Reflecting on the season...

Denise Billen-Mejia MD CH www.healandberadiant.com office@aahypnosis.com

Les Roberts ACH www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

(0:00) Welcome to Two Hypnotherapists Talking with me, Denise Villamihia, in Delaware, USA. (0:06) And me, Les Roberts, in St Helens, United Kingdom. (0:10) This weekly podcast is for anyone and everyone who'd like to know more about the fascinating (0:14) world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.I'm a clinical hypnotherapist and (0:22) specialist in working with children. And I'm a retired medical doctor (0:26) and consultant hypnotist. We are Two Hypnotherapists Talking.(0:33) So let's get on with the episode. (0:36) Hi, I can't believe we're on episode nine already of this season. (0:43) It's, it's really... (0:43) Yeah, the season's been very, and the weather here has been so strange.(0:47) It's summer, practically, outside. (0:48) I was going to say it looked bright. (0:49) In the 70s, right? (0:50) Yeah.(0:51) And it's not raining. Yesterday was warm, but it rained. (0:54) So is all the snow gone now? (0:55) The official number, the official number is 69.(1:02) Except for the parts that got piled up because people just plowed and left. (1:08) Yeah. (1:09) No, like the salt, they look all right.But yes, it is, we've got a week before the New (1:14) Year, pretty much, a week and a bit. I say New Year, as I explained before, my religion, (1:20) our New Year is the first day of spring. (1:24) So explain that to... (1:27) My husband is feeling happier.(1:29) Explain why this is your New Year. (1:31) We're Baha'is. (1:32) Okay.(1:33) So every religion has its own calendar and our calendar says that first day of spring (1:38) is New Year. And it's preceded by a month of fasting for those under 70. (1:46) And so my husband, he has passed that number.He doesn't want to let go of the fast. (1:51) And he's still fasting. But the days are definitely getting much nicer.(1:56) It's very nice here today, very mild today. However, according to the weather, we have (2:03) got torrents of rain coming across. So that's what it's like, but I will... (2:08) Keep it there.We don't want it further. (2:11) No, it's actually coming. Yeah, it's actually coming from you, from your way.So I don't (2:15) know whether it's... (2:16) Oh, sorry about that. That was what we had last week then. (2:18) Probably, yes, exactly.My husband always, he always jokes about, because I'm originally (2:25) from Manchester and he always says that people from Manchester have webbed feet because it (2:30) constantly rains in Manchester. (2:32) Doesn't it rain all the time? (2:34) It doesn't, but yeah, the weather here has just been atrocious. Our garden is, it's clay.(2:42) It's, you know, the soil's very clay. So you can imagine it, it just absorbs all of the... (2:49) Heavy. (2:50) Yeah, all of the rain.(2:51) And backbreaking when you need to get out of the field. (2:54) It's just wet all the time. So that's delayed having my cabin built as well.So... (3:01) Oh, that's right. I forgot you were about to move in. (3:04) I know.But it's all right. It's all good. It's all good.(3:07) Yes, we are quite well established now and you've got, this is the, (3:12) you think this is going to be the ninth episode? It's difficult when you record ahead of time (3:16) to figure out where things are, but yes, that's good. So we're nearly done with (3:20) season eight and we'll be prepping for season nine. (3:23) We are, yeah.(3:24) Already had a guest agreed. (3:27) Yeah, it's exciting, isn't it? And I've learned so much. That is going to help my practice as (3:33) well because I never, I've run a podcast with Tony, one of our guests.We do a podcast, (3:41) but what we do is we send it out exactly as it is. We don't edit i

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to two episodes talking with me and it's building here in the website.

SPEAKER_00 0:05

And let's drop it in.

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Speaking of anyone and everyone who would like to know more about the fascinating world of hypnotism.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

And the benefits of the doctor. I'm a clinical hypnotherapist and specialist in working with children. And I'm a retired medical doctor. And consultant medical children. We are two hypnotherapists talking. So let's get on with the episode. Hi, I can't believe we're on episode nine already of this season.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

It's yeah, the season's been very strange, and the weather here's been so strange. It's summer practically outside. I was gonna say, yeah. And it's not raining. Yesterday was warm bit of rain. So it was all the clouds on the official number. The official number is 68.

unknown 0:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:01

Um except for the pe the parts that got piled up because people just plowed it and left it.

unknown 1:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

But yes, it's it is we've got a week before the new year, pretty much. I say new year, and as I explained all my my religion, our new year is the first day of spring.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

So explain that too. My husband is really happier. Explain why this is your new year. Well we're we're behind. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

So every religion has its own calendar, and our calendar says that the first day of spring is the new year. And um it's preceded by a month of fasting for those understanding. And so my husband he has passed that number, he doesn't want to let go of the fast. And he's he's still fasting. But the days are definitely getting much nicer.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

It's very nice here today, very mild today. However, according to the weather, we have got torrents of rain coming across. So that's what it's like. But I will tell uh keep it there, we don't want it further. No, it's it's actually coming, yeah, it's actually coming from you from your way. So I don't know whether it's oh sorry.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

That was what we had last week, then.

