Questions About my Specialties

Question About the Sessions

Questions About Me

Most Common Questions

Can you tell me a little bit about hypnosis?
To get a brief overview about hypnosis, click here. For a larger essay on hypnosis, click here.

What do you specialize in?
I’ve worked on all the areas you’d generally associate with a medically-oriented hypnotist (smoking, weight management, phobias). As a psychologist, I’ve researched and now specialize in self-esteem as it relates to performance, relationships, and anxiety. To read a manual I’ve written on smoking cessation, click here. For weight management information, click here. For fear of flying information, click here. For other phobias and anxiety, click here. For general or social self-esteem issues, click here. If you have a particular condition and want to know directly if I deal with that condition, click here to contact me.

How do I get in touch with you? What’s your e-mail/telephone number?
That information can be found here. I’ve put all the contact information in one place to help minimize spam. Best way to reach me is through e-mail.

How do I setup an appointment?
Easy as filling out this form. I’ll receive the information by e-mail, which I check a few times each day. I’ll then contact you to setup our first appointment.

When do you see patients? How much does everything cost? How do I get to your office and where can I park?
This page has all those answers.

Questions About my Specialties

What’s your success rate in general?
It’s difficult to assert a success rate unless it’s an either yes or no answer, such as if a person continues to smoke or if a person is able to fly. For smokers, about 86% who come in are smoke-free at one year. Keep in mind that a) I only accept those who really want to quit, b) many who come in are also taking medication and c) I do a combination of both behavioral techniques and hypnotherapy. For fear-of-flying, the success rate is 94%, which is pretty good but also typical of behavioral therapy for fear-of-flying. For other issues, such as self-esteem or general anxiety, it’s difficult to have a quantitative assessment. I have found that virtually everyone feels better than when they started the sessions, that you’ll notice a difference in how you feel typically at the end of the first session, and that you’ll typically notice an improvement with each subsequent session.

What’s your success rate with helping people quit smoking?
After one year, approximately 86%. About 79% quit outright and remain non-smokers. About 14% need a backup session within the first month, of which about a third come in and are successful. After 3 to 6 months, about 7% relapse, of which a little less than 50% come in and are successful. Thus, at the end of the year, 86% of those who come in remain non-smoker. Keep in mind that coming in for the backup session and doing the homework (i.e. the daily walks) are keys to your success. About 80% of those who come in less than a month from the first session haven’t been taking their breaks and 75% of those who come in after 3 months haven’t been doing their walking. So if you do your homework your success rate can be quite high!

Do you work with depression, procrastination, poor study habits, or eating disorders?
Yes, I’ve worked on all four issues but they aren’t my specialties. I do work extensively with self-esteem and self-worth issues, so to the extent that those particular issues relate to self-esteem and self-worth, my techniques could be a very helpful supplement. If you’re unsure, contact me with any questions you might have.

Do you work with pot addiction?
Yes. The details change depending upon if you want to quit pot entirely vs. just cut back (most seem to pick the latter option). Enquire for details.

Do you work with other types of addictions/issues?
My specialties are smoking cessation, phobia treatment, and relationship issues. If you ask about a particular service, and I just don’t focus on it, I’ll refer you to someone who does.

For phobias, do you work with Virtual Reality?
Yes. I have both hardware and software that replicates the experience of being on an airplane, in an elevator, on stage, in Vietnam, and in a crack house (it’s quite surreal). For more information, visit this section.

Do you work with dream analysis, age regression, past-life regression, natural birth, surgery without anesthesia, or finding lost objects?
No. I don’t believe the first three are very helpful, I’d never dream of surgery (or childbirth) without some sort of medication, and I’m still looking for a watch I lost three years ago!

Do you work with children?
Yes. Children seem to get excited about hypnosis and they feel better about going to a hypnotist than a doctor (though I suppose that’s often the same with us adults). I worked with a kid happy as a clam to be in my office till his dad called me “Doctor Murphy.” If the child is under 12, I’ll typically recommend a housecall. I’ve worked with kids in the area of performance (i.e. baseball/ballet), nightmares, phobias, shyness and anxiety/self-esteem.

Questions About the Sessions

What if I can’t be hypnotized?
Virtually everyone can be hypnotized. Imagine a lemon in your hand. Have your hand out and pretend you’re holding a lemon. How does it feel? What color is it? Pretend to take a knife and slice open the lemon. What type of knife is it? Is there lemon juice now in your hand? Now take one half of the lemon and look inside. Are there seeds? Go ahead and bite into that lemon. If you winced a little or if your mouth feels watery, you just hypnotized yourself! Keep in mind that the more you “follow along,” the easier it will be for you, just as with the lemon example.

I have a difficult time relaxing. Is that going to be a problem?
No, not really. As per the example above, you don’t need to be in a deep trance to experience hypnosis. Some variations of traditional hypnosis I use don’t even require you to have your eyes closed. Deep relaxation is more a product of hypnosis than a prerequisite.

Do you work with EFT? NLP? CBT?
Therapy seems to have many “alphabet agencies.” I have experience using all three: the first as an alternative to hypnosis, the second as a component of hypnosis, and the third as complementary techniques. From my pre and post docs, I’ve acquired a rather large toolbox of different techniques, though I tend to stick with what people are familiar with and what works best for them.

How many sessions are involved?
For smoking, one. For fear-of-flying, three-to-six. For other issues, it’s difficult to say. The short answer is that it’ll be less than traditional therapy but typically longer than just a one-session-wonder. The average? Typically between eight and ten sessions for most issues.

