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NEWCASTLE NEWS
March 5, 2004
Newcastle woman uses hypnotherapy to change lives
By Christine Ermey
News Editor
As a hynotherapist and HypnoBirthing practitioner, Jackie Foskett helps people help themselves. “I am empowered to be able to empower others,” she said “I am passionate about what I do.”
Hypnotherapy is the use of hypnosis to access one’s body, mind and spirit to help in healing physical, mental or emotional problems. As a certified clinical hypnotherapist, Foskett’s job is to guide clients into hypnosis in order to access their inner healers, where healing and change occur.
“Hypnosis is an altered state of focus,” Foskett said. “It’s working with the subconscious, where so many things are imprinted in us to change or transform patterns that are no longer serving us.”
Under hypnosis, Foskett’s clients are in a naturally induced state of relaxed concentration, in which they communicate suggestions to their unconscious minds. This part of the mind, Foskett said, influences what people think, how they feel, and the choices they make.
Foskett teaches her clients how to use that power of the mind to quit smoking, lose weight, and overcome stress and fear.
“It really is about changing our minds to change our lives,” she said.
Foskett has been a registered dental hygienist for more than 25 years. Using that experience, she is currently developing a hypnotherapy program to bring into dental offices to train dentists and staff to use relaxation techniques for their patients.
It was through her career as a dental hygienist that Foskett discovered hypnotherapy and HypnoBirthing. “As a registered dental hygienist, I’ve always been in the health care industry,” she said.
In 1991, while living in California, Foskett completed a holistic health-counselor program that included course work on hypnotherapy. When she and her husband moved to Newcastle in 1998, she decided to get further training in hypnotherapy through the Hypnotherapy Institute of Seattle. After completing 300 credit hours, she became registered by the state of Washington as a clinical hypnotherapist.
As part of her continuing education as a hypnotherapist, she began training to become a HypnoBirthing practitioner.
HypnoBirthing is a trademark childbirth method originally developed by hypnotherapist Marie Mongan. The method uses self-hypnosis to allow women to have an easy and comfortable childbirth experience.
Western culture oftentimes portrays childbirth as something to be afraid of, Foskett said. In four two-hour HypnoBirthing classes, she teaches women how to stay calm, focused and relaxed during the birth.
“Fear produces tension and tension produces pain,” Foskett said. “If the mom is not in a state of tension and fear, she has more energy and she can bond with the baby faster and easier, and she is alert.”
In addition to teaching private HypnoBirthing classes in her home, Foskett is also on contract with Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland where she teaches several HypnoBirthing classes each year.
The HypnoBirthing method teaches a type of deep breathing. When the pregnant woman is having a contraction, using the slow-breathing techniques can bring sufficient oxygen to the uterus, thus allowing the muscle fibers that work to contract and open the uterus to work in harmony, not resistance. This makes it more comfortable for the mother. “When moms can release their fears, doubts, worries and concerns they can then just let go and go into their birthing bodies, just as nature intended,” Foskett says.
Women who complete the HypnoBirthing class not only learn about breathing methods, but also about self-hypnosis and calming techniques. “I give them homework assignments to practice,” she said. HypnoBirthing, Foskett said, can eliminate or greatly reduce the need for anesthesia during childbirth and can shorten the first stage of labor by several hours.
Lisa James of Kirkland used HypnoBirthing techniques when she delivered her daughter on Sept. 15, 2002. “HypnoBirthing is an amazing tool for birth,” she said. “I had a home birth with no interventions. I had very little discomfort that could not be managed with HypnoBirthing. … My birthing experience was awesome, fulfilling, very pain-free, relaxing, calm and empowering. I would do it again in a second.”
Tiffany Terrant of Seattle used HypnoBirthing when she delivered her first baby on Oct. 1, 2002. “HypnoBirthing techniques gave me the tools to feel confident about my body’s ability to give birth,” she said. “I entered calm, relaxed and fearless.”
To learn more about hypnotherapy and HypnoBirthing visit Foskett’s Web page at www.healinghypnotherapy.com.