As a Registered Training Organisation, our accreditation by the Victorian Qualifications Authority and the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training is your GUARANTEE that the education and training we provide meets the strictest standards in Australia and is the highest quality available anywhere.

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Sonia Devine (B.Ed, Cert. IV. CH, Dip. CH, Cert. IV. Counselling)

Sonia Devine is a professional success coach, speaker and consultant. She works with entrepreneurs, small business owners and consultants in the services industry who want to get more clients, increase their profitability and eliminate their blocks to success. Some of her clients include:

• coaches;
• hypnotherapists;
• alternative therapists;
• consultants,;
• trainers;
• financial planners;
• web designers;
• photographers;
• accountants;
• entrepreneurs

She is also one of Australia’s leading experts in mind power techniques. Through her work as a certified clinical hypnotherapist and senior lecturer at the Academy of Hypnotic Science in Melbourne, Sonia has developed a powerful coaching system that establishes her as a true leader in her field.

Sonia was formally trained in education and computer science and worked for many years in the corporate world developing state of the art training programs for adults. This allowed her to hone her skills in communication and diagnosis of personality dynamics. Always an avid fan of self-help and motivational techniques, Sonia’s hobby was to become her vocation when a chance meeting with a hypnotherapist  compelled her to pursue a career change.

Her fascination with the relationship between mind and matter, actualization strategies and hypnotherapeutic techniques inspired her to start her own business in 2003; and thus, DEVINE YOUR LIFE™ was born. Since that time, Sonia has assisted many people to grow their businesses, attract more clients and sales, eliminate their fears about money and success and reach their highest financial and professional potential.

Sonia’s expertise and specialty is helping people move through their fears and reach for the sky. It is her focus, her love, and her passion, and that is why she is a leader in her field. Her world class success coaching program,Client Magnet™ is the product of many years of working with talented professionals. It is the only program of its kind to combine the power of success coaching with proven hypnotherapeutic techniques to create compelling subconscious shifts that result in sustainable professional and financial success.

She also has a black belt in Karate and makes sensational home-made ice-cream!

Sonia’s Qualifications:

Bachelor Of Education (University of Melbourne)

Certificate IV in Health  - Clinical Hypnosis (Academy of Hypnotic Science)

Diploma of health – Clinical Hypnosis (Academy of Hypnotic Science)

Certificate IV – Counselling and Conflict Resolution (Academy of Hypnotic Science)

Advanced Certificate in Microcomputer Technology (Computer Power Training Institute)

Member ASCH

Member IICT

Welcome to the Academy of Hypnotic Science, the only Victorian-based government accredited training in Hypnotherapy. If you’re considering training with us in 2010, please join us for our next Open Evening. It takes place at the Academy at 319 Glenhuntly Road Elsternwick on Wednesday 27th January, and entry is free, but by reservation only. If you’d like to come, please call us during office hours on (03) 9532 4433.

Meanwhile, why not sign up for our Newsletter? Just click here. ]]> http://www.academyhypnoticscience.net/hypno/blog/?feed=rss2&p=23 0 http://www.academyhypnoticscience.net/hypno/blog/?p=70 http://www.academyhypnoticscience.net/hypno/blog/?p=70#comments Fri, 30 Apr 2010 21:19:00 +0000 Steve Carey http://www.academyhypnoticscience.net/hypno/blog/?p=70 A fascinating book by Rita Carter, Multiplicity: The new Science of Personality (London: Little, Brown, 2008), argues that the impression you have of being a single, unified personality is an evolutionary illusion. In fact, it makes just as much sense – more, perhaps – to think of yourself as yourselves.

Think about it. If you’re like most of us you probably dress, behave, speak and even think differently when you’re in work mode than when you’re in parent, or study, or clubbing mode.  You’d be odd if you didn’t! Maybe you like to get out of your work clothes when you get home, perhaps fix yourself a drink and crash out for a bit – that’s if you’re lucky enough not to have to fix dinner for everyone first.  Maybe you find in certain circumstances – when you’re behind the wheel of a car, or dealing with a particular person, or you’ve had a few drinks, or someone gets you angry – you seem to turn into a different person. If anyone ever says about you, “That’s not like you,” then you’ll know what I mean. Except it is like you: just not the you that they usually meet.

This can be particularly obvious with sportspeople – the “white line fever” effect. There’s many a hard man on the football field who, off it, is quiet, reserved and polite (Bryan Robson, Mark Hughes).

