Can
a Christian Counselor / Therapist Use Hypnosis / Trance
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Bobby
G. Bodenhamer, D.Min. Edited by L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.
Can
a Christian counselor use medical hypnosis or trance techniques
and still remain Christian? Two Christian authors and counselors
that I deeply respect and admire, John and Paula Sandford,
categorically say no:
"Hypnotism
in counseling involves not only occult error, it may release
power to demonic and/or fleshly forces to discover what
the Holy spirit would not yet or perhaps ever reveal...
No Christian counselor should be involved with hypnotism."
Feelings
run strong within the Christian community concerning the use
of hypnosis. Not infrequently, one can even hear remarks like,
"Hypnotism is of the devil!"
In
this article I will answer the first question and then ask
and answer another question which I believe gets to the true
core of the matter. It involves a more appropriate question
that we should raise. Namely, "Is it even possible to
be involved in the healing process of hurting people without
involving hypnosis?" I take the position in this article
that one cannot take part in the process of helping deeply
hurting people and not use hypnosis or trance.
As
we begin to think through these issues, we must obviously
define our terms and set forth our definitions. World renown
author and psychiatrist, Milton Erickson, M.D., described
the process of hypnosis in the following way:
"Deep
hypnosis is that level... that permits the subject to function
adequately and directly at an unconscious level of awareness
without interference by the conscious mind."
Thus,
anything that allows a person to function in an internal,
unconscious, or subjective level involves "hypnosis"
or trance. This means that a person in trance or hypnosis
has accessed a receptive state to suggestions from the therapist.
Indeed, hypnosis essentially describes a communication of
ideas and understandings to the client in such a fashion that
assists his or her receptivity.
The Function
of Parts in the Unconscious Mind
To
accurately understand my belief that hypnosis plays an essential
role in healing, even Christian healing, a person needs a
basic understanding of the concepts of "unconscious parts."
We commonly talk about "parts" when we say that
"a part" of me wants this or that, but in my mind
or in my emotions, I want this. It refers to a facet of our
total functioning--maybe an emotional part, perhaps a conceptual
part (a belief, value, understanding, etc.), or a behavioral
part. Unconscious "parts" refer to those areas of
the mind outside-of-consciousness that stores our non-integrated
memories.
By
non-integrated we mean that little or no transmission of neural
impulses occurs between this part and the rest of the nervous
system. Transmission can take place, however, functionally,
no transmission does take place. A "split," so to
speak, occurs and the part does not communicate with the rest
of the mind. The part functions as a minor "personality,"
so to speak. As such, the part takes on more and more a life
of its own.
I
am writing this article using the computer software Word Perfect.
If you imagine that the computer represents the human nervous
system, then the software Word Perfect represents a part or
facet of that system. Whenever I want to run the Word Perfect
part, I use "wp" to execute the Word Perfect program.
Yet I have, in my computer, other programs. So each of these
programs exists and operates as an example of what we mean
by a "part." They lie dormant in the computer, as
potential resources, until I execute them. And, each software
program has its own command that calls it up (evokes it) so
that as the operator, I can then use it. For example, Microsoft
Works uses the command "works" to activate its programs.
We
likewise have stored within our minds various parts or memories.
And frequently they can run independently of each other. Where
do our parts come from? In many ways: education, learning,
modeling, etc. And one of the key ways unconscious parts get
installed in our human "system" involves Significant
Emotional Experiences, whether positive or negative--but especially
emotional experiences of Pain (SEEP). In painful experiences
we create parts that don't fit with the rest of the nervous
system. If they did fit, they would congruently operate as
a functional part of the whole nervous system. If congruent,
these parts would communicate and cooperate with the rest
of the mind. But as incongruent parts, as split off and disowned
"personalities," they conflict with the rest of
the nervous system.
Unconscious
"Parts" In Action
Bob
knew that his problem concerned his weight. He had good control
of all areas of his life, except in the area of his weight.
Yet he desperately desired to let Christ operate as Lord in
all areas of his life. His conscious outcome for his life
involved letting Christ become Lord over all his life.
When
Bob communicated with his "eating part," he discovered
that this eating part dated back to his early childhood. While
yet a child, Bob's father deserted him and his family. And,
due to her work, Bob experienced his mother as absent from
home most of the time. So Bob sought comfort elsewhere. Through
eating, he received a form of warmth and comfort that he found
lacking in his parents. The warm food not only gave him physical
nourishment, but he also experienced it as giving him emotional
support. At the time when this part came into existence, this
"eating part" functionally met his needs as a fairly
workable substitute.
