Chapter Summaries

The foreword to this book is written by David Corr, my hypnotherapist. Preface: A Word on Hypnosis and Milton Erickson. This chapter explores the limited and contorted portrayal of hypnosis in conventional media as the hypnotist reading a person's mind or making them do something against their will. Next, I introduce the pioneering approach of Milton Erickson, who defied doctors' belief that he would not live after contracting polio at seventeen (in 1918). Instead, polio heightened Erickson's powers of self-observation and reflection, which gave him insight into how the subconscious can relearn what it already knows when it might have trouble communicating to the conscious through hypnosis.

 

PART A: INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1: Introducing Myself

Though I was born with a physical disability, as a young woman, emotional trauma manifested as tinnitus. It almost ended my life before hypnosis provided a way out. The book's introduction includes my personal story, alongside definitions of tinnitus, hypnosis, the subconscious, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Definitions This section defines hypnosis, the subconscious, and the conscious.

 

Chapter 2: My Sound

In this chapter, I describe the effect of tinnitus, the experience of being diagnosed as irrecoverable, and my feelings of loneliness, depression, anxiety, and desperation.

 

Chapter 3: Having a Medical Diagnosis & the Effect of my Emotions Closing Down

This chapter highlights the pressure of being expected to act normally by those around me, which caused my regular emotions to recede, and how this impacted daily interactions.

 

PART B: INSIGHTS ON TRAUMA

Chapter 4: The Importance of Acknowledging my Trauma

This chapter is about finding my hypnotherapist, David Corr, and the importance of being committed to daily treatment and measuring progress towards recovery from tinnitus.

 

Chapter 5: The Importance of Acknowledging my Subconscious

In this chapter I explain how I dealt with the emotional backlog which had resulted in post-traumatic stress disorder and tinnitus, once hypnosis established a relationship between my conscious and subconscious.

 

Chapter 6: My Subconscious Expressing Itself Through the Written Word

This chapter highlights how the subconscious can express itself through the form of questioning using minimal words and removes ambiguity, allowing the person to respond from a deeper source than the conscious. I describe the concept of Clean Language and how this uses the techniques of Automatic Writing.

 

PART C: SUBCONSCIOUS EXPRESSION

Chapter 7: Automatic Writing and my Subconscious

This chapter outlines how to allow the subconscious to express itself through the written word. It first explains the concept of Clean Language and its use, moving on to the Automatic Writing method and then describing practical exercises. Finally, it examines the method of Focusing, where the subconscious can explore an issue and find a resolution.

 

Chapter 8: Automatic Writing

This chapter explains how Automatic Writing enables the subconscious to express itself without intrusion by the conscious and introduces the benefits of applying this technique.

 

Chapter 9: Automatic Writing Exercises

This chapter includes six Automatic Writing exercises and how they enabled me to unlock the once-hidden memories, thoughts, feelings, and emotions out of bounds to my conscious self.

 

Chapter 10: Focusing

This chapter introduces Eugene Gendlin's Focusing technique, which I have adapted by combining with Clean Language and Automatic Writing to assist the subconscious in revealing responses from a deep source.

 

PART D: DREAMS

Chapter 11: Dream Analysis

This chapter explains the importance of dreaming while illustrating the steps of dream analysis using Automatic Writing to reveal emotional messages from the subconscious.

 

Chapter 12: How to Improve Dreaming

In this chapter, I explain how I developed and refined methods and techniques of dreaming through trial and error until they became effective in my recovery.

 

Chapter 13: Writing a Personal Dream Lexicon

This chapter provides more detail about the dream analysing process remains essential even after the period of Dream Analysis has ended.

 

PART E: EXERCISES

Chapter 14: Practical Exercises for the Subconscious

This chapter looks at how the subconscious reveals itself through several short mental exercises, which you can do in your own time and reduce tinnitus.

 

Chapter 15: Burning Letters

This chapter describes how I re-engaged with two traumatic events in my childhood that needed closure, using writing to put the past to rest.

 

Chapter 16: Metaphor Exercises

This chapter explores how to be mindful in everything you do, encouraging the subconscious using hypnosis, and ensuring that the subconscious stays open as you carry on with daily life. This often reduces the sound of tinnitus - metaphors like fly-tipping permit this to happen through simple stories.

 

Chapter 17: Calming Exercises

This chapter includes additional exercises to bring a sense of calmness, often reducing tinnitus.

 

PART F: PRACTISING SILENCE

Chapter 18: The Home Stretch of Returning to Silence

In this chapter, I explain a new way of living, one which anchors my daily experience in emotional reality, allowing me to feel emotions that are necessary for recovery from tinnitus. I discuss the necessity of acknowledging my deepest desires and how this helped me change my lifestyle to recognise what I actually wanted at an emotional level. I was nearly there and could see the summit of the mountain. Silence was but half a yard away. However, this part of the journey left me exhausted, unfocused, and unable to concentrate. Even then, it was worth it. I explained why I found it difficult to express what I was going through to anyone. Finally, this chapter highlights examples from my life that increased my tinnitus and my coping strategies to counter the condition. I have also explained how to reduce tinnitus when emotional trigger points make tinnitus louder.

 

Chapter 19: Conclusion and Epilogue

This chapter reveals how my best friend was crucial to my recovery and how he helped me complete my journey. I conclude by describing the immense joy I experienced through the love and friendship that Phil and I share and how this was vital to my recovery. It is now time to move on and learn to live rather than survive. This epilogue describes a small, simple but important ceremony conducted by Phil to provide closure to one of the most challenging periods of my life and to celebrate the beginning of a new start where I experience silence permanently. I thank David Corr for helping me to gain control over my recovery by imparting his wisdom about the subconscious and how it is possible to connect and communicate with it. David saved my life and will always be my hero, and so will Phil.