SPEAKER_00 2:18

Yeah, probably yes, exactly. My husband always he he always jokes about because I'm originally from Manchester, and he always says that people from Manchester have webb feet because uh it constantly rains in Manchester. It doesn't, but yeah, I thought it the weather here has just been atrocious. Our garden is uh it's clay, it's you know, the soil's very clay. So you can imagine it, it just absorbs all of the um heavy, yeah, all of the rain. It's just wet all the time. So that's delayed having my cabin built as well. So uh well that's right.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

I'd forgotten you were about to move in.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

I know, yeah, but it's all right, it's all good, it's all good.

SPEAKER_01 3:07

So uh yes, we are we are quite well established now, and then you've got this is the you think this is gonna be the line? Yeah, so it's difficult when you report ahead of tomorrow to figure out where things are, but yes, that's good. So we're nearly done with season. We'll be prepping for season nine.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

And we have already have a guest who read. Yeah, it's uh it's exciting, isn't it? And I've learned so much that it's gonna help my practice as well because I never um I've run a podcast with Tony, one of our guests. We do a podcast, but what we do is we send it out exactly as it is, we don't edit it at all. So that when I joined you, and you said that you and Martin edited it and took out all the the mumbo jumbo stuff, then I thought and all that whoops didn't mean to say quite that way. Let me try again, and um and I thought, oh, how am I gonna do this? I'll get my daughter to do it, but my daughter's she's too busy, so I it's been massive learning curve for me, but it's gonna help my business because it means that I can make videos to put on TikTok or Facebook or wherever. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 4:21

So yeah, and that is the point. I mean, we we love the fact that a few people are listening to us, but that's the point. We want more people to be aware that hypnosis is a viable therapy.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

We do, yeah, we do definitely. So, what do you think we need to do as far as our businesses are concerned? I know what I mean, you mean hypnosis in general? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Yeah, I I think I love to run, uh, love today totally, but they work in the side that makes us nervous, they work primarily, although they both have therapy clients. They both publicize their work through entertainment. And I I don't have a problem with it. I don't, you know, I think they're a good friend. I don't have any problem with it. Except I do feel a tremendous number of people are misled by seeing the funny funny guy quite like that. Yeah. That stuff, I think, to try to how useful hypnosis is. The other issue that people have is so expensive. But then they forget they're only seeing me twice at that price and not for six months.

SPEAKER_00 5:30

And that's yeah, yeah. That's the same conversation I've just had with a new client, and he was quite surprised that I suggested so many sessions and not months and months of therapy. Oh, I see, yes. So, yeah, he was quite surprised, you know, that it happened so I asked.

SPEAKER_01 5:48

May I ask what is the issue that he'll be dealing with?

SPEAKER_00 5:52

Gambling addiction.

SPEAKER_01 5:54

Okay, yeah. So it's they're really ready to change, change really fast. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so do you routinely offer if you think somebody's not really ready for the change themselves, do you offer do you help them get to that point?

SPEAKER_00 6:11

You don't just say go away, come back when you're ready. I have done, I have done that, but also I think it's by the time they do get to me, I do think that that they are ready. They're ready. Yeah, I think so. But I I asked the questions and I asked them if as what we discussed uh with our other guests with Nova about quitting smoking, we have to make sure that they're doing it for them, they're not doing it for anybody else. Exactly. So this guy is a lovely guy, he has just lost almost everything to gambling.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

So gambling.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

That's what addiction does, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

It it yes, it it does, and and it's just slot machines, just slot machines and arcades. It's not online, they're everywhere, yeah. Pubs, clubs everywhere, yeah. So really nice guy, genuine guy, really does want to make you know a difference to his life. So he'll be back.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

Hopefully by the time people are listening to this, you'll already see him and helped him.

