Severe twitching

[Gitana]

Seeking advice from my colleagues out there:

Yesterday I worked with a new client, who relaxed nicely during the progressive relaxation and induction. As soon as we got to the "meaty part" of the session his legs suddenly began twitching uncontrollably, which distracted him and brought him out of the trance. I used deepeners to help him re-enter the trance state, which worked nicely, yet as soon as we got to the healing suggestions, the twitching began again. I'm fairly certain that this twitching was not caused by any physical discomfort, although, we decided to eliminate that possibility by booking another session during which we will position him in a sitting position, rather than reclining him. Once we determine that physical discomfort was not the cause of the twitching, we will be fairly certain that subconscious resistance is at play. The purpose of these sessions is Anger Management & Forgiveness.
When asked, the client firmly expressed his high level of comfort with my office environment & myself and appears very motivated to change.
Has anyone experienced something similar like this in their practice? If so, would you mind sharing your experience?
Thank you ever so much,
Gitana

[Don]

Hi, Gitana.

My *guess* from your description is that your client has unconscious resistance to the conscious desire for change. The usual reason for this is that for some reason the client does not have enough trust (rapport) to open to you.

So...

1) Work to increase rapport
2) If client still has twitching, use it to help your technique...

"And as you hear these suggestions, you may find that your legs will begin to twitch. May just one leg, maybe both. I don't know. But I do know that with each twitch you become more and more relaxed, more and more open to making the changes I want and that I know will make me happy" etc.

[Terry (existing)]

One can always use a negative in a positive manner to our advantage, but may I offer another method of overcoming resistance to being controlled, which is what I perceive from what you wrote. Invite the client once relaxed, to observe and enjoy the feeling of relaxation.......No mention of anger, though relaxation is in some ways the antithesis of anger. Tell him that while he is relaxed he is also in complete control of his own mind, and it is up to him to enjoy his visit with you to the maximum.....Tell him he has full knowledge of why he is unable to control his anger, and that change is not only possible, but inevitable if that is what will give him pleasure.....Tell him that tonight he will dream in a very lucid manner, and wake up remembering the dream or dreams, and that they will contain clues that will allow for change, though you have no idea if such clues will be self evident, or in a dream code requiring exploration by you and him together...Note, you begin by allowing him only one alternative, ie to enjoy his visit with you. Secondly you have given him control via his own dreaming to find his own solution to the problem. Finally, you close with the suggestion that you are a team, and of course for most of us the idea of a team is persons who pull together for the same purpose...... I have no doubt that Don's idea will work, but the movement of the legs suggests to me the desire to run away, to run that is from change because he is in fear of losing his right to be angry, though he has no idea of why this is so... I have the feeling that indirect suggestions are the only ones valid for this client at present, and I say this based only on what I read from your post and put my own interpretation on. On the other hand, indirect suggestions work very well, so are worth trying....

[Gitana]

Thank you Don and Terry, both replies are very helpful and confirm what I thought. He is subconsciously resisting change. I will work on both, strengthening rapport and then continue with the indirect suggestions. Again, thanks for your support.
Warm regards,
Gitana
;)

[TaffyE]

Another possibility is that he is giving an ideomotor signal of some sort.

"And as I notice that your leg(s) movement(s), I wonder if this a signal from the unconscous. If it is, please repeat it for "yes" or a movement of your (for example hand) to indicate "no".
You can then tell the client that they are able to speak with you without disturbing the enjoyable/whatever trance that they are now in and ask their unconscious mind to explain the movements.

[Gitana]

Thanks Taffy!

[Johnny W.]

Thanks so much for your posts, they gave me insight into my own HUGE twitching almost all the time :( when I do self-hypnosis with a CD (voice and relaxing music, 60 bpm (?) sound effects about healing the body...)

Over the first week everything worked just fine, I really enjoyed it. But now the twitching kind of ruin severe twitching sessions... or maybe I shouldn't look at it this way :rolleyes:.

I've been reading a lot about muscle spasms and my understanding so far is there are 3 issues : subconscious resistance, ideomotor and well as a layman's guess my breathing triggers an energy center below the navel called "abdomen chakra", the twitching "epicenter" ;) being located on the left side below the rib cage...

Any suggestions or indications for further reading as to "alleviate" the twitching will be highly appreciated.

With thanks in advance :)

[Terry (existing)]

Johnny, as an ethical person, I will not offer advice to someone attempting to deal with their own problems, and who is not fully trained in this area. The reason for this is lack of a control factor in the presence of another person capable of intervening in the event of a problem. You could quite easily develop additional problems in trying to fix the one you have without proper knowledge of cause. See a qualified practitioner and ask for help if it is a real problem. If it isn't worth paying for, it is likely not bad enough to spoil you life....