But
now that Bob had become an adult, the "part" within
him that sought to find warmth and comfort via food had become
very incongruent with his outcome for himself. This unconscious
part, now with a life of its own, didn't treat food as food--as
nourishment, but as filling an emotion need and so Bob had
lost control over his eating and body weight. Bob's felt this
incongruity. The part of him that wanted to let Jesus exercise
lordship over his eating and weight conflicted with the part
of him that didn't want to give up feeling warmth and comfort.
Now
as I worked with him, as Bob focused on this unconscious part,
he went into trance. Likewise, as Bob focused on the Lord
as his Healer, he also entered into a trance.
Conflicting
Parts
Not
only do these parts operate incongruently with the rest of
the nervous system, they also have an incongruity within themselves.
At the time of their creation, the each part has a positive
intent. Our part want to accomplish something of value for
us. Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) expresses this as one
of its key presuppositions. "Every behavior originally
arises to accomplish something useful and adaptive in some
context."
In
Bob's case, the eating part provided the much needed warmth/comfort
that he craved (and needed) as a child. This described the
original positive intent of his part. However, over the years
and out of that context, the behavior of the part led to Bob's
obesity. And, as an adult his obesity and eating behavior
caused him problems in his profession as a minister. Meanwhile
Bob desperately prayed for Christ to exercise Lordship over
this area of his life. How could he find success in this?
One
day a minister friend asked him, "Bob, how can you preach
against gluttony?" Ouch. This question burned into Bob's
soul. "How can I?" Now instead of providing him
warmth/comfort, his eating part only provided him the opposite.
Bob now felt rejection, confusion, and inner conflict. Thus,
the intent of the part had come to operate in a way incongruent
with the behavior it produced.
Inner
Conflict
Our
parts explain why we make choices detrimental to our long
term welfare. Ann also had a weight problem. Ann, in her mid
thirties, served in a church staff position. As a single adult,
Ann wanted to do something about her weight. So once Ann got
in touch with her eating part, she soon discovered that she
ate whenever she felt insecure, rejection, or guilt.
For
her, the creation of this part arose in early childhood. She
learned from her mother to eat whenever she felt rejection,
guilt, or insecurity. Her mother modeled this behavior regularly
and systematically for Ann--who learned it all too well. So,
whenever Ann experienced any of these emotions, she would
eat, and eat, and eat. Rejection, guilt, and insecurity functioned
like the magical words that activated this part to run its
over-eating program.
The
letters "wp" in my computer activate the software
program Word Perfect. Similarly, those emotions individually,
or collectively, activated Ann's over eating part. Consciously,
Ann knew that over-eating would harm her health, her work,
and her relationships. She knew this in her intellect. Yet,
Ann would over-eat whenever the circumstances called for rejection,
guilt, or insecurity.
Ann's
over-eating part with its minor personality easily over-rode
her conscious mind in controlling her behavior. Created during
the imprint period of her childhood, the over-eating part
controlled her.
The
creation of such parts may occur at any time. Significant
emotional experiences occur throughout life. And parts created
by grief may last a life time. NLP offers models of therapy
that can remove symptoms of grief in one session. Most parts
generate during the imprint period (from birth to age seven).
They have years of practice in controlling behavior.
The Bible
and Unconscious Parts
What
does the Bible say concerning unconscious parts? The Psalmist
exclaimed of God,
"Behold,
thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden
part thou shalt make me to know wisdom" (Psalm 51:6,
KJV).
The
Hebrew word here for inward parts means "that which is
covered over with something else." A covering conceals
it. Note also the plural tense of the word. This indicates
the presence of more than one unconscious part.
The
writer of Hebrews referred to these unconscious parts as "bitter
roots."
"See
to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that
no root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by
it many be defiled" (Hebrews 12:15, NASB).
In
this passage the writer speaks about how bitter unconscious
parts can result in three harmful consequences. First, bitter
roots hinder the grace of God working in the individual. Second,
bitter roots can cause trouble to the individual and, thirdly,
to others. Indeed, my experience in marriage counseling teaches
me that most marital problems directly trace back to bitter
roots from childhood.
Do
you fear making yourself vulnerable in telling what you really
think or fear?
Do
you find yourself easily embarrassed?
Do
you often believe yourself as inferior to others?
Do
you say to yourself, "No matter what I do, it won't make
a difference; I am
and
always will be worthless and unlovable?"
Do
you get defensive if someone gives you negative feedback?
Do
you blame others a lot?
Do
you apologize a lot?
Do
you often feel yourself as an outsider?
Do
you consistently think that others judge you?
In
your mind and talk do you judge others?
Do
you think yourself as ugly or somehow imperfect?
Do
you find yourself obsessed by clothes or makeup?