SPEAKER_00 7:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

But I we get we get as long as your onboarding process. Do you mean do I have a wait? How long does it take from the time somebody makes a call? No, yes, from the time they see you and say, Yes, I want to work with you, and you agree that there's a pretty sure you'd help them. How long is it before they actually see you? Because for me, I require everybody's doctor to say okay, in part because the main reason I'm in business, I love helping people, but the main reason is because I want other doctors to know this is viable. So it's really important to me that those patients let their doctor know. So if it's something so it can take a couple of weeks before I actually see them.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

Yeah, if it's something that I need to get verification from their GP, their doctor to say it's okay to go ahead, then it could it could take a couple of weeks. But usually the turnaround, I am very fortunate I don't have a waiting list at the moment. I did have, but I haven't now. So it's usually within the a week. So he came to see me today, and he's coming to see me uh not next week, week after. It was the I did have a waiting list, and that was when I worked a lot with children, an awful lot with children, where it it peaks and troughs, isn't it? You know, one minute with with mad bids and the next minute, you know.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

So this is this is uh it's slow to manageable level, it's not like oh my god, am I gonna paint the bills? It's yeah, no, it's think things it's it's the natural and on flood, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:42

Yeah, and it hopefully uh families as well. So yeah, not not lots, but enough, you know, to keep me going. So it's good, it's all good.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

If they refer family to you, do you see each individual person in the family, or do you just meet them and decide who is the main person that's it depends, it depends what it's for.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

So I've done work with the per uh the family once the perpetrators left for domestic violence, so it's usually the children and and the mum that I see, and I see them as a family because it's all about my my aim that I I I was asked to see them for is about bringing the family back together and building that trust again, rather than you know, just let it all just fall apart because the family dynamics they they do fall apart, don't they? And they are at crisis sometimes. I have seen individual ones, but for individual therapy and then brought the family together at the end. It just depends what it's for, really.

SPEAKER_01 9:45

And the age of the children obviously makes a difference.

SPEAKER_00 9:49

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Do you see mostly little ones or in the adolescent?

SPEAKER_00 9:54

Both really, not very little ones. I think that I usually see by the time they get to they're about seven, eight when they start coming to me. I have had younger, but they're about seven or eight, and then once once they have an intellectual life and a subconscious life.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

Subconscious all the way.

SPEAKER_00 10:13

But I I have I do see children and they do come back to me, which is great, and not for the same reasons, but for something else. Like I have got a little girl who's just transitioned into a new school and she's struggling, so she's coming back to see me. She's I saw her, but those tools that she took away, all I'll need to do is just reinforce those tools and just remind her. Yeah, so it won't take many sessions at all.

SPEAKER_01 10:39

But it's but it's wasn't it was it um a life upset or was it an actual break during the schools? She's at the age for the next group up, or did they move?

SPEAKER_00 10:50

No, they no, they've just moved schools, they're not happy with the school, the school wasn't supporting the child, and so she's she's moved schools, and it's like starting again, isn't it? You know, with all her friends and things, exactly. Which can be daunting anyway, can't it? Yeah, she's uh she's a happy little girl, you know, otherwise. And last time I saw her, I forgot what I saw her for, but she was she was very, very good, and she used to teach me how to dance and things. Yeah, because she did ballet and tap. So I happened to mention that I used to do ballet and tap when I was very, very young. And the next thing she said, well, what can you do? Tell me what you can do. So I said, No, 50 years, longer than that. So yeah, she was teaching me how to, you know, how to to hold my shoulder, you know, my shoulders, my arms, and look up and smile. So it was quite fun actually. But things like that, even though it was only for a few minutes, it sort of it just broke all those barriers down, and we just got on really well. You know, really well. So that that was nice, yeah. So it'd be nice to see her again. So what about you? Just reorganising a lot of things.

SPEAKER_01 12:04

Um I mean, in my actual life rather than my business life, the house is in need of a major major excavation to to remove all the stuff that piles up when it's winter out. So I need to do that. And I need to go because I'm moving the website. I'm just gonna sound of course to the water will be on the platform. Um, I'm moving that. I've got meetings with people that are helping me. I I have decided to accept the fact that I am not a programmer, nor do I particularly wish to be. So somebody else can have the internet for me. It's very difficult. I've always got family that can, and the the my sons and my husband all work in that world, so I can get help if something suddenly blows up in front of me and I need help in a hurry. My husband's right in the room next door. It is also sometimes a very good idea for marriages if you have somebody else to be frustrated with.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

Yes, that's very true. My husband's actually watching um the Paralympics at the moment. He likes his sport.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

I just working or has he retired?

