Chatting About the Antwerp Conference 2026 S9 E1

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

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

Welcome to Two Hypnotherapists Talking with me, Denise Billen-Mejia, here 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 would like to know more (0:14) about the fascinating world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.(0:19) I'm a clinical hypnotherapist and specialist in working with children. (0:25) And I'm a retired medical doctor and consultant hypnotist. (0:30) We are Two Hypnotherapists Talking.(0:33) So let's get on with the episode. (0:36) How about your presentation or everybody else's presentations? (0:40) It's fine. (0:41) It was an amazing weekend.(0:44) Absolutely exhausting, but an amazing weekend. (0:48) So I went to Hypnotic 2026 in Antwerp, Belgium. (0:54) Who's the governing body that organizes that? (0:58) Naila, her name is.(1:01) Naila, yeah. (1:02) So and her lovely sidekick Angelique, which she's such a lovely, lovely person. (1:08) I made some very good contacts there.(1:11) Some really, really nice people. (1:13) Met some lovely people and caught up with two of at least two of our guests. (1:18) Or could potentially could be three.(1:20) And it was just a fantastic weekend. (1:24) And they really look after you in Belgium. (1:27) Shame they couldn't save your throat.(1:29) I know. (1:30) So we were fed and we were watered regularly. (1:34) And it was such a lovely, lovely experience.(1:38) And it was just great. (1:39) It was just lovely, but it was so, so tiring. (1:42) Because you know, and I'm sure everybody else knows who networks.(1:46) The minute you hit the ground is the minute you start to network. (1:51) Yeah, so even over breakfast, you're talking to people. (1:54) Then you're attending presentations on the Saturday and the Sunday.(2:01) So you can consistently talk. (2:04) Non-stop. (2:05) Yeah, so.(2:06) How late did the conference go? (2:08) Did you get a decent night's sleep? (2:09) Did you get any social time built in? (2:11) Yeah, there was a little bit of social time. (2:13) Like we got, I flew in on the Thursday. (2:17) So I had the Thursday evening with one of my colleagues, Cara.(2:22) And then on the Friday, Jackie Thompson, another one of our colleagues. (2:27) She met us for breakfast and we spent the day in Antwerp. (2:32) We were tourists for the day.(2:33) We had lunch in Antwerp and then we came back to the hotel. (2:37) The hotel's quite a distance from the town. (2:39) So you have to either get an Uber or you have to get the bus.(2:44) So it's quite a distance. (2:46) And then on the Friday evening, we did some more networking, some more talking. (2:51) Everybody was there, you know, everybody was arriving ready for the Saturday morning.(2:56) It was just a brilliant convention. (2:59) Very, very well run. (3:01) Very put together, you know, so, so well.(3:04) And Neela and Anjali just ran it perfectly. (3:08) It was lovely. (3:09) All right.(3:10) So let's go with who did you listen to during the talk then? (3:15) I listened to quite a few people. (3:16) I listened to Jackie, of course. (3:18) And I listened to Cara.(3:20) I also went to John Scanlon because every time John has appeared at the UK, (3:27) I've never been able to see him because it's always ran against something else. (3:31) Either I'm talking or, you know, so I've always missed John. (3:36) So that was very, very good.(3:39) John is going to be a guest. (3:40) John's going to be a guest, yeah, during the season. (3:42) I also went to see Nicole Wackenegels.(3:47) Nicole was talking about what she does, (3:50) this wonderful thing to help with surgeries. (3:54) So nobody has any anesthetic. (3:57) It's all to do with hypnosis.(3:59) Really? (3:59) What sort of surgeries does she work with? (4:04) I don't think it's anything really, (4:06) but I think it's anything to do with any musculoskeletal or anything. (4:12) I know in Belgium particularly, (4:18) it's fairly well established for those patients who cannot undergo regular anesthesia. (4:27) There are a few conditions that make it difficult.(4:30) For those of you that don't know, (4:31) Nicole's from Switzerland and she runs the Swiss Hypnosis. (4:37) And I met her husband, Jacob. (4:39) What a gentleman.(4:40) Absolutely lovely gentleman. (4:42) I also went to, on the Sunday, I went to Giancarlo Russo's presentation. (4:52) What an extraordinary guy.(4:55) If we can get him on here one time, it would be amazing. (4:59) It would be lovely. (5:00) I haven't heard him since.(5:01) He was a presenter with the Elman conference about two, three years ago. (5:08) Yeah. (5:09) He was very helpful when a friend of mine had a stroke.(5:14) Because he's a physio, isn't he? (5:16) As well as a physiotherapist, yeah. (5:20) I've seen quite a few of these things on YouTube, yeah. (5:23) I also went to see a guy, I forgot his name, I do apologize.