Birth Support - Hypnotherapy
Hypnotherapy is accepted by the American Medical Association as an officially recognized therapeutic model for healing because it is proven effective in helping ease a wide variety of emotional, psychological and physical problems. Hypnosis is guided imagery and has a very profoundly relaxing effect on the body, mind and spirit. It has also proven effective in the cessation of many habits by reducing physical symptoms and cravings. We offer a variety of options to meet your birth or non-birth related hypnotherapy needs.
If you prefer CD’s to MP3’s they will be mailed for an additional shipping charge of $3.00.
The following hypnotherapy sessions, are available. If you have a need for a session not listed, please call me at 520-481-4784 or send an email to laura@awakenedtouch.com.
Pain Management
The April 29, 2000, issue of the journal The Lancet reported that hypnosis reduced pain, anxiety, and blood pressure complications in patients undergoing invasive medical procedures. Patients in the hypnosis group also required less than half as much painkilling medication as those in the standard group.
"Most patients benefit from the use of hypnotic suggestion for pain relief," says Guy Montgomery, PhD, a behavioral scientist at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. (Montgomery published a meta-analysis on the subject in the April 2, 2000 issue of the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis.)
"If hypnosis was a drug, everyone would be using it," says David Spiegel, MD, a psychiatrist at Stanford University. "Changing your mental set can change what's going on in your body."
"Hypnosis is simply a refined form of applied imagination," says Donald F. Lynch Jr., MD, a urological oncologist at the Eastern Virginia School of Medicine, who has used the technique to help patients alleviate the pain, anxiety, and depression associated with cancer.
Alexander A. Levitan, MD, MPH, a medical oncologist in Minneapolis, has participated in numerous surgeries, including hysterectomies, in which hypnosis was used as the sole agent for pain control.
In a report from the responses of 1227 women who used hypnosis in childbirth 72% used no pain medication as opposed to only 14% using other methods or no methods at all.
| Natural Numbing Anesthesia for Birth MP3 - $29 | |
| Pain Management non-birth related personalized MP3 - $39 | |
| Pain Management non-birth related Skype/phone hypnosis session - $59 | |
| Pain Reduction non-birth related Skype/phone session + MP3 - $79 | |
Relieving Phobias, Fears or Anxiety
Scientific studies indicate that certain hormonal changes take place in the presence of fear, stress, and anxiety. In life, fear is the very obstacle to our self-confidence and, ultimately, to our success. Fear or anxiety can turn into phobias. In labor, fear creates tension and tension creates pain. The adrenaline released while in fear or stress has been referred to as the antithesis of oxytocin, the naturally produced hormone that stimulates uterine contractions. Another category of hormones called catecholamines (which include epinephrine, norepinephrine, and dopamine) is indicated by other studies as one of the causative factors in fetal distress and problematic labor. In postpartum, fear creates confusion, anxiety, the feeling of helplessness and of being lost and alone and can contribute to postpartum depression.
| Trust Birth MP3 - $29 | |
| Relieving Anxiety or Panic MP3 - $29 | |
| Fears/Phobia/Anxiety birth or non-birth related personalized MP3 - $39 | |
| Fears/Phobia/Anxiety birth or non-birth related Skype/phone hypnosis session $59 | |
| Fears/Phobia/Anxiety birth or non-birth related Skype/phone session + MP3 $79 | |
Building Self Confidence
Confidence is an attitude that allows people to have positive, yet realistic views of themselves and their situations. Self-confident people trust their own abilities, have a general sense of control over their lives, and believe that, within reason, they will be able to do what they want to do. Confidence leads to self trust, self empowerment, and self advocacy for the realization of goals and dreams. In the birthing world, this can make the difference between a medicalized labor and birth and a natural one.
