Local hypnotist has therapeutic niche

Think hypnosis and the image of a bearded man with a swinging pocket watch immediately comes to mind. But talk to professional hypnotist Johnie Fredman of Heartland Hypnosis in Shawnee for just a few minutes and that stereotypical picture is gone.
“I’ve always had a curiosity about hypnosis,” Fredman said. “Is it real? What’s it like? So I did a little bit of reading in high school and college; I even wrote a paper on it. Finally, at a church camp they brought in a hypnotist. I watched the video of what happened at home later and it was funny, but a bit wild.”
He found out about a school of hypnosis in Texas. Curiosity got the better of him and he enrolled. Fredman finished 100 hours of training to become certified through the National Guild of Hypnotists, the nation’s oldest and largest professional hypnotism organization. Continuing education is required by the guild through yearly training to keep his certification. He is also a certified instructor with plans to open a hypnosis school in spring 2009.
Fredman has a master’s degree in counseling and is working on his doctorate in educational psychology. He finds similarities between his chosen field and hypnosis.
  Many states outside of Oklahoma have regulated the use of the title “hypnotist” and “hypnotherapist” unless actually certified as a therapist, but essentially they are one and the same, Fredman said.  
“Technically, what we do in the office is hypnotherapy, but we’re very careful because of those regulations,” Fredman said. “There’s a big lobby group from the licensed professionals saying you’re (hypnotists) not qualified to do therapy, and by and large, they’re right. We’re not doing therapy as far as mental health problems. Basically, we help everyday people with everyday problems. We help them stop smoking, lose weight, overcome anxiety, stress and fear. We help them improve areas of their lives that are not a diagnosed mental illness. In order to work with a diagnosed mental illness, we need a referral from a licensed doctor or mental health professional.”
A client’s morals and conscience cannot be violated by suggestions while under hypnosis, unless the client does not have morals or a conscience, Fredman said.
“You cannot get someone to do something under hypnosis that they would not normally do, but a sociopath would normally do it anyway. So you really couldn’t blame hypnosis. They would have done it with or without the hypnosis,” Fredman said.
Beginning the experience with an induction, Fredman sends the client into a halcyon state through a series of soft suggestions that are carried out through a simple conversation. Professional hypnotists look for specific signs called hypno-meters to see that their client is under through fluttering eyelids, flushed skin, motor responses and the way the client moves, and slower breathing, Fredman said.
“Hypnosis is not relaxation. That’s important to understand. However, it’s the easiest way to get a person into hypnosis. It allows you to experience a state of relaxation that goes beyond anything any of us have ever experienced,” Fredman said.
“Typically, that induction is what I do with 99 percent of the people because it’s relatively short, but very effective, and allows them to go into a blissful, peaceful state,” he said. “Hypnosis is different for every person. There is no such thing as feeling hypnotized.”
As far as Fredman knows, there are only two religious groups that officially oppose hypnosis — Scientologists and Assemblies of God.
“I’ve had very little opposition from religious communities. It’s very rare for them to openly oppose it. There are individuals who don’t like it. They seem to feel like its brainwashing or demon-possession. People just don’t understand it. They know what they see on TV,” Fredman said.
“Hypnosis is a natural, normal state of mind that most people experience every single day. It is not demon possession; it’s not mind control. It’s a natural phenomenon that most people experience; for example, day dreaming,” he said.
  Although he is also a trained, certified forensic hypnotist, that type of evidence is not admissible in court. Fredman performs stage shows with hypnosis and helps people with weight loss, smoking cessation and a variety of other behavioral characteristics. He’s even helped a few women through childbirth with hypnosis.
He said he is working on certification for pain management, but explained that it is important to know when to take away people’s pain and when not to do it, especially when that pain is indicative of a serious illness.
“You can cause damage and harm someone when using hypnosis improperly at the wrong time. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should,” Fredman said.
“Guided imagery, meditation is essentially self-hypnosis. It all accomplishes the same goal,” Fredman said. “So many things roll into the realm of hypnotism. It really isn’t voodoo stuff.”
For more information about hypnosis, contact Johnie Fredman at Heartland Hypnosis at 214-1173 or go to www.heartlandhypnosisservices.com.