Do
you have to do things perfectly?
Do
you feel depressed a lot?
Do
you find that you have deceived yourself about things?
Do
you live your life as a people-pleaser?
Do
you go into fits of rage?
Do
you idolize money or status?
Do
you work too much?
Do
you eat too much?
Do
you shop too much?
Do
you gamble too much?
Do
you use pornography?
Do
you experience your identity as shamed based?
Do
you feel guilty most of the time?
All
of these expressions exist as bitter roots that, in most cases,
we can trace to parental imprints. These bitter roots function
as unconscious parts that drive behavior. For healing to take
place, we must take these bitter roots to the Cross. Uncovering
these parts so that we can take them to the Cross for God
to heal describes our use of trance (or hypnosis). Indeed,
trance plays an essential role in this process. The Sandfords
acknowledge the development of such bitter roots.
"The
Body of Christ, especially its counselors, need to have
their eyes open to the terrible fact that very many of the
practices in our old nature, with which we struggle so fiercely
as Christians, were formed in our first two or three years
on earth!"
When
we fail to take our bitter roots to the Cross for healing
we suffer harm in our personal, spiritual, and relational
lives. Now just after the section wherein the Sandfords condemned
hypnosis, they write:
"However
psychological his training, however informed his mind, a
Christian counselor remains as we have said earlier, a midwife,
assisting the Holy Spirit and the other in the arena of
birth."
Obviously
I agree that Christian counselors/therapists function only
as instruments in the hands of the Holy Spirit. However, when
the Holy Spirit focuses the attention of a person to a bitter
root, that person, by definition, enters into a trance or
hypnotic state. I do not find myself in real disagreement
with the Sandfords. For, they realize that most problems lie
deep. They stress the that the Holy Spirit must bring about
the focusing on the problem. To that I heartily agree. The
Christian counselor/therapist, by definition, functions as
a person of prayer and belief in the Scriptures. Why? So that
by living "Spirit motivated," his or her work will
operate in a "spirit motivated" way. My only qualm
with the Sandfords and other counselors like them concerns
their wholesale condemnation of trance and hypnosis.
Altered
State/Trance
How
does a Christian counselor/therapist bring about healing of
unconscious parts? We do so via a trance or altered state.
Why? Because trance enables a person to function more effectively
and directly at the unconscious level. God made it this way
having equipped us with both a central nervous system and
an autonomic nervous system that runs our breathing, heart
pulse, neuro-transmitters, glands, internal organs, internal
bio-rhythms, etc.
We
need this deep meditative and inward focus of the trance state
in order to deal with the conscious mind which can become
an absolute master at keeping our unconscious parts repressed.
The beauty of trance lies, in part, in how it can occupy the
conscious mind. Once occupied, the conscious mind stops intruding
unhelpfully when our deeper unconscious mind provides important
information. Given this analysis, anything that allows you
to function internally at the unconscious level describes
a process that causes trance.
Actually,
we all go in and out of trance several times every day. God
has built our mind-body nervous system with this ability in
order to keep us from going insane. Without the ability for
trance, we would hear and process every word that came our
way. Trance, as intense focus on something, simply enables
us to shut out other things.
Day
dreaming offers an excellent example of everyday trance. Have
you ever driven several miles and not remember passing certain
landmarks? Or, have you ever started out intending to drive
to a familiar place only to end up somewhere else? And, once
you "came to yourself," did you then wondered how
you got there? Of course you have! So welcome to the world
of trance!
In
contact sports, injured athletes sometimes become so focused
and concentrated on the game that they lack any awareness
of an injury. Not until after the game do they become aware
that they have suffered an injury. So where were they or where
was their consciousness when the injury occurred? In the trance
state they had altered their normal consciousness to one of
intense focus.
Soldiers,
too, frequently report of suffering an injury in battle and
not feeling pain until after the battle. Their conscious mind
so concentrated on the battle that they lost awareness of
any pain from even serious injury. Again, in trance they accessed
God-given resources within their body--resources that the
medical community has designated as hypnotic pain control.
Hypnosis
and trance simply describe the same phenomenon. The first
word, hypnosis, describes what the experience looks like from
an outside observer--"sleep" or as we say, "zoned
out." The second word, trance, describes the movement
of consciousness from one state to another, it "transitions"
from normal consciousness to an altered one.
Biofeedback
also operates as trance. In biofeedback, we teach a patient
to focus intently on body functions. With the use of monitoring
instruments, the patient consciously monitors and thus controls
facets of their body and nervous system. With such feedback,
a patient can control such things as blood pressure, heart
rate, skin temperature, etc. When a person concentrates so
that he or she can control blood pressure, they have accessed
a deep trance. Similarly, much of the stress relieving techniques
on the market today base their effectiveness on trance.
