an important test. Graduate students often report feeling uneasy
with the prospect of the comprehensive exams given prior to finishing a degree program. Business
people will face tests in their fields of specialization real estate, insurance, or accounting, for example.

Hypnosis can be employed to create expectancy and preparedness for facing the exam situation with
confidence and calm. It has been very satisfying for me to receive messages of success from students
able to let me know that they are now practicing their chosen profession or getting the diploma that they
have worked toward for so long.

Make no mistake, however. Hypnosis will not replace reading, class attendance, and the intentions of a
good student. It will, however, assist the motivated student or professional in focusing his or her skills
and talents in a productive manner. It will help to reduce the unproductive elements of anticipatory anxiety
and exam-triggered panic. When well-prepared students are calm and in control, recall is likely to be
better.

The sports psychologist knows the value of these strategies, too. While my training and background are
in clinical social work, I have used some of these approaches to assist those interested in maintaining
focus, confidence, and being in control.

All of these services vary in length of service and in the span of time that I might see
someone. Depending on the severity of the anxiety and the longevity of the problem,
services may be as little as one session while others may see me for extended service over the course
of several weeks. Treatment is always planned and implemented to suit individual needs and
responses.

ASCH posting on the benefits of hypnosis