Every time the conversation comes around to hands on healing or anything that looks remotely outside of surgery or pill popping there is always someone who starts shouting that it’s nothing more than hypnosis with the ‘placebo’ effect.

You know apart from the Black Death most of humanity has pretty much managed to stick around for the last few hundred thousands of years without a single ‘drug’ or medical procedure.

Hands on and all sorts of healing has been around and been quite successful for quite a few tens of thousands of those. The modern argument is of course that in the past people didn’t grow very big and didn’t live very long but the truth is that social evolution had a lot to do with that as much as medicine. And early 1800′s loads of people lived into their 80′s even in the middle ages the better fed got there too.

I know there are more people alive than ever before but that’s a lame argument for things like ‘Hands on’ and acupuncture not working, as the fact is yes there are more people alive, but there are more people alive today who are ill, diseased and disabled hanging on to lives wich should naturally have probably ended years before than there have ever been. When we talk about Placebo – the word by the way doesn’t mean *suggested healing* it means ….
A harmless pill, medicine, or procedure prescribed more for the psychological benefit to the patient than for any physiological effect.
A substance that has no therapeutic effect, used as a control in testing new drugs.
We talk as if modern pills and potions have been around forever and that they Always work. The truth is that most of them have been around for a few decades and that they ‘often’ help the bodies immune system overcome disease.

The thing is, the real thing is, that often the pills and potions given out by the medicos are themselves the true placebo, replacing good food, healthy exercise and the simple honest to goodness capacity for the body and mind to heal themselves, and sometimes others.

********** Begins *************

Why haven’t you heard of it?

You would think you would have heard about The most common hereditary genetic condition of it’s type to affect the lives of 1 in every 2,000 people in the UK, approximately 25,000 people. The truth is you probably haven’t.

September is awareness month for CMT, that’s Charcot Marie Tooth disease, when CMT United Kingdom, the National support and information charity based in Christchurch, Bournemouth, Dorset, joins the Worldwide CMT International push to raise awareness both with the public and with the sadly uninformed medical and social services.

The charity covers the UK but is small as far as staff and finances go, however, this year they are aiming to land a couple of holly grails of the charity world; a famous face celebrity patron and a national advertising campaign to raise the awareness and cash to improve and man the vital advice and information service they provide. 

CMT is a form of neuropathy which affects the nerves and muscles. In most cases it causes atrophy, that’s wasting and weakening, of the peripheral muscles in the lower legs, arms and hands and affects the nerve signals resulting in loss of control, loss of feeling, loss of normal reflexes and in the worst of cases can lead to crutches and wheelchair use.  Chronic pain, excessive tiredness, lack of coordination and very often complications from secondary injuries such as fractures from falls and surgery to correct bone deformities, are run of the mill in the life of the CMTer.

As CMT gets worse as we get older the future used to be bleak, but with CMT United Kingdom running a regular Young People’s Weekend where a group of often newly diagnosed kids travel to the Lake district and get the opportunity to overcome their adversity and to physically and emotionally stretch themselves, the future of people with CMT is looking forward to a more integrated, energised and aware situation in the wider community.

To help launch more awareness an event is being held in Bournemouth in September

MAGICAL MUSCLE – A FUNDRAISING EVENING FOR CMT UNITED KINGDOM
at The Bournemouth Pier Theatre Monday 12th September curtain 8pm

As part of CMT Awareness month we present an evening of

MESMERISM – MAGIC – MUSIC – MYSTERY – MIRTH & MORE

Featuring “Britain’s Leading Hypnotist” Jonathan Chase from Devon who has CMT himself
Award Winning Magical Opportunist from sunny Poole in Dorset James Brown

with Gary Jones, Frina Smith, Wayne Trice, Amy Kasey and other Special Guests to be announced…

In aid of Charcot Marie Tooth Disease CMT.org.uk 
Britain’s most common yet unknown Neuromuscular Disorder 

There will also be a raffle, prize donations from local business would be gratefully received at the above office, we’d really appreciate your attendance as well.

Tickets now on sale………. 01202 306126
or Online http://www.thebournemouthpier.com/magicalmuscle.html

===== ends ====

Jonathan Chase the Director and Host for the show and Charity secretary Karen Butcher are both available for interview.

http://Joathanchase.com

Head charity office is based at
CMT United Kingdom 
98 Broadway 
Southbourne 
Bournemouth 
BH6 4EH 
T: 0800 6526316 
M: 01202 432048 

In consultation much better much easier.   You have time to try many methods, to mix and match. You have time and have to please only 1 person. The hypnotee. You can make another appointment. You don’t have to persuade them to be there. in consultation an Okay hypnotee is fine. In my experience it’s about 1 in 5 who really can’t do ‘hypnosis’ and they are the least likely to seek a hypnotist for treatment. You will see them but rarely. you don’t Have to rely on the new Buzz word, ‘Phenomenon’ to get a resultt. It’s useful and important but not vital. On stage ’Phenomenon’ is the ONLY point. 

Jonathan Chase:
You know there are some theories which actually stop us finding out the best way to work to change our imaginations.

It’s almost like someone discovered the best, easiest and fastest way up the mountain. Then someone, who had never climbed the mountain before, tried that route on a really shitty day and fell off. That was because they had read the map but didn’t find out from the original discoverer that it’s best to climb mountains on nice dry warm days.

Now the guy who falls off will never admit He made a mistake, so he blames the map, the mountain and the weather for His mistake and so goes off looking for a harder more complicated way to do it. He falls even more this way BUT, it is HIS way so he ignores that because to admit he goofed would mean reducing his self image.

Now he gets a few students and he teaches them to climb the mountain his way, and when they ask about the easier way he makes it sound much worse than it was and shouts about it being dangerous and all sorts. Eventually, after student has taught student has taught student, the hard way becomes the Only way and the easy simple way is lost.

Then along comes someone who hasn’t been taught the hard way and it’s a nice day so he just strolls up the mountain the easy way and all those people at the top who have been taught to struggle, fall, get out of breath and have been told that is the best way, well they say, “you got up the mountain with no effort, but that was luck. Other people have died doing it that way and had their gonads ripped off. And anyway, the ease of getting here isn’t the point, It’s the Fact of getting here. So long as we get to the top who cares how we got here.” Then they collapse in exhaustion and the fella who rediscovered the easy way, well he shrugs and smiles and ambles off thinking, “Nice view up here…..”

Steve Sheldon: replied
Agreed Jon, but then what is the best way? Is it Jon’s or Barry’s, or the hundred others out there? This is why I think experimenting is very important for the hypnotist. We all know the basics on how to climb, but which path is the quickest and easiest?

Jonathan Chase: replied
Ask the bloke sitting on the top of the mountain. The one whistling and admiring the view…

To use a metaphor or analogy that is better understood, Hypnosis deals with the conversation and the emotional processing of the content of the conversation when people talk to each other over a mobile phone. It is not about how the network works, or how the phones themselves work. And focusing on that takes away from the conversation.

Smiles
JonC

Find out A: How many people locally are looking for what you offer. B: Who and what the competition is doing.

With