It saddens me when I receive an email like the one I’m about to share with you. I haven’t received too many, but even one is heart breaking. It goes something like this:
“I’ve tried hypnosis and it didn’t work. I spent thousands of dollars to (fill in the blank) and nothing happened. I think it is a scam or people doing it are just not qualified.”
Why is this heart breaking?
I know that your mind is one of the most powerful tools on Earth. There is no doubt here. I’ve witnessed profound changes in people when they are able to harness the power of the mind. For some it does take more effort than for others. We are each unique.
Here’s what I know. Hypnosis, while magical, is not magic. You have to have some skin in the game and that skin comes in the form of a true desire to change. True desire to change helps create the magic. Many times people come to my office and they are surprised when I challenge them on their willingness to change during the pre-talk. (The pre-talk is the talk you and I have where I assess your readiness for hypnosis and simultaneously get you ready to accept trance.)
As a hypnotist my IGS (Intuitive Guidance System) is pretty accurate. It’s like when I was a classroom teacher, I developed eyes in the back of my head; my IGS is honed with repeated hourly use. Like the GPS on your car it seldom steers me wrong. A good hypnotist uses their IGS to determine your willingness and readiness for change. They won’t accept you as a client if these two factors aren’t present.
Sometimes your heart is ready for change, but there’s a part of you that is hesitant. My IGS will discover this quickly in our work together. Maybe you are receiving a secondary gain that needs to be addressed before you can release the problem…maybe there is a spiritual reason for your problem, or maybe the problem isn’t yours…(addressed in consideration #4 below.)
The subconscious mind is your servant. A well-qualified hypnotist will be able to work with any rogue parts of you to bring them on board so you can get the results you desire. They will work to uncover the secondary gain you receive from having your problem and seek ways for you to get that need met through healthy means. Their training gives them a plethora of tools to get to the root of the matter.
Let’s talk about qualified. I always suggest to people that they find a hypnotist registered with the National Guild of Hypnotists (NGH). Unfortunately, there are a lot of hobbyists out there who have hypnosis as their “weekend work”. A weekend course on hypnosis or smoking cessation does not make a person a qualified practitioner. NGH requires on-going education to remain a member in good standing. There’s a difference between someone who has 16 hours of training and someone who received 400+ hours of training.
You can expect to pay a little more for their expertise. Recently I received a phone call from someone who was price shopping. I understand price sensitivity in this economy. I’ve adjusted my wages since many of my clients are State workers who have been furloughed. Imagine my surprise when this young woman told me that a hypnotist in downtown Sacramento told her it would only cost her $60 and one session to address her anxiety issue.
I spent a few moments on the telephone with the young lady and by the way in which she answered my questions my IGS told me it was not a simple single-session issue. Ethically, I couldn’t tell her I was going to just give her one session. If she received just one session she might end up in the “I tried hypnosis and it didn’t work.” category.
Receiving one session in this instance would be like taking your car to get an oil change and having the mechanic remove the old oil and send you on your way without putting new oil in the engine. I took the next few moments to give the caller some key questions she should be asking before she asksed about price. She thanked me. They were things she never thought about before. Working with your mind is priceless. Differing prices between hypnotists may be an indicator of the many hours a professional has invested in their training and the level of confidence they place in their work.
If you have spent thousands of dollars and nothing happened you owe it to yourself and your hypnotist to discover why. I have an agreement with a fellow hypnotist that if I discover hypnosis didn’t work he will provide the client with a session and together we will consult for the outcome. I do the same for him. Now there is a difference between hypnosis not working and the client not working the hypnosis. Usually we find the cause is in the latter. A reputable professional hypnotist will gladly explore why hypnosis may not have worked with you.
If a reputable qualified hypnotist has done all they can to assist you and you still have the problem here are two other considerations: 1) Maybe your soul wants you to have the problem because there is soul growth in having to face this challenge. Again, this can be ascertained through a hypnosis session – and it requires advanced training for the hypnotist. 2) Maybe the problem does not belong to you, but to energy that is attached to you. I’ll save the details on this one for another blog post, but again, a well-qualified hypnotist will have the advanced training to address this issue.
All this being said, sometimes even the best in the profession can’t help you create the change you seek. Just like lawyers don’t win every case, and doctors can’t cure every patient, hypnotists can’t change every mind.
Join us for Hypnosis World Summit starting May 4 2010 www.bit.ly/diQD47 Learn how to use your mind for change for free!
Tags: how hypnosis works, hypnosis professionals, professional hypnotism, sacramento hypnotist
