Tinnitus, Deafness and Ear Problems Support Group
This group is for those coping with Tinnitus (ringing ears or ear noise), hearing loss, and all ear issues. Join to find support and get advice from others.
Last night my support group had a hypnotherapist as a guest speaker. I thought Id pass on some of the information I picked up.
When choosing a hypnotherapist make sure they are certified by the National Board for Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists. They are the authority on who is a trained hypnotherapist.
Conduct a background investigation on the therapist before you see them. Just because theyre certified doesnt mean they're honest or very good. Youre putting your money and wellbeing in their hands and you need to know that you can trust them. Im not sure how to do a background investigation but Google can probably help. There is also the Better Business Bureau.
Interview the therapist. Remember that they are working for you. Dont be afraid to walk away and go somewhere else if you dont think they can help you.
Find a therapist that knows about tinnitus. Someone who doesnt have tinnitus or isnt in a very close relationship with someone who has it probably wont understand it. This is really difficult. No one in my group knew of anyone in my state who was qualified. Apparently there was one therapist who had tinnitus but she retired several years ago. Kevin Hogan says in his book that there is only a handful in the whole county who are qualified to treat tinnitus.
If your therapist doesnt have tinnitus, be prepared to educate them on what it is and what you want to accomplish. This discussion should happen in the first session and should be free. Try concentrating on issues like lowering stress, reducing your negative reaction to tinnitus, or working on distraction. For example when the tinnitus gets bad you will be able to divert your attention to something else and perhaps forget about the tinnitus. I dont think something as simple as wanting to reduce its volume will work but I could be wrong.
Sessions should cost between $80 and $120 and most people will have 6 to 8 session. The hypnotherapists will provide plenty homework to do between session which are critical to the success of the therapy.
Like I said Im just passing this information on. I dont know any more than this and Im not endorsing hypnotherapy in anyway. Ive never tried it but I think I would if I could find someone really qualified.
When choosing a hypnotherapist make sure they are certified by the National Board for Certified Clinical Hypnotherapists. They are the authority on who is a trained hypnotherapist.
Conduct a background investigation on the therapist before you see them. Just because theyre certified doesnt mean they're honest or very good. Youre putting your money and wellbeing in their hands and you need to know that you can trust them. Im not sure how to do a background investigation but Google can probably help. There is also the Better Business Bureau.
Interview the therapist. Remember that they are working for you. Dont be afraid to walk away and go somewhere else if you dont think they can help you.
Find a therapist that knows about tinnitus. Someone who doesnt have tinnitus or isnt in a very close relationship with someone who has it probably wont understand it. This is really difficult. No one in my group knew of anyone in my state who was qualified. Apparently there was one therapist who had tinnitus but she retired several years ago. Kevin Hogan says in his book that there is only a handful in the whole county who are qualified to treat tinnitus.
If your therapist doesnt have tinnitus, be prepared to educate them on what it is and what you want to accomplish. This discussion should happen in the first session and should be free. Try concentrating on issues like lowering stress, reducing your negative reaction to tinnitus, or working on distraction. For example when the tinnitus gets bad you will be able to divert your attention to something else and perhaps forget about the tinnitus. I dont think something as simple as wanting to reduce its volume will work but I could be wrong.
Sessions should cost between $80 and $120 and most people will have 6 to 8 session. The hypnotherapists will provide plenty homework to do between session which are critical to the success of the therapy.
Like I said Im just passing this information on. I dont know any more than this and Im not endorsing hypnotherapy in anyway. Ive never tried it but I think I would if I could find someone really qualified.
I tried a session on you-tube that had me trying to visualize my spirit guide that could be a bear, a lion, or an octopus (kidding about the octopus). And after realizing your guide asking them for counsel. I found out that my guide was a groundhog that my German Shepard killed two years ago, so I'm on my own.
There was some real help in this area that I found. There was one video that had you concentrate on an area of your body (shoulders, knees, etc...) and imagine it being soft and warm. It kind of worked. I later took it to concentrating on my left ear and imagined it being quiet. You have to be persistent and do this for a half hour plus...minds wander and get bored but come back to what you're concentrating on over and over again and you eventually focus better. I can't say that it did not help. There is documentation that people have moved objects with their minds.
Like Bob said, no endorsement of hypnosis here either, "but the mind is a terrible thing to waste"...
I found a guy in Little Rock who has had a lot of success with clients with chronic pain. I think T has a lot of similarities to chronic pain. The guy is a former nurse, but now a Certified hypnotherapist. He used self-hypnosis to stop hearing his own T (like Kevin Hogan did) and to help some other health issues he had. He now does all his work by phone which I thought was cool for a number of reasons. (For one, before looking for him, I had JUST read an article on how therapy and hypnotherapy can actually be more successful via phone because people are more relaxed at home.)
He did offer to give me a free session and see if it lowered my T, but on my T drugs and no-sugar diet, I don't have T every day, so it's kind of hard to schedule an appt--I can never be sure when I'll have T. Kevin Hogan said it takes about 20-30 hours with the therapist to really help T for the long term. A guy in Nashville (5 hrs from me) is one Hogan recommends--you have to stay there for about 3 days to get all the sessions in. Hogan says with hypnotherapy you may have complete cessation, lower T, or be less bothered by your T.
I should mention that I did contact a hypnotherapist a couple of months ago. I asked about his experience with tinnitus and he said he had treated tinnitus patients. When I asked how he would treat tinnitus he seemed stumped and started asking me about it. I decided he would just be a waste of my time and money and never called back.
Sue
I take three "T lowering" drugs--Nortryptaline, gabapentin, and klonopin. Two of them are glutamate inhibitors. If I take them regularly and stick to my no-sugar-no processed food diet (and don't nap!), I have many days with very low or no T. I have maybe two bad days a week, though I have gone as long as a week with no bad days.
Sue, hypnos say if you are a skeptic but willing to give it a try, that willingness shows you have enough hope or "belief" that it will still work on you. What's that expression from X-Files? "Do you believe?" : )
Bob, I agree. What concerns me about hypnotherapy from a non-Hogan person is that even if it lowers the T for a time, it won't last, much like jmccarty was saying happened with him (on another thread).
Thanks,
Sue