Dr. Flavio Speaks

Sirviendo La Comunidad, con Marianela Amador - La Paz

Una bella exposicion, junto con Marisela Aranegui

Huge study finds that lifestyle modification is more effective than medication in avoiding diabetes.

Huge study finds that lifestyle modification is more effective than medication in avoiding diabetes.

Most people are surprized by this notion of duality. How do you feel about this?

Most people are surprized by this notion of duality. How do you feel about this?

La Mente y la Salud – una cuestión de importancia Nacional La hipnoterapia está cobrando una importancia magnifica en la sociedad presente porque los problemas de salud con los cuales nos enfrentamos no son realmente problemas físicos, sino que son consecuencias de cómo muchas veces la persona se ve a si misma. Un ejemplo interesante de esto se publicó en el 2002. En este estudio, 3234 personas con pre-diabetes fueron divididas en tres grupos: uno, el placebo, no hicieron muchos cambios, el otro grupo tomó un remedio para bajar la azúcar en la sangre, y el otro grupo cambió su estilo de vida, o sea mejoró la nutrición y hizo un poco de ejercicio. Comparando con el placebo, o sea no hacer nada, en 2.8 años del estudio, los que tomaron el remedio bajaran el riesgo de la diabetes en 31%. Pero, durante el mismo tiempo, los que cambiaron sus estilos de vida bajaron el riesgo de la diabetes en el 58%. O sea, resulta casi dos veces más efectivo cambiar el estilo de vida que tomar remedios para un pre-diabético evitar la enfermedad! Esto es algo muy importante cuando consideramos que las autoridades dicen que la mitad de las personas mayores de 65 años padecen de pre-diabetes, y 10 millones de ellos padecen de diabetes, con consecuencias desastrosas. Basado en resultados de estudios como este quizás usted se pregunte: porque los médicos no le dicen a las personas que ajusten sus pesos en lugar de recetar más remedios? La verdad es que hacen: le dicen a las personas que bajen de peso, sin embargo el sobrepeso nacional sigue aumentando junto con la diabetes y sus complicaciones. El problema no viene por falta de información, y por lo tanto la solución no puede ser más información solamente. Se da cuenta usted de lo importante que es esto? Saber algo no es suficiente para que este algo se incorpore en sus vida diaria. Los hipnoterapeutas conocen esto hacen unos 3000 años, y por esta razón dicen que nuestras vidas son reflejos del auto imagen albergada en la mente subconsciente, y no solamente de lo que sabemos. La única solución a la crisis nacional de salud es un cambio en el auto imagen. En este cambio se especializan los hipnoterapeutas. Como siempre, Flavio Souza-Campos PS: Aquí pueden leer un resumen del estudio original mencionado arriba: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11832527    

La Mente y la Salud – una cuestión de importancia Nacional La hipnoterapia está cobrando una importancia magnifica en la sociedad presente porque los problemas de salud con los cuales nos enfrentamos no son realmente problemas físicos, sino que son consecuencias de cómo muchas veces la persona se ve a si misma. Un ejemplo interesante de esto se publicó en el 2002. En este estudio, 3234 personas con pre-diabetes fueron divididas en tres grupos: uno, el placebo, no hicieron muchos cambios, el otro grupo tomó un remedio para bajar la azúcar en la sangre, y el otro grupo cambió su estilo de vida, o sea mejoró la nutrición y hizo un poco de ejercicio. Comparando con el placebo, o sea no hacer nada, en 2.8 años del estudio, los que tomaron el remedio bajaran el riesgo de la diabetes en 31%. Pero, durante el mismo tiempo, los que cambiaron sus estilos de vida bajaron el riesgo de la diabetes en el 58%. O sea, resulta casi dos veces más efectivo cambiar el estilo de vida que tomar remedios para un pre-diabético evitar la enfermedad! Esto es algo muy importante cuando consideramos que las autoridades dicen que la mitad de las personas mayores de 65 años padecen de pre-diabetes, y 10 millones de ellos padecen de diabetes, con consecuencias desastrosas. Basado en resultados de estudios como este quizás usted se pregunte: porque los médicos no le dicen a las personas que ajusten sus pesos en lugar de recetar más remedios? La verdad es que hacen: le dicen a las personas que bajen de peso, sin embargo el sobrepeso nacional sigue aumentando junto con la diabetes y sus complicaciones. El problema no viene por falta de información, y por lo tanto la solución no puede ser más información solamente. Se da cuenta usted de lo importante que es esto? Saber algo no es suficiente para que este algo se incorpore en sus vida diaria. Los hipnoterapeutas conocen esto hacen unos 3000 años, y por esta razón dicen que nuestras vidas son reflejos del auto imagen albergada en la mente subconsciente, y no solamente de lo que sabemos. La única solución a la crisis nacional de salud es un cambio en el auto imagen. En este cambio se especializan los hipnoterapeutas. Como siempre, Flavio Souza-Campos PS: Aquí pueden leer un resumen del estudio original mencionado arriba: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11832527    

