Okay. Do I have your attention now?

Continuing from last week’s post where I was looking through the latest NGH Convention catalog, I saw this title from a one-hour lecture: Hypnotism for UFO Abduction Cases! I immediately went into a trance.

I mean, are you kidding me? There aren’t enough hypnotists in this business increasing breast sizes, regressing people to think they were a Pharaoh, calling themselves “doctor”, tapping on drums and working with crystals to create an aura (oh, yes… aura-reading, too!) of charlatanism? Now, we have a lecture to teach these wackos to help people who believe they’ve been abducted by aliens?

First, how do you even market such a thing? Do you put an ad in the paper reading, “Been abducted by aliens from another planet? Come and be hypnotized…” Yeah, I want these people in my office. Sure.

Next, is it even ethical? Who the heck knows if aliens exist? You may wonder if I, myself, believe in extra-terrestrial beings. Well, yes, I do believe there is life on other worlds somewhere out there. The universe is too vast to think we’re the only ones in it.

But, the point is (before I get way too far from the topic)… are they coming here, abducting people… so that these same abductees can come to you for help?

Is this really how one needs to make a living?

Craig Lang (the teacher of this stuff at the NGH), who says on his website:

“Another big interest of mine is conducting research into anomalies. Some anomalies are seen in the sky while others, such as UFO abduction or contact experiences, intrude deeply into peoples’ very lives. I work with people who have had close encounters with the unexplained, helping them to integrate their experiences into their lives, while at the same time shedding ever more light on this mysterious phenomenon.”

This guy really has in interest in this UFO thing. The funny thing is, on the page with all of the UFO stuff on it, he lists “Certified Hypnotherapist” under “Anomaly and Close Encounter Researcher/Investigator”. (So, apparently, we know which is more valuable.)

So, why is this bugging me? Why am I harping on this poor guy’s interest in aliens?

Because, this is the stuff that causes hypnotists to be classed in the same categories as magicians, fortune tellers, ghost hunters and goofballs. We need to clean up the reputation of hypnotists and hypnotism and get it away from the pendulum-swinging, spiral-twirling, eye-gazing movie images that most people have about hypnotists.

And, now, I will choose some of the classes I’ll attend this year. Oh, here’s a good one: Dowsing.

Dowsing? Yes. Very helpful. I can now find water in my reception room.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! - Bryan

I was looking at the latest NGH (National Guild of Hypnotists) catalog for their upcoming convention and I noticed how many topics there were about increasing one’s income, marketing and sales — especially compared to previous years.

And, the funny thing is that I had always had the impression that hypnotists —in general — didn’t really care if they made a whole lot of money. It’s helping people that counts.

True. But…

… if you don’t make a lot of money in hypnotism, then how do you stay in business to help those people? (What a situation, eh?)

The first year I went to the NGH (I think it was in 2002) I noticed that many people who claimed to be hypnotists didn’t make a good living at this. And, to qualify a “good living”, I mean an executive salary — whatever that means to you. Or, what a doctor would make.

One afternoon, during a seminar break, I was wandering the “Dealer’s Room”, where you can buy hypnosis scripts, hypnotic music, scented candles, crystals, a bunch of New Age crap that has nothing to do with hypnotism, Shaman instruments (don’t get me started!), and such.

In addition to that, there were two booths about marketing your practice. One from my mentor and friend, Dr. Scott McFall (it’s a real Doctorate) and some other guy. The other guy’s business (can’t remember their name) was about increasing one’s income.

He was standing in the isle with a clipboard asking people if they were making as much money as they wanted in their hypnosis practice. Most said “no”, but when he asked how much they currently made, I was astounded. (Yes, I eavesdropped!)

The majority of the answers were in the range of $20 to $40 thousand a year. (Any good birthday party clown makes more than that.)

Then, he asked them if they would like to make $50,000 a year. Some said “yes”… others said “no”!

This got me thinking and, after they left the guy, I would find them and ask, “Why don’t you want to make more money at this wonderful business?”

Their answer was almost always, “Because I didn’t get into hypnotism for the money; I want to help people.” It was uncanny how many hypnotists had the same view (or is it a limiting belief?).

The worst part about it was these are the same people who don’t have enough money for a real office so they work out of their house — not an office in their house, but their living room, usually. They can’t buy nice clothes (like that $800 - $1,200 suit) or the latest office equipment.

And, within a few years, they wonder why they are struggling to stay in business.

But, the answer is so simple: Make more money.

If you market yourself and your business in the right manner, you can have a real business, help more people and you’ll be happier.

