Dr. Jay Granat, a River Edge-based psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, author and lecturer, has developed a new method of psychotherapy called Cognitive Behavioral Dream Therapy to help individuals solve a problem, achieve a goal or change troublesome habits. Granat’s approach can be used in many aspects of one’s life, from business-related problems to health-related, relationship or athletic performance issues.
“My approach is a blend of hypnosis, dream therapy, visualization and cognitive behavioral therapy,” says Granat, who has authored six books and has appeared in various media outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, “Good Morning America” and “ESPN.”
“Do you want to start your own business? Do you want to change your career? Are you trying to lose weight? Do you want to improve your golf swing? With the approach I take, all of these things can be realized in a timely and effective manner,” he says.
Addressing a problem or issue in one’s life starts with a dream, or daydream of some kind, he says.
“I realized how vital dreams are in promoting growth and change in human beings,” he explains. “And more particularly, everybody has daydreams. The trick is to embrace them and learn how to use them in a positive way. I show people how they can use their daydreams to empower themselves to grow and to modify troublesome thoughts, feelings or behaviors and what they have to change to increase the likelihood of their dream becoming a reality.”
Granat says his model grew from his years of working with athletes. “Athletes usually have big dreams they want to achieve,” he says. “With a little coaching, their dreams and their unconscious minds can be utilized to identify how and what we need to change to manage stress, reduce anxiety, minimize depression and change self-defeating habits.”
Additionally, Granat uses music therapy to help athletes improve their mental training, which “can be a useful tool in improving athletic performance,” he says. “For example, I had a PGA golfer come see me because he lost his tempo. He was able to rediscover it by listening and imagining his favorite song playing throughout his entire body during his swing.”
Music therapy isn’t just for athletes however, according to Granat. “It can be used in any situation an individual is facing,” he says. “Music is a natural stress reducer and it’s therapeutic. Listening to music at work can change your mood, your heartbeat and your blood pressure. And, it has very few side effects, if any. It can have a lot of the same values that meditation can have, for example.”
Granat also mentions that with the way healthcare has been changing, his method of therapy is “fast and effective for short-term counseling. Many people need only a few sessions to help them improve their lives. I think a lot of therapy is focused on negativity, but with this model, thinking about positive thoughts and dreams gets people thinking and believing they can make a change,” he concludes. “I do believe that for most people, everything worthwhile begins with a dream.”
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