SPEAKER_00 13:15

He retired uh during lockdown. He retired during the COVID situation. Um, he worked for Merseyside Police. He did he, I think he'd been there about 11, 12 years. Before that, he used to work for Pilkington's, which St. Helen is synonymous for Pilkington's Glass, and he worked there for 30, I think it was 36 years.

SPEAKER_01 13:37

That doesn't sound like he was a copper then. What what was it?

SPEAKER_00 13:40

Oh yeah, he wasn't, he was a civilian, yeah. He he was a civilian for the police, yeah. He loved the job, absolutely loved the job. But the guy that he worked with, he got COVID twice, and my husband, he's asthmatic. He if he gets a cold, it goes straight onto his chest, and he wasn't, he he just got a little bit worried. So he just legitimately, yeah. So this is killed by a lot of people at that point. Over here, we could you could have special, I forgot what it's called now, but where an easy target for COVID, but because he'd managed his his chest, any chest infections and he'd managed asthma for the past 12 months, he hadn't had any reoccurring infections, he wasn't classed as somebody who was at risk just because he'd managed for 12 months. So he said, What do I do? So I said, It's entirely up to you. What do you want to do? And he said, I don't want to go back to work, so I said don't. So he's now a house husband. That's very helpful. It entitles you to work on your business. He does, he's very supportive.

SPEAKER_02 14:46

Sylvia, what's for dinner?

SPEAKER_00 14:47

Yeah. Well, I'll I'll I'll hear him soon because I'm at home today, so uh I will hear him soon clanging about in the kitchen making uh dinner. So yeah, it has its its benefits definitely.

SPEAKER_01 14:59

We we tend to split I usually do the cooking, not that he's not capable, but I enjoy cooking, so I'm okay doing that. And it's you know, by the time I'm getting dinner at least like 5:36 o'clock. I'm not a client usually. Sometimes I'll have an evening client. Yeah, some people are their work schedules when but I do I'm I'm doing very lucky. Most people are able to meet me during the workday. Yeah. I think you know, I need to do Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday with my client face. But um, I also am addicted to other people's time. I can tell you about business. Oh, I'll go listen to that. Oh, I'll go and listen to that. I need to stop that for a bit.

SPEAKER_00 15:35

Yeah, marinate a while. You you can get involved with all kinds of sort of webinars and you know, uh quick learning things, can't you? I'm very careful about what I choose now because otherwise I'd be sat here all day, all day, all night. But he we we said this, didn't we? We've mentioned this before, how we continue to learn, we continue to evolve our practices because we have to. We can't just sit down and think, well, I've qualified now, so I'm just gonna leave, you know, leave it as it is. I don't need to do anything.

SPEAKER_01 16:07

We need to keep up our registrations if you have any, and also do and and just like in medicine, you know, you have to think of medical education, you've got to take continuing hypnosis education to our various organizations. What's your primary certification certifying agency?

SPEAKER_00 16:24

What's my sorry, what your your A ACH? Is your I'm an ACH advanced clinical hypnotherapy. Okay, yeah. Well, I'm a member of the GHR, which is the general hypnotherapy register.

SPEAKER_01 16:36

Okay, but I'm also a I I um we don't really have an equivalent of that here. But we uh I'm with the National Violet Hypnosis, it wasn't the first one of the school I trained with, Hypnosis Motivation Institute in California has has an administrative arm that is divided from them. Um and I used them for the first five years, that's most of their training stead, but I decided that philosophically I was better off with NGH Plus. NGH has been around for more than 50 years, probably closer to 60 now, and therefore it's got a lot of name recognition, and they very sensibly chose a very plain vanilla label. National Guild of Hypnotists, and nobody has to say, what do they do? Yeah, um, and they have yeah, hundreds of thousands of people who are yeah, and it it it's good.

SPEAKER_00 17:26

I've never had to call on the DHR for anything, but they offer CPD, they offer courses, and and of course I can I can advertise my courses as well with the that's good.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

I haven't I haven't done any training. I've done training where I've been a trainee, but I haven't I I've done some stuff through Cheryl's. We're gonna be meeting Cheryl at the beginning of next season. Both of us, of course, know very well. So I've done some talks, but uh two other hypnosis I haven't uh talked other than what you train, you you teach obviously your hypnosis clients how to relax and how to get into the back. But uh I haven't done any professional training. You know, it's so there's so many things you can get involved with. And right enough to learn how but I think it's trying to say no, stop concentration on this because the purpose of my business is to make sure as many people as possible know that hypnosis is a valid therapy that could probably help them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:27

Well, I had done training, I I I have an academy as well, but I'm not doing anything this year. I did it last year and the year before, and I'm not doing it this year. Time consuming? Is that the problem? It is, it is, but it's also because of the move, I wanted to make sure that I was settled here at home in in the new place in the garden before I opened the academy again. Yes, it will be next year now, or probably later on in the year, probably September, October.