WHAT IS HYPNO-ANESTHESIA? FASCINATING! Introduction Perhaps one of the most impressive demonstrations of the power of the mind is that of anesthesia. Hypnotists have traditionally pierced the cheeks, pinched to the point of bleeding, and immersed the hands of hypnotized people into freezing water for extended periods of time. These “experiments” have been carried out in laboratories, under controlled conditions, and by stage hypnotists alike, all apparently without eliciting much reaction from their subjects. Clearly, the view of actual blood dripping from a hypnotized person who is not screaming with pain must be impressive to those watching hypnosis shows. Definition of hypno-anesthesia The term “hypno-anesthesia” refers to the induction of anesthesia using hypnosis. Hypnosis is a mental state of connection between the conscious and unconscious portions of the mind. Finally, “anesthesia” comes from the Greek and can be translated as “absence of sensation”. Medical anesthesia Medical anesthesia encompasses three features: analgesia, or the absence of pain, muscular relaxation, which prevent autonomic, reflexive, contractions, and amnesia, sedation or full unconsciousness. In medical general anesthesia, for instance, the patient is asleep and unaware, relaxed and devoid or reflexive contractions, and free of pain or other sensations. The very first public demonstration of medical anesthesia happened in 1846. A story I often share with students is how the dentist Dr. William Morton (1819 – 1868) is historically credited with the discovery of the first successful anesthetic, although that credit may have cost him his life because of the fierce battles that followed his application for a patent. It took a while before the technique of ether inhalation was perfected, and made available to general surgeons. The trick was to induce enough anesthesia to make surgery possible, without depressing respiration to the point of killing the patient. Before the mid 19th century some surgeons did operate using hypnotic anesthesia, most notably Dr. James Esdaile (1808 – 1859) who is reputed to have performed over 5000 surgeries using only hypnosis for anesthesia. Hypno-anesthesia for routine surgery Performing surgery under hypnotic anesthesia is possible, but much more complex than the use of modern chemical anesthesia. There are more skilled anesthesiologists at surgical centers in the United States today than hypnotists capable of inducing the kind of hypnosis needed for surgery. Furthermore, chemical anesthesia takes a few minutes to induce and the patient does not need to understand, cooperate, or believe in anything in order for it to work. Hypnotic anesthesia for use with routine surgery in the United States today is, therefore, practically not used. Common uses of Hypno-anesthesia Considering the ready availability of chemical anesthesia, not just for surgery, but also over the counter analgesics, why do modern hypnotherapists talk so much about hypno-anesthesia? Consider these situations:   Emergency pain, such as in accidents, or the pain experienced before medical care is available or possible   Chronic pain that either does not respond to medications, or pain that requires toxic levels of medications for amelioration Emotional or psychological pain Dental pain, either before the dentist is available, or during dental procedures Childbirth   All of the situations above can generate a great deal of suffering to afflicted individuals, yet all of them can be ameliorated with the use of hypnosis. What makes hypnosis in all of the above examples great is that the hypnotist does not even need to be present. It is possible to work with a person, and through something called post-hypnotic suggestions, help that person help himself for years. One inherent advantage of the use of hypnosis for the reduction of physical or emotional discomfort is that relaxation is naturally attained. Relaxation itself, often, is of great physical and emotional benefit to many people. Digestive discomfort sometimes can be entirely resolved when a person takes one minute prior to eating to relax following the elicitation of an appropriate post-hypnotic suggestion. Another example of the benefit of relaxation is for bruxism, or teeth grinding. Much money and pain can be avoided by relaxing the body appropriately under the guidance of post-hypnotic suggestions prior to sleep, thus avoiding the grinding. The most intractable and mysterious type of pain, that which we call emotional or psychological, can best be helped with the use of hypnosis. Consider for instance the loss of a loved one, the despair following financial ruin, or even the pain of not feeling understood within a relationship. Although psychotropic medications have advanced remarkably in the last 50 years, people still don’t feel quite right when using these medications to cover up these kinds of pain. The skillful use of hypnosis can help a person overcome pain of this nature while avoiding sedation or chemical masking. People often think of PTSD in terms of the severe dysfunction that soldiers returning from combat can experience. Many people, however, never return from combat because they live in a war zone, they live in combat, in marriages and offices, in streets and roads, all over the world. Although these people may not be actually diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, they all share one thing in common: pain. When a hypnotist helps a person reframe their experiences, thus reducing pain in their lives, there is an anesthetic effect. Healing, no matter what the dysfunction is, always reduces pain; it is always anesthetic. Even while using chemical anesthesia, some people experience severe distress during certain odontological procedures to the point of requiring complete sedation. Sedation may not be convenient, possible or desirable in certain cases, that is when hypno-anesthesia can help the patient feel confortable and the dentist be more productive. The use of hypnosis for childbirth is particularly rewarding because mothers report feeling much more present during the birth experience when chemicals and sedatives are avoided, without feeling major levels of discomfort. The use of hypno-anesthesia for childbirth is convenient because chemical anesthesia can always be added if a mother requests it. Because there has been a social tendency towards natural childbirth and home births in the United States, hypnotists skilled in its use for childbirth are in very high demand. Conclusion When we use hypnosis to ameliorate any type of pain, to induce relaxation, and to induce altered states of consciousness it is appropriate to think of anesthesia, or hypno-anesthesia, because these are the features that define anesthesia, however it is induced.   As always, Flavio Souza-Campos

