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USC students relax through self-hypnosis
Reprinted with permission of the Carolina
Reporter
By Valerie Matchette
Edited by Jarvis Holliday
I'm graduating from college in one month and I don't yet
have a job or an apartment. I'm working 32 hours this
week in addition to attending classes, and I haven't
even started the 20-page term paper due at the end of
the month. I have a car insurance bill and car payment
due within three weeks and a bank account that plunged
below zero a few days ago.
But I am not feeling stressed at all at this moment.
These worries crop up at the surface of my thoughts,
then vanish immediately as I take a deep breath, sink
deeper into my beanbag chair and let relaxation wash
over me.
To forget the stresses of my everyday life, I am taking
part in one of Fayth Parks' hour long weekly drop-in
self-hypnosis sessions.
 In
a cozy, dimly lit room lined with different colored,
invitingly soft beanbag chairs, Parks applies the
principles of clinical hypnosis to relaxation.
"It's an opportunity for us to take a break from the
stress and demands of our daily life here," Parks said.
She compares the self-hypnosis to watching a movie
that's so interesting the viewer is totally removed from
the everyday grind.
She also is quick to point out that what she does is far
different from the image of hypnosis as a nightclub act.
Self-hypnotism is strictly a way of connecting with
one's own "internal peace," Parks said; it's not about
being made to cluck like a chicken.
"You will not do anything you do not want to do in
here." said Parks, a certified clinical hypnotist and
psychologist. USC's Counseling and Human Development
Center has offered these self-hypnosis classes for more
than 15 years. Parks has taught them for the past four.
Jennifer Johnson, a junior psychology major, said she
heard about the program through a friend who worked at
the center.
"I just thought it'd be a good way to learn how to
relax," Johnson said. "I've tried yoga, but I can't
clear my mind enough to do that."
Freshman Chad Drayton likened it to being at the edge of
sleep, "like being in a really deep daydream."
 According to Parks, that's exactly what it is. She said
the hypnotic process induces what's called the "Alpha
state," which is the "level of relaxation right before
sleep."
"That's where deep relaxation is really accessible to
you." Parks said.
Participants make themselves at home on the beanbag
chairs while Parks gives them instructions in a soothing
voice. She tells them to take deep breaths and focus
their eyes on a point in front of them until their
eyelids get heavy. Next, Parks describes how each part
of the body, from the legs to the arms, shoulders and
face, lets its muscles relax. "Let your legs
relax...feel them sink down towards the floor..." Parks
intones gently.
Once the participants are fully relaxed, Parks might
read them a story or describe a soothing visual image.
Next, Parks gently brings her subjects back to the real
world and instructs them not to let anyone disturb their
mental peace for the rest of the day. Concentrating
fully on the relaxation process with no interruptions is
what makes it work, Parks said.
"Because we live in a culture that has so many
distractions going on, we're so not used to having
focus," she said.
Johnson said she enjoyed her first self-hypnosis
experience and would probably return for another
session. "It was relaxing," she said.
People are much less susceptible to hypnosis than they
might think, Parks said, but most people can be
hypnotized if they go into a hypnosis session with an
open mind.
According to a 2001 article in Psychology Today, 95
percent of people can be hypnotized to some degree.
Parks said she has used hypnosis in therapy sessions to
help treat patients' phobias, such as a fear of flying,
or to help people quit smoking--during this stressful
time of year, she encourages students to visit the
self-hypnosis sessions.
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