Having decided recently to make some changes to my premises shop front, I considered what clients might like to know about me and what I offer. Being in the fortunate position of having my own clinic premises, I am able to convey information easily to drivers and pedestrians passing by on Durnsford Road and Merton Road. As listing the problems I work with would fill most of my windows, I reckoned that contact and web details should feature prominently - most clients seem to browse my website before contacting me. But I get many enquiries too from local people who stop by and collect a leaflet from my outside dispensers, so I've chosen to add my professional qualifications and names of the professional bodies to which I belong, to the information displayed on the window glass.
It is important to me that clients can reassure themselves that the therapist they plan to work with is fully trained and is a member of one or more professional association. Unfortunately it isn't yet illegal to set up as a therapist without any qualifications at all, although thankfully this is rare now. Some people do feel embarrassed to ask about such matters so I like to make it as easy as possible for clients to access this data.
The clinic windows now look fab, thanks to Steve at Artline Signs, and I love my striking new boards, door sign and window sashes. I'm tempted to go further and invest in a patio table and chairs outside, and maybe some plants, but I think given the weather in Wimbledon so far this summer, we may be staying inside with our espressos rather than sipping our frappucinos in the SW19 sun!
How do you find a hypnotherapist to help you?
Back in March I bought a new car - a fabulous bright red VW Up! It got a lot of attention as it's a brand new model and 2 months on I've still not seen another in Wimbledon. I spent some time planning how I would 'decorate' it. Some people said I should give examples of issues or conditions I work with such as Anxiety, Phobias, Performance Nerves, Weight Loss, Hypnobirthing etc, whilst others said it was important to put my name and my qualifications on the car so that people would know I'm a professional hypnotherapist and entirely above board. Whilst considering possible straplines, we pondered what we felt the public response would be to our 'clever' phrases... In the end I kept it simple, with my new logo prominent and my contact details clear. I collected it on Friday and was very pleased with the striking look. On Sunday I drove to a hypnotherapy training event in Birmingham where my car was admired by many. One hypnotherapist though, said she felt my car graphics were 'inappropriate' - an interesting response, and one which has started a debate. Are therapists business people (the majority of us are self-employed) who would be expected to market their services, or are we, as caring professionals outside of the NHS, seen as a discreet 'service' to be discovered only by those who seek us out? What would your response be to a therapist advertising? Would it make a difference if the advert was on the side of a London bus, printed in a parish magazine or on a corkboard in a health shop? Is it ok for a dentist to market their techniques for achieving the perfect smile through paid advertising, while hypnotherapists sit quietly behind a brass wall plaque, waiting to offer our therapeutic approach to smile creation? Of course different things appeal to different folk, but it's hard to help people to feel the way they want to feel, behave the way they want to behave, and go on to achieve the life they want, if they can't find us or don't even know we exist...
My chance to practise what I teach
Yesterday morning I had a decision to make that many do. I needed to have an endoscopy (gatroscopy) and I had the choice to be sedated or not. Having a busy afternoon planned, I decided not to be sedated. In the waiting room, the other patients, all of whom had experienced this procedure at least once before, advised sedation - all had bad memories of earlier experiences and there was a sense of stress and anxiety in the room... I began to worry about my choice, and phoned to arrange a lift home if I 'bottled it' and went for the drugs... Then I thought about the pregnant women I teach to use self-hypnosis for birthing and decided (to use a phrase often used by my friend and colleague Richard Nicholls) to 'practise what I preach'. In the waiting room I got myself as comfortable as I was able to in a hard chair, closed my eyes and visualised myself on Saunton Sands in Devon. The nervous conversations in the waiting room became the background chatter of other beach users. I smelt the sea air, saw my dog running on the flat sands and felt the warmth of the sun, relaxing my muscles.... When I went through to have the procedure, the nurses asked me what I did for a living and I said I'd tell them afterwards... I lay on my side as instructed, closed my eyes and took myself to Saunton. As they arranged my relaxed arms, I heard them say, "she's almost asleep" I stayed relaxed and kept my breathing slow and kept my eyes closed until it was over, which was a few short minutes. When I sat up, the nurse said "So what do you do?" When I told them, they laughed. Afterwards, reflecting on the anxiety of my fellow patients and the 'stressy' atmosphere, I wondered how I could use my hypnotherapy skills to help make the experience of endoscopy less of an ordeal and to help reduce anxious thoughts prior to the procedure. I am also pondering recording a self-hypnosis CD for preparation for endoscopy....Watch this space!