A
person may even plot "trance" on the EEG (electroencephalogram).
The EEG divides the intensity of the energy manifestations
in the brain among four different wave lengths: beta (12 -
25), alpha (9 - 12), theta (5-8) and delta (0 - 4). When the
EEG prints out beta waves, this indicates the brain in a state
of actively thinking. Alpha waves indicate a relaxation state.
Theta waves means the person has entered into a trance state.
An EEG printing out delta waves indicates a person asleep.
How
does trance feel? People typically enjoy experiencing the
trance state because it feels good. On the EEG, trance lies
at a level below relaxation. This means that when we experience
trance, we experience a deep state of relaxation. Contrast
this with what Job said in anguish,
"I
am seething within, and cannot relax;
Days of affliction confront me" (Job 30:27)
What
did Job need? He needed to focus on God, and to relax in God's
love, grace, security, and promises. After much struggle,
Job did shift his focus (consciousness) and did focus on God.
"I
have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear;
But now my eye sees Thee" (Job 42:5)
With
his eyes turned away from his problems, Job turned his focus
to God. With God's revelation from the Whirlwind and his searching
probing questions to Job, this induced Job into an intense
concentration on God and God's wonderful, but mysterious world,
and so Job went into a trance. The long term result of his
shift of consciousness? "Job died, an old man and full
of days" (Job 42:17). Many believe, as I do, that when
we enter into a deep concentrative trance as such, that our
body reaches its healing peak.
Milton
Erickson, M.D., used trance to communicate with people and
to facilitate healing. He would put people in trance and in
that state of trance, Erickson would ask them about their
problem. When he asked them about their problem, they would
go blank. Their appearance indicated that the problem had
ceased functioning as a problem.
Erickson
also discovered that, in trance, people experience an inner
alertness. Though they look asleep from an outside perspective,
inwardly they have blocked out everything, but the matter
of their focusing. Trance (or hypnosis), therefore, enables
a therapist to communicate ideas to the deeper mind of the
client and in this communication, trance empowers the person
to become most receptive to those ideas.
Recall
that the unconscious mind tends to accepts suggestions uncritically
when we gain rapport with a person. When you have rapport
with a person, they focus entirely on you and so they have
entered in trance with you. As such, trance moves the critical
and argumentative conscious mind out of the way. Typically,
our conscious mind thinks and behaves quite egotistically.
It wants to have its way! When it does not get its way, it
goes to war. It then tends to block out any communication
both from others and from the unconscious mind.
By
contrast, trance moves the conscious mind out of the way so
that the unconscious mind can then speak. Through the process,
once the conscious mind realizes that the unconscious mind
only attempts to do its best, the conscious mind will communicate
with it. Since the Holy Spirit does His best work at the unconscious
level (within the "hidden parts"), trance offers
a most helpful process to the Christian minister. Indeed,
I continue to become more and more aware that hypnotic language
patterns in the hands of the Christian therapist functions
as the language of the Spirit.
Trance,
the Bible and the Church
Both
the Bible and the Church actually refers to and makes much
use of trance. Remember how the apostle Peter entered Joppa
and on the house-top where he had gone for a time of prayer,
Peter fell into a trance.
"...he
became hungry, and was desiring to eat; but while they were
making preparations, he fell into a trance" (Acts 10:9-10).
The
word trance here derives from ekstasis. As you look at that
word you can recognize our English word ecstasy--"stasis"
(to stand) and "ec" (ex, out), hence to "stand
out of yourself." The Greek lexicon defines this word
as "a state of being brought about by God, in which consciousness
is wholly or partially suspended."
Actually
this lexicon definition of trance sounds as if it came right
out of a NLP manual. The critical addition in this definition
differs only in that God brought about Peter's trance. (Imagine
that, God a hypnotist! And given the vision he saw--what a
hypnotist!) As Christian counselors, we know and want all
of our work to operate in a Christ centered way--in a way
filled with and by the Holy Spirit. Accordingly, Christian
counselors will bathe his or her work in prayer. We do that
so that the Holy Spirit will empower our work and enlighten
our minds.
Consider
the Hebrew verbs for meditation: hagah and siach. Both of
these words translate "to muse, speak or talk."
Thus the concept of meditation comes from the definition "to
muse." Accordingly the Psalmist said,
"I
will meditate (hagah) on all Thy work,
and muse (siach) on Thy deeds" (Psalm 77:12)
In
meditating, or musing, on God's works, the Psalmist announces
that he will reflect, ponder or consider at length the work
of God. He will go "inside" his mind and there see,
hear, smell, taste, and feel the various wondrous works of
God--separating Abraham, calling Moses, freeing the Israelites,
etc. Trance. When the Psalmist did this or when we do this
today-- trance occurs.
