Ousting Pornography

A young boy found pornography while on the internet while surfing around from one site to the next. Not knowing what it was, he quickly turned it off, feeling a burst of emotion in his chest and stomach, followed by thoughts of shame and guilt. He tried to get it out of his head, but the feeling kept coming back, bringing with it the image in his imagination. Continuing to avoid the thoughts, he finds himself wondering when the feeling will hit again. Then it comes back, but not as strongly; there comes a sense of longing for the "hit" again, and the feeling has weakened. So, he goes back online, avoiding the temptation to type in the website address at first, then the feelings get stronger, and he experiences the "hit" with full force, convincing him he needs to look again or he will not be able to experience the full feeling. He caves in and looks again. Afterwards, he is feeling even worse than before. "What is wrong with me?" Shortly after the feelings begin again, the cycle is born.

Pavlov performed an experiment with dogs. Wanting to find out what dog food would make a dog salivate the most. He found out something even more useful to humanity - conditioning. Conditioning is when you pair a stimulus with an outcome. You see, the dogs would hear a bell when entering the room to get the dog food. The bell was the stimulus, and the food was the outcome. When the dogs had heard the bell and had the food multiple times, something fascinating happened - the dogs would salivate with the sound of the bell. Now let's go back to the story.

When a young man sees pornography for the first time, it creates a huge amount of emotion inside that is novel, surprising, and many other things depending on the situation. Just like Pavlov's dogs, they find themselves "salivating" when the conditions become similar to past experiences; they are alone in the home, bored, searching the internet. Curiosity turns them to porn time and time again until they feel stuck, unable to end the conditioning they have created for themself.

Why is pornography a problem? Matthew 5:28 says: "But I say unto you. That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." Our heart is a receptor, and when we put good things in it, good things come out. When we put bad things in it, bad things come out. In Visions of Glory, we read about an incident with a man looking at pornography. To paraphrase, he says that evil and unclean spirits surrounded the man. When the man was at the climax of excitement, the evil spirits were screaming guilt-packed comments at the man: "You are so gross! You are so dirty! You are so weak! You will do this again! You are nothing! You are worthless!..." All the things the devil wants you to place inside your subconscious mind. And why? So he can control you in the future.

The devil knows Pavlov, he knows psychology, he knows hypnotherapy. When we are at a heightened emotional state, we are hypnotized, and the suggestions we receive go into our subconscious. So, if we continue believing what the devil screams at us when we are at our weakest moments, then we will continue to fall into those weaknesses. Mosiah 3:19 says, "For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

Sex is a powerful emotion that can lead to soothing connections, lasting bonds, and an intimate, loving relationship. When we are feeling a desire for sex, it is a desire for these things. Pornography is a cheap counterfeit of the real thing. Inside marriage, sex can bring us joy. The fruit of porn is shame, dishonesty, rebellion, disconnection, etc.

Hypnotherapy is a tool to help us become aware of the subconscious and to help change our way of thinking and feeling. It is a tool to help us break the conditioning of the emotions, the bodily response, and the thoughts we have connected to those emotions. Jesus Christ saves us, he heals us, and hypnotherapy is just a tool we can use, but the true source of true healing is Christ. It is through the atonement and the Holy Ghost that we can become sanctified, holy, no longer having a desire to do evil but to do good continually. It is a process. The key is to learn to not be so hard on ourselves or others, to show mercy and have patience. We want to be walking in the direction towards Christ, towards sanctification, and if we fall along the way and make mistakes, Christ will also justify us for the kingdom of heaven.

Hypnotherapy is a tool to help change behavior. If you are looking to change your behavior around sex, becoming chaste and virtuous, allowing you to serve God with all your might, mind, and strength, call for a session today and learn how hypnotherapy can help you get to where you want to go.