Think of a pair of golden arches....

Think of a pair of golden arches. Chances are, you also thought of a Big Mac, fries and a Coke. That’s because of something called spaced repetition, according to Warren Hawkins, a licensed clinical hypnotherapist.

Hawkins, who will be talking to the San Gabriel Valley YWCA singles group Monday about enhancing self-esteem, said advertisers take advantage of the fact that “if you see something six times in 72 hours, it will sink into your mind.”

The good news is that you can use spaced repetition yourself to break a nicotine habit or to stop mentally beating yourself up or even to quell a burger craving.

Hawkins, 56, became interested in hypnotherapy when he was working as a parole officer in the early 1970s and saw police officers using hypnosis to help victims recall details of crimes.

“It really got me interested in the power of the mind,” he said.

So Hawkins sought and got training in the techniques, as well as earning a master’s degree in motivation in 1976.

“I started using it for motivation, and then it went into different things,” including working with athletes, he said of his hypnosis training.

Now Hawkins focuses his work on medical hypnotherapy with young people--helping children who can’t swallow pills, or have problems with bed-wetting or fears about going to school. He also does weight loss and stop-smoking work.

Hypnotherapist Warren Hawkins will talk to YWCA singles on self-esteem.

When he talks on self-esteem, he explains a number of techniques that can be used to knock out damaging negative self-talk, such as the “5/70/5 Plan.”

The 5s represent the five minutes when you first get up and just before you go to bed. The 70 is the amount of time you spend each day in “self-talk.” The trick is to fill those times with positive, affirming thoughts.

Hawkins will begin his talk at 7 p.m. at 961 S. Glendora Ave., West Covina. Joan Brady of the YWCA says that, although the talk will be geared to single men and women, married people will not be turned away. The fee is $4 for YWCA members and $5 for non-members.