WHAT IS HYPNO-ANESTHESIA? FASCINATING! Introduction Perhaps one of the most impressive demonstrations of the power of the mind is that of anesthesia. Hypnotists have traditionally pierced the cheeks, pinched to the point of bleeding, and immersed the hands of hypnotized people into freezing water for extended periods of time. These “experiments” have been carried out in laboratories, under controlled conditions, and by stage hypnotists alike, all apparently without eliciting much reaction from their subjects. Clearly, the view of actual blood dripping from a hypnotized person who is not screaming with pain must be impressive to those watching hypnosis shows. Definition of hypno-anesthesia The term “hypno-anesthesia” refers to the induction of anesthesia using hypnosis. Hypnosis is a mental state of connection between the conscious and unconscious portions of the mind. Finally, “anesthesia” comes from the Greek and can be translated as “absence of sensation”. Medical anesthesia Medical anesthesia encompasses three features: analgesia, or the absence of pain, muscular relaxation, which prevent autonomic, reflexive, contractions, and amnesia, sedation or full unconsciousness. In medical general anesthesia, for instance, the patient is asleep and unaware, relaxed and devoid or reflexive contractions, and free of pain or other sensations. The very first public demonstration of medical anesthesia happened in 1846. A story I often share with students is how the dentist Dr. William Morton (1819 – 1868) is historically credited with the discovery of the first successful anesthetic, although that credit may have cost him his life because of the fierce battles that followed his application for a patent. It took a while before the technique of ether inhalation was perfected, and made available to general surgeons. The trick was to induce enough anesthesia to make surgery possible, without depressing respiration to the point of killing the patient. Before the mid 19th century some surgeons did operate using hypnotic anesthesia, most notably Dr. James Esdaile (1808 – 1859) who is reputed to have performed over 5000 surgeries using only hypnosis for anesthesia. Hypno-anesthesia for routine surgery Performing surgery under hypnotic anesthesia is possible, but much more complex than the use of modern chemical anesthesia. There are more skilled anesthesiologists at surgical centers in the United States today than hypnotists capable of inducing the kind of hypnosis needed for surgery. Furthermore, chemical anesthesia takes a few minutes to induce and the patient does not need to understand, cooperate, or believe in anything in order for it to work. Hypnotic anesthesia for use with routine surgery in the United States today is, therefore, practically not used. Common uses of Hypno-anesthesia Considering the ready availability of chemical anesthesia, not just for surgery, but also over the counter analgesics, why do modern hypnotherapists talk so much about hypno-anesthesia? Consider these situations:   Emergency pain, such as in accidents, or the pain experienced before medical care is available or possible   Chronic pain that either does not respond to medications, or pain that requires toxic levels of medications for amelioration Emotional or psychological pain Dental pain, either before the dentist is available, or during dental procedures Childbirth   All of the situations above can generate a great deal of suffering to afflicted individuals, yet all of them can be ameliorated with the use of hypnosis. What makes hypnosis in all of the above examples great is that the hypnotist does not even need to be present. It is possible to work with a person, and through something called post-hypnotic suggestions, help that person help himself for years. One inherent advantage of the use of hypnosis for