(5:28) And he did all havening and he did havening with hypnosis. (5:33) An Irish guy, such a gentleman. (5:35) So I'm hoping to see him in Ireland.(5:39) He was very, very good. (5:41) Get him on the show. (5:43) Well, I will actually.(5:45) I'll try and get him on if we can. (5:47) He was just fantastic. (5:49) And it made me look at the things that I do with children.(5:52) You know, when children are struggling with their feelings, (5:56) struggling with their emotions, if they can do the havening themselves, (6:01) then, you know, it would be great. (6:03) And I know he actually did it, you know, to someone, (6:06) but I just think it would be so, so good. (6:08) Yeah.(6:10) So I'm very, very interested in what he does. (6:12) So yeah, do you know what? (6:13) I shall email him and see if I can get him on. (6:16) If not, it will be next season.(6:19) But all together, it was such a lovely, lovely environment. (6:23) And everybody supported everybody. (6:26) Can you guesstimate how many people were there? (6:29) And how many countries were represented? (6:33) People don't seem to realize how far flung hypnosis is.(6:38) It's well-established in Iran, for example. (6:41) Yeah. (6:42) So there was the UK, of course.(6:47) There was American hypnotists there. (6:50) Giancarlo's Italian. (6:53) Nicole is Swiss.(6:55) John is Irish. (6:57) Cara's from Scotland. (6:59) Paulina's from Scotland as well.(7:01) And I'm trying to think who else was there. (7:04) There was a lot of Belgium hypnotists. (7:06) Of course.(7:07) Rob was there. (7:08) Rob de Grasse was there as well. (7:12) I'm trying to think who else was there.(7:13) Quite a few British, quite a few English, British people. (7:17) Oh, that's close. (7:19) Yeah, so I mean, people did travel, didn't they? (7:22) A lot of people flew in.(7:24) Oh, there was Astrid as well. (7:26) Astrid's from the Netherlands. (7:29) And the lady from Portugal.(7:31) She was amazing. (7:32) I went to see her speech as well. (7:35) It was all about narcissistic behavior.(7:38) She was absolutely fantastic. (7:40) She runs the Portuguese one as well. (7:43) Oh, yeah.(7:44) I'm going to go to the Portuguese one. (7:47) We'll see. (7:48) We'll see.(7:49) If you're going to be a speaker at one of the European ones, (7:53) do you have to speak in the language of the country? (7:57) No, the majority. (7:58) I would, well, I would say everybody. (8:01) I assume you were not speaking Nederlands when you were in Mantua.(8:04) Well, everybody, everybody was speaking English. (8:08) Everybody presented in English. (8:10) Yeah, that's the embarrassing thing about Europe, isn't it? (8:14) And then you look at me and get, speaking English, a bit of schoolgirl French.(8:18) Yeah, it was, it was just, it was just so, so nice. (8:22) It was, it was quite relaxed as well. (8:24) Even though it was busy, it was quite relaxed, you know, (8:28) and there was plenty of time for talking to people.(8:32) Everybody broke for lunch at the same time. (8:34) It was one central thing where, because lunch was provided, (8:38) we all stayed within, you know, that area of the hotel where we all had lunch. (8:44) And it just seemed to, it just seemed to sit nicely.(8:50) You know, it wasn't, I can only speak for London and Belgium now (8:54) because I haven't done the Irish. (8:55) What were the, what were the topics that you most appreciated? (9:00) Because you've been in the business now for 10 years. (9:03) So, yeah.(9:05) So, as a newbie, everything is amazing, (9:09) but you've probably been to several conferences now. (9:11) What did you feel was most groundbreaking for you? (9:15) Mine, the Havening. (9:16) The Havening definitely, for me, that was just fantastic.(9:20) And it was something that I thought, this is definitely something I want to bring in (9:25) and have as my, you know, as part of my toolbox. (9:29) Jackie's talk about the inner child was really, really interesting, (9:34) about how we can look, you know, even, even though I see the children, (9:39) I always look at the parents as well and see where the parents are coming from. (9:43) And sometimes you can see they need a little bit of inner child work and everything.(9:49) Cara, of course, neurodivergent, which I see neurodivergent children as well. (9:54) So, there were, I don't think there was anything that I didn't take away (9:58) from each and every one that I sat and watched. (10:03) Even Nicole's, you know, even though I don't, I don't want to do surgery, (10:09) I think it's just helped me to sort of think, (10:12) how can I use those sorts of tools in an indirect way? (10:16) It's also, it also helps you to refer people too.(10:20) Yes. (10:20) To let people know it exists. (10:22) Yeah, definitely.(10:24) And also to help the chil

