I only recordred the last few minutes of today's session. Please accept my sincerer apology. i can only invite you to listen to your own memories, your own inner recordings of what you experienced.

Healing Language & Preparation for Surgery - No. 5

Rubin Battino - Matter Class Outline 

July 1, 2024  7 PM EDT

A. Introduction to Healing Language

When I was growing up as a boy in the Bronx there was a saying, “Sticks and stones can break you bones, but words will never harm you.” Not true. Many people suffer all of their lives from negative comments made to them when they were younger by a significant person. Steve Andreas wrote two wonderful and useful NLP related books about transforming negative self-talk (2012, 2014). Eric Berne wrote about “witch messages” and transactional analysis (1964). I wrote a book about healing language (2010), and my friend Carl Hammerschlag kindly wrote in the foreword, “In Healing Language, Rubin tells stories that demonstrate how language and the context is which it is presented can change behaviors.” So, the first part of this master class will present some of the 68 scenarios in the book about healing language (and harmful ones in a few cases) for a large variety of situations. The book also contains responses from doctors, nurses, and patients.

B. Some Selected Scenarios

Scenario 40 - breast cancer and pain - A young mother of three small children has advanced breast cancer with no further curative treatments possible.  She is worried about her children, and if she will be able to communicate when she is “drugged up.”

1.  Factual 1 - Don’t worry.  The pain killers we have now control the pain and you’ll have much time when you can talk.

2.  Factual 2 - These new drugs will keep you both comfortable and able to communicate.  You may sleep a lot though.

3.  False Reassurance 1 - You’ll be okay.  Don’t worry.  We know what we’re doing.

4.  False Reassurance 2 - You’ll be able to talk.  Okay?

5.  False Reassurance 3 - You’ll be comfortable.  There’s nothing to worry about.

6.  Hostile 1 - Look, just make the most of the time you have left with your kids.  Take them to Disneyland or something.

7.  Hostile 2 - Since you don’t have much time left, try for quality time.

8.  Empathic 1 - That can be worrying—how are your children going to take this?  Listen, the new medications we have will keep you quite comfortable and able to communicate.  How are you now?

9.  Empathic 2 - I’m sure you’ll want to spend as much time as possible with your children, and be able to really be with them.  The hospice people are very good at keeping you both comfortable and aware.  You’ll also be home most of the time.  What’s going on inside you now?

10.  Healing 1 - That would worry me, too, the possibility of not talking with your children.  I can assure you that the drugs we use now are very effective for controlling pain.  They are also given in such a way that you’ll be able to really be with your children.  You may sleep more, that’s true.  But, when you’re awake, you’ll be there for them.  I don’t know how reassuring this is—what’s going on inside you?

11.  Healing 2 - That’s a real worry.  Sometimes, you’ll be groggy and out of it.  Most of the time you’ll be comfortable and aware and communicative.  In addition, the hospice program is designed to keep you in your own home as long as possible.  So, you’ll be there with your children.  You can always call on me and my staff—we’re here to help you.  What are you feeling, and how can we help?

Briefer Scenarios

Scenario 1 - Lung Cancer - A 40-year-old man who is a fitness fanatic, except for his smoking, develops lung cancer.  Response: It must be very hard to accept a serious illness when you feel so fit.

Scenario 2 - Cancer in Remission  - There is a significant chance it will recur in the next few years.  Response: It must be awful for you to be continually worrying about a recurrence.

Scenario 10 - Inoperable Tumor  - Test results show that the patient has an inoperable tumor.  Response: You know, I always have hope.  There are some other treatments that have been helpful.  We have some time to explore these options.  There’s a great deal we can do to help you through this and to keep you comfortable.

Scenario 11 - Giving a Prognosis  - Test results have come in and the patient has asked for a prognosis.  Response: I can tell you what the statistics say.  Everyone is different.  I know this is almost impossibly hard for you, but I will stick with you and help in any way I can.  If you push me for a number now, I would give you a range of a few months to several years.

Scenario 24 - Pancreatic Cancer and End-of-Life  - A 72 year-old patient is told that he has pancreatic cancer which has metastasized.  Response: This is serious since the cancer has metastasized and there are no treatments.  You may wish to take advantage of the local hospice program—they are very good at keeping you comfortable and helping with family.  You can call on me any time and I will be available.

Scenario 53 - Child With Cancer  - A. Telling Parents Response: The tests are in and I am very sorry to tell you she/he has cancer.  It is treatable with a good prognosis.  The treatments will be hard on you and ______ (name child).  We will give you all the support and help we can.  B. Telling Child Response: You have a very serious illness.  We know how to treat it and we are sure you will come through this well.  Some of the treatments may make you feel bad, but we have lots of good medicines to help, and your parents can stay with you.

Comments: Words really matter. I facilitated an Exceptional Patient Support group for many years. Most of the members had cancer which at that time was referred to as a life-threatening disease. Then one day I realized that this description was threatening—and I changed it to life-challenging. The earlier word is scaring and the second one implies hope. Also, the word “hope” is hopeful! It is my hope that you will find my book on healing language useful. 

“Not to worry, could be worse” joke.  

Moribundus Story: A patient was very ill and dying. He was told that if they could diagnose his illness that they could find a cure. A specialist examined him and gave his diagnosis to the by-standing doctors. The patient eagerly asked for the diagnosis. The specialist said “moribundus” and left. Somehow, knowing the diagnosis, the patient got better and left the hospital. Moribundus is Latin for “He is dying!”