Hi, my name is Flavio; I am a de-hypnotist. The name of my occupation is not simply a new spin on an old idea; it more accurately represents what we actually do. It may be easier to understand this if we start at the beginning. If nothing had ever happened to you, you would be totally innocent like a happy baby, but you would lack the wisdom of the serious adult you are. Ideally then, all life experiences should make us wiser, but in practice that is not what happens. It seems that pain hurts more than pleasure pleases, about five times as much in fact, according to scientists. Consequently, we seem to be willing to invest much more energy into avoiding pain than in obtaining any sort of benefit. The emotional impact of a negative life lesson can be so devastating and painful that we forget, or rather, archive those memories, emotions and lessons learned in a part of the mind where they serve the intended limiting purpose, while freeing everyday thoughts for more immediate concerns. This arrangement allows us to go on with our lives, not having to think about each past pain all the time, while at the same time protecting ourselves from experiencing that pain again. Indeed this arrangement is quite functional, for some time at least. Just as a baby who masters crawling discovers that the skill is no longer useful when he learns to walk, all life “lessons” also cease to be useful at some point. Letting go of previous ideals and mastering new ones is what leads to evolution and growth. Thus, no matter how big the lesson learned was at one point, eventually but certainly, it will cease to be useful and will be replaced with a higher truth. Life will invariably put us in a situation where our “learned lessons” no longer work, they no longer get us the intended result; in fact what we knew to be true before now seems to hinder us. We know this is the case when we are unable to do something, or to stop doing something, despite our best efforts. Read the following two examples; the first exemplifies the inability to do something, enjoy reasonable heights. The second is an example of the inability to stop doing something, overeating. I will then offer an explanation of what may have limited these two people, and why they had to be de-hypnotized to improve the quality of their lives. Some years ago, I was at a water park with my daughters. I skillfully avoided the really high structures, pretending the low drops were better for the kids. Eventually I gave into their insistence for the high drops and triumphantly climbed the first few steps into the wild blue yonder. As we waited in line, high above the earth, I clung firmly to the metal structure, palms sweating and all. When my daughters asked me how I was doing, of course, I said something about checking the underside of the structure for corrosion. There was no reason for alarm or concern. The structure was indeed safe, and we were only a few feet above the ground. But I was terrified to the point of “seeing” the curvature of the Earth from high above it. It was obvious that there was a limiting lesson engraved on my mind, even though I could not remember it or free myself from its claws. I had to admit to myself that I was unable to enjoy reasonable heights. That night, after the girls went to sleep, I went to work. I used hypnosis to de-hypnotize myself. I first remembered how casual the news was: oh, he died. Then the whole thing came back to me. I was three or four years of age. All of us boys climbed on trees and played outside back in those days. But that day, my buddy Mat had climbed and fallen down. Yes he hit his head, but we all bumped our heads from time to time. Mat went to sleep that night and never woke up the next morning, all because he climbed a tree, fell and bumped his head. “Climbing is dangerous; it could kill!” was the lesson firmly implanted into my mind in order to deal with the pain of l

