Category: Abuse
Video: Bodhisattvas in Training: Patience and Anger with Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
In this series of videos, Isa Gucciardi explores the concept of the bodhisattva, the Mahayana Buddhist belief that refers to anyone who has generated bodhicitta, a spontaneous wish and compassionate mind to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.
Blog: Encountering the Self: My Journey with Depth Hypnosis
By Denise Colby, Ph.D.
The most critical choices I have made in my life have rarely been the ones that were researched, well thought-out, and intentional. At best, I’ve stumbled into them, and many times I’ve been full of resistance and struggle. These have been the watershed moments that could only be seen and understood in retrospect. Only after I’ve witnessed how a single, hesitant “Yes” could totally change the course of my life. There have been a handful of these critical moments, but perhaps the most significant has been my encounter with Depth Hypnosis.
Blog: Overcoming Denial: Part 2
By Denise Colby
If we have been in deep denial about some aspect of our experience, the revelation of truth will at first be a painful one. Truth will make its entrance in ways that will seem quite disturbing—intrusive thoughts, nightmares, innocuous interactions producing strong emotions, or a general feeling that one is “not OK.” It is at this juncture that we come to a choice: we can stay in denial and find external reasons to justify our internal experience, numbing and modulating using whatever coping mechanisms we have, or we can claim our internal experience as something uniquely personal and get very curious about it.
There are many roads out of denial, but at some point we will have to choose to validate what our body and reactivity is saying over the story we’ve been telling ourselves. This breaking down of an old story — the acknowledgement that we’ve been telling ourselves a false story our whole lives — provides the crack where the light of truth can finally break through to our awareness.
Blog: Ask Isa: Can Depth Hypnosis Help Me Get Over My Breakup?
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
Question: I broke up with my boyfriend a while ago, but the pain still feels overwhelming. I’m not moving on at all. Part of me wants to be back in a relationship and part of me is relieved it’s over. Can Depth Hypnosis help me get over my breakup and move on?
Isa: What you’re describing sounds like an internal split, where part of you wants to be in the relationship and part of you does not. The tension and lack of resolution between these two parts is probably what’s making it hard for you to move on. Journaling can be a very helpful tool for understanding these two conflicting parts of yourself. For example, you can list all the reasons you want to be in the relationship, and then list all the reasons you are relieved to be out of the relationship. As you do this, the position of each part will become clear.
On the Air: Inner Truth Podcast Episode #001: Conflict As A Gateway To Peace with Isa Gucciardi
The Inner Truth podcast looks at the central questions of human life, what does it mean to be human, and how can we be fully alive? Inner Truth explores answers to these questions through ancient and contemporary spiritual wisdom along with insights from the fields of psychology, philosophy, and mythology. It also looks at the role of shamanism, meditation, and reconnection with nature as tributaries into the inner self, the wellspring of our inner source in knowledge.
In the premier episode, Inner Truth host David Newell catches up with Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. – Founding Director and lead teacher of the Foundation of the Sacred Stream – to talk about conflict, the ways we can take steps to resolve it, and how it can be gateway to profound internal growth and healing.
On The Air: New Dimensions Radio: Conflict Is A Gateway For Healing with Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
In this New Dimensions Radio interview with Justine Willis Toms, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D., explains that people come to hypnosis for help with many addictions such as wanting to quit smoking, wanting to lose weight, drinking, or gambling to name a few. She says, “The truth is that the symptom is the tip of the iceberg…The symptom becomes the path to healing in depth hypnosis.” She shares examples of family dynamics. For instance, one stepfather was resistant to the Coming to Peace process but eventually, with deep listening and patience, the sessions led to a deep healing for the entire family. In her experience as a therapist she has discovered that many times conflicts are rooted in parts of the self that are in conflict within, and these parts drive the conflict externally. She leads her clients in constructive conversations with those internal parts and guides them on a voyage within to explore unconscious motivations. This work involves a spaciousness; it requires one to hold back judgements and jumping to conclusions too quickly. It takes practice and patience to develop the skill to do this Coming to Peace work that applies the Buddhist principles of patience, tolerance, mutual respect, and compassion.