[Simple Guy]

Johnny W.,

"Huge twitching" and "muscle spasms" can be the result
of various things including electrolyte imbalances and neurological
conditions. Consult your physician.

[Johnny W.]

Thank you Terry, Thank you Simple Guy... I'll talk to my family doctor next time I see him and stop fooling around with the CD :o, I thought it was safe as the CD cover reads...

No offense in case any qualified hypnotherapist reads the following. I'd really like to see a well-trained practitioner, the problem is there are so many, eriksonian, non-ericksonian... sure money is an issue but once or every two weeks with a real good professional, I'd say why not provided I manage to find a good and honest one. Actually a friend of mine walked in the trap. Instead of 3 sessions to learn a new behavior, she ended up with much more until another practitionner told her 3 or 4 sessions were sufficient to handle her problem. :(

By the way, I even checked off any doubt through DSM IV :D...found nothing wrong...might be physiological indeed, hmmm...

Anyway I appreciate your help, many thanks again.

Cheers
:)

[Terry (existing)]

Nobody is likely to take offence at such remarks. Sadly we have far too many operators who are of very poor quality indeed. On a personal basis, I would never go to a practitioner who labelled themselves as Ericsonian or such. It indicates that they are copying someone else as I see it, and in the process, limiting their own skills, and failing to expand based on experience. Not that my perspective is any better than someone elses, it's just a feeling I have anytime someone chooses to link themselves to another person, as if they don't have the courage of their own convictions..... I am still learning after thirty six, or is it thirty seven years, but damned if I feel Milton is the sole arbiter of what a practitioner should practise, and I bet he would say the same thing, since he can't be too proud of the way some of his adherants behave.....

[Johnny W.]

>It indicates that they are copying someone else as I see it, and in the process, limiting their own skills, and failing to expand based on experience.

Couldn't agree with you more as one Tibetan monk put it, "Do not rule over imaginary kingdoms of endlessly proliferating possibilities."

I don't know whether a sort of regulation authority would do any good to hypnotherapy with its ever-expanding variety like self-hypnosis weekend trainings, CDs, online consultation, free mp3 downloads...but unless you're ready to try out several practitioners before you pick the right one, well don't even think about seeing any. Another friend of mine, chose a shrink at "first sight", no surprise she got rid of what she had : her money :( !! Another one has been seeing a therapist for 5 years, he's still in a very deep transferential rapport with his therapist... :rolleyes:

So choosing a good therapist turns out to be as important as choosing the therapy itself ! :cool:

By the way, if you're still learning after 36 years of practice or so, no flattery, you must be a very good one, how much would you charge me for my twitching ? :)

[Poodle]

Milton's "stories" usually leave me cold unless I am able to read them and follow his methods. He was a genius. I would suggest NLP for the twitching. It could be some internal emotion/memory that has to come out. Anchor it, and collapse that anchor with a useful/beneficial anchor and then go for the hypnotherapy. I know that Bandler says that NLP should only be used under hypnosis but I have found anchoring without hypnosis to be very powerful also and people usually go into a light trance just working with NLP. It's worth a shot. If it doesn't work, you don't get paid. Worth a try! Should be worth 1/2 hour of your time and your client's so you can get down to basics.

[Terry (existing)]

By the way, if you're still learning after 36 years of practice or so, no flattery, you must be a very good one, how much would you charge me for my twitching ? :) Well first of all, I don't have a fixed charge, because I am now retired, and do those things I am inerested in as a hobby. Chances are I would be able to remove it in one session, and there would be no charge if I required more, since my word is my bond, and if I promise one session, that is what you pay for regardless. However I think you would find it rather expensive to visit Calgary for therapy.

[Johnny W.]

Hi Terry,

>>Chances are I would be able to remove it in one session, and there would be no charge if I required more, since my word is my bond, and if I promise one session, that is what you pay for regardless. However I think you would find it rather expensive to visit Calgary for therapy.

Don't try me :). Calgary is just an airway hop, if hop in and hop out I'm back home free of twitching, I'll have a shot. Thanks for the one session commitment. I'll come to, say $800.00 plane tickets from Paris + $300.00 hotel room + the session + ... = about $1,500 USD...Not bad at all...:D

But after my last posting, I researched like crazy what could be wrong...To cut a long story short, I came across the "quick fix" and took two herbal pills that worked their magic at once...interesting, right? placebo effect ? I don't know but It's so cool to do the sessions again without the twitching that shook me like hell :eek: and no more herbal pills although I bought for a month.

In case you'd like to know the name of the pill I don't think I can mention here, feel free to send me an email.

Cheers
:)