Difficult Clients May Be Motivated by Secondary Gain C.banyAN

7/30/2019 Difficult Clients May Be Motivated by Secondary Gain C.banyAN

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Difficult Clients May Be Motivated by Secondary Gain

By:Calvin D. Banyan, MA, BCH, CI

Every experienced hypnotherapist has felt frustrated by certain clients, who despite thehypnotherapist's best efforts, she just seems to refuse to change or allow the symptomsthat brought her in for therapy to be removed. In some cases the culprit is SecondaryGain. This article will help you to detect it and then eliminate its affects which will help youand your clients to be more successful.

In previous articles I have written about 5-PATH (Five-Phase Advanced TransformationalHypnosis) and how it is designed to eliminate a client's problems through the use of,convincers, age regression techniques and forgiveness therapy. Then, in a recent article Igave a brief description of the final phase of that process called Parts Mediation Therapyor PMT. PMT is a special kind of Parts Therapy that is designed to remove SecondaryGain issues so that your clients can finally become free from their old issues whenremoving the cause of the problem alone was insufficient.

Primary versus Secondary Gain

Because of Secondary Gain issues, it is possible for a hypnotherapist to do everythingright as she works with her client to remove the cause of a problem, and completelyremove the cause but still have the problem exist. In these frustrating cases, the

hypnotherapist needs to understand the concepts of Primary and Secondary Gain as theyrelate to a client's problems or issues.

Primary Gain is the benefit that your client receives as a result of manifesting the issue forwhich she has come in to see you about. Most, if not all of your clients have their problemor issue because at one time in her life there was a benefit in having it.

Here are a few examples:

1. Alcohol Abuse

Primary Gain: The alcoholic may start drinking in order to be accepted by a group ofpeers.

Secondary Gain: Then she finds out that when she drinks enough to become intoxicatedshe feels more relaxed and confident around others.

2. Smoking

Primary Gain: The smoker may start smoking for the same reason, in order to beaccepted by a particular group of peers.

Secondary Gain: Then later on she finds that having a cigarette can make her feel morerelaxed as she uses it to take a break from life's stressors.

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3. Childhood Tantrums

Primary Gain: The child who becomes angry and throws her first tantrum may do so outof a natural reaction to an unfair situation she finds herself in.

Secondary Gain: Then she finds and learns that when she has a tantrum that herfrightened mother will give in to her demands.

In each case, the problem behavior, be it drinking too much alcohol, smoking cigarettes ordeveloping an anger problem, had a reason for beginning that is different from what maybe sustaining the problem today. If your therapeutic tools only consist of direct suggestionor age regression, then you will be unable to help these individuals.

Secondary Gain Can Exist When Either Primary Gain is Undiscovered or Non-Existent

Sometimes the Primary Gain can be difficult to identify, or may not actually exist, but evenso, a Secondary Gain issue can exist. For example, an individual may accidentally injure

herself at work, and as a result experience a great deal of pain because of the injury. Sheis then relieved of her work and given medical treatment. She then may even qualify forWorkmen's Compensation or other form of financial aid. These benefits were not thecause of the injury, but after the injury, when she receives these substantial benefits whichwould be lost if she fully recovers from her injury, gives her good reason (subconsciouslyor unconsciously) for holding on to the pain of the injury well after the injury has physicallyhealed. This is often quite different from consciously malingering (pretending to be ill). Inthis case, for the client, the pain is real even though there is no longer a physical cause ofthe pain.

Some types of Secondary Gain that may arise in her case are:

1. Not having to return to a job that she did not care for.

2. Possibility of receiving new training in a more desirable job.

3. Receiving disability payments.

4. Receiving social support from family, friends and governmental services.

Such added benefits, which may have been unanticipated at the time when the problem

first arose for your client, can become a very powerful reason to hold on to the problemlater. This benefit is a gain that is secondary to the original cause of the problem, hencethe term, Secondary Gain.

Secondary Gain May Be Falsely Labeled "A Client's Lack of Readiness to Change"

Hypnotherapists working in the many specialties around the world have become frustratedwhen they use the tools that they have come to rely on, and have proven successfulthrough out their careers only to find that with some clients, those tools do not work. Inthese cases, the frustrated hypnotherapist may simply surmise that "This client was notready to change." However, this "lack of readiness" may really be a lack on the

hypnotherapists' part, in that she did not have the tools that she needed to help thisparticular client. This is where PMT comes in and will work when everything else hasfailed.