| Self - Confident Birth Mother MP3 - $29 | |
| Self - Confidence MP3 - $29 | |
| Self - Confidence birth or non-birth related personalized MP3 - $39 | |
| Self - Confidence birth or non-birth related Skype/phone hypnosis session - $59 | |
| Self - Confidence birth or non-birth related Skype/phone session + MP3 - $79 | |
Increasing Motivation
In every area of life, you have free will and choice. Often we set “our (conscious will) mind” to something only to lose our motivation within a few days or weeks. Making informed choices, defines the prenatal experience and the outcome your labor and birth. In our broken American maternity care system, the question is not whether or not you have a choice, but are you willing to make a choice, over and over again. It’s a shame that advocating for a natural birth is even something that we have to fight for. The fact is that we do and keeping motivation strong is critical towards the end of your pregnancy when the vast majority of U.S. women are being pressured to undergo a forced induction before their baby or their body is ready.
| Motivational Empowered Birth MP3 - $29 | |
| Motivational personalized birth or non-birth related MP3 - $39 | |
| Motivational birth or non-birth related Skype/phone session - $59 | |
| Motivational birth or non-birth related Skype/phone session + MP3 - $79 | |
Positive Thinking
Replacing negative images, thoughts, conversations and beliefs with positive ones is critical to success. Believing down into your gut (and your subconscious) that birth is normal, natural and therefore can be achieved without pain or peril is key to a more successful natural birth experience. The representation of birth that most American women are given from the time we were small girls is that birth is a painful event. Women who advocate for normal, natural birth are called “crazy” and are often undermined by medical staff, friends, family, television shows, the media and even strangers. The Positive Thinking Session can give you the reinforcement to keep you on track with your goals.
| Positive Thinking for The Birthing Mother MP3 - $29 | |
| Positive Thinking MP3 - $29 | |
| Positive Thinking birth or non-birth related personalized MP3 - $39 | |
| Positive Thinking birth or non-birth related Skype/phone session - $59 | |
| Positive Thinking birth or non-birth related Skype/phone session + MP3 - $79 | |
Reducing and Managing Stress
Over time, stress can weaken your immune system, create high blood pressure, is linked to coronary artery disease and heart attack. Constant tension from stress can lead to neck, shoulder, and low back pain. Stress may make rheumatoid arthritis worse. It is linked to low fertility, erection problems and problems during pregnancy. According to Dr. Bruce Lipton PhD, when a pregnant woman is subjected to repetitive stress, the fetus will also be subject to repetitive stress and this will have an impact on the development of his/her physiology. The negative impact from prolonged stress affects mothers and the unborn child physically, emotionally and spiritually.
You and your loved ones might notice signs of stress in the way you think, act, and feel. You may feel cranky and unable to deal with even small problems, feel frustrated, lose your temper more often, and yell at others for no reason, feel jumpy or tired all the time, find it hard to focus on tasks, make you worry too much about small things, cause you to imagine that bad things are happening or about to happen.
| Relaxation for the Birthing Mother MP3 - $29 | |
| Stress Management MP3 - $29 | |
| Stress Management birth or non-birth related personalized MP3 - $39 | |
| Stress Management birth or non-birth related Skype/telephone session - $59 | |
| Stress Management birth or non-birth related Skype/phone session + MP3 - $79 | |
Breech Turning
For women planning to have normal, natural birth, the news that their baby is breech can be pretty scary. It is common for mothers with breech babies to hear that the "only" thing they can do is to have a cesarean. The truth is that there are several options for breech babies. A researcher at the University of Vermont, Burlington, used hypnosis with one hundred pregnant women whose babies were in the breech position between the thirty-seventh and fortieth week of gestation. The study, which appeared in the Archives of Family Medicine, reported that 81% of the babies in the hypnosis group moved to the vertex position, compared with 48 % of the control group. Hypnosis was most effective for the women motivated to use the technique. The optimal time to turn a breech baby is between the 36th and 39th week when the baby potentially has enough room to turn and once turned will stay in the vertex position.