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Two Hypnotherapist Talking with me, Denise Bill and Mahia in Delaware, USA.

SPEAKER_01 0:05

And me, Larry Roberts in St Helens, United Kingdom.

SPEAKER_00 0:10

This weekly podcast was for anyone and everyone who would like to know more about the fascinating world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

I'm a clinical hypnotherapist and specialist in working with children.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

And I'm a retired medical doctor and consultant hypnotist.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

We are two hypnotherapists talking.

SPEAKER_00 0:33

So let's get on with the episode. About your presentation or everybody else's presentation. That's fine.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

It was an amazing weekend, absolutely exhausting, but an amazing weekend. So I went to Hypnotic 2026 in Antwerp, Belgium.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Who's the governing body that organises that? Neila, her name is.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

Neela. Neela, yeah. So, and her lovely sidekick, Angelique, which she's such a lovely, lovely person. I met I made some very good contacts there, some really, really nice people, met some lovely people and caught up with two of at least two of our guests. Well, could potentially could be three. And it was just a fantastic weekend, and they really look after you in Belgium.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

So we came up in the save your throat, but I know.

SPEAKER_01 1:29

So we were fed and we were watered regularly, and it was it's such a lovely, lovely experience, and it was just grace, it was just lovely, but it was so so tiring because you know, and I'm sure everybody else knows who networks. The minute you hit the ground is the minute you start to network, yeah. So that so even over breakfast, you're talking to people, then you're you're attending presentations on the Saturday and the Sunday. So you you can consistently talk. Yeah, so late for the conference there. Did you get a decent night's sleep?

SPEAKER_00 2:08

Did you get any social time built in?

SPEAKER_01 2:10

No, there was a little bit of social time. Like we got I flew in on the the Thursday, so I had the Thursday evening with one of my colleagues, Cara, and then on the Friday, Jackie Thompson, another one of our colleagues, she met us for breakfast and we spent the day in Antwerp. We we were tourists for the day. We had lunch in in Antwerp and then we came back to the hotel. The hotel's quite a distance from the town, so you have to either get an Uber or you have to get the bus. So it's quite a distance. And then on the Friday evening, we did some more networking, some more talking. Everybody was there, you know, that everybody was arriving, ready for the Saturday morning. It was it was just a brilliant convention, very, very well ran, very put together, you know, so so well. And Neila and Angelique just ran it perfectly. It was it was lovely.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

Yeah, all right. So let's go with who who did you listen to during the talk there?

SPEAKER_01 3:13

I listened to quite a few people. I listened to Jackie, of course, and I listened to Kara. I also went to John Scanlon because every time John has appeared at the UK, I've never been able to see him because it's always run against something else, either I'm I'm talking or you know. So I I've I've always missed John. So uh that was very good. John is gonna be a guest. John's gonna be a guest, yeah, during the season. I also went to see Nicole Wacanagles. Nicole was talking about what she does, this wonderful thing to help with surgeries. So nobody has any anesthetic, it's all uh to do with hypnosis. What sorts of surgeries does she work with? I think it's anything really, but I think it's anything to do with uh any musculoskeletal or anything.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

I know that it I know in Belgium particularly it's it's fairly well established for those patients who cannot undergo regular anesthesia. There are a few people.

SPEAKER_01 4:27

Yeah, for those of you that don't know, Nicole's from Switzerland, so and she runs the Swiss hypnosis. So and I met I met her husband, Jacob. What a gentleman, absolutely lovely gentleman. I also went to on the the Sunday, I went to Giancarlo Russo's presentation. What an extraordinary guy. If we can get him on here one time, it would be amazing.

SPEAKER_00 4:56

It would be lovely. I think I heard it definitely would. He he was a presenter with the Elman. Right. Uh about two or three years ago. Yeah. He was very helpful when a friend of mine had spoke. And I I wrote to him about it.

SPEAKER_01 5:11

Yeah, because he's he's a physio, isn't he, as well as a uh hypnotherapist, yeah. I've I've seen quite a few of these things on YouTube. Yeah. I also went to see a guy, I forgot his name, and I do apologize. And he did all havening, and he did havening with uh hypnosis, an Irish guy, such a gentleman, so I'm hoping to see him in Ireland next year. He was very, very good.

SPEAKER_00 5:39

Get him on the show.