Blog: Finding Your Spiritual Path Part 1: Understanding Betrayal
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
Since the movie Spotlight came out in 2015, more and more people have come to our classes at the Sacred Stream looking for a different path to spiritual understanding. Spotlight is about the efforts of a group of journalists from The Boston Globe who were directed by their editor, Marty Baron, to investigate accusations against John Geoghan, a Catholic priest who had been accused of molesting young boys in different parishes during his long tenure as a spiritual leader in the Catholic community. The movie focused not only on these distressing events but also on the way the Roman Catholic Church tried to keep the truth of these events from the public. The investigation revealed a massive cover-up at the highest levels of the Church of the effect of Geoghan’s actions, and pointed to similar occurrences and cover-ups over the course of many years by the Church.
Because Sacred Stream has long been known for its non-dogmatic, inclusive approach to the world of spirit, it has been a safe place for people to explore their difficulty in incorporating these events within the context of their faith.
Blog: Buddhism in Action Part 2: A Depth Hypnosis Case Study
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
Most of us are very attached to having what we want happen and preventing what we don’t want from happening. But when we try to create a life in this way, we develop misconceptions about ourselves and the people and world around us. In the Depth Hypnosis method, when considering the issue a client presents and their emotional history, practitioners draw upon this Buddhist idea that we suffer when we are unaware of the way our attachments and aversions drive our behavior, or when we have misconceptions about what our life presents to us and about what that might mean for us.
Article: Using Depth Hypnosis Techniques to Treat Abuse
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
In my Depth Hypnosis practice, I work with many survivors of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. Most survivors have developed defenses around the abuse and the memory of it, and although this may be helpful at the time, it prevents the survivor from fully integrating the emotions of the experience. The key to healing abuse involves remembering the experience, and integrating the emotions that are associated with the abuse – emotions such as fear, pain, or betrayal, for example.
Article: Using Depth Hypnosis Techniques to Treat PTSD
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome is a surprisingly pervasive disorder suffered by hundreds of thousands of people in the United States alone. Formerly referred to as shell shock in World War I and World War II soldiers, and later named Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Vietnam veterans coming home from the war, it is now recognized by the American Psychological Association (APA) as a legitimate psychological disorder, affecting many people, military and otherwise. The causes of PTSD vary, but the common factor is usually a traumatizing event. Any long or short-term event, such as an accident or physical abuse, can permanently affect a person and cause PTSD.
Article: Opening the Doors to the Self – Dreams
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
Widening our definitions of reality to include phenomena which are regularly perceived by the unconscious can help us find the path back to the self at a soul level. This is true even if these phenomena are discounted by the conscious mind. Dreams provide a valuable perspective on this journey and their messages are available to us on a regular basis. In order to decipher those messages, we must allow the defenses of the conscious mind to rest. This allows us to use its acuity to organize the information we are receiving in dreams. By using hypnosis to gain access to dream images generated during sleep, we can perceive that we are actually developing a relationship with profound and utterly personal guidance.
Article: Opening the Doors to the Self – Pain as a Guidepost
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
As we have seen, one of the most valuable tools in this journey to the encounter of the self at a soul level is the ability to create an atmosphere where it is safe. We must feel safe in order to remain present with pain long enough to be able to understand its origins. Within the framework of hypnosis, the path through pain or imbalance can reveal itself safely. It can lead us across the field of the pain through the psyche to the encounter with the self at a soul level. To begin this journey, it is important to examine the kinds of relationships we have with pain.
Article: Opening the Doors to the Self – Relationships
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
Recently I heard an interview on National Public Radio’s program Fresh Air, with the Dalai Lama’s official translator. The interviewer, Terry Gross, asked him if there were ever Western concepts he had trouble translating into Tibetan. The translator said the hardest concept he had ever tried to convey emerged from a conference on Buddhism and psychology held in the United States. He had enormous difficulty trying to translate the words which described the concept of self-loathing. It took him almost half an hour to find the words to help the Dalai Lama understand this concept.