Thursday 8th March was International Women's Day and I celebrated this day with 100+ women in business and mumpreneurs at the Social Media Magic event inWimbledon put on by London Mums Magazine and Way to Work Magazine. It was a very interesting event, and handily for me it was in Wimbledon, conveniently close to The Hypnotherapy & Natural Health Centre. Sadly, Lorna (my massage therapist and reflexologist colleague) who specialises in pregnancy treatments was unable to join me as she had a bad cold, which was a shame. As we both specialise in working with pregnancy and childbirth, we were looking forward to networking with women who also do business with mums and mums to be as well as any working mums looking for advice on hypnosis for childbirth (hypnobirthing). Surprisingly there were few obviously pregnant women there, but several women came over to my exhibition stand to wax lyrical about their positive hypnobirthing experiences. I did however have several enquiries from women who wanted help to overcome phobias. I have seen an increasing numbers of clients over the last year who wanted help with acute fears and phobias although this may be as a result client referrals. Prior to me opening my therapy centre in SW19 in 2010, my hypnotherapy practice in SW London was actually called Fix your Fears because fear of some kind is at the root of most people's concerns, whether it be fear of rejection, fear of failure or even fear of success. (My Twitter username is @fix your fears).
I can't believe my last post was in June and it's now the first day of October! Has it been so quiet that I've had nothing to say? No! Quite the opposite. This summer I've been in the studio a fair bit, making a series of new self-hypnosis recordings for Hypnosis for Pregnancy, Hypnosis for Childbirth and Hypnosis for Post-natal recovery, as well as Emotional Eating and Insomnia. I'm hoping these will be ready for sale on my website soon. I've also been writing for and editing the latest edition of Hypnoversity, the professional online journal which from now on is also available in print as well as online.My new Hypnosis for Childbirth website has been keeping me busy too and should be live in a few weeks. Add to that a bit of teaching and client work of course and the summer has just flown by. Luckily the weather that we might have expected in August has now arrived, so we can all enjoy a bit of an Indian summer. Having decided some weeks back that I should practise what I preach and reduce my working hours (by not working every Sunday morning at the centre), I can now enjoy a day in the sunshine tomorrow. It can be so easy when you love your work as I do, to rack up loads of hours, but I guess I need to 'walk the talk' and take a break from my pc too!
Hypnotherapy has been in the news a fair bit in the last couple of weeks, especially in regard to the NHS. They have started a major study into hypnosis for childbirth in the North of England which I'm sure will provide evidence of the benefits to women and their babies. I have been working with pregnant women preparing for childbirth for many years and really enjoy teaching women and their birthing partners how to use self hypnosis to prepare mentally and physically for their special event. The eradication of fear allows women to approach childbirth excited rather than anxious, and the relaxation of muscles can make birthing quicker and more comfortable. Women I have worked with have described very fast physical recovery from birthing as they have been drug-free. The use of hypnosis by birthing women will of course save the NHS shedloads of money on drugs and staffing hours, but a positive and happy birth experience will be the most important advantage of offering this service to pregnant women.
Last week I watched two healthcare professionals discussing on BBC1's 'Breakfast' the possible benefits to using hypnosis with patients to help them with diagnosed conditions including stress and anxiety. It was suggested that healthcare staff could be trained to offer hypnosis to patients who were open to it. Dr Rosemary Leonard (Breakfast's resident GP) said she wouldn't have the time to offer this service. Sadly, there was no mention of referring these patients to suitably qualified hypnotherapists outside the NHS. Hypnosis is already recommended by NICE (National Institute for Health & Clinical Excellence) for certain conditions such as IBS, but in my experience, most clients seeking help with such conditions, self-refer. Opinion amongst my professional colleagues on this coverage appears divided, with some being cross that hypnotherapy appears to be viewed as something that needs to be delivered only by medical professionals, whilst others see it as good publicity. I tend to feel that the recognition that hypnotherapy has an important role in healthcare is a good thing.
The NHS is unlikely to train enough healthcare workers to a high enough standard any time soon, so as with other health services, those who can't wait or don't want to wait for help, will need to seek help outside the NHS. When I have hurt my back, knee or wrist I have sought the help of an osteopath who works exclusively with the musculo-skeletal system, rather than see my GP, so I'm confident that many clients will appreciate the time and professionalism that an experienced hypnotherapist can offer them and will continue to choose to consult private therapists.
The public need to feel confident to book with private therapists, knowing that the person they are seeing has received sufficient training and works to a code of ethics. An article in the press recently described a case where a 'cowboy' hypnotherapist induced false memories of abuse in a client. In this instance, the 'therapist' had done a very short correspondence course. This of course is completely unsatisfactory and unacceptable. Regrettably, it is still legal for anyone to set themselves up as a counsellor or therapist and this needs to change. Members of the public should check that any therapist they are considering consulting belongs to a professional association (which will require them to be adequately qualified and insured). I am a member of the APHP (Association for Professional Hypnosis & Psychotherapy) the GHR (General Hypnotherapy Register) and the CThA (Complementary Therapy Association). I am also a member of the CNHC (Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council) which is a regulatory body funded in part by the Dept of Health.