Prayer
too functions as trance. Why or how? Because true prayer involves
intense concentration on God. In prayer, we focus our attention
on God and do so to such an extent that all other external
stimuli move aside.
Probably,
nowhere else in the Bible do we find the use of trance more
evident than in the parables of Jesus. A parable, after all,
operates as a metaphor and so takes on the characteristics
of a metaphor. Robert Dilts defines a metaphor as "a
figure of speech in which something is spoken of as if it
were another." The word "metaphor" means "to
carry over." In a metaphor the message within the metaphor
"carries over" into the other person's needs. The
listener takes the framework or structure of the metaphor
and interprets them in the framework of his or her own experience.
This
describes the subtle and covert power of metaphors. Because
the message lies in the frame of an unrelated story, the message
typically will bypass the client's conscious mind and go right
into the unconscious mind. We therefore use therapeutic metaphor
and design to have a similar structure to the client's experience.
Because of the similarity, their unconscious mind will interpret
the metaphor in relation to their own needs. The client will
take what he hears and represent it in terms of his or her
own experience.
When
we hear Jesus' parables, our conscious mind becomes occupied
by the simple story of the parable. We think and wonder about
the details of the story. But meantime our unconscious mind
interprets the story behind the story, or the intended message
for ourselves. By occupying our conscious mind with the unrelated
story, our Lord puts us in trance in order to get to our unconscious
mind with the message of the parable.
Do
you think Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan really concerned
two busy religious leaders who obey the Law by remaining clean?
Or, do you think the parable speaks about his condemnation
of a religious system that caused religious leaders to put
legalism above helping someone in need? And, did our Lord
kick them hard when he chose a hated and despised Samaritan
as the one who gave a helping hand to the fallen stranger?
At
the beginning of His ministry, Jesus chose to present his
teaching in a straight-forward way, as he did in the Sermon
on the Mount. But with the resisting Pharisees, his teaching
got Him into trouble and threatened Him with death before
His time. So, he chose the parable as a method by which he
could get to the unconscious minds of the religious community
in a non-threatening way (Matthew 13). And via the parable,
Jesus showed his expertness at placing people in trance. A
metaphor comes to the mind in a far less threatening way than
does direct advice. Why? Because the information has a veiled
form in the metaphor.
If
your age places you in the middle to older generation, you
probably appreciate meditative organ music prior to worship.
What does such do for you? The music relaxes you. It focuses
your attention on worship. It puts you into a state of trance.
If, however, you do not like the music, you will come out
of trance and talk to the person on the pew with you, do you
not?
Then
in the sermon, if the preacher makes a statement that focuses
your attention on a hurt, a need, or even an interest. Then
while the preacher continues preaching, you go somewhere else.
Do you not? He leaves you behind while your attention goes
to something else. Inwardly you focus on your need or interest--your
brain swishes to you another time and place. Trance! Actually,
most pastors have already become masters at trance work, except
they don't know it(!) nor would many admit it.
Today
many people flock to the Pentecostal churches. Why? Their
worship services powerfully and marvelously induce people
into trances. Rhythmic motion produces trance in people. The
raising of hands and the swaying also induces trance. The
Africans have enjoyed this for centuries. The background of
rock music induces trance, does it not with its beat? People
not only listen to the words of the song, they feel the music's
rhythm. Trance induction happens as they move from their auditory
to their kinesthetic representation system. It seems to me
that people love these worship trances because when they enter
such trances, they focus more clearly and powerfully on God.
Conclusion
In
your work as a Christian counselor/therapist, you will deal
with unconscious behaviors. In bringing healing to these behaviors,
you must establish communication with the part producing the
unwanted behavior. And, at times, you must discover a part
or parts that will produce alternative behaviors. These parts
lie in our "mind" outside of consciousness, in our
unconscious mind. Establishing communication with these unconscious
parts will require trance on the part of your client. Your
challenge as a therapist will therefore involve getting the
person's conscious mind out of the way so you can lead them
to fix the unconscious mind. Indeed, most of your clients
experience emotional illness precisely because their conscious
mind has gotten out of rapport with their unconscious mind.
Trance places one's conscious mind in rapport with one's unconscious
mind. And that offers yet another reason why we enjoy trance
so much.
Taken
from www.neurosemantics.com
(c)1997
Bobby G. Bodenhamer, D.Min. Edited by L. Michael Hall,
Ph.D. All rights reserved.
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