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Dr. Fiset Responds to Toronto Star Article on Hypnosis

I want to respond today to an article signed by Tracey Tyler you published on your january 6th 2006 edition. In this article called ãSkip the psychobabble about miceä, miss Tyler ãreviewedä a self-hypnosis program to help with her fear of mouse.

Please allow me to introduce myself: My name is Dr Nathalie Fiset. I am a Canadian family doctor and a certified hypnotherapist (www.aperfectharmony.com)

I have contacted Miss Tyler after reading her article where she turns in a parody fears and phobias people have in saying: ”Is this how you want to deal with your mouse problem? No. You want to spend the time and a fraction of the money at the hardware store, investing in traps.” I am certain that a person suffering from a phobia limiting her life was not helped by this kind of conclusion.

In her article, she mentioned not understanding what time-line therapy and anchoring were. Unfortunately, she did not bother to research what they were. She also mentioned that the program came with a 94 pages book. I am wondering if the answers to her questions were in this book?

Her review starts by saying that she put the CD in her dashboard. It is standard practice that all self-hypnosis CD start by saying that you should never listen to it in a moving vehicle. In the eventuality of Miss Tyler being more “visual”, it is also written ON the recording! This alone tells me she did not pay much attention to the message carried on the recording.

When I contacted miss Tyler offering her to explain what time-line therapy and anchoring are all about, I was very surprised by her answer:” I was only reviewing CDs. I am not interested in hypnosis nor NLP!”

She at least got one thing right that it’s all about the power of the brain, that it can be conditioned. Unfortunately, by putting down a program without giving it the proper interest it deserved, she was bound for failure. Even her Minnie Mouse conclusion shows that she did not take this program seriously. ”And as you wait for the traps to spring, you sit back and picture a slightly-larger version of those creatures at a theme park, wearing a polka dot dress, and you tell yourself mice aren't all bad..”

Truth is that many scientific studies have proven that hypnosis has helped relieve phobias and negative habits (stop smoking, lose weight, sleep better, etc). Hypnosis has been used to achieve a deep level of natural anesthesia in major surgeries where it was used as the sole anesthesia. I personally, enjoyed very much going to the dentist and having five fillings changed without any Novocain, just using my hypnosis program!

I have gotten interested in hypnosis to help my many patients give birth naturally, in a very comfortable way. My program www.hypno-beginning.com has helped many patients give birth to their babies with no drugs and a smile on their face.

In conclusion, when reviewing a book or audio recording, a person has to be aware of any bias she might be presenting. For example, if you asked me to review a book about snakes, I would be professional enough to tell you that you should seek another person to do the job. Hence, no matter how well documented the book or how good-looking the pictures would be, a snake is not an appealing creature to me. At least, I would be honest enough to warn you that I lack the objectivity to be doing the review. One would expect the same amount of professionalism from a journalist.


Save your money, skip the psychobabble
Company sells "cure' for mouse phobia $150 CDs are confusing, not calming
Jan. 6, 2006. 01:00 AM
TRACEY TYLER STAFF REPORTER

When it comes to mice, I don't have a phobia, just a garden-variety aversion - the kind that would cause any reasonable person to jump on the couch at the sight of a tiny brown creature skittering across the floor.

I suspect it's biological, programmed into our DNA. We're meant to be repelled by things that destroy our food and spread disease.

So it was with some skepticism that I agreed to review a three-CD set from the CTRN Phobia Clinic in New York, entitled "Vanquish Fear and Anxiety in Just 24 Hours. Guaranteed." CTRN stands for "Change that Right Now."

And according to clinic founder Seymour Segnit, our host for this audio journey, my doubt may be my biggest problem.

Segnit's Website tells me the disc I'm slipping into my dashboard is a "small yet incredibly powerful product," one that will enable me to lift ALL negative emotions from my past. Best of all, I will feel younger and happier by the end.

But it will only work if I am TOTALLY COMMITTED, he says.

Segnit isn't a doctor or a psychologist, but he does have a friendly voice, which may account in part for his past success as a radio host in Europe (following a career in advertising and an engineering degree from Oxford University.) He's now a "Certified Trainer and Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Time Line Therapy," a technique which has me confused.

Time Line Therapy seems to involve going back in time and concentrating on how you felt before your particular problem developed. But after listening to the program twice, I'm still not sure. Another weapon in Segnit's fear-conquering arsenal is a technique called "anchoring." Again, I don't fully understand it, but it seems to require squeezing your fists a lot.

While the terminology and techniques may be fairly recent, I think it's fair to say that Segnit's basic message is as old as Pavlov's dogs. The brain can be conditioned. Mind over matter. You can do anything you want, if you focus.

This may be helpful in overcoming some of the classic fears, like fear of getting on an airplane or fear of public speaking. Fear of clowns, maybe. But for $147 U.S. (that's after a $50 rebate; it also comes with a 94-page workbook) is this how you want to deal with your mouse problem? No. You want to spend the time and a fraction of the money at the hardware store, investing in traps.

And as you wait for the traps to spring, you sit back and picture a slightly-larger version of those creatures at a theme park, wearing a polka dot dress, and you tell yourself mice aren't all bad.

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