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Development of Parts Mediation Therapy

When I first began my study of hypnotherapy, I ran across materials from Charles Tebbittsand Gerald Kein on the subject of parts therapy. But at the time I found age regression andforgiveness therapies to be more appealing than Parts Therapy, because they workedmore directly on the cause of my client's problems. But later when I found that someclients were unable to become free from their problems because of Secondary Gain, I took

another look at the different kinds of Parts Therapy available and studied them again.

I then took this ability that we have as hypnotherapists, to divide a client psychologicallyinto Parts, and applied standard mediation procedures to it. When a client has beenhypnotized and sufficiently deepened to the state of somnambulism, she is able tohallucinate. In this state, the hypnotherapist can simply suggest to her client that she has apart of herself that wants to continue in the old way. When the hypnotherapist beginsspeaking directly to that Part, her client will hallucinate being that Part, separate from theself, with all of the specific needs, wants and desires that are of interest to that Part inmind, along with its particular perspective on the client's situation.

Once the Part has been emerged and the communication has begun, the hypnotherapistcan proceed as a mediator. Mediation is a process that is used in all kinds of disputesaround the world including disputes between individuals, organizations and evencountries. When a mediation process has begun, the mediator meets with the parties inthe dispute to help them resolve it by bringing her special skills to the problem. As a resultthe parties are able to change what they have been doing as a result of an agreed-uponset of new behaviors that will give each or the parties what they want. This kind of anagreement is often described as being a win-win agreement.

I received my training in Mediation Theory in graduate school. Very soon after receivingmy certification in mediation, I used it (mediation techniques, but without hypnosis) as aform of therapy while I was working as a Psychologist at the North Dakota State Hospital.This application of mediation techniques as psychotherapy was groundbreaking and Ipublished a paper about it in the American Psychiatric Association journal, Hospital andCommunity Psychiatry. It was ground breaking because I had created a new kind oftherapy out of mediation technology, when it was thought that using such techniqueswould not work as a therapy, especially if the individuals were mentally ill, as was thecase.

After publishing the article I wanted to do more research on the use of these techniquesand their usefulness as a therapy to help people experiencing relationship problems. Then

I began to realize that the process could be used to help individuals who wereexperiencing internal conflicts that were adding to their mental illness or other problemssuch as addiction, obsession, compulsions and so on. Unfortunately for me at the time, Iwas merely a graduate student and could not interest any of my professors in doingresearch into the idea that mediation could be used as a therapy.

It was not until I became a Certified Hypnotherapist and began studying the different kindsof Parts Therapy did that last few pieces of the puzzle fall into place.

The somnambulistic client could hallucinate sufficiently to experience being divided intoparts so that the hypnotherapist, acting as a mediator could work with the client

using these techniques.

Once the client had been divided into parts the mediation process could be used to

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overcome internal conflicts, in this case caused by Secondary Gain.

That PMT is most effective when the cause of the problem has been eliminated throughthe use of such insight techniques such as Age Regression Therapy andForgiveness Therapy.

Using PMT before the cause of the problem had been neutralized would cause the

problem to return in most cases.

PMT is Different from Other Parts Therapies

In my study of the different kinds of Parts Therapies, I found that many of thoseapproaches were an attempt to balance different aspects of the Self such as the CreativePart or the Brave Part, or even the Wisdom Part, which either the hypnotherapist or theclient perceived to be out of balance in the client. For example, in such a case a client maycomplain that she is not as creative as she once was, at which time the hypnotherapist willconduct a Parts Therapy process in which the Creative Part will be encouraged to "moveup to the front of the stage," or to otherwise become more powerful or present in the

client's life, and so on.

PMT was designed to help the client to discontinue a symptom or behavior that is eitherbeing reinforced or demanded by her present environment (but different from the reasonfor which she started having the problem), hence some kind of Secondary Gain.