Last week I watched two healthcare professionals discussing on BBC1's 'Breakfast' the possible benefits to using hypnosis with patients to help them with diagnosed conditions including stress and anxiety. It was suggested that healthcare staff could be trained to offer hypnosis to patients who were open to it. Dr Rosemary Leonard (Breakfast's resident GP) said she wouldn't have the time to offer this service. Sadly, there was no mention of referring these patients to suitably qualified hypnotherapists outside the NHS. Hypnosis is already recommended by NICE (National Institute for Health & Clinical Excellence) for certain conditions such as IBS, but in my experience, most clients seeking help with such conditions, self-refer. Opinion amongst my professional colleagues on this coverage appears divided, with some being cross that hypnotherapy appears to be viewed as something that needs to be delivered only by medical professionals, whilst others see it as good publicity. I tend to feel that the recognition that hypnotherapy has an important role in healthcare is a good thing.
The NHS is unlikely to train enough healthcare workers to a high enough standard any time soon, so as with other health services, those who can't wait or don't want to wait for help, will need to seek help outside the NHS. When I have hurt my back, knee or wrist I have sought the help of an osteopath who works exclusively with the musculo-skeletal system, rather than see my GP, so I'm confident that many clients will appreciate the time and professionalism that an experienced hypnotherapist can offer them and will continue to choose to consult private therapists.
The public need to feel confident to book with private therapists, knowing that the person they are seeing has received sufficient training and works to a code of ethics. An article in the press recently described a case where a 'cowboy' hypnotherapist induced false memories of abuse in a client. In this instance, the 'therapist' had done a very short correspondence course. This of course is completely unsatisfactory and unacceptable. Regrettably, it is still legal for anyone to set themselves up as a counsellor or therapist and this needs to change. Members of the public should check that any therapist they are considering consulting belongs to a professional association (which will require them to be adequately qualified and insured). I am a member of the APHP (Association for Professional Hypnosis & Psychotherapy) the GHR (General Hypnotherapy Register) and the CThA (Complementary Therapy Association). I am also a member of the CNHC (Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council) which is a regulatory body funded in part by the Dept of Health.
Last week I was in Birmingham to attend an NLP course that I am writing about for the online journal, Hypnoversity. The journal for hypnotherapists, coaches and NLP practitioners was launched by myself and Nick Cooke back in May 2009 and started out as a newsletter for students and graduates of Central England Collge (of Clinical Hypnosis). We now, thanks to the world wide web, have readers far and wide and I am kept busy researching, writing and editing articles about clinical hypnosis and associated therapies. One of the things I enjoy as editor is attending conferences, workshops and training sessions as well as interviewing leading figures in the the therapy world and inspirational teachers and therapists such as Terence Watts, Shaun Brookhouse and Kevin Laye, who works with Paul McKenna and is the author of Positive Shrinking.
The training last week was delivered by Mark Taylor and Nicky Kennedy of Opt2xl and was both stimulating and enjoyable. Having qualified in NLP a good many years ago now, it was good to see another company's approach and I found Mark and Nicky very motivational and generous to their learners. I attended only two days of the five day NLP course as I was also booked to be at a one day self-esteem and confidence course with my friend and colleague Hilary Norris-Evans. Hilary is an experienced tutor and therapist and a master linguist and has more letters after her name than you can shake a stick at. On Friday I agreed to be her volunteer 'client' so the class could see her demonstrate rapid inductions (inducing hypnosis very quickly). Like most experienced hypnotherapists, I go into hypnosis very easily and many in the group were surprised at the speed with which Hilary helped me into the delightfully relaxed state that we call hypnosis.
Many professional therapists are reluctant to use fast inductions, as they want to distance themselves from stage hypnotists who use rapid (and often dramatic) inductions with their subjects. Fast techniques do have a place in professional therapy though and I sometimes use this approach when working with childbirth clients who may go in and out of hypnosis several times during a two-hour session.
So, after a packed week starting with client work in Wimbledon and ending with copy writing in a West Midlands Travelodge, I was glad to get back to my centre for a full week focusing on therapy before Easter arrives.
The training last week was delivered by Mark Taylor and Nicky Kennedy of Opt2xl and was both stimulating and enjoyable. Having qualified in NLP a good many years ago now, it was good to see another company's approach and I found Mark and Nicky very motivational and generous to their learners. I attended only two days of the five day NLP course as I was also booked to be at a one day self-esteem and confidence course with my friend and colleague Hilary Norris-Evans. Hilary is an experienced tutor and therapist and a master linguist and has more letters after her name than you can shake a stick at. On Friday I agreed to be her volunteer 'client' so the class could see her demonstrate rapid inductions (inducing hypnosis very quickly). Like most experienced hypnotherapists, I go into hypnosis very easily and many in the group were surprised at the speed with which Hilary helped me into the delightfully relaxed state that we call hypnosis.
Many professional therapists are reluctant to use fast inductions, as they want to distance themselves from stage hypnotists who use rapid (and often dramatic) inductions with their subjects. Fast techniques do have a place in professional therapy though and I sometimes use this approach when working with childbirth clients who may go in and out of hypnosis several times during a two-hour session.
So, after a packed week starting with client work in Wimbledon and ending with copy writing in a West Midlands Travelodge, I was glad to get back to my centre for a full week focusing on therapy before Easter arrives.
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