| Breech Turning MP3 - $29 | |
| Breech Turning personalized MP3 - $39 | |
| Breech Turning Skype/phone hypnosis session - $59 | |
| Breech Turning Skype/phone session + MP3 - $79 | |
Increased Breast Milk Production
A controlled study of fifty-five women examined the effects of imagery and relaxation on breast milk production in mothers of infants in a neonatal intensive care unit. They received a twenty-minute audiotape of progressive relaxation followed by guided imagery of pleasant surroundings, milk flowing in the breasts, and the baby's warm skin against theirs. They produced more than twice as much milk compared to those receiving only routine care.
| Let it Flow Breast Milk MP3 - $29 | |
| Breast Milk personalized MP3 - $39 | |
| Breast Milk Skype/phone hypnosis session - $59 | |
| Breast Milk Skype/phone session + MP3 - $79 | |
Birth Support Package
A great investment or long-lasting gift for less than the price of one 90 minute massage!
Includes:
Relaxation for the Birthing Mother MP3
Positive Thinking for the Birthing Mother MP3
Trust Birth MP3
Natural Numbing Anesthesia for Birth MP3
Let it Flow Breast Milk MP3
| Birth Support Package 5 MP3’s -$129 |
Weight Management Program
In an analysis of five weight loss studies reported in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology in 1996 showed that the "weight loss reported in the five studies indicates that hypnosis can more than double the effects" of traditional weight loss approaches. This analysis was completed by the University of Connecticut and published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology in 1996.
This weight management hypnosis treatment is a great way to manage a healthy weight before or after pregnancy and consists of one personalized telephone or Skype session, an additional 21 consecutive days of recorded sessions and supportive material to help you replace your specific unhealthy eating habits with healthy ones. $179
| Weight Management Program |
Tobacco-Free Program
A recent study undertaken at the North Shore Medical Center, Salem, MA demonstrates that “Hospitalized patients who smoke may be more likely to quit smoking through the use of hypnotherapy than patients using other smoking cessation methods. Smoking patients who participated in one hypnotherapy session were more likely to be nonsmokers at 6 months compared with patients using nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) alone or patients who quit "cold turkey.” The effects of nicotine are seen in every trimester of pregnancy, from increased spontaneous abortions in the first trimester, to increased premature delivery rates and decreased birth weights in the final trimester.
If you are planning to get pregnant or simply want to be smoke free, hypnosis can help. This smoking cessation program consists of one personalized telephone or Skype session, an additional 21 consecutive days of recorded sessions and supportive material to help you replace your specific unhealthy tobacco consumption habits with healthy ones. $179
| Tobacco-Free Program |
Common Hypnotherapy Myths and Fears
Even though hypnotherapy is a proven therapeutic treatment recognized by the AMA, for some, hypnosis carries some unjustified stigmas. Here are 5 common misconceptions that often scare people away from this truly incredible healing art.
1. "It's a form of mind control" – This just isn't the case. No one can be hypnotized against their will. You are the one in control of your own mind and you can choose to come out of trance of your own free will at any point.
2. "I will end up doing things I don't want to do" – This is a common fear based on witnessing popular stage act hypnosis of people doing funny, and often times embarrassing, things. The stage-hypnosis participants are people who normally like being the “life of the party” and/or “the center of attention”. They are participating in the act because they want to. Again, you are in control at all times.
3. "Can I be stuck in hypnosis forever?" - No, even if the therapist were to walk out of the room, you would soon realize he/she was no longer talking and you would open your eyes and be awake or perhaps, due to the relaxed nature of the therapy, you might even fall asleep but would soon wake up without assistance.
4. "I may say something that I don’t want the therapist or anyone else to know." – The therapist's goal is to guide your mind on the path you wish to take. Many times patients may seek a therapist to retrieve repressed or forgotten memories. During hypnotherapy the mind may retrieve these memories; however, it is up to you as the patient whether or not you vocalize these thoughts to the therapist. In addition, client confidentiality is always maintained.
5. "It would never work on me." – At the very core of hypnosis, is relaxation. Though there is some amount of stress in everyone's lives, we are all capable of relaxing at some point and relaxation is all that is needed to begin the guided imagery.