5-PATH® stands for 5 phase advanced transformational hypnosis, uses the most advanced hypnotic techniques available and organizes them in such a way that each technique makes the next one used more successful. It is far ahead of the research and far advanced to what is being used by drug and alcohol counselors to help people with addictions. I know this firsthand because I am getting more and more counselors, medical doctors, psychologists and therapists in my hypnosis certification classes. What they learn blows them away. Sometimes they even get mad because what I teach them can’t be found in any university course.
To help you understand the significance here of how good it is, let me put it this way. There are hypnotists who get exceptional results and make whole businesses out of any one of the hypnotic techniques used in the system of 5-PATH®. Since we use all five of these powerful techniques in the order and way we do, clients have real success staying off drugs and alcohol and often times even after everything else they’ve tried has failed.
About 3 months ago a young man called me on the phone. He said he was a heroin addict. He had been shooting up for about 10 years. At the time of the call he had just gotten out of another rehab and had been off drugs for about 25 days, but he was worried he’d relapse and wondered if I could help him. After hearing a little more I told him that I was actually confident that I could help him. I also told him that heroin could be something that he used to do. I also said that I believed he could get to a place where he was better than he had ever been. and that the urge to use could go away. He got quiet. I got quiet. I found out later that no one had ever said that to him. When he finally spoke again he simply said, “How soon can I come in to see you?”
That started “Josh” on a personal journey that I assure you none of the rehabs had ever taken him on. The journey went to the minutest beginning of the feeling deep within that drove him to use drugs. It was surprising to him where it all actually started, but it all made such perfect sense. This fascinating journey then led him through various techniques to lift the feeling right out of him. I remember him saying, as he put his hand on his stomach, still looking dazed from the massive reorganization of the subconscious that was happening,
“I feel like a weight has been lifted.”
“That’s permanent”, I replied.
It took us 5 sessions. The price was miniscule, even laughable, when compared with that of rehab. I remember having the privilege of hearing, after the very first session, that he felt hopeful for the first time in a long time. He said he felt happier, but he wanted to be cautiously optimistic. I could understand that. If anybody had been through what Josh had been through they’d feel the same way.
We did each hypnosis session about once per week. In that time Josh didn’t use, he began getting closer to his mother teasing and laughing with her like the old Josh. He felt optimistic and began looking for and got a job. He began daydreaming about a positive future as a computer analyst. He started looking into courses at the local college. He also found a new group of friends that had nothing to do with drugs and who were seeking success in life. He felt so surprised to find he actually felt he was just as good as them. He forgave his father and began respectfully speaking up for himself around him, while yet actually, enjoying his company.
Also after the 4th session Josh ran into an old drug friend. He had been afraid what he would do if he saw one of his old drug buddies again. He had always been weak around them. When he told me about the encounter he put it like this, “It was just like you said it would be. I felt, been there, done that, got the t-shirt, and I just felt sorry for them and glad I didn’t do that anymore!”
Everything happened in stages. First, we laid the ground work for the real work that would happen in the second session and we built hope and curiosity for what might be coming. Second, we uncovered the cause to its tiniest beginning invisible to the untrained eye. Third, we unplanted that seed that started it all. Fourth we uncovered and helped him relieve himself of anger he didn’t even know was there. Lastly, poignantly, Josh forgave himself and overcame self-sabotage tendencies that might trip him up later in life. Done. The results were he knew he was ready for a bright future, he wasn’t at all afraid of relapsing back into heroin or any other drugs and he felt inner strength and hope he’d never felt before.
Josh thanked me for saving his life. I thanked him for the privilege of watching him save his own. A good hypnotist is really just a guide. The client chooses to follow directions that bring change or not.
I told him I’d probably never see him again. At this point in his life no one knew him better than I did. Funny how we can get so close to someone and then it’s time for them to fly away. I know he will be successful, but I let him know I’ll be a phone call away anytime he feels he might need me.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman…….this one’s for you.
