Public release date 24-Feb, 2005

by Doyle Murphy

UNC Professor explains Hypnotism Benefits

He can't heal broken bones. He won't help you reconnect to a past life. And if you want to watch someone cluck like a chicken onstage, go to one of those Jim Wand-type theater/comedy shows.

But if you're open to the possibility, University of Northern Colorado professor Michael Jacobs said hypnosis can help in almost every aspect of your life.

Jacobs is chairman of UNC's Department of Educational Foundations and Curriculum Studies. His presentation on the healing power of the mind through hypnotherapy was part of the university's Disability Awareness Week.

Instead of convincing adults to act like children or dangling a watch in front of a subject's eyes, Jacobs asked audience members to find a comfortable position in their chairs, relax, calm themselves and focus.

This is how hypnosis works, Jacobs said. He suggests and clients decide whether to comply and hypnotize themselves. From there he guides them toward ways to change behaviors and reactions that he said have been programmed into their minds. Clients can help make pain manageable, help one to take tests without anxiety and even heal from injuries faster.

He said people readily accept the idea that various pills can do these things. "Why can't the mind?" Jacobs asked.

Al DeGraff came from his home in Fort Collins to hear Jacobs. DeGraff, 55, suffered a spinal injury in a diving accident when he was 18 years old. Now a third-year doctoral student in UNC's human rehabilitation services program, he requires a wheelchair. After the presentation, DeGraff said he'd like to work with Jacobs.

"I think, for a lot of us with physical disabilities, we are limited in what we can do physically," DeGraff said. "However, the power of our minds can make up for what we can't do physically."

He should be a good candidate to benefit from hypnotherapy. One of the first things Jacobs did was write "Belief + Expectation = Hypnosis" on a poster-sized piece of notebook paper. Once a client believes in the process and expects the result, most of the work is done, Jacobs said.

Jessica Gladem, a 22-year-old UNC senior, said she had planned to leave the lecture early to make it to work at 5 p.m. Instead, she stayed to ask questions. She said that, during the audience trance at the beginning, she felt really relaxed.

"I was definitely holding on to his words," she said.

Jacobs said he only uses those words to guide.

"You do it because you choose to do it, not because I make you do it," he said.

It won't cure a broken leg, but then Jacobs won't convince you to bark like a dog on stage, either.