SPEAKER_01 5:40

Well, I will actually, I'll I'll try and get him on if we can. And he was he was just fantastic, and it made me look at the things that I do with children, you know, when children are struggling with their feelings, struggling with their emotions, if they can do the havening themselves, then you know it would be great. And I know he actually did it, you know, to someone, but I just think it would be so so good. Yeah, so I'm very, very interested in what he does. So, yeah, do you know what? I shall email him and see if I can get him up. We can get him on. If not, it'll be next season. But it all together it was such a lovely, lovely environment, and everybody supported everybody.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

Can you guesstimate how many people were there and how many countries were represented? People don't seem to realise how far along hypnosis is. Well established in Iran, for example. Yeah, not a place you immediately think of hypnosis.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

So there was the UK, of course, there was American hypnotists there, Giancarlo's Italian, Nicole is Swiss, John is Irish, Cara's from Scotland, Paulina's from Scotland as well, and I'm trying to think who else was there. There was a lot of Belgian hypnotists. Rob Rob was there, Rob Rob de Grosse was there as well. I'm trying to think who else is there. Quite a few British, quite a few English, British people. Yeah, so I mean, people did travel, didn't they? A lot of people flew in. Oh, there was Astrid as well. Astrid's from the Netherlands and the lady from Portugal, she was amazing. I went to see her her speech as well. It was all about narcissistic behaviour. She was absolutely fantastic. She runs the Portuguese one as well.

SPEAKER_00 7:39

Oh okay. We'll see. We'll see. If you're going to be a speaker at one of the European ones, do you have to speak in the language of the country?

SPEAKER_01 7:53

No, we the majority. I would well, I would say everybody.

SPEAKER_00 7:57

I I assume you were not speaking natives when you were in France work.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

But every everybody, everybody was speaking English, everybody presented in English.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

Yeah, that's the embarrassing thing about Europe, isn't it? And then you're looking again speaking with a bit of school girlfriend.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

Yeah, it was it was just it was just so so nice. It was it was quite relaxed as well, even though it was busy, it was quite relaxed, uh, you know, and that there was plenty of time for talking to people. Everybody broke for lunch at the same time. It was one central thing where because lunch was provided, we all stayed within, you know, that area of the of the hotel where we all had lunch, and it it just seemed to it just seemed to to sit nicely, you know. It wasn't I can only speak for London and and Belgium now because I haven't done the hours.

SPEAKER_00 8:52

What were you what were the topics that you most appreciated? Because you've been in in the business now for 10 years. So yeah, so as an as a newbie, everything is amazing, but you've already been to several conferences now. What did you feel was most groundbreaking for you?

SPEAKER_01 9:11

Mine, the havening, the havening definitely to me, that was just fantastic, and it was something that I thought this is definitely something I want to bring in and have as my you know as part of my toolbox. Jackie's talk about the inner child was really, really interesting about how we can look, you know, even even though I see the children, I always look at the parents as well and see where the parents are coming from. And sometimes you can see they need a little bit of inner child work and everything. Cara, of course, neurodivergent, which I see neurodivergent children as well. So there were, I don't think there was anything that I didn't take away from each and everyone that I I sat and and watched. Even Nicole's, you know, even though I don't I don't want to do surgery, I think it's just helped me to sort of think how can I use those sort of tools in an indirect way to build it.

SPEAKER_00 10:13

It also helps you to refer people too. Yeah. To let people know it exists.

SPEAKER_01 10:18

Yeah, so definitely. And also to help the children, because uh, where I am in the northwest of England, we've got a very, very big, famous children's hospital, which is Alder Hay. So it would be nice to be able to help the children should they need any help when they're preparing for surgery, not actually going into the surgery because I don't think they wouldn't want to keep the children awake, but just preparing. And on the back of that, I've actually started thinking about right, how am I gonna approach this to older hay? So that's giving me, you know, something else, a little bit of food for thought. But it was a very, very good convention, but very tiring, very tiring.

SPEAKER_00 11:01

You finished on Sunday and you came home Monday?

SPEAKER_01 11:04

I came home Monday morning, yeah. I flew, I flew out, I think it was about 10 o'clock in the morning. So we left the hotel about seven in the morning to get to the the airport because we didn't I Cara and I didn't fly into Antwerp, we flew into Brussels, so we had to get to Brussels, which is about 30 kilometers away from Antwerp. So we had to get there and it was nose-to-nose traffic. So 30 kilometers, it took us over an hour to get there.

unknown 11:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:39

Because it was it even uh this is one of the bizarre things I found about Antwerp was the traffic is consistent because where the hotel is, you're surrounded by dual carriageways and motorways, you know, main, really main roads, and it never let up even at four o'clock in the morning, three o'clock in the morning, there was still traffic coming down, you know, both ways. Yeah, yeah. But I took some Belgian chocolates home from a husband and he enjoyed excellent, yeah. But it was it was a it's a nice place, beautiful place, absolutely beautiful place. So I would definitely, definitely go back, but I'd like to go back and do a trip there, not a working just just vacation, yes. I think I think it'd be nice because uh it's very historical Antwerp as well, isn't it? So uh it would be nice, but you you've been to Antwerp, haven't you?

SPEAKER_00 12:35

I actually have not been in Antwerp, I lived in Leuven, which is on the other side of Governor, and uh one of my flatmates when I was in Brussels was from Antwerp. So we'd get food from Antwerp all the time. She was in a Jane family, and they're serious vegetarians so that she'd bring or her food for the week she'd come home with her on the weekend. Okay. Anyway, do you do you think that they're trained any differently than than the English speaking kematists that you've met? Did you get a chance to talk to the Belgians themselves?