Hi, my name is Flavio; I am a de-hypnotist. The name of my occupation is not simply a new spin on an old idea; it more accurately represents what we actually do. It may be easier to understand this if we start at the beginning. If nothing had ever happened to you, you would be totally innocent like a happy baby, but you would lack the wisdom of the serious adult you are. Ideally then, all life experiences should make us wiser, but in practice that is not what happens. It seems that pain hurts more than pleasure pleases, about five times as much in fact, according to scientists. Consequently, we seem to be willing to invest much more energy into avoiding pain than in obtaining any sort of benefit. The emotional impact of a negative life lesson can be so devastating and painful that we forget, or rather, archive those memories, emotions and lessons learned in a part of the mind where they serve the intended limiting purpose, while freeing everyday thoughts for more immediate concerns. This arrangement allows us to go on with our lives, not having to think about each past pain all the time, while at the same time protecting ourselves from experiencing that pain again. Indeed this arrangement is quite functional, for some time at least. Just as a baby who masters crawling discovers that the skill is no longer useful when he learns to walk, all life “lessons” also cease to be useful at some point. Letting go of previous ideals and mastering new ones is what leads to evolution and growth. Thus, no matter how big the lesson learned was at one point, eventually but certainly, it will cease to be useful and will be replaced with a higher truth. Life will invariably put us in a situation where our “learned lessons” no longer work, they no longer get us the intended result; in fact what we knew to be true before now seems to hinder us. We know this is the case when we are unable to do something, or to stop doing something, despite our best efforts. Read the following two examples; the first exemplifies the inability to do something, enjoy reasonable heights. The second is an example of the inability to stop doing something, overeating. I will then offer an explanation of what may have limited these two people, and why they had to be de-hypnotized to improve the quality of their lives. Some years ago, I was at a water park with my daughters. I skillfully avoided the really high structures, pretending the low drops were better for the kids. Eventually I gave into their insistence for the high drops and triumphantly climbed the first few steps into the wild blue yonder. As we waited in line, high above the earth, I clung firmly to the metal structure, palms sweating and all. When my daughters asked me how I was doing, of course, I said something about checking the underside of the structure for corrosion. There was no reason for alarm or concern. The structure was indeed safe, and we were only a few feet above the ground. But I was terrified to the point of “seeing” the curvature of the Earth from high above it. It was obvious that there was a limiting lesson engraved on my mind, even though I could not remember it or free myself from its claws. I had to admit to myself that I was unable to enjoy reasonable heights. That night, after the girls went to sleep, I went to work. I used hypnosis to de-hypnotize myself. I first remembered how casual the news was: oh, he died. Then the whole thing came back to me. I was three or four years of age. All of us boys climbed on trees and played outside back in those days. But that day, my buddy Mat had climbed and fallen down. Yes he hit his head, but we all bumped our heads from time to time. Mat went to sleep that night and never woke up the next morning, all because he climbed a tree, fell and bumped his head. “Climbing is dangerous; it could kill!” was the lesson firmly implanted into my mind in order to deal with the pain of losing my friend, the pain of not having his death explained to me, and certainly the possibility of falling down and being killed myself. Later, in medical school I learned something about brain injury and finally understood what must have happened to Mat. My buddy Mat probably saved my life. Had it not been for the lesson learned then, I probably would not have been as cautious and may not have been here today. Only when the danger of “height abuse” had passed did my mind release to me the origins of the limitation.   Today I can climb ladders and even enjoy the water park. Nothing extreme like my friend Cesar who is probably an angel with wings I can’t see, for he sure doesn’t seem to mind the most extreme heights. The second example has to do with Dan, a Cuban-born engineer who apparently was unable to stop eating. He had several health concerns secondary to overeating, and simply could not enjoy the most basic walks. He came to see me because he wanted to fly somewhere for a vacation with his family, but he was unable to fit into an airplane sit. It was a delight working with Dan. As he relaxed his body and mind, images formed on his mind of him hiding behind some large propane tanks next to a building. It was nighttime and he was waiting for some people to leave the building in order to jump through a window and steal some food for his three year old brother who had nothing to eat. Dan was only six years old. He mentioned that this was a regular task for him, but that night something went wrong and he got caught; his punishment was utter humiliation in front of all his peers. Dan “learned his lesson” and spent several years not only barely eating, but watching his family suffer the same fate. The more his belly hurt and his brother cried, the more he swore to himself that one day he would eat all the food he felt like, never go hungry again, and would always take care of his family. Dan grew up and eventually came to the United States. He was busy working full-time to send some money to his family while he completed his professional studies. He graduated and got a glamorous job with a Federal Agency. By the end of his first year on the job all of his immediate family was already living in the United States and quite confortable. In fact, everything was going really well for Dan… the extra weight was easy to remove as soon as he started going to the gym, he casually told himself. Three years into the job Dan decided to move back to Miami, where his family lived, and “enjoy the finer things in life” some more. It did not seem to him at the time that his increased difficulty with mobility due to excess weight had anything to do with his decision to move, he later recollected. By the time he came to see me, ten years after graduating from college, Dan had found a job he could do from his home. Everything seemed okay, until he realized that he really could not take that vacation. It took several weeks to uncover and ventilate all that is briefly recounted here, but the weight started coming off gradually. Two interesting highlights of the process follow. One was when Dan realized that he had “kept his promise to himself” that one day he would eat all he felt like, but now that he forgave himself and others he was free to stop overeating. The second was when he recalled our first meeting. I had asked Dan why he thought he was overweight. Dan actually recalled telling me that his physician had discovered a mild hypothyroidism a few years earlier. I felt elated watching Dan conclude that the diagnosis had given him permission to eat even more, actually adding to the problem. These stories may help you consider some things that you cannot do, or cannot stop doing, for no apparent reason. Perhaps you are ready to realize that freeing yourself from these limiting “lessons” from the past will add a great deal to the quality of your life. Strong emotional experiences in your past, such as the pain of losing a dear friend, or the pain of hunger and watching your brother suffering in the examples above, open a connection between the rational and subconscious portions of the mind. That “connection” of course, is the very definition of hypnosis, which is to say that strong emotional experiences actually hypnotize us. At that point then, either we produce our own “limiting lessons” or someone else, usually an adult with some sort of authority over us, will do us the favor. Reversing the process, so that you may free yourself from limitations that rob you of the quality of life you deserve, is what we mean by de-hypnotizing. There are many competent professional hypnotists around, but you can actually do this yourself, as in the first example I told you about. I do not believe in coincidences; you are reading this article now, and that must be meaningful. The time has come for you to release yourself from that limitation that is on your mind right now. Drop me a line or call the office and I will be glad to help.   As always, Flavio Souza-Campos    