Yes. In general, you can have money or you can be poor. Having money in the bank is better.

Oh, by the way, when that man asked me if I wanted to make $50,000 a year I just answered, “Oh, you mean you want me to make less money than I did last year?”

He squinted at me and asked, “How much did you make last year?”

Avoiding his question, I just said, “Well, let’s just say that my advertising alone this year is $50,000. You can figure it out.”

He dropped his clipboard as I walked away.

[By the way, if you want to find out how to market your hypnosis business, drop me a message at the forum. — Bryan]

Now, how many times are you out of control? Things aren’t going so well. You’re a bit overwhelmed…!

Bills overwhelming? The spouse getting to you? Your kids are driving you batty? Lindsay Lohan hit another tree? Aaak!

Here’s a wonderful NLP technique that my clients have used successfully that will get you back on track.

1. Think about a problem spiraling out of control, anchor with a circular motion like a spiral going out (from the inside out). So, for instance, you are overwhelmed with bills piling up on your desk. Think about the problem and really get into it so you can feel the pain of the overwhelming-ness. Take your left hand and hold it flat and with the right index finger touching the center of your palm — as you are feeling that feeling — anchor that feeling by making a spiraling motion, starting with the center of your palm… going outwards.

2. Next, think of a time that something seemed out of control and they were able to solve the problem with time. So, perhaps there was a time in your life when things were “out of control”, but — eventually — you got a handle on the problem and it was solved. Anchor it with the spiral going inward by drawing it on your hand from the outside in.

3. Now, think of the original problem again and draw the spiral going from the outside in (as in Step 2).

So, what does this do?

In Step 1, you are creating an anchor on your palm to the “overwhelming” feeling. Then, you are creating another anchor (a reverse of the first one) to the feeling of “getting back into control” of a situation. Finally, you are collapsing the first anchor by thinking of the initial feeling and using the second anchor to, essentially, nullify it.

Now, test it: Try to reproduce the initial feeling of being overwhelmed. Is it still as strong? Is it less intense? Is it “neutral”?

If it is still intense, just repeat the exercise. It’ll work.

One of the most common questions that a hypnotist may get is:

“Was I really hypnotized?”

If you have never gotten that one, you haven’t been doing this long at all. When I was taught hypnotism by Dr. Scott McFall, one of the first things he drilled into my head was to make sure that my hypnosis clients (or stage hypnosis show participants) knew — absolutely knew — that they experienced hypnosis and the trance state.

The reason is that if your client doesn’t know that she was hypnotized, chances are, she’ll sabotage the entire session by analyzing it and judging it.

If you ever knew anyone who went to a group session for smoking cessation, for instance, they usually say that it didn’t work because they didn’t think they were ever hypnotized. (I hear that from potential clients all the time.)

So, how do you get them to realize the they were actually hypnotized? It’s easy. You need convincers.

A convincer is a tiny, but very effective technique — usually done during the induction — to “prove” that they are/were, in fact, hypnotized.

Good convincers are:

• Eye catalepsy (Catalepsy: A condition characterized most often by rigidity of the extremities)
• Arm catalepsy
• Saliva flow
• Heaviness
• A “floating” sensation
• Tingling hands/feet
• Time-distortion
• Glove anesthesia or analgesia

There are more, but those are the ones I mostly use. It’s enough to make the point.

Now, many hypnotists do this, not to show their clients/participants that they were hypnotized, but to show or “test” hypnotic “depth”. Hypnotic depth is a subject for another article, but just to let you know what I think about it: I ignore it completely. (How’s that?)

Note: In stage hypnosis, convincers aren’t as important because they are experiencing the phenomenon as a part of the show (forgetting the number “eight”, feeling hot or cold, smelling something odd, etc.). Usually their friends convince them they were hypnotized by all the stories they tell and the photos they took.

So, during the induction I do most of the above convincers. After emerging them from trance, I then review the convincers for them. This is vital. I ask them if they remember this and that, only continuing to the next one when they affirm that the phenomenon did happen.

“How long do you feel you’ve been in this room in hypnosis?”, I may ask.

“Oh, not long… about 10 minutes?”, they inquire.

“Well, let’s see… Oh! It’s 4:30! You’ve been in here for about an hour!” I exclaim.

They always look shocked.

Time distortion is a great convincer and usually the first to bring to their attention.

I many see about 20 clients a day and never do I hear the question, “Was I really hypnotized?” Then, we never have to discuss it, they start to change and everybody’s happy.

Do convincers and your results will skyrocket.