SPEAKER_01 13:13

I did. I I actually know a few because they've attended my uh working with children diploma course, so I I actually know a few anyway. So it was nice to speak to them. I did take a few copies of my book, and straight away they were they were all gone, which is great. I only took six, I wish I'd have taken more now, but uh that was good. But yeah, yeah, I think it's I think it just depends where you come from, really, doesn't it? As to how you portray and how you get your messages over, and some of them can depend depending on where they where they're from, can can sound totally different. But we're all singing from the same hymn book, aren't we? Pretty much, yeah. So the likes of Jean-Carlo Russo, he was he was doing a lot of fast inductions and a lot of you know how we can we can do this very, very quickly, and it was just amazing, absolutely amazing. Whereas Stephen, who did the havening, had a volunteer up who had some kind of trauma that she couldn't get rid of, and he got rid of it just as a demonstration, and that was lovely to watch that. Yeah, but it just made me think, you know, this havening it, I I I need to use it, definitely need to use it on the children. You know, it was so good. I I loved it, but unfortunately, I've not been very well since I came back, so I picked up, I don't know whether I picked it up in the hotel, or I don't know whether it was on the airplane, or whether it was a combination of everything and the air con. But I ended up with no voice, I ended up with a rasping cough as well.

SPEAKER_00 15:01

You generally get through your own talk on Sunday.

SPEAKER_01 15:03

Yes, yeah. No, I don't I didn't really get it until possibly I came home on the Monday, and it was possibly about about the Wednesday that I started to, or was it could have been the Monday, I can't remember, but I started to feel a little bit unwell and I didn't know what it was, but it wasn't until I spoke to Kara and Cara had bronchitis that I thought maybe it is the aircraft. Yeah, we don't know because we both flew in different on different airplanes because Cara went to Edinburgh and I went to to Manchester.

SPEAKER_00 15:38

So do you obviously it's great to go to conferences for lots of different reasons. If only to see there are other hypnosists everywhere. Which ones have you been to that you've really got the most bang for?

SPEAKER_01 15:53

I would say UK.

SPEAKER_00 15:56

The UK hypnosis convention, that is it's massive because it's speaking to UK issues, and that's where you are.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Not necessarily because there's a lot, there's a lot of people from all over, all over the world actually come to the UK. So the they're not all British speakers. We have American speakers, we have got Netherlands, we have Irish speakers, there is Portuguese, like Rania from Portugal, the one that runs the Portuguese hypnosis convention. Like I said, she's a specialist in narcissistic behaviours, and Rania is there as well. So she's from Portugal. So I mean everybody comes from everywhere. I'm sure there's some Australians as well that are there.

SPEAKER_00 16:45

She's working with narcissistic behaviours. Is she helping people recover from relationships where they've had to interact with it? Not she doesn't have the person self-identify as a narcissist.

SPEAKER_01 16:59

No, I don't know difficult. I think from I think from experience, I can't speak for Rodia. Maybe we should get her on as well in the next season. But I think narcissistic people they don't recognise the can't look at themselves. Exactly. No, this is for the majority, it's it's for women really, for women who have been victims of narcissistic abuse, you know, in relationships. Rania won an award as well at the Gala evening. Say so did uh Giancarlo Russo. He won a Lifetime Achievement Award, so that was lovely. But I must confess, I'll have to tell you, whether I put this in or not, I don't know that I was talking the next day at nine o'clock in the morning, so I didn't stay at the gala because I thought, well, I need to go and have a few minutes to look up, but also get to bed because I'd be up early because I had to be there by quarter past eight in the morning. And Giancarlo had got his his award and he we shared a lift going upstairs, so I congratulated him again and he said, Are you talking? So I said, Yeah, I'm talking tomorrow. And he said, What time are you talking? So I said, Well, that's why I'm in the lift. I'm talking at nine o'clock in the morning. And he said, Oh, I'll come. And I thought, you know what, he's not gonna turn up because you know he's Giancarlo Russo, he's not gonna turn up, and he did, and I was so so grateful. And he did say it was a good speech, you know, afterwards. So that you know, kudos to me, I was so so chuffed about that. Was nice.

SPEAKER_00 18:38

That's good. Yeah, were there many Italian images there? Uh no, I thought I've I didn't get a sense from him how well accepted it is in Italy. I mean, must be fairly well accepted because he he runs the hypnosis program for the stroke clinic. But what was your feeling about it?