The Patient From Hell (S. S. Schneider, 2005): Schneider had cancer and he was a scientist who knew all about statistics and probability curves. His oncologist had given him a prognosis of 6 months based on his information. Schneider wanted to know where we was on the probability curve and kept asking questions about treatments and statistical outcomes. His badgering led to experimental treatments and he actually lived three more years. You need to know about error bars and probability curves!

Useful Information: Iatrogenic means doctor caused illnesses and difficulties. Nosocomial means hospital caused illnesses and health difficulties.

Comments and Questions

C. Preparing Preparation for Surgery

1. Remen’s Healing Circle—Remen (1996, pp. 151-3) describes a healing circle to prepare people for surgery. (She was the medical director at Commonweal, a California retreat for people who had cancer.) The person assembles a small support group of family and friends and provides a small smooth stone which is passed around the group. The person holding the stone tells a personal story about a trauma or difficult time in his life. Then he describes what personal characteristics, attributes, or actions helped him through that time. These could be courage, strength, faith, love, persistence, belief in a divine being, stubbornness, or prayer. This personal tale is concluded with, “I put love or prayer, e.g., into this stone so you may have it with you.” The stone is passed on. In this manner each person ends with a similar statement, endowing the stone and imbuing in it his or her way of coping and surviving. When all have spoken, the stone, which is now the repository of all of these personal gifts, is given to the central person. S/he would tape the stone to a hand or foot, and inform the medical staff or surgeon about its sacred significance before entering the operating room. Please note that this kind of healing circle can be used to support people who are: alcoholics, drug users, PTS, OCS, depressed, anxious, bulimic, etc.—use your imagination.

2. Rubin’s Preparation for Surgery—Battino (2000, pp. 149-62) describes in detail how he prepares people for surgery using hypnosis. He and his client prepare a letter to the surgeon explaining that he has prepared her/him using hypnosis. They also provide the surgeon with a laminated 5x8 index card (that can go into the OR and be sanitized) with the following comments for someone in the OR to read to the patient during the surgery (there is evidence that patients under the surgical plane of anesthesia can hear messages):

1.  Amy—please slow down (or stop) the bleeding where I am working.

Thank you.

2.  Amy—this is going very well.  Thank you.

3.  Amy—you will heal surprisingly quickly.  Thank you.

4.  Amy—you will be surprisingly comfortable and at ease after this.

Thank you.

5.  Amy—your recovery will be very rapid.  Thank you.

Note that the messages start with the patient’s name and end with “Thank You” so that she knows the message is for her.

For those of you who are willing, Rubin will now guide you through an abbreviated form of what he tells Amy and also makes a recording for her of the whole session which she can play as many times as she wishes. This is to establish post-hypnotic instructions for Amy. David Cheek (gynecologist and obstetrician) researched and showed that patients can hear what is said in the OR even under the plane of anesthesia. He recommended putting up a sign in all ORs stating, “Remember: patients can hear what you say.”

The preparation for surgery using hypnosis to establish post-hypnotic suggestions in the patient is in five steps:

1. Induction and Relaxation (usually paying attention to breathing)

2. Comments for pre-op experience

3. Comments during the surgery in the OR

4. Post-operative comments

5. Returning home to normal comments

Note: As an important part of (1) above the patient tells me what their “safe haven” is. They also briefly describe this place. This is a place they can go to in their mind when they are in the OR and dissociate and look at themselves “over there” on the operating table. They can also go to this place in other parts of the procedure as they wish. Their “other mind” knows that they are in the OR and recovery. Details are in the book and chapter cited above.

Comments and Queries

D. Scott D. Miller’s Free before after session evaluations. 

Go to:   https://www.scottdmiller.com/   and click on “Fit Measuring Licensing” to get free access to download and use his before and after session evaluations which RB highly recommends.

E. Some Further Comments - Again!

1. Pause Power - Clients need time to process what is going on in the hypnosis portion of the session. Add many pauses so that they can do this internal work. In essence, they drift off when a particular suggestion is significant to them, and then return to hearing you. 

2. Special Words or Phrases - The “magic” word that I like to use when doing hypnosis is “somehow.” That is, somehow these changes will occur: the client then fills in how this happens! Other good word are “and,” “when,” and “then.” In Michael Yapko’s 5^th edition of “Trancework” he emphasizes how the query “how” initiates change. That is, “How do you or how did you do that.” Example: “How are you depressing yourself (changes a noun to a verb—you can insert other difficulties for depression).”

3. Expectation and the Placebo Effect - My expectation, and thus that of my clients, is that we will be able to resolve what troubles them in one session. Also, note that the Placebo Effect is always in the background in ALL therapy sessions, i.e., both clients and we expect change!

4. Mary Goulding’s Opening Query is “What are you willing to change today?” Followed by “Just let that question rattle around the back of your mind during this session.” This is a wonderful way to start a session.

5. Importance of being passionate about being a therapist, and giving your clients your complete attention.

6. Importance of smiling and occasional humor.

7. “If what you are doing is not working, then do something different.” Steve DeShazer.

8. “If what you are doing is not working, then do something unusual or unexpected or surprising.” Rubin Battino

Comments & Queries

G. Next Session (6): Direct Therapy Methods and David Cheek’s Ideomotor Signaling approach.

H. Closing Healing Meditation   

THANK ROB AND ATTENDEES!

Bonus #1: Rubin writes three-line poems. Here are two:

let’s do moonies do I need to pee? now?

bare asses to the world I don’t think so

Hallelujah! and then, le deluge

Bonus #2: Go to Rubin’s web site   (www.rubinbattino.com)   In the chemistry section click on the movie icon and you will be able to see one his 90 minute chem demo shows (with colleague J. Fortman). As Kay Thompson once pointed out, “It is never too late to have a happy childhood.” Also for those who have children or grand children or are periodically childish!