by Anne Shuman Urban, BA, CH, CPHI
Anne E. Shuman Urban, BA, CH, came to the Banyan Hypnosis Center For Training & Services, Inc., in February, 2002, having previously maintained a private hypnosis practice in Reading, PA and Wilmington, DE. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Religious studies from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA. Anne is also certified in Neuro-Linguistic Programming and HypnoBirthing® Childbirth Education. She has practiced as a Certified Hypnotist for five years, and has seen hundreds of clients – over 100 of which were in her first 5 months with us at the Banyan Hypnosis Center.
Anne’s interest in hypnosis began when a trusted teacher introduced her to the idea of using hypnosis for healing past issues. One session and she was hooked. Her practice in Pennsylvania developed as woman-centered, and she opted to certify in HypnoBirthing®. Birthing work resonated deeply within her, and she expanded her practice to teach HypnoBirthing® at The Birth Center in Wilmington, DE. She still very much enjoys working with women’s issues, anxiety, self-esteem, and self-confidence as well as HypnoBirthing®, and finds this kind of work very fulfilling. Since being at our hypnosis center in Mounds View, she has had ample opportunity to diversify further and reach a larger population, male and female alike.
Working at The Banyan Hypnosis Center has given Anne the chance to practice 5-PATH® Hypnosis. This 5-Phase hypnotic process, developed by Calvin D. Banyan, offers a logical unfolding or tracing of the issue back to genesis. In 5-PATH®, we are able to get underneath our resistance to change and affect those changes from the inside out. Anne offers suggestions to help clarify goals, which allows the client to see places where they previously were not able to achieve what they wanted and make a qualitative difference.
An applicable metaphor of the dandelion in a field of grass is a favorite way for Anne to illustrate the 5-PATH® process. Rather than simply plucking the flower so the weed blends into the lawn better, the dandelion needs to be removed at the root in order to preserve the field of grass and allow it to flourish. Five-Path allows the subconscious to tell the client what they need to know in order to take the ‘problem’ out by the roots. The multi-phase process promotes healing of related aspects to the problem, and in 4-6 sessions, to create a new start. This precipitates real transformation & real change. The client comes up with her own answers via her hypnotist’s guidance, allowing the change to best fit into her worldview. Hypnosis offers remarkable access to permanent change.
Anne was most impressed with one of her recent clients, a scientific, intelligent woman who was struggling with a fear of flying. This woman also came in very skeptical of hypnosis and its power to be beneficial to her. She was scheduled for a trip and was having great anxiety related to even preparing for her trip, much less getting on her flight. Often, strong emotions are expressed through 5-PATH®; however, this client was already particularly advanced in dealing with and resolving issues. Through the hypnotic process, the part of this issue which had not yet been dealt was released. It seems she had what Anne termed as ‘limiting beliefs’ about flying, which appealed more to the scientist mind within her, rather than emotional ‘wounds’ which needed to heal. Anne believes if a hypnotist listens, the client will tell exactly what she needs, often without realizing it herself.
7th Path™, Banyan Hypnosis Center’s own system of self-hypnosis, stands alone, but is designed to work in conjunction with 5-PATH®. It allows a person to connect with a Higher Power to assist in making change without divulging anything to another person. Anne describes it as Global. At a foundational level, our basic beliefs determine our worldview, and therefore our responses to the world around us. 7th Path™ helps us let go of old baggage, freeing us to live in a way that previously was unavailable. It is a tool for using all one’s strengths in life and unlocks places where we are held back.
7th Path™ offers a perspective on healing through a simple process with a spiritual orientation. It can, however, work very well with those whose belief systems do not acknowledge a Higher power. In this instance, it can empower a person to utilize his or her own personal power, that of the self (or mind) to govern reality and make choices. This allows the client to express within her own belief system and realize that her obstacles are not her. Recognizing that the memory of a difficult time is not the same thing as the difficulty presenting itself, allows you to put the difficulty behind you and begin to move on.
5-PATH® differs from 7th Path™ in that 5-PATH® focuses exclusively on the issue that the client came in to address. It uses time-tested and proven techniques to get at the root obstacle, so that you are free to move forward without the old struggle. It promotes one’s own solutions. The hypnotist is just the guide, so that the client can then see what she cannot now see, then have the option to reframe and make the difficulty work for her, not against her.
Phase II of 5-PATH® is unique in that it adds energy or momentum until the problem becomes visible. Adult wisdom can be applied to occurrences as a child, still perceived and responded to as a child. Most people have an idea of the way they want hypnosis to go, the way they think it should go; but the reality is it goes the way it goes, which is sometimes unexpected. Anne would like her clients to be open to any personal healing coming from within, whether it seems to make sense in the moment or not. Often it is deeply connected, but may not yet make conscious sense. Over time, the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.
In working with a client for anxiety, Anne helped her reduce the need for medication and make some positive changes in her life. The client was able to begin owning her choices, so that she refused to be held back by her past. She could then acknowledge and listen to her anxiety and learn to find peace within herself in times of need. She began to trust her own process and ability of the self to make changes in her life.
Anne has seen the success of her clients following hypnosis. In the case of her client with the fear of flying, she witnessed her able to make plans and preparation for her trips and without any of the old fear coming up. EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) also helped her to take any remaining emotional response down to a manageable level. EFT helped her train her mind to take irrational and inappropriate fear out of the way before disrupting her life at a conscious level. Successful coping helped her to move on to other flights and experiences towards reaching her goals. Hypnosis helps us come to realize it is not life and its circumstances that cause pain. The pain comes from our resistance to the change and growth life offers us. Everyday, every moment is an opportunity, and recognizing it as such gives us new choices.
In her work here at the Banyan Hypnosis Center For Training & Services, Anne has gained profound training in allowing clients to be in their own space and then guide them to where they want to be. She has found a place of surrender in listening to others; her clients teach her every day to develop new approaches. She feels this is her greatest opportunity in evolving as a masterful and highly skilled hypnotist and is grateful to be working with so many wonderful and challenging clients at our Center.
You can find more information about Ann on her website for Hypnosis in Delaware.