SPEAKER_01 18:59

Do you know what? Because you're networking, you don't really get a lot of opportunity to have long conversations with people, with the people that I know, like Astrid, John Scanlon, and a few more, it was easier to have those conversations because we lunched together. But I don't I don't know. I will ask him that question because I did say to him you need to come to the UK, yeah. HC. And I said it's just awesome. You know, it's it's a fantastic place. So whether he will, I don't know. You know, so it's good.

SPEAKER_00 19:34

So what's your next event? What's your next event you're going to?

SPEAKER_01 19:38

The next one is the UK in November, 13th to the 15th of November. Are you speaking or you don't know yet? No, I'm talking, yeah, I'm speaking.

SPEAKER_00 19:47

Okay. So the topic also children?

SPEAKER_01 19:51

Yes, of course, yeah. But my my talk at Belgium was all about storytelling, how we can incorporate storytelling for emotional healing with children. And the one in London is going to be how we can bring in the families so that it's not just an hour session. We can you have that continuity of uh of their, you know, of a child's therapy, so that it, you know, it helps, and then parents can take responsibility, you know, rather than some parents, not saying all of parents, but some parents do actually hand over the responsibility to the therapist and say, Yeah, fix my child.

SPEAKER_00 20:32

And it isn't necessarily it's it's a belief on their part that they don't have the tools to do it. Yeah. So it's education, especially give you the tools that you need for your child.

SPEAKER_01 20:43

Exactly. And it's all about education. So I am applying for Belgium and Ireland next year, so watch this space. But I'm gonna get more involved in doing some demonstrations, which is way out of my comfort zone, but I'm gonna have to do it. I'm gonna have to put my big pants on and and do it. I'm quite looking forward to it actually. So I've done a little bit of research over what we can do with kids and everything, so I shall let you know. But yeah, it was all good, and now it's just a matter of I'm moving. If I could move my camera around, you will see it's just thankfully you're not moving house, you're just moving out. No, I am moving offices, I'm moving offices, and that's happening this weekend. So it's a week early.

SPEAKER_00 21:37

That's all sorted out.

SPEAKER_01 21:39

Yeah, it's a week early, a week early, but it's the only time we can get the removals people to come and do the heavy lifting. So we're looking forward to that. So we're gonna have to make do a makeshift office clinic room for just a couple of days. But that'd be nice. That would be very, very nice. Can't wait for it.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

To choose a place for for Monday's uh filming.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

Oh, yeah, I'll be there. Yeah, I'll I'll be uh I'll be sat in my conservatory with the blinds closed so we could we can do it there. So yeah, it's it's all good, it's all looking good. The gardens coming together and everything. So when it's all done, I'll um I'll be talking about your garden tour. Yes. I'm excited now, I'm really excited. I didn't really want to leave this place. I've been here six and a half years and I wanted to stay here, but it just doesn't seem like that.

SPEAKER_00 22:32

So no, it's six and a half years. Where were you when you first started work then?

SPEAKER_01 22:36

Right. So when I first started, I ended up just working and hiring a room in a set of rooms that's just further down into the town centre. Well, I'm in the town centre, but in the town centre, where you paid £10 an hour to hire the rooms. And that was great at first because you you quite sporadic, isn't it? You know, until you start picking up clients. And then it got to the point where it was really, really busy, and it was it just didn't make sense for me to pay over, you know, yeah, X amount of pounds to stay there.

SPEAKER_00 23:15

That person over there because I'm not gonna see the money that's gonna go.

SPEAKER_01 23:18

Exactly. So I I bumped into a girl at a well-being event, and she offered me a room above her hair salon. So I thought, well, opportunity knocks, let's go for that. So I did lovely place, but within six months I'd outgrown it because of the volume of the children that I was seeing, the families I was seeing, and also the classes, because it was only a small room, I was limited to the amount of children I I could um I could see. So one night I couldn't sleep and I got up and started scrolling through places available in my area, and I found this place here where I am. So I'm in a really old Victorian building, and it's actually in the conservation area of of the town where I live.

SPEAKER_00 24:08

So you're limited as to what can happen to the building.

SPEAKER_01 24:11

Limited to what you can do in the building, yes. It's a beautiful building, very, very tall ceilings, beautiful building. And I came to see it thinking it was just two rooms. And when the agent, when I I I came to see it on my own and then contacted the agent, and then the agent said, No, it's all the first floor, five rooms. So I thought, well, it's more or less the same as what I'm paying at the salon, really. So I thought, yeah, go on, I'll go for it. So I did.

SPEAKER_00 24:44

And you've had people have been able to stumble it from you, so you can.

SPEAKER_01 24:48

Yeah, so I've had, oh, I've had quite a few people. I've had two guys who were holistic therapists, but they were also parallel paranormal investigators. So they had two offices, they had their clinic room, and then they had a little office next door for their paranormal.

SPEAKER_00 25:07

Sounds kind of fun.

