'You're getting very speedy': Woburn hypnotist helps teen swimmer cut his time

Posted At : January 12, 2007 12:07 AM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD Related Categories: 

By Tenley Woodman Monday, September 27, 2004 (An article printed in The Boston Herald)When Swampscott teen Craig Lewin needed to shave seconds off his race time in the pool, he opted for an alternative training method: hypnotism.

"My problem was that I had all the skills to swim, but I needed to cut 9 or 10 seconds off my time. I had the ability to do it, but I'd get in to swim and I couldn't get any faster," said the 18-year-old Boston College freshman. That's when he turned to Tom Nicoli, a board certified hypnotist in Woburn. "The hypnotism was more to not be self-conscious so I wouldn't have to think about it. It helped me relax and have confidence," Lewin said. Lewin not only beat his own high school record, but he is now a member of BC's Division I swim team.

The use of relaxation, hypnosis, and imagery in sport psychiatry

Posted At : October 3, 2005 4:51 PM | Posted By : Tim Brunson, PhD Related Categories: 

Sports and Athletics

Hypnosis is a procedure during which a mental health professional suggests that a patient experience changes in sensations, perceptions, thoughts, or behavior. The purpose of this article is to briefly describe the use of various methods of relaxation, hypnosis, and imagery techniques available to enhance athletic performance. The characteristics that these techniques have in common include relaxation, suggestibility, concentration, imaginative ability, reality testing, brain function, autonomic control, and placebo effect. Case studies are provided for illustration.Division of Psychology, Cooper University Hospital, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Camden, NJ 08103, USA. newmark-thomas@cooperhealth.edu