SPEAKER_01 18:56

When you train people, are you training people new to hypnosis or in in certain aspects?

SPEAKER_00 19:02

No, so brand new. Yeah, brand new to hypnosis. They may be NLP train trained, or they may be a counselor, or they may just be totally brand new.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

However, I do it's very interesting how varied we the the variety of people who come. There are several people that you and I know who started off work life as hairdressers. Yeah, yes, yeah. Um, and and we serve you know surgeons or dentists or doctors. It really is yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:35

I do I do run a course, I do run a course for hypnotherapists, and that's working with children's course. Um, so yes, I do um I do run a special course for working with children that's evolving even now from not just the basics of working with children, it also um entails a few modalities that we can use for mental health like self-harm, RFID, you know, the food restriction, also anxiety, uh OCDs, Tourette's as well. So it's just evolved.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

I do want to add something to the I want to RFIDs for some reason pinned. Um I you and I both need to say people can write comments, can tell us what they liked and what they didn't like about the podcast. If you've got something you would like us to address, let us know what it is. Yes, so that would we can line up an expert in that from a hemisphere.

SPEAKER_00 20:36

Yes, definitely. So my my course is it evolved. It was not a basic course at first, but it was mostly about the children's emotions and feelings and how to bring them into the clinical setting without it being too clinical and how to help them, what methodologies we could use. But now it's it's still there, but it's evolving a lot more into the mental health side because there's a lot of children out there with mental health issues that are on massive waiting lists. Do you think it's post-COVID? That was such a huge stressor to them. I do think I do think some of it's post-COVID, but I also think a lot of it as well is life at the moment with everything that's going on in the world, and children, you know, are getting worried. I have yeah, I have uh two children that I'm seeing both at not the same time, but two children for the same issue, and that's with what has happened with in their in their religious sector, so they're both Jewish. And and what happened, you know, with with people yeah, breaking into places, so these children are just absolutely terrified about going to school. So they go to religious schools? They g they go to Jewish schools, yeah. So so yes. So the the world as it is at the moment can uh have a massive impact. When the war in Ukraine started, which was about four years ago, something like that. Four years ago, so I wrote a little article for parents to download if they were ever worried, you know, how to explain to children, because I know we can we can protect our children a lot from the news and you know from social media, but there's also a lot of things out there that children. Um I did that about four years ago, and the our local newspaper were very, very kind. They uh shared it as well. So uh mum could just download it, yeah. But it's scary times, isn't it? It's scary times for people.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

Yeah, even those old people.

SPEAKER_00 22:50

Yeah, yeah. So yeah, there I do a wide variety of things. It's not just straight therapy. I do people sometimes people would think it's play therapy, but it's not play therapy, it's just getting the children to be involved and and open up their imaginations.

SPEAKER_01 23:09

I originally trained as a pediatrician, so it's really bizarre to me that nobody brings their kids. It's a lot of adults, which is fine. I I'm okay seeing adults too.

SPEAKER_00 23:18

What would be your favourite client, your ideal client?

SPEAKER_01 23:23

I don't have I don't really have one. Um the things that fascinate me are medical things. Yes. It's it's the the patients with pain, the patients with anxiety disorder over medical things. I like it if I can if I can sort of feel like a doctor sometimes, but I don't practice, I promise I won't practice it, but um sort of nods at my previous training, and it's those are those are things that it's it's quite amusing when people start to tell me listening to I have yeah, yeah, no. I read that book. Um and I really hoped that this year I I can't concentrate long enough, but I've got this podcast, we've got another podcast which is sort of pending, but we reactivated in the future. Um I have a radio show, a second one is coming along, and that second one is going to have many interview doctors with fairly large followings. Wow, yeah. I'm working with um price of business because the guy is heard it's an M plus enterprise, but it's it's moving more into lifestyle stuff business. So I'm hoping that we'll get more penetration. And I don't mind if you don't come and see me. I want you to see a hypnotist if you have a problem. Yeah, and both of us are really happy helping you identify who that person may be.

SPEAKER_00 24:50

Oh, definitely. So we're both trained in um we both did our training with Cheryl, didn't we, for Sleep Talk?