Three signs that you may have anger - Not what you think A few years ago Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler made history with another great movie: Anger Management. In that movie Mr. Nicholson plays the part of an odd therapist who helps people with anger problems. He explains to his protagonist client played by Adam Sandler that anger is not just something you experience episodically, but an illness that one may or may not have. In fact the movie compares anger to diabetes. There is no doubt that anger serves an evolutionary purpose by boosting strength through what has come to be known as the fight or flight response. In extreme situations of danger or injustice, anger can get one to act in adaptive ways that lead to survival. The utility, or perhaps the unavoidability of this type of episodic anger is well recognized both in therapy and in the legal system. In the therapeutic context you may hear terms such as justified anger or situational anger. In the legal context there are instances where temporary insanity by virtue of presumably unavoidable anger leads to crimes that are met with reduced or attenuated sentences. These situations are, however, rare. The most common consequence of anger is that represented in the movie, where a person simply “has anger” as in an illness. While the explosive type of anger we are all familiar with makes the “diagnosis” of anger obvious, the much more insidious, systemic anger experienced by most people leads to profound loss of quality of life. During our many years of therapy, we have identified three types of situations presented by clients that can be explained by the presence of systemic anger. More importantly, we have observed that when systemic anger is resolved, the original situation for which the client came in is also resolved. The three types of situations involve a client who: Seems unable to DO something he wishes to do and is capable of doing Seems unable to STOP doing something he no longer wishes to do Presents with illnesses that defy clear medical diagnoses or resolution A common suggestion in our metaphysics classes is that you contemplate your life deeply and ask yourself whether one or more of the above applies to you. If you identify at least one of them, consider that some anger may linger within you. Addressing that anger and healing it completely will most definitely improve the quality of your life. As always, Flavio Souza-Campos  