You may wish to think of there being several different personalities all sharing our body as a metaphor, a way of understanding our behaviour better, rather than a ‘fact’ (whatever that might mean in this context).  If it does help you make sense of how you are, use it!

Please note our February 2010 course is now completely sold out and there are no more places available.

Subjects you will study

Advanced Hypnotic Techniques

Counselling

Gestalt Therapy

Grief, Loss and Depression

Ego State Therapy

Ericksonian Hypnosis

Fundamentals of Hypnosis

How to Launch Your Practice

Human Sexology

Hypnosis for Children

Luscher Diagnostic

Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP)

Past Life Therapy

Professional Practice Management

Psychology

Psychonutrition

Psychopharmacology

Semantics

The Academy learning experience

All our lecturers are fully qualified and experienced practitioners in their own specialist fields, as well as being graduates of the Academy with their own Clinical Hypnotherapy practice.

We welcome students from all walks of life, and have prepared materials to be suitable for both non-professionals considering a career change and for professionals who use or would like to use Clinical Hypnotherapy to add a new dimension to their practice. We warmly welcome mature students and we are committed to ensuring that your return to study is enjoyable and productive. We provide all the help and support you need to participate fully as a student at the Academy.

The Course Program is structured to suit those working full-time or part-time, enabling you to progress at your own pace and within the demands of a busy lifestyle. The Course combines on-campus and off-campus study with review and practice during personal time.

There is a strong emphasis on hands-on practice, with demonstrations by lecturers and one-on-one work by students.

Here’s a question for you. Which do you think is more valued in a relationship,

(a) how couples support each other under difficult circumstances, or

(b) how they handle good news?

Common sense tells you that (a) is more important. And common sense, it seems, would be plain wrong! Here’s why…

“Numerous studies show that intimate relationships, such as marriages, are the single most important source of life satisfaction. Although most couples enter these relationships with the best of intentions, many break up or stay together but languish. Yet some do stay happily married and thrive. What is their secret?

“A few clues emerge from the latest research in the nascent field of positive psychology. Founded in 1998 by psychologist Martin E. P. Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania, this discipline includes research into positive emotions, human strengths and what is meaningful in life. In the past few years positive psychology researchers have discovered that thriving couples accentuate the positive in life more than those who stay together unhappily or split do. They not only cope well during hardship but also celebrate the happy moments and work to build more bright points into their lives.

“It turns out that how couples handle good news may matter even more to their relationship than their ability to support each other under difficult circumstances. Happy pairs also individually experience a higher ratio of upbeat emotions to negative ones than people in unsuccessful liasions do. Certain tactics can boost this ratio and thus help to strengthen connections with others. Another ingredient for relationship success: cultivating passion. Learning to become devoted to your significant other in a healthy way can lead to a more satisfying union.

“Until recently, studies largely centered on how romantic partners respond to each other’s misfortunes and on how couples manage negative emotions such as jealousy and anger – an approach in line with psychology’s traditional focus on alleviating deficits. One key to successful bonds, the studies indicated, is believing that your partner will be there for you when things go wrong. Then, in 2004, psychologist Shelly L. Gable, currently at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and her colleagues found that romantic couples share positive events with each other surprisingly often, leading the scientists to surmise that a partner’s behavior also matters when things are going well.

“In a study published in 2006 Gable and her coworkers videotaped dating men and women in the laboratory while the subjects took turns discussing a positive and negative event. After each conversation, members of each pair rated how ‘responded to’ – how understood, validated and cared for – they felt by their partner. Meanwhile observers rated the responses on how active-constructive (engaged and supportive ) they were – as indicated by intense listening, positive comments and questions, and the like. Low ratings reflected a more passive, generic response such as ‘That’s nice, honey.’ Separately, the couples evaluated their commitment to and satisfaction with the relationship.

“The researchers found that when a partner proffered a supportive response to cheerful statements, the ‘responded to’ ratings were higher than they were after a sympathetic response to negative news, suggesting that how partners reply to good news may be a stronger determinant of relationship health than their reaction to unfortunate incidents. The reason for this finding, Gable surmises, may be that fixing a problem or dealing with a disappointment – though important for a relationship – may not make a couple feel joy, the currency of a happy pairing.”

Suzann Pileggi, “The Happy Couple,” Scientific American Mind, Jan/Feb 2010, pp. 34-36.

(Thanks to my friend Peter Borg for drawing this to my attention.)