SPEAKER_01 25:08

Yeah, they wanted they wanted to do something here, and I said, No, you're not disturbing somebody here. Leave them, yeah, leave them, leave them be. They're they're you know that they're friendly, so to speak. And then I had St Helen's Mind came in, which is a charity, a mental health charity, and they they were here for a couple of years, but they've got another big place further into town, and then I've got a counsellor. So the counsellor, when St. Helen's Mind moved out, the counsellor moved into their big room, and she's been here ever since, and she doesn't want to go either, but um she she's going to be just fine. Yeah, it is, and she's going back to where we first met, which was the rooms where we paid per hour. So she's going back there, but we we refer to each other, so I'll refer to you know to her. Oh, yeah, we'll still we'll still stay in touch, and then over the weekend people used to come in on an ad hoc basis and just rent the room per hour.

SPEAKER_00 26:12

Since it's the last the last opportunity to see it. What is then the what what appears to be a box of squiggles behind your left ear? What I assume is your left ear, it might be your right ear. That one, yes, there's a box on the wall. On the wall.

SPEAKER_01 26:31

Yeah, oh no, it's butterflies. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 26:34

From some angles it looks like it, but then others it's definitely not.

SPEAKER_01 26:38

No, it's it's actually butterflies. I don't know whether you can see them.

SPEAKER_00 26:44

Well, and now they look like butterflies from the outside.

SPEAKER_01 26:47

Well, I'll keep I'll keep it down because it's actually coming with me. Yeah, paper butterflies.

SPEAKER_00 26:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:57

Because uh because the place is so big, I needed to find a few bits and pieces just to hang up. And now that I'm leaving, I'm only taking about half a dozen pieces. So I have got a full stairs and landing of pictures. So they're gonna they're all gonna go to the charity shop. So we've chosen a charity which is the British Heart Foundation, and they're gonna go there.

SPEAKER_00 27:29

Excellent. And the is the the the one that was above the one that one looks like rabbit ears and a and a mortarboard.

SPEAKER_01 27:38

That's that's a clipboard, okay, and the black that you can see is actually a mortarboard, you know, for graduation. You can see the tassel. Yeah, yeah. So that's coming with me as well, because that's got that's a little clipboard, so that's coming, and I have a little tiny black board on that side, but I'm very, very limited to what I can take because my my room, my cabin isn't very big, it's 14 foot by nine foot, so it's not very big really, but I shall make it work. Good, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:16

And you're you're as ready as you can be for that. Yeah, yeah, I just need to pack. So when will we start recording from there? Next week?

SPEAKER_01 28:25

Yeah, on Friday. So what we are Friday. Yeah, we're on Friday at lunchtime. No, we're we're no, we're off. No, Monday. We'll be recording from Monday. So, yeah, so this Monday. Will we be recording this Friday? We are this Friday? We are, I'll be here. But you're not here, okay. I'll still be here. So the the removals company can only move me on Sunday because where I am in the town centre where we are, you're not allowed to drive vehicles because it's a pedestrianised like a mall, you know, like a walkway. So we can only come in on a Sunday. So next Sunday they can't do it, so they can only do it this Sunday. So I thought, well, okay, get away a week, isn't it? So I'll just keep coming back every day or so to make sure that everything's boxed up and out. But a lovely lady came this afternoon and she's taking everything else that I don't want. Oh good. So she's because if I leave anything, I'll only get charged for it, won't I? So um she's taking everything, even my integral fridge. She's taking that. So it's that's good.

SPEAKER_00 29:39

It'll it will it'll just look like Is it a little bit bittersweet leaving the office?

SPEAKER_01 29:44

Yeah, I'm very sad, yeah, very sad, but equally excited for you know new chapters, and then I can concentrate on more on what I want.

SPEAKER_00 29:54

And I love the idea that you're gonna be literally a walk out of your kitchen and into your new office. Do with my coffee.

SPEAKER_01 30:02

Yes, exactly. Yeah, it's it is, it's it's good, and also it can from my husband's point of view, it keeps it he can keep his eye on me as in I work too many hours, too long hours, and I will sit in here. And you can't tell him fibs, he'll know if you're exactly, exactly, he'll know. So that's I think that's gonna do me good, really, and that I get to spend more time with him as well. Because he retired in lockdown, so he's at home. So it just would be nice to spend more time.

SPEAKER_00 30:36

Do you ever see clients on the road? Do you mean do I ever go visit them? Well, no, no, I didn't mean that, although that's another question. But do you do you see people when you're not if you had spent a week in Belgium, would you have seen some of your your clients on online rather than in person, or do you stick to in person?

SPEAKER_01 30:59

No, no, I sit I see people online. I've got quite a few children at the moment that are online. They're all um they're all down south, and there's a lady uh not too far away from us, about 20 odd miles from us, who actually prefers to for me to see her online. Yeah, because then she's not got the hassle of coming in, finding a car parking space because it's the the town centre.