Three signs that you may have anger - Not what you think A few years ago Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler made history with another great movie: Anger Management. In that movie Mr. Nicholson plays the part of an odd therapist who helps people with anger problems. He explains to his protagonist client played by Adam Sandler that anger is not just something you experience episodically, but an illness that one may or may not have. In fact the movie compares anger to diabetes. There is no doubt that anger serves an evolutionary purpose by boosting strength through what has come to be known as the fight or flight response. In extreme situations of danger or injustice, anger can get one to act in adaptive ways that lead to survival. The utility, or perhaps the unavoidability of this type of episodic anger is well recognized both in therapy and in the legal system. In the therapeutic context you may hear terms such as justified anger or situational anger. In the legal context there are instances where temporary insanity by virtue of presumably unavoidable anger leads to crimes that are met with reduced or attenuated sentences. These situations are, however, rare. The most common consequence of anger is that represented in the movie, where a person simply “has anger” as in an illness. While the explosive type of anger we are all familiar with makes the “diagnosis” of anger obvious, the much more insidious, systemic anger experienced by most people leads to profound loss of quality of life. During our many years of therapy, we have identified three types of situations presented by clients that can be explained by the presence of systemic anger. More importantly, we have observed that when systemic anger is resolved, the original situation for which the client came in is also resolved. The three types of situations involve a client who: Seems unable to DO something he wishes to do and is capable of doing Seems unable to STOP doing something he no longer wishes to do Presents with illnesses that defy clear medical diagnoses or resolution A common suggestion in our metaphysics classes is that you contemplate your life deeply and ask yourself whether one or more of the above applies to you. If you identify at least one of them, consider that some anger may linger within you. Addressing that anger and healing it completely will most definitely improve the quality of your life. As always, Flavio Souza-Campos  

Esta es la mejor explicación que hemos visto sobre la mente, la hipnosis y la banda gástrica virtual. Una amiga comentó que por primera vez entendió como lograr sus metas en la vida cuando leyó este breve texto. Otras personas dijeron que la simplicidad y brevedad de la explicación son útiles. Aun otros pidieron el texto completo, para tener más detalles. Esta información fue preparada para usted, y para las personas que usted aprecia. Muchas son las personas diariamente que preguntan acerca de los misterios de la mente, de la hipnosis y sobre la relación entre el cuerpo y la mente. Aquí usted tiene un breve regalo que espero les sea útil.   Felicidades, Flavio Souza-Campos