One study compared the effect of hypnotherapy versus the prescription medication prochlorperazine (Stemetil). The study consisted of 47 participants who reported feedback every month for a year. They reported number of attacks per month, severity of attacks, and complete remission. Results of the study showed that those who received hypnotherapy reported far fewer migraine attacks compared to those who received medication. Out of 23 participants who received hypnotherapy, 10 of them ceased to experience migraines. Out of the 24 participants who used medication, 3 of them ceased to experience migraines.

Another study reported the benefits of behavioral therapy. These approaches include relaxation, biofeedback, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and hypnosis. Hypnosis can help migraine sufferers avoid triggers such as controlling stress and avoiding certain foods.

Two hypnotherapy techniques used in treating migraines include the hand warming and glove anesthesia. These techniques put migraine sufferers in control of their pain by helping them transfer warmth or numbness to their head where their head hurts. These techniques were shown to be more beneficial than simple relaxation exercises. This study concluded that medication is ineffective in treating chronic migraines and supports psychological treatment because there are no side effects.

If you suffer from migraine you should see your GP – and it may well be worth speaking to a Clinical Hypnotherapist. See our Directory, or call us during office hours at the Academy on (03) 9543 4433.

References

Anderson, J.A., Basker, M.A., & Dalton, R. (1975). Migraine and hypnotherapy. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 23(1), 48-58.

Heap, M. (1988). Hypnosis: current clinical, experimental and forensic practices. Taylor & Francis.

Sandor, P.S. & Afra, J. (2007). Nonpharmacologic treatment of migraine. Current Pain and Headache Reports, 9(3), 202-205.

Founded in 1983, the Academy of Hypnotic Science has a proud tradition as a respected leader in Clinical Hypnotherapy education and training and clinical practice for more than a quarter of a century.

The Academy specialises in Clinical Hypnotherapy education for professionals to provide an additional modality and/or to enhance their skills in areas such as counselling, psychotherapy and psychology; and for people interested in pursuing a new career in Clinical Hypnotherapy.

The Academy of Hypnotic Science Pty Ltd is a Registered Training Organisation and provides the only Victorian-based education in Clinical Hypnotherapy accredited and recognised by the Victorian Registration & Qualification Authority and the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training.

About our facilities

Close to Melbourne CBD and easily accessible by public transport (trams, trains and buses), the Academy offers modern, fully-equipped facilities with all necessary teaching aids and support systems. A reference library is available for personal study.

We maintain contact and support as you move into professional practice, including the option to use our Consulting Rooms on a sessional basis to enable you to start your practice with minimal financial outlay; Continuing Professional Development programs to keep you up to date; and the opportunity to seek supervision.

To find out more about the Academy of Hypnotic Science, why not subscribe to our FREE newsletter? We’ll tell you all about our upcoming Information Evenings and events, our next Course start dates, Special Offers and more. To sign up, just click here.

In fact it’s rather beautifully put in Wikipedia:*

“[O]ne sees that the mind is continually full of chattering with commentary or judgement. By noticing that the mind is continually making commentary, one has the ability to carefully observe those thoughts, seeing them for what they are without aversion or judgment. Those practicing mindfulness realize that “thoughts are just thoughts.” One is free to release a thought (”let it go”) when one realizes that the thought may not be concrete reality or absolute truth. Thus, one is free to observe life without getting caught in the commentary. Many “voices” or messages may speak to one within the “vocal” (discursive) mind. It is important to be aware that the messages one hears during “thinking” are simply discursive habit and that the real point of practice is distinguishing different types of experience from the context (mind) within which they occur.

“As one more closely observes mental activity, one finds that happiness (for example) is not exclusively a quality brought about by a change in outer circumstances, but rather that realizing happiness often starts with loosening and releasing attachment to thoughts, predispositions, and “scripts”; thereby releasing “automatic” reactions toward what seem to be pleasant and unpleasant situations or feelings.” Source: Wikipedia, “Mindfulness (Buddhism).”

Today, find a little time to think about what you’re doing, and think about how you’re thinking about it. Do it for just five minutes and you’ll surprise yourself by what you discover…

* By the way, don’t be put off by Wikipedia snobs, people who sneer at Wikipedia and say it’s full of mistakes and you can’t trust anything it says. For one thing, it suggests a rather naive belief on their part that there is any text anywhere that you can innocently believe and trust, as if it were purely objective. For another, it ignores the evidence: an investigation reported in the journal Nature in 2005 suggested that for scientific articles Wikipedia came close to the level of accuracy in Encyclopædia Britannica and had a similar rate of “serious errors”.