SPEAKER_01 24:58

Yes, yeah. So do you want to? She's gonna be she's the first person. She's been on the show before, early, early on on March. Yeah, so we have to reconnect with her.

SPEAKER_00 25:07

Yeah, yeah, yeah. For season nine, first episode, or second episode it'll be, won't it? So what what would you use sleep talk for?

SPEAKER_01 25:16

For a certain age group. It's it's what's really useful is for a parent to have something they can use where they can feel empowered to help their children. Most of us want to have our children and we look at them and think, uh I haven't had the opportunity to use it with too many people. I've talked, I've given talks about it and ask people about it. I like the fact that so many kids who grew up having sleep talk go away to university, they come back and they ask their parents, can you do that thing again? Because at times of transition, it's very angry. I mean, it's wonderful to go to uni. It's great. You leave home, you've got all this and being grown up is a lot different than you think.

SPEAKER_00 26:00

It's it's hard, isn't it, being a grown-up? Yeah, it is hard. It's hard, it's much harder than you think. I like being a child and somebody was in charge of my hair and things like that, you know, rather than the responsibility that I had. But I I want to ask you this question, Denise, because I was asked this the other day. So I um use sleep talk, but I use it in a different way. It's called rest and and resets, what I use for the children. Well, well, what I use with the the parents to um deliver to the children, and I've had some really, really fantastic results with it. I have been asked, could I could a wife deliver it to a husband who snores? Yes, you can. Yeah, yes. I did say yes, and then and then I thought, are they gonna come back and ask me how? Um, which I'm fine about, you know, but I was I've never been asked that before. Because I have just always thought, really, that it would be something that you can deliver to children, but I do remember talking to my husband while my husband's asleep, you know, about things that you know, about especially during COVID when um he was quite worried about his job, you know, didn't know what to do. So I used to say to him, Don't worry, you know, just relax. Right, we won't starve. Yeah, but you know, the case of don't worry, just relax, go to sleep, you know, sleep well. Tomorrow's a new day, you know, with different things. And and it it did it did seem to work because he did actually say to me, Are you talking to me at night? No, no. Oh yeah, I think it'd be absolutely fantastic because people do come to us, don't they, and say, Can you stop my husband from snoring? Well, no, I can't stop your husband from snoring, but what I can do is stop you from you know, help you to hear it. Yeah, hearing it. Whereas if we if we could uh promote something where the wife talks to the husband or vice versa, whoever is the snorer.

SPEAKER_01 28:14

Well, you know, but you know, from a mental point of view, you know, there are some very serious potential problems with snoring. Um, that it's a symptom of something else, often that needs to be investigated.

SPEAKER_00 28:28

My mum was only four foot eleven, four foot eleven and three-quarters, she'd say. Very tiny, tiny lady. I don't take after her, but a very tiny lady, and boy, could she snore. And I mean she could snore. She the it's amazing that the windows weren't rattling. She was a tiny, tiny person as well. And she could snore. So much so that my dad, he's a very, very light sleeper. My dad went to used to go into another room, and then he'd used to go into another room, then the furthest away from the further away from from the bedroom, really. So that didn't hit, you know. So it was terrible, you know, terrible. It wasn't it wasn't a major health issue for your mother. No, I don't think it was, no. I don't think it was at all. Because I just remember the real concerns was feedback.

SPEAKER_01 29:20

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 29:20

Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:22

Yeah. No, she was uh she was absolutely fine. I just think that she probably had some nasal problems or something, and you know, she says no, but she I don't remember her in a child, but we lived in a three-story house, we lived in a three-story Victorian house, so it was furthest away.

SPEAKER_01 29:41

We didn't hear but also when you were a child, it that was the normal sound that you heard, so it's like everything safe. Yeah, it's that's why you hear when somebody else's car is something possible. If it's the neighbor's car, you could recognize it.

SPEAKER_00 29:54

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, possibly. But no, I I don't think I don't think there was anything medically with either of us.

SPEAKER_01 30:02

If either of us have somebody comes to us and says, Can you hypnotize me to stop snoring? We will both say, What does your doctor say about this? Because we both know it can mean something.

SPEAKER_00 30:13

Oh, definitely most definitely, anything like that, it's always uh I think it's on art, you know, to look safeguard us, really, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 30:21

To make sure that we're you know, I also wouldn't like my clients for stay safe. Yeah, a proper diagnosis.

