Westonite uses imagery to enhance personal, professional success
By BONNIE ADLER
Westport Minuteman-- March 2003

Weston therapist Jaqueline Sussman has worked with individual and corporate clients for 25 years, inspiring them to overcome barriers in the arenas of interpersonal relationships, business and competltlve sports. Sussman has just published “Freedom From Failure” (Forge), an inspirational book which looks at the complex personal problems that plague us and provides suggestions and techniques for self-discovery and personal growth.

“Freedom From Failure” follows her first book, “Objects of
Desire” (Forge), which dealt with the ways individuals can regain and enhance their sensuality in an age of pornography and intense media—driven images of sexuality.

Sussman is convinced that people can read self-help books and gain lasting benefits from doing so. “Self-help books really help. That’s why people buy them. People really can latch onto a new concept that opens up their perspective and touches their heart, affecting them and their consciousness,” she said.

“Freedom from Failure” highlights many of the everyday challenges inherent in relationships, parenting, career advancement, and even in achieving greater physical prowess and meaningful sexuality. Throughout her book, Sussman says that the solutions to our problems lie within us, and that we can all discover new insights that will lead to positive changes.

In her therapeutic work, Sussman practices a methodology called eidetic imagery (which translated from the Greek means “gifts of the gods”). Eidetic images are detailed pictures in our minds that form spontaneously in response to significant real-life experiences.

The process treats the brain like a computer, which stores and processes information in the form of images that run through our minds like film clips. “I work with people on the lmages that keep them stuck, from their childhood, or from their life experience, and bring forward the images that are illside them,” she said.

Using specific imagery that she details in the book, readers can summon these pictures in their brains that, when examined, can lead to great insight and understanding. Sussman says that imagery is very accessible, and can be achieved simply by concentrating. “You are the only cane who understands all the sensitivities of your problem. If you take a few moments to image it, the solution is there, within you,” she said.

Sussman believes that we have two selves — an “original” self and a “historic” self. The historic self has been shaped and affected by our parents, and by other circumstances in our life that limit us. Imagery can help us get to the original self which is stored within and when uncovered can affect great change.

“When that original self comes out there is a release of energy, expression, and power, she said.

There are 42 images described in the book that can help with a variety of problems. There are even several images that can be used to improve sports performance. For example, one image is called "the smell image" and incorporates using the sense of smell when also visualizing a goal. Sussman discusses how a golfer improved her game by visualizing the ball going into the cup, and incorporating the smell of the cup in the imagery.

Another example is the “walk-around image.” This helps individuals to carefully focus on those people who may be causing difficulty or pain by “walking around them and looking at them carefully in an imagery exercise. By gaining understanding about these individuals, we can change our negative responses and shift our approach to that person.

For those interested in greater success in the workplace, Sussman shares some of the insight she has gained from working with highly successful business people, who share many key traits. She finds that executives use winning strategies that come directly from the inspirations that their parents gave them.

For example, “one executive used intimidation by yelling — followed by warmth and love for those who worked for him. The combination created an atmosphere of respect and devotion from his staff, underlined by fear. In images, he revealed that he had gained these traits from his mother and father. His mother was loving and his father yelled all the time.”

“Successful people always think about what they are about to do, says Sussman. “They rehearse their strategies for success. They see beforehand the situation that they are going into. When they do, all of the emotions they have about the situation arise in the image- emotions that thwart them and those that enhance their presentation. They can strategize before the event and see where they feel confident and where they have negative emotions that are gong to get in the way. Thus they can see how to overcome their limitations and how to enhance their powers before going into action.

They can also connect a product” with their passion and imbue the product or service with the force of their energy and power, creating a mental “high” which helps them to succeed.

Sussman says that the chapter on parenting is also very important because people struggle with issues concerning their children all the time. “People don’t have the tools to deal with their children. There are so many drugs, body image problems, and such insecurity around child-rearing.”

Sussman believes that there is a primordial ancient knowledge in all human beings. “There is so much richness and talent within all of us. There exists a primordial, ancient knowledge which has been accepted throughout the ages and in many religions, e.g., ‘the kingdom of heaven is within' or Shakespeare’s ‘to thine own self be true.’