Articles
International Association of Counselors and Therapists
“I wasn't able to take medication after my partial knee replacement. The
pain was excruciating and there was nothing anyone could do to ease the
pain, except give me Tylenol. Toni's Hypnotherapy session took away
major amounts of pain so that I was able to get some rest and sleep. The
physical therapist was so amazed at Cedars Sinai Hospital that they
released me a day early. The Hypnotherapy-relaxation and wellness tape
Toni made for me to take home was instrumental in helping me rest while
I was bed-ridden.”
Chris Felicijan (Special Education Teacher)
This was the first testimonial given to me as a hypnotherapist. I
believe that hypnotherapists are going to change the way that modern
medicine treats its patients (hopefully!). I put this quote in this
article, because I am proud to be affiliated with the fine work
hypnotherapists are doing all over the world. I feel fortunate to have
studied with some amazing speakers and teachers I have met while
lecturing and presenting through conferences, like Jillian’s IACT.
To say that I was nervous working with Miss Felicijan would be an
understatement. She was at one of the most famous hospitals in the
United States, Cedars-Sinai. Her doctors and nurses were wary of what
was going on in the hospital room when they heard my voice and the taped
music (Dick Sutphen’s, Mind Converter -Zapper) that I was using to
hypnotize Miss Felicijan. I started to get frustrated because the nurses
and interns kept interrupting us by opening the door with the pretense
of having to take her temperature and check her vitals, when we knew
they were just plain curious. Finally they sent a physical therapist to
stick his head in the room to make sure that there was no voodoo or
black magic going on in the room.
Chris was in a lot of pain and I wanted to hypnotize her before she went
in for her surgery, because she’s highly allergic to the anesthesia.
Chris is a very physical person, like Xena, warrior princess. I knew she
would be a challenge, because she never seemed to stay still and relax.
After a surgery like the one Chris had on her knee, doctors say it is
important to keep off one’s feet, until the patient has shown that they
are able to walk with or without the use of a cane. I knew it would be a
challenge to keep Chris still after the operation, while she healed, and
to help her control the pain without any pain pills. Even though Chris
had never specifically stated it, I had the feeling she didn’t believe
in hypnosis -- probably because she had never experienced it.
I was also apprehensive, because I was accustomed to speaking to large
audiences in my workshops and when performing Mime and Stand-Up Comedy,
making them laugh and keeping things light and fun. Even with workshops
that I present at conferences, I try to instill deep messages through
laughter, games and lightness. This was a one-on-one in a very cold and
sterile hospital room.
I don’t know about you, but I try to find any way possible not to go to
hospitals -- they scare me! So, here I am, with my tape, in the
hospital, and I have finally talked the nurses and everyone else into
leaving us alone for at least 35 minutes. I had just started to put
Chris under again when her cell phone rang. It was her mother. “Excuse
me,” she says, “I really have to take this call.” I had already started
the induction on Chris, so she was already in trance. She claims it was
the best conversation she’d had with her mother in a long time! The
nurses are gone, I convince her to turn her phone off, and I take Chris
to a safe place in her mind where I can use deepening techniques for
pain relief that I’ve learned from wonderful mentors -- Al Krazner,
Katherine Zimmerman, Richard Neves, Jamie Feldman, Shelly Stockwell-Nicolas,
Dick Sutphen, Betty Scott, Nancie Barwick, Robert Otto, Patti Conklin
and Tad James. I felt fortunate that I had the opportunities to study so
many different modalities.
Chris turned out to be an excellent subject. I was able to make a tape
with the music in the background, right there in her room. Although I
couldn’t do a full session like I would normally do in my office, I was
able to help her help herself ease phenomenal pain and assist her
getting to sleep at night with a secondary tape that I made. It proved
to me that, as a speaker, I always have to remember to walk my talk,
because I am always telling my participants that if they breathe through
their fear, the other side can be genius.
I learned a great deal from this experience about how hypnotherapy can
go so much further than just popping a pain pill. Chris was up and about
a day and a half after her surgery. I came to visit her one more time
and she was walking. Her physical therapist even had her climb a few
stairs. They released her early from the hospital and the physical
therapist told Chris that he was amazed at her progress. According to
Chris the doctor and physical therapist said other patients who had gone
through the same operation were still bed-ridden taking pain pills were.
Yet, here was Chris, walking. The physical therapist asked her what she
had done differently, and she said, “Hypnosis.” So, there you have it,
It Does Really Work! So to all you pioneers out there: I am so glad to
be a part of this.
I really believe that Chris was someone I was Meant To Meet. Working
with her gave me the encouragement and inspiration to further research
many more modalities of Hypnotherapy and encouraged me to go through my
own personal fear of doing one-on one sessions.
 Toni
Attell is certified as a CH.t Hypnotherapist who holds certifications in
Timeline, Parts Therapy, Past-Life Regression, Mask Therapy, Huna, and
Reiki. She tours as a speaker on Body Language and DNA recurring
patterns and holds Intuitive workshops throughout Japan, China, and
England. She has created a new program “ Hypnosis and Intuition for
Actors in Acting” which she teaches at UCLA Extension. She is also a
professor at USC’s School of Cinema and Television, where she has
created a class called “The Acting Experience for Writers.” Toni is a
working actress and comedienne and writes a column called “The Biz- Be
the Star of Your Life”.
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