SPEAKER_00 30:28

The only time I've I haven't consulted or asked have a letter from a a GP was a gentleman came to see me for not for sleep apnea, but for the fear of putting on the mask, which I've mentioned before. Yeah. So I I didn't get clearance from the doctor because it wasn't we weren't tackling his his sleep apnea, it was just the fear of the mask.

SPEAKER_01 30:55

There, that's all I I would I would again, I would still have done that one, part because I want doctors to know I'm seeing their face their patients. Yeah, right, right. But but also because many, many people come to see many people go to see their doctor. I am seeing you for this hang now, and they don't mention anything else that's going on until they're about to leave the door. With your eye, they won't mention the other things. We want to make sure it's not that you have to sit down and tell us your entire life everything, yeah, but we need to know that what we're doing isn't going to be interfering with anything else that you're trying to do to get better.

SPEAKER_00 31:32

Yeah, you it's just covering ourselves, really, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 31:34

And just making sure it is, but it's making sure that the patients' clients are as safe as they can be.

SPEAKER_00 31:40

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 31:40

And it isn't that hypnosis, never hurt anybody. But but ignoring it if anything covers up something else, it should be addressed, then that would be a thing. We need to make sure that we get the appropriate care for the issue as soon as possible.

SPEAKER_00 31:58

Yeah, sometimes we have to like pass our clients on, don't we? We have to send them to somebody who's more proficient in doing something than we are.

SPEAKER_01 32:10

Well, there's also you know, there are I theoretically I can hypnosis for anybody for anything because I've been trained very well to do that, but um I'm not a singer. Yeah, and if you want to uh have hypnosis in order to be able to sing more efficiently, probably it would be better for you to see somebody who does that all the time. Exactly, yeah. And like plays golf, I'm saying the other one, one of my instructors at school who helped us learn a gazillion things, his primary client of golfers.

SPEAKER_00 32:44

Well, there is there is there is hypnotherapists or hypnotists that actually do see just the first sports performance. I know of quite a few that just do sports performance, whereas mine's with children, but I also see adults. The one thing I don't do at this moment in time is weight reduction.

SPEAKER_01 33:04

Ah, I always swore I would never do it, and yet so many people ask for help with it.

SPEAKER_00 33:10

Yeah, I just I just don't do it at the moment. It just it's something that I I just don't feel comfortable with. Maybe because I'm on my own weight loss journey at this moment in time, that I just don't feel comfortable with anymore. So maybe another time I'll pick it up because one of our guests that's coming on at uh towards the end, Sheila Granger, she does fantastic virtual gastric band and and the virtual injections and things. And we we get taught by the best, don't we? But it's something that I just don't feel comfortable doing, even though I did weight reduction on my course when I was learning.

SPEAKER_01 33:49

Of course, that was it, it is one of the top reasons that people see hypnosis. Yeah, yeah. And it's something smoking, of course. Smoking a weight is probably a lot, not necessarily we necessarily any of us see many of those people, but if you look at everybody who's ever had hypnosis, they're gonna be the number one. Plus, to some degree also, people don't mind saying, Yes, I had a weight problem, yes, I've got a smoking problem. Yeah, yeah. There's lots of other problems that people have that they see us for they don't want other people about. Yeah, yeah. Do you make referrals very difficult?

SPEAKER_00 34:24

Sometimes yeah. Would what is the one thing that you wouldn't see somebody for? Because we can see them for a a wide range of things, can't we?

SPEAKER_01 34:35

Yes. I I think if I knew that somebody else was phenomenal, I would tell them I could let them know. I wouldn't refuse to see them if they particularly want to see me. But so and so is somebody I know personally who does this, like the golf guy. Yeah, the golf guy. Um for smoking, if they I would probably mention Denise over, because I know that she's as much if you're a British, I might sell them to Nova if they prefer to have somebody else, but I'm I'm not worried about doing it. No, no, I don't think this yeah, the way that we've been taught we both we both know most of the work is not on our side, it's it's how you are allowing your subconscious to take in those messages. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:21

And also I don't think there is anything that's outside our capabilities, it's just nice to re-refer them on to somebody who who, like you said, is a specialist. I'm very fortunate I've got some really good uh hypnotherapy colleagues or friends down south that send the children to me because they don't they don't want to work with children.

SPEAKER_01 35:43

You say send them to you, you you work prominently online yeah, so I will work to you.

SPEAKER_00 35:49

So I will work online. Um I've just received another referral yesterday. I am holding a free consultation for that child with uh their parents at the end of the week, and and we'll just go from there. But I think working online it just gives us an opportunity to to be more diverse in in what we can do and who we can see. We're not just stuck to a uh a very, very reduced area, are we?