SPEAKER_00 31:22

And then after she's all relaxed remove, she's gonna get in the car and drive.

SPEAKER_01 31:26

Yeah, so yeah, so I I do I do see children and adults online, but lockdown COVID did me a massive favour because I was able to move my business on online because we had to really, didn't we? It was the only way that we could survive, and it it did me a favor because I wasn't too keen on it, I didn't want to do it, but it gave me that push because it was either you either see someone or you don't.

SPEAKER_00 31:54

You go somewhere else, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:56

Yeah, but the beauty of of having some really good colleagues who are down south and recognize what I do, I get referrals from them because they don't want to uh work with children.

SPEAKER_00 32:10

So why do you think they're nervous a lot working with children?

SPEAKER_01 32:15

I just don't think it's just a lack of interest, or yeah, I think I think it is because I know them very well, and I I I think like one of them really does annoy me a lot. Oh bless you. It must have kids one of them does an awful lot of weight loss online, weight reduction online. So, you know, she's she's not really interested in children, but she does get a lot of inquiries from children, so she just bats them to me. So, um but if I got somebody for weight reduction that I didn't want to work with, then I would refer them to her as well. So it swings and roundabouts, really. It works both ways for us, which is good.

SPEAKER_00 32:58

But you know, what kind of issues that you may want to child is assuming that we're talking to an ethnicist, what are the clients that you do not think you are best suited for? Because I don't think ever any therapist has said I don't know what that person is nasty, but there are some people you know you can't help as much as somebody else can. Yeah, what are the people that you would have problems with?

SPEAKER_01 33:22

From from my point of view, I I don't want to deal with any weight reduction, any weight loss. It's not it it doesn't interest me, it doesn't interest me at all, even though I'm doing it myself, it doesn't interest me at all helping somebody else with it. But I have had a few that's been insistent on they don't want to, you know, work online, so will I work with them? And I and I have done it, but I do feel, and I will be honest, hand on heart, I don't think my heart's in it. And it probably shows in my delivery.

SPEAKER_00 33:56

Of course, smoking and wage are probably the two biggest yeah, just because there's such a universal issue.

SPEAKER_01 34:04

Yeah, yeah, there are so many people. I still see smoke smokers who want to give up smoking, but really my mine is is all to do with children and families. So I I've just taken on a big, I'd say a big, big enough contract with social services, our local social services to to help a family repair after you know traumas. So that that's nice. So that's not just helping the child, that's also helping the parents. So that's you know, that's nice. But I don't think there's any there's anything that I would say no to really. I would refer them, I would never ever say no, that's not for me. I would just say listen.

SPEAKER_00 34:50

Oh no, you always give them an option.

SPEAKER_01 34:52

Yeah, I would say, yeah, listen, I I'm I can help you, but I know somebody who's better than me.

SPEAKER_00 35:00

This issue. It's not that they're better at it than just saying this is their area.

SPEAKER_01 35:05

Exactly, exactly. And it it, you know, it works, it works for me. Maybe, I don't know, maybe I'll change in in years to come, I don't know. But at this very moment in time, I I'm happy with with what I've got and the reputation that I'm slowly you know making through working with children. So it yeah, it works for me.

SPEAKER_00 35:26

Would you think you'd ever get to the point that you teach hypnosis? To medical people, people who are working with children for medical issues. If they're interested in learning hypnosis, what are their options?

SPEAKER_01 35:41

Yes, no, I would. I've I've actually I did run a course in 2024 for hypnosis, and the students were from caring background, counseling background, and school. So yes, I would. The course that I run, the working with children's course that I run the diploma, the second day, a lot of it is all about self-harm and mental health with children. And I've been asked to put together by two separate, but it happened at the more or less the same time, to put together a course for people who work in children's residential homes, which I put, I put together a course for them and sent it off to one to the managers and the other one to the staff to see you know what they think. So fingers crossed, if that comes up, that'd be fantastic. But with getting this very, very lucrative, should I say, or very good contract with social services, I've actually offered them some training for free to the social workers because if if it's all about making those connections, isn't it? And if I can keep those connections, then help them to it. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, it's all good. So it was very nice seeing you after your monthly. I know it's really, really lovely, and I just feel so oh, I felt awful when I was letting you down, but so next time we have Melanie. Melanie is our next one on Friday. That'd be good. Have you met her before?

SPEAKER_00 37:28

No, no, okay. No, she's from over here for a change as an American.

SPEAKER_01 37:35

Yeah, so you'll have to introduce her. Goodbye, see you again soon. See you again soon. Bye. Okay, take care. Bye-bye. We hope you've enjoyed listening. Please remember this podcast is designed to give you an insight into therapeutic hypnosis and is 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.