Doctor Uses Hypnotic Trance to Help Patients

By Nova Szoka

Dr. Jonathan Gray imagines his clients achieving a relaxed state where their concentration is improved and things come to them with ease, where any past habits can be overcome and they are filled with a sense of well being.

Gray, 50, a psychologist whose office is on Sacramento Street in the Presidio Heights, uses hypnotism to help people quit smoking, lose weight, sleep better, have less anxiety before surgery, heal better after surgery and improve their performance taking tests. Gray, also a licensed family and marriage counselor, has a relaxed demeanor and a clear, calm voice.

"Hypnotism is a way to reach the unconscious mind. This process," Gray explains, "involves invoking the relaxation response in an individual and connecting them to their parasympathetic nervous system. Hypnotism is based on two principles: that an individual can only concentrate on one thing at a time and whatever that person concentrates on in their own body will happen."

In a hypnotherapy session Gray takes his client through steps to put them in a hypnotized state. Gray has his client sit comfortably and leads them through a muscular relaxation sequence. Then he will talk to the patient until he sees they are in a light trance. Gray describes a trance as an altered state of consciousness that engages the parasympathetic nervous system. A trance has definite physiological effects, such as a change in respiration, flushing of the face, a decrease in muscular tension and a feeling of dissolution from everyday reality.

In regards to putting people in trances, Gray notes that, "A trance does not have to be deep to be effective."

Once his patient is in a trance, Gray will direct their attention to the point they want to work on and gives them "suggestions," or positive reinforcement, about the thing they are hoping to change. These suggestions, communicated to the individual's subconscious, can have an effect on their conscious life and activities, he said.
Some examples of suggestions Gray uses with clients who want to quit smoking include: "You won't ever smoke again; Each succeeding day you are on the no-smoking regime you will feel noticeably better than the day before;" and "You will have more energy and be in much better charge of yourself."

In regards to his success rates for helping people quit smoking, Gray surveyed 60 patients who had seen him between 1993 and 1998 one year after receiving treatment and found that 79 percent were still not smoking.
"You will feel full on small meals," Gray suggests to clients interested in weight loss.

"As you enter the test site you will find yourself filled with a deep state of relaxed alertness and the confidence and the knowledge that you'll give your best performance possible," he suggests to clients who want to perform better on tests.

Gray also works with people to improve their athletic performances. He uses hypnosis to help them get into a "zone," a state many athletes experience during peak athletic performances, a place where they feel concentrated and where their actions seem effortless and come with ease. Gray has helped a horse jumper improve her jump sighting and worked with a BMX bike racer to improve his starts.

Gray has been practicing hypnosis for nearly 20 years and learned his technique in 1980 from a very close source: his father, Dr. Jerome Gray. The senior Gray is also a psychologist who practiced in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He began developing his hypnotic techniques in the late 1940s after reading an article on the subject written by psychologist Milton Erickson.

"He read the article and adapted Erickson's techniques," Gray explains.

His father began to attract attention for his use of hypnosis in the '50s after successfully using self-hypnosis to lose weight and quit smoking. The elder Gray began using hypnosis in hospitals to help patients recover more quickly from surgery. This was part of an effort by doctors to curtail the amount of bedrest patients required after operations, since they began to believe that moving around sooner after surgery aided the body's healing process. Some suggestions Gray's father gave to his patients were that they would bleed less and heal faster.

Gray decided to study with his father after completing his Master's Degree in clinical psychology at John F. Kennedy University in Orinda in 1979. After learning hypnosis, he began developing his private practice, as well as returning to school in 1983 at the California Graduate School of Psychology, to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology, which he received in 1998. Gray also worked from 1988 to 1999 at the Fort Help Clinic, a center in the City that helps people with heroin addiction.

Gray works within a community of practitioners which includes doctors, chiropractors, bodyworkers, acupuncturists, homeopaths and other therapists. He says hypnosis can be used in conjunction with other types of treatment.

For people who are skeptical of hypnosis, Gray says, "I welcome skeptics and am happy to educate them. More and more physicians are understanding that hypnosis is an effective modality."

Gray also acknowledges that hypnosis is not for everybody.
"Some people's misconceptions come from watching magicians or theatrical performances. Clinical hypnosis is quite different," he said.

In his private practice Gray says about 25 percent of patients come to his office at 3529 Sacramento St. for single session hypnosis, while the rest are repeat clients who come in for hour-long sessions. His sessions cost $175 per hour. For more information, contact Gray at (415) 563-2333.