About Dr. McQuilkin

"I can remember back to one of the happiest days during my freshman year in college, the day I decided not to become a doctor! Yes, the relief I experienced once I decided to give up the grueling premed track was tremendous.

Fortunately, I discovered the art of self hypnosis and found an incredibly effective way to enhance my study habits, feel more empowered and better able to overcome the hurdles presented to the average college student. As well, the migraine headaches I had experienced on a monthly basis just disappeared.  Soon enough I was back in the groove.

I continued to use self hypnosis, twenty minutes a day, throughout medical school. At the end of the first 2 years, my class rank was 4 out of 120!  My class rank in high school, before hypnosis, was only 21 out of 130.

The hypnotic elements in The Zone Advantage reflect years of experience using hypnosis and include the most cutting edge techniques, designed to help you help yourself. If you listened to the hypnosis challenge and feel even a bit refreshed and centered, I suspect self hypnosis will be a tremendous assistance in reprogramming your unconscious mind and providing you a stronger sense of  your God-given inner strength."  

Dr. Shawn McQuilkin is a Board Certified Internal Medicine physician who has received specialized training in medical hypnosis. In addition to his regular practice of medicine, he has devoted over ten years assisting people in losing weight and quitting cigarettes using the very powerful technique of medical hypnosis.

He currently resides in Ogden, Utah, a city nestled in the Wasatch Mountains just north of Salt Lake. Both Dr. Shawn and his wife Karen are originally from Chicago and were transplanted to Utah as part of a Federal Government Scholarship program of providing doctors to areas in need.

He and his wife and two teenage boys have fallen in love with the southwest and enjoy hiking and exploring the mountains of the enchanted southwest.

Dr. Shawn knew that he had a talent for hypnosis. At his first training seminar a nurse said to him, "You must come to work for us. You are a natural. That doctor you were working with in the demonstration went very deep. In fact, so did I and half the people in the room!"

His first experience with using hypnosis to help his patients occurred the Monday after his medical hypnosis training. His patient was a young woman who had received a second degree burn from cooking oil. The area of burn was on her abdomen and was the size of a man's fist. The pain was so intense that she was wailing in the waiting room.

The staff in the reception area couldn't believe it was the same woman who left: she was laughing and joking on the way out 30 minutes later, pain free. No pain medicine was given. The patient responded dramatically to medical hypnosis and healed much quicker than expected over the next week. Dr. Shawn points to the work of Dabney Ewing MD, out of Tulane who has helped hundreds of serious burn victims over the years using hypnosis.

The next dramatic event opened his eyes to the true power of medical hypnosis when he realized that the physician could actually carry on a dialogue with a patients unconscious mind, without the patient being aware of it! This technique had been pioneered by a group of physicians and psychologists over the years and is referred to as ideomotor signaling.

For example: a young woman who was suffering from depression stated (out of hypnosis) that she was miserable and that nothing could ever help her. Dr. Shawn said, "If there is a part a you, a very strong part of you that believes otherwise, your left index finger will lift up." Much to the disbelief of the patient, her left index finger dutifully lifted! Over time, she made a dramatic recovery and came to understand her latent strength.

Dr. Shawn is the first to admit that it all seems a bit strange but then he came to realize that rather than speaking to the patient's thinking mind, he was speaking to her unconscious mind. He also came to realize that people are more "multi-layered" than you might guess on the surface. For example, your main identity may be that of a business executive, but also a mother to children, and at the same time a daughter, a wife, a lover, and at times, an emotional child.

Still a bit puzzled and intimidated by the depth of the human psyche, Dr. Shawn met a most remarkable man who served as his mentor: George Ritchie, Jr., MD, author of the book "Return From Tomorrow.". Dr. Ritchie used medical hypnosis as a psychiatrist for many years in a kind and wonderful way. For example, Dr. Ritchie has documented successfully treating over twelve men who were about to be sent to prison to serve long terms on account of exposing themselves to women in public.

These men were clean cut young individuals whom the average person would never expect to do such an antisocial thing. No one seemed able to help them until Dr. Ritchie used medical hypnosis to gently make them aware of forgotten trauma (usually sexual). All but one man was healed and never committed the crime again.

But more importantly, Dr. Ritchie helped Dr. Shawn understand that helping people using a controversial technique was the way our Creator has intended; and the importance of assisting individuals  to use the power of their minds (especially  unconscious abilities) to help others become healthy and whole.

Perhaps the most fantastic observation Dr. Shawn made was how utilizing hypnotic techniques improved all aspects of an individuals life. Numerous patients who were college students were reporting that using hypnosis for weight loss, headaches and other health problems dramatically improved their academic performance as well. They were sleeping more soundly, feeling more optimistic about life, and just seemed more confident and able to handle the "punches dished out by life" with greater ease.

Determined to create a hypnotic formula that takes advantage of an individual's unconscious resources, Dr. Shawn designed two dynamic downloads for academic success. Part One, entitled Waterfall, uses well known techniques for deepening the hypnotic experience. While 10% of the population goes extremely deep on the first try, the majority of individuals require some discipline to experience that tremendous sense of "blissful floating" that characterizes the Zone.

Part Two, entitled Mountain Home,  introduces you to three experiences: Inner Strength, a specific anchoring technique to be used out of hypnosis, as well as gentle affirmations that are absorbed by your unconscious.

Will entering hypnosis using MyAcademicZone downloads work for you? Listen to Radical Hypnotic Challenge and see if you feel better afterwards. If so, chances are it will be of tremendous  benefit.

Although Dr. Shawn is unable to unconditionally guarantee success, review scientific studies that provide some proof that hypnosis increases academic confidence, memory, language ability  and GPA's. Best Regards!

Shawn McQuilkin, MD