Valerie Austin - Self-Hypnosis Made Easy

Also in the Hay House Basics series

Crystals
Mindfulness
Past Lives
Angels
Lucid Dreaming
Tarot
Energy Healing
NLP

Coming soon

Reiki
Numerology
Feng Shui
Shamanism
Astrology

First published and distributed in the United Kingdom by:
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Text Valerie Austin, 2015

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or otherwise be copied for public or private use, other than for fair use as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews, without prior written permission of the publisher.

The information given in this book should not be treated as a substitute for professional medical advice; always consult a medical practitioner. Any use of information in this book is at the readers discretion and risk. Neither the author nor the publisher can be held responsible for any loss, claim or damage arising out of the use, or misuse, of the suggestions made, the failure to take medical advice or for any material on third party websites.

This book was previously published under the title Self-Hypnosis (Hay House Basics series); ISBN: 978-1-78180-499-5

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-1-78817-246-2
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-78817-255-4

Interior images: Alamy Stock Vector

To my husband, James a biographer and researcher whose knowledge of hypnosis is second to none.

I owe a special debt of thanks to the people of Langkawi, where I wrote my first self-hypnosis book and was able to develop so many of my techniques working with fascinating people from so many different cultures.

Some special hypnotists have inspired me throughout my career. John Watkins PhD for making available to me his film on his excellent work on regression to treat war trauma and his advice. Dr Jack Gibson, a surgeon and pioneer in painless surgery with hypnosis. Ormond McGill, who put a gentlemanly excitement and fun into hypnosis. Jerry Valley, with whom I learned the art of stage hypnosis, which gave me more understanding on how the mind works. Gil Boyne, who helped me regain a big part of my memory after my car accident and who was instrumental in my early training. Reg Morton for his help in my legal matters through the years and also Mike Payne for his patience with my technical issues.

Don Green, CEO of the Napoleon Hill Foundation, who gave me his special insights on Napoleon Hill. A special thanks to Inger Garcia, my attorney, co-producer of our films and documentaries and friend; her diagnosis of stage four breast cancer was instrumental in furthering my understanding of the importance of self-hypnosis for cancer sufferers and their families. Sally Farmiloe, a friend since her Howards Way days: a very brave and intelligent lady who fought bravely against the aggressive cancer before she so tragically died.

There are many other people to thank for their help over the years. Kevin James for his help and invaluable contributions. Dr OBrook, an excellent psychiatrist who recommended many clients to me in my early days in Harley Street. Dr Alan Sanderson, psychiatrist and hypnotherapist, who has always been available for advice. Pierre Marcar and Katie Glen and the many students for their input in researching therapies and scripts that have proved to be exceedingly successful.

Dr Abdul Halim Othman, Dean at the University Kebangsaan (UKM), Malaysia who invited me to teach my 7-day Advanced Hypnotherapy course to a selection of professors and students at this leading University of Psychology. This resulted in the Health Minister of Malaysia formally giving his approval for the Austin Stop Smoking in One Hour technique. Another of my former Malaysian students, Julian Leicester, is now following in my footsteps and winning prestigious awards for his work in stopping smoking using hypnosis. To the many friends I made while I was working there.

Special thanks to Hay House for giving me the opportunity to share my knowledge with everyone and to my editor Amy whose enthusiasm for the project has encouraged and helped me every step of the way.

Finally, Im indebted to the thousands of clients and many hundreds of therapists Ive trained for helping to further educate me in the extraordinary workings of the mind and how easily it can be changed.

From Hollywood to hypnotherapy

Self-hypnosis can be used to stop smoking, eliminate phobias, reduce your weight, help you sleep, reduce stress, enjoy relationships, maximize your potential and more in fact the list is endless. And to make these changes it only takes the use of specific words in a hypnotic trance. It sounds so easy and it really is.

Whats more, overcoming a major problem can create a snowball effect because in clearing away one issue you will find many other difficulties, connected with the major issue, begin to evaporate too. For example, you might use self-hypnosis to help you lose weight or get fitter and, as it begins to work, so your self-confidence and self-esteem increase too. Think of it as a mind clean up to start the process of creating the life you want. But self-hypnosis doesnt only have to be used for problems but can also be used to make life easier for you, for example, to give you more confidence in yourself, allow you to enjoy life more, enhance your sports, music, art ability or even help you to learn a language or other skill more rapidly.

However, before you start reading how to use self-hypnosis to create these and more incredible outcomes in your life, you may be wondering why I am able to teach you how to get the most out of hypnotizing yourself. Its partly due to my extensive research and 30 years experience of practising and teaching hypnotherapy, but, mainly its owing to the memory loss I suffered in a near-fatal car accident in 1978, which eventually inspired me to switch roles from Hollywood reporter and magazine publisher to hypnotherapist.

After the accident I suffered amnesia, leaving me with a 24-hour memory. When the Daily Mirror heard about this strange phenomenon, they featured me in an article entitled Will Bride Remember her Husband?. While holidaying in California, John Austin (international editor of The Hollywood Reporter) had proposed to me. The problem? I was in danger of forgetting he even existed when I returned to the UK.

A well-known hypnotherapist from the USA (Gil Boyne) was visiting London at the time and contacted me after reading the article. Under hypnosis, he was able to help me regain part of my memory and literally give me back my life. From then on I took a keen interest in understanding the complexity and workings of the inner mind which has given me a unique perspective on the subject of hypnosis.