When to Use PMT with Your Clients

PMT is designed specifically to remove Secondary Gain issues, and is only to be usedwhen Age Regression Therapy and Forgiveness Therapy (or other techniques that are

used to remove the cause of the problem) have successfully removed the Primary Gainissues. For example the 5-PATH Hypnotherapist will routinely take her clients throughthe first four phases:

Phase I: Hypnosis Testing and Direct SuggestionPhase II: Age Regression and InformedChild TechniquePhase III: Forgiveness of OthersPhase IV: Forgiveness of Self

While Phase I includes preparing the client for hypnosis, depth testing, convincers, anddirect suggestion techniques, Phase II, III and IV are designed to neutralize the cause ofthe problem (i.e., erroneous beliefs from the past and painful emotions that accompanythem such as fear, anger and guilt). When this kind of work has been done successfully,

most clients will not need any additional hypnotherapy. In most cases that thehypnotherapist sees, when the Primary Cause has been removed then simple directsuggestion is sufficient to change the behavior or enable a healing.

Note that, the 5-PATH Hypnotherapist would not automatically proceed with Phase V,PMT unless she has reason to believe that Secondary Gain issues are at work andcausing the client to be unable to change, heal, etc. In fact if the problem continues afterPhases I through IV have been completed, the therapist should first suspect that somepart of one (or more) of the phases were not done sufficiently or completely. Only whenshe has reason to believe that Secondary Gain issues are the source of the continuedproblem should she consider Phase V.

The hypnotherapist can aid herself in making this decision by asking herself and the client,"What will she (the client) lose if she gets well or changes her behavior?" If she loses

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something, then that thing is generating the Secondary Gain and PMT is the indicatedcourse of therapy.

If she has nothing to lose in getting better, then the problem exists in some incomplete partof Phase I through IV. For example, perhaps the ISE (Initial Sensitizing Event) was notdiscovered and neutralized in the age regression. It would be more beneficial for thehypnotherapist to return to doing age regression in this case than to move on to PMT.

How to Do PMT

The process of conducting a PMT session can be easily outlined. Once the hypnotherapisthas this outline, she can use it to guide her through the hypnotherapy process. Additionalinformation about how to conduct this kind of process can be gained by reading any bookon the subject of conflict mediation.

Here is the 12 step process:

1. Evaluate your client's situation to determine whether PMT is indicated as a course of

therapy.

If the problem has returned, was lessened but was not removed, or if the problem stoppedfor a short period of time but returned, reevaluate what was done so far. Ask yourself,"Was the age regression or other techniques such as forgiveness therapy completed toyour total satisfaction or do think that it could have gone better?" If you believe that morecould have been done, go back and complete it. If you believe that: 1) the previoustherapies were all completed satisfactorily, and 2) that your client must lose somethingsubstantial in order to get well or change, then proceed to PMT.

2. Induce hypnosis and deepen to somnambulism.

When you have decided that PMT is indicated in a particular case, make sure that you caninduce and deepen your client sufficiently so that she will experience a deep level ofhypnosis. Somnambulism is required so that your client is able to hallucinate actuallybeing the different Parts of herself, so that the subconscious material that is driving thebehavior can be uncovered and discussed from the different perspectives.

3. Suggest that the client has a part of herself that wants to change and a part that wishesto keep doing what she has been doing.

Once your client is in hypnosis, you will suggest that part of her seems to want to continuein the old way. Then ask if you may speak to that Part directly. This part will be namedaccording to what behavior or symptoms that it is producing. For example you might namea part, the Still-Wanting-To-Smoke Part, Still-Wanting-To-Drink Part, or the Still-Wanting-To-Be-Ill Part, and so on.

4. Introduce yourself as a mediator.

Inform the different Parts that your role is only that of a Mediator and that you are not hereto judge nor do you have any authority in this matter. Your role is only to improvecommunication between the two Parts. She will make all of the important decisions.

5. Uncover the needs, wants or desires being fulfilled by continuing in the old way.

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Now you will proceed by honestly speaking with each Part, the Self and the part that doesnot want to change, so that you can find out what needs, wants or desires are being metby continuing in the old way or beginning to behave in the new way (without the problemsor issues that brought your client in to see you).

6. Show both parts any common interests that they have.

As you uncover why each Part wants to either change or not change you will find that bothwant to do for some very good reasons. Show each Part how the reasons to both changeand continue in the same way are ways to fulfill real needs, wants and desires. Have eachPart acknowledge this and that the intent of both Parts are good and are intended tocontribute to the good of the whole person.