Will my insurance cover this type of therapy?
It may. The first step is to contact your insurance company. In some cases, they may tell you to get a doctor’s note or prescription. In that case, contact me, and I’ll make sure you have the proper forms for your doctor. It typically involves a prescription form with a DSM code.

After the hypnosis, will I be able to drive home?
Yes. Give yourself five minutes from the time I snap my fingers, but in almost all cases by the time you leave my office, you’re okay to drive home.

Do you do house calls?
Yes. I generally won’t charge extra if it’s someone who’s ill and not too far away (i.e. not outside the Westside area). If you just want the convenience of not having to leave your house I can oblige, though I’ll charge you extra depending on how far I have to travel.

What’s your office like?
I have a private office on the forth floor of a five-story building, in up-town Beverly Hills. In the office I have a desk, a few chairs, two bigger chairs, a filing cabinet, a computer, and a refrigerator. I have a great view of the miracle mile but a large building across from Wilshire obscures the Hollywood sign. The office provides lots of privacy and enough room to teach a small class, though the AC is too strong during the week and not strong enough on the weekends.

I represent a celebrity, famous singer, or some other VIP. Can you accommodate?
If you want to come in but don’t want to be seen, we can schedule an evening appointment or an appointment on Sunday. The entire building is a ghost town on Sunday and the office building is quite large. I can do housecalls, but I do charge for that service. Contact me for details. Keep in mind I don’t watch too much TV and never watch reality TV, so I’m typically clueless as to who’s famous and who’s not. The last 5 people who told me they were on TV, well, had to tell me they were on TV.

My friend and I want to quit smoking together. Would you reduce the cost if we both came in? Can we stop smoking in a group session?
I generally do only one-on-one due to the importance of customization (i.e. your own, personal reasons for quitting). But if you come in together, one-after-the-other, I’ll knock $50 each person who comes in so it would be $350 each instead of $400.

What happens if we see each other outside the office?
My rule is in a public setting: “I acknowledge you when you acknowledge me.” That means I’ll pretend to have never met you until you approach me and bring up the topic of us working together. This is so that you don’t have to have anyone know you saw a psychologist/hypnotist to quit smoking (or for any other reason) unless you so choose.

Questions About Me

Are you a hypnotherapist, a psychiatrist, a psychotherapist, or what?
Are you a hypnotherapist, a psychiatrist, a psychotherapist, or what? I’m a psychologist but also a hypnotherapist and behavioral therapist. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specializes in psychopharmacology and typically prescribes medication. A psychotherapist is a psychologist licensed by the state. That should be me sometime in late 2008 or early 2009.

How did you get involved with hypnosis?
I started college in a pre-med program but felt more comfortable taking psychology courses. I was always impressed about how quickly results can be made with hypnosis. Hypnosis also fits well with modern psychological techniques as well as a variety of less conventional therapies. I experimented in hypnosis when I was a kid and was always fascinated with the role of imagery in changing perception. While in graduate school, being a hypnotist gave me the chance to work with patients while earning my doctorate in psychology. Lastly, I’ve always opted to work with relatively higher functioning individuals who just want to get better, be it though being able to fly on an airplane, or quit smoking, or feel better about their sense of self-worth.

What’s your training?
I’ve trained in behavioral therapy and hypnotherapy. That was my certification, which allows me to see patients. I have my bachelors from Rutgers University and my masters and doctorate in psychology through Capella University. I’ve taken a 1,500 pre-doc and a 1,500 post-doc, where I was supervised and trained in cognitive/behavioral therapy as well as hypnotherapy.

What training are you in now?
As of this writing (May, 2008), I’m studying to take the EPEE and the CPSE, two exams I have to pass to become a licensed psychotherapist. I’m also taking courses required by the state for licensure applicants on drug dependence, elder abuse, and supervision training.

What was your dissertation topic?
My dissertation topic was on the relationship between global self-esteem and the fear-of-flying in adults. My main hypothesis was that adults with a low level of global self-esteem would be more likely to have a fear-of-flying. The remaining hypotheses related to how gender and age may interact to either aggravate or mitigate this relationship. I found that low global self-esteem predicted the fear-of-flying but only in men, where there was quite a strong relationship (p < .01). Although women are much more likely to have a fear-of-flying compared to men, there is no difference in self-esteem level between women who have a fear-of-flying compared to women who do not. Men, on the other hand, are much more likely to have a fear-of-flying if they have a low global self-esteem. Keep in mind the study was only about correlation, not causation. Though I may research whether therapy focused on raising global self-esteem may generalize to also abate fear-of-flying anxiety.

Can we film you for a segment/show/webshow/podcast?
Probably. E-mail me the details. I’m not camera shy, but I’ve heard horror stories about psychologists and hypnotists explaining something that was later taken out of context. Remember that hypnosis is sometimes quite boring when it’s done right!

Are you teaching any classes?
I’ve taught for a while at the “Last Drag” program for quitting smoking (in Hollywood) and phobias through the learning annex. I’m not currently teaching any hypnosis classes but might be teaching either Social Psychology or Lifespan Development at a community college.

What’s your opinion on past life regression/subliminal tapes/memory retrieval/natural childbirth?
I don’t personally believe in past life regression. There’s not much evidence subliminal tapes work beyond a placebo effect (which is typically negligible). Memory retrieval is generally unreliable. If you’re interested in natural childbirth, I’ve heard good things and will be happy to refer you to someone who focuses on just that!

Haven't you worked with [insert famous persons name here]?
If I did, I generally won’t say. I’d have to get explicit permission to say anything even if the person in question mentions me first.