By Beth Keil
Are you a hypnotist or do you do hypnosis?
When I graduated in 1986 from The University of Delaware with my Bachelors of Science in Nursing, I became a nurse. With the birth of my first child in 1991, I became a mom. When I completed my hypnosis training, November, 2002, I became a hypnotist. And just like being a nurse and a mom, I will always be a hypnotist.
Have you noticed since becoming a hypnotist how you listen to your family, friends, and people in general, has changed? You catch when they say, “I’ll try to”, knowing what they’re saying has little chance of being completed. How often are you struck by the ease with which people know what they don’t want but have difficulty articulating what they do? Requests they make, therefore, focus on what they don’t want and then they wonder about the outcome! I create my requests with the goal in mind. Does that mean my sons’ bedrooms are clean and neat? Of course not! We all know that hypnosis is not mind control and they have free will. When I use my sons’ bedrooms as an example during the Pretalk about being in control while in hypnosis, only accepting suggestions for what they want, clients with teenagers nod their heads with sympathetic understanding.
Speaking of sons, naturally I work with them. My eldest had a history of eczema. A few years back I taught him EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) to stop the itching. We proceeded with hypnosis to end the eczema. Three days later the skin eruptions disappeared. My youngest has also benefited from EFT when he’s been overwhelmed with worry about school. He’s been in the middle of a major meltdown refusing my offer of “tapping” because “IT WON’T WORK!” Then, within seconds, he’s laughing. He more smoothly moves through meltdowns. Now he has a tool he can use whenever he’s worried or scared.
You never know where your training is going to come in handy. A child at a birthday party was terrified of balloons! He ran from the room where balloon animals were being made. Running after him, I asked him how he felt. We did EFT together (with his mom’s okay) and we returned to the room. He asked to get a balloon bracelet on his wrist. When a balloon near him burst, he stayed calm and relaxed. Two years later, at his birthday party, there was a balloon centerpiece! Talk about transformation!
When getting a tattoo to celebrate the end of my 47th year, my friend Anne (also my business partner) did hypnosis with me. I was quite comfortable as I got my 2 1/4 inch circular tattoo on my solar plexus. The tattoo artist was fascinated by our using hypnosis and asked many questions. Okay—he asked Anne, as I was so relaxed it took too much energy to talk. We gave them our business card when we left. Now, we haven’t gotten any calls from them, but my nephew, once he’s an adult, has requested I do hypnosis for him when (if) he gets a tattoo. I haven’t said anything to his mom, my sister, but it may be a good idea if I wait until he no longer lives at home!
Being a hypnotist is more than doing hypnosis. It permeates every aspect of my life and relationships. What about you?
My next column will look at using everyday experiences to create hypnosis programs.