7. Generate new ways to fulfill those needs, wants and desires.

Once you have shown that even the Part that does not want to change wanted to keepdoing what it was doing for some very good reasons you will need to rename the Part. TheStill-Wanting-To-Drink Part or the Still-Wanting-To-Be-Ill Part will not want to change

unless you change its name. The name change should be made to better describe it. Forexample if the Still-Wanting-To-Drink Part was doing so because it helped her to relax andbe social, then it can be renamed to the Social Part, or the Relaxation Part. This shows theSelf and the other Part that when the agreement has been made that it will still exist with apurpose, and that it was an important part, doing an important job. This will aid in thereintegration of the two parts later.

When the Part has been renamed you can then generate solutions that will fulfill the needsof the whole person, that of both Parts, and without all of the problems that were beingcaused by the old way.

Here is another example, if you find that your weight loss client has failed to lose all of theweight that she wanted to lose, you can do PMT and uncover the part of her that hascaused her to continue to eat too much or to continue to snack between meals. When youspeak to the Still-Wanting-To-Eat-Too-Much Part or the Still-Wanting-To-Snack-Too-MuchPart, you can find out why that Part is causing her to do it. If you find out that she is eatingto manage an emotion, like when she snacks because she is either bored, worried, angryor depressed, then we can generate other things that she can do when she feels that way.(For more information on emotional eating read my book, The Secret Language ofFeelings). At this point you and her parts will be able to generate lots of ideas so that youcan come up with a good plan.

8. Narrow the ideas generated into a specific plan or agreement.

Once you have generated some ideas it is time to narrow them down and form a singleagreement or plan that both Parts are willing to use. The plan should be simple butcomprehensive and provide benefits to both Parts. It should be a win-win agreement.

9. Reality test the agreement.

Next, you will proceed by asking each Part if the agreement seems realistic given thechallenges that she has in her life. Is it a practical plan? Can you always do what was

agreed upon? If for some reason one or both parts are uncertain if the plan will work, thenset up a trial period like a week after which your client will come back and have anothersession where the Parts can either agree to keep the plan as it is or make further

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adjustments meant to make it more useful and practical.

10. Reintegrate the parts.

Once this has been done it is time to reintegrate the parts. The self now realizes that thePart that was causing all the problems was not a bad Part of herself. It was doing what itwas doing in an attempt to help the whole person. Now you suggest that the two parts

once again become one person with a new plan for success. I like to have them shakehands as they accept the agreement and then "melt back into being one person."

11. Use the agreement as a direct suggestion script.

PMT is an insight technique. Insights into why she was continuing in the old behavior willbe uncovered and new ideas that will enable her to change or heal were generated. Thiscauses the subconscious mind to have to reorganize around this new information. Thishelps your client to become more suggestible than when you use other, non-insighttechniques. For a brief time, while the subconscious mind goes into what is a fluid-likestate, which will soon solidify again, the suggestions given can last a life time. During this

highly suggestible state you can give your clients suggestions that will be held tightly in hersubconscious mind once it has re-solidified, becoming a permanent part of her. Takeadvantage of this time by directly suggesting that she will use this new agreement to helpher meet her goals, especially the goals that brought her into your office.

12. Emerge your client and conduct the post-hypnotic interview.

Close the session by emerging your client and giving her the opportunity to talk about whathad happened. When I use insight techniques such as this, I like to have the client bringthe changes into the waking state by doing the following.

I'll ask my clients to put an end to the following sentences, "I've changed because now Iknow ______________." When she puts an end to the sentence, she verbalizes whatchanges have occurred at the intellectual level. When she does this, she takes on a feelingof ownership for the changes made. Then I continue and have and her put an ending tothe following sentence, "I've changed because now I feel ______________." Thissentence enables your client to express how she feels about what just happened in apositive way, further causing her to take ownership for the changes that have occurredduring the PMT process.

Summary

There are several approaches to using Parts Therapy which can be very useful in anumber of situations. Parts Mediation Therapy, on the other hand, is only used when thereis a reason to believe that your client has been unsuccessful despite the Hypnotherapist'sefforts to help her client by removing the cause of the problem. The process followsestablished mediation procedures, which are used to remove the conflict inside of yourclient that is causing her to respond to Secondary Gain issues. As you become proficientin using this technique, you and your clients will be successful when no other process hassucceeded.

Find other items by Cal Banyan.

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Difficult Clients May Be Motivated by Secondary Gain C.banyAN