Hypnotist
pastor helps individuals overcome addictions
You're getting Sleepy...
BY TRACY SIMMONS
Hmmanuel Irabor was addicted to porn.
Tanya Meadows was addicted
to nicotine.
Rick Honea is addicted to
the subconscious. But, it's OK, he's supposed to be. He's a
hypnotist.
"Hypnotism is a
magnified concentration based on a belief system," he
explained. He runs Beyond Your
Imagination Hypnosis and Massage Center on 2806 34th Street
Suite #11.
But Honea, or Dr. H, hasn't always been in the hypnosis
business, though he has been in the entertainment industry
for about 30 years. He started as a magician and made the
switch to hypnosis after Sept. 11, 2001. It was cheaper.
Besides, as fun as illusions are, they don't really make the
impact quite like hypnotism does.
He's a trained professional
and spends part of his time training future hypnotists.
Honea is also pastor of
College Heights Baptist Church. He said many people assume
hypnotism is "evil," but he assures that it's not.
"The first response is
that it's of the devil," he said. "If they don't
understand something, they assume it's bad."
Honea said hypnotism can be
backed up biblically. Romans 12:2, for example, reads,
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then
you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -
his good, pleasing and perfect will."
The "renewing of the mind" part, he said, includes
hypnotism.
Honea is the only stage hypnotist
in Lubbock. He performs across the country and uses stage hypnotism
to entertain and to motivate. He said he never forces anyone into
hypnosis; in fact, he said, that's not even possible.
"People who are on stage want
to be. They want to have fun," he said.
But it's not all fun and games.
That's where hypnotherapy comes in.
Just ask Irabor. He wanted to
quench his urge to turn to pornography when times got tough. The
doctors couldn't help him. Neither could psychiatrists.
"I kept praying. I just needed
somebody to help me," he said. "I went on the Internet and
saw Dr. H. I read his profile and saw that he was a Christian
man."
So he made an appointment. Honea
told Irabor that hypnosis wouldn't magically take his addiction
away, but it would help.
After a thorough discussion, the hypnosis began.
Honea turned on light music and
told Irabor to close his eyes and listen to his voice. He told him
his eyes were getting heavy. His neck. His elbows. His shoulders.
Before he knew it, Irabor was walking up a grassy hill with a
weighty backpack on. The bag was getting too heavy. Irabor could
feel the weight on his shoulders. Honea told him to take stuff out
of the pack to make it lighter. It worked.
"He helped me get into my
subconscious, and I conquered some of my weaknesses," Irabor
said.
He hasn't looked at Internet porn
in two months. He doesn't have the urge to look at it anymore, he
said.
Meadows goes to Honea's church and had heard him talk about
hypnotism. She had been lighting up for 15 years. She had tried the
gum, she had tried limiting how many cigarettes she had a day, but
it never lasted long.
But she was determined to change,
and in 2006 decided it was her New Year's resolution.
"I got to the point where I
was down to six a day (down from a pack-and-a-half). I thought I was
doing well, but I could not get past that point," she said.
On March 6 she went to Honea for
help. They spent 45 minutes talking about the issue.
"Then," Meadows said,
"he hypnotized me."
Honea gave her a copy of the CD he
used during her hypnosis so she could listen to it when things got
stressful.
"I used the CD several times
over the next six weeks," she said.
But Meadows never reached for a
cigarette. It's been 10 months.
Hypnosis, she said, is simple. It's positive reinforcement.
"If you're wanting to quit,
it's just another positive reinforcement to get you to where you can
quit and stay quit," Meadows said.
Honea said it's slightly more
complicated than that. He explained that the subconscious is where
long-term memories dwell. So, by attaching new, positive images to
the subconscious, changes happen.
It's a science, he said. Honea noted that it happens to
people every day. "Have you ever been reading a
book and lose track of time?" he asked. That's hypnosis. So is spacing out
and driving past your exit, Honea said. Learning how to use it properly, he
said, can change lives.
To comment on this story:
tracy.simmons@lubbockonline.com
766-8745
shelly.gonzales@lubbockonline.com 766-8747
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http://www.lubbockonline.com/stories/012207/loc_012207027.shtml
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of Christian Hypnotists
Hypnosis Center of Lubbock Texas.
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