SPEAKER_01 36:20

I originally assumed I would be 50% in person and 50% online, but working from the same physical office. Yeah. So I I got office downtown in Wilmington, and the week before my grand opening, we went into our first lockdown. And so I was paying rent on that place free.

SPEAKER_00 36:42

Did you did you not get any um did you not get any compensation or any any assistance from the government?

SPEAKER_01 36:49

They offered it, but I would have had to prove and it was it was I was a new business. Right.

SPEAKER_00 36:55

So I couldn't prove a track record, so how would they, you know, what would they have compensated before you see here I'd only been opened eight and a half weeks because it was is the is this uh it's this uh week, isn't it, that we went into lockdown six years ago. And I'd only been opened eight and a half weeks and went into lockdown. But I was very, very fortunate that I got um a nice payout from the local council to help me to continue to stay stay as open as I as I could, you know, without seeing chill uh any children or any any people. So I immediately went online, work from home, went online, and then I was very, very fortunate that because I'm classed as mental health, the councillor agreed that I could open just a little, it's only a few weeks earlier than everybody else, as long as I maintained that um two-meter distance, and it was it was the environmental health that said to me, You have one in, and then they leave, you clean down, then you have one in, and then they're letting you clean down. So that's that's how I managed as well as online.

SPEAKER_01 38:08

But I was I was it was it was sort of funny because I was you know moving really fast to get everything done. I bought a chair, I thought, oh my lovely chair never saw a patient. Lovely reclining chair. Yeah, nobody, nobody sat in it except for me. I used to take my afternoon read based on my therapy train.

SPEAKER_00 38:29

Yeah. It was a time though, it was a time, especially uh my family, because we all work different shifts, we all work different places, it was a time where we all came together and it was nice. It there was only four of us here because my other my middle daughter had already moved away.

SPEAKER_01 38:50

Part of the reason that I was very grateful for having had this room thrushed upon me, as it were, um, is because my husband suddenly was working from home, and my son was somewhat working from home, and there's three of us around. Well, it just it was so much nicer to let me leave, let me walk through these deserted streets to my deserted office.

SPEAKER_00 39:08

The the th the positives that I can take out of that lockdown was it just we all joined together again as a family, we were united as a family. We didn't see uh Jessica, my other daughter, and and the kids and and her partner for a while because of lockdown. Because well, they they were about I think they're about 10-15 miles away from us. And how do we explain that? That we're going on a road trip, you know, in the car. So we we did FaceTime and we did we we talked to them every day, but the the children, the two grandsons, they weren't interested. They were just like absolutely loving this time, no school, you know, no nothing. And it was great for them. As the four of us here, my husband, my daughter, and and uh my son, it was a time that we just we just gelled together again because we were like ships that pass in the night at that point, but it was nice, and we taught our children to play cards and they became proper card sharks. So Thursday night was games night, and we all used to sit in here in here at the you know at the dining table and um and play cards. And my husband taught the the children how to play poker and rummy and you know, all of those. Um and oh, it was hilarious.

SPEAKER_01 40:27

How far into lockdown did your husband retire?

SPEAKER_00 40:30

It wasn't the first one, I think it was the second one, and I think that's what scared him because it came very soon after the first one. Yeah, it did.

SPEAKER_01 40:39

What out of lock up we're in again?

SPEAKER_00 40:41

Yeah, he's uh the guy who we worked in in very close proximity to, he'd already got COVID in the first one and then um got it again in the second, and I think it just scared my husband, and and he said, I can't risk this.

SPEAKER_01 40:57

If you have a question about hypnosis, you can write to us. Both of us have our email addresses and our office URLs in the in the printout that goes with this. We'd love to help, and we'd love we'd love to answer questions, and we are very honest about whether we can help or not, whether we think hypnosis can help or not. Yeah, I think if you just want you can see, we can tell the both of us like to talk. So if you just want to call and talk to us about hypnosis, we'll do that too.

SPEAKER_00 41:30

Give us something that we've not talked about over the you know the last year.

SPEAKER_01 41:35

If you have something that you wish we'd start talking about, please let us know.

SPEAKER_00 41:40

Yeah, please do, and we shall see you in the next episode. Absolutely. Okay, thank you. Bye. Bye. We hope you've enjoyed listening. Please remember this podcast is designed to give you an insight into therapeutic hypnosis, and it's for educational purposes only. So remember, consult with your own healthcare professional if you think something you've heard may apply to you or a loved one.