Remember that great Stephen King book that got made into a mini-series for TV, The Stand? The Stand is a 1994 television miniseries based on the novel The Stand by Stephen King. King also wrote the teleplay, and has a cameo role in the series. It was directed by Mick Garris and stars Gary Sinise, Rob Lowe, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Jamey Sheridan and Molly Ringwald. Yeah, that one.
I originally was going to write on a different topic this week, but decided I needed to make a stand instead. And making a stand, speaking out strongly against something you disagree with, mainly stupidity, is a good way to flex your mental muscles, primarily the logical ones.
My stand is again this e-article: Hypnosis for Addictions: Why it Doesn’t Work! In it, the author, Peter Andrew Sacco, PhD, gives his thoughts and begs the question: Why doesn’t hypnosis work for most addicts?”
First, Peter, I’m ashamed of you. An adjunct professor of Psychology at Niagara University making a claim like the one above with no supporting evidence?? Didn’t they teach you better in your graduate program?
Second, your opening paragraph, besides being trite and cliched tells me YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT AND HAVE PROBABLY NEVER SEEN A GOOD HYPNOTHERAPIST AT WORK.
My specialty is anxiety. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (this is known as a citation, by the way, you should try it some time) Anxiety Disorders affect about 40 million American adults age 18 years and older (about 18%) in a given year,1 causing them to be filled with fearfulness and uncertainty. Unlike the relatively mild, brief anxiety caused by a stressful event (such as speaking in public or a first date), anxiety disorders last at least 6 months and can get worse if they are not treated. Anxiety disorders commonly occur along with other mental or physical illnesses, including alcohol or substance abuse, which may mask anxiety symptoms or make them worse. In some cases, these other illnesses need to be treated before a person will respond to treatment for the anxiety disorder.
So… I take exception to your statement: minor irritations in their lives, such as anxiety… I’d LOVE to see what you would say to someone suffering from Generalized Anxiety. Perhaps that’s why the first thing they say to me is, “Finally… someone who actually knows what I’m going through and doesn’t just want to prescribe a drug to cover it up!”
Again, shame on you, Peter!!!
And try telling a 40-year, 4-pack-per-day smoker that their addiction is “not as serious” as gambling, workaholism, pornography or drugs. I wish I had a dollar for all the clients who told me it was easier to quit cocaine than cigarettes. Do you actually WORK with clients at all?
It’s funny. You never see hypnotists attacking psychologists. The most we do is stand up to ignorant bullies like you.
I could go on and on and on with my critique. But instead, I posted your article on Hypnothoughts.com. Let some other hypnotists take a crack at you.
PS– Since a good hypnotist knows how to by-pass the critical faculty, or conscious mind, we don’t run into “bitter resistance.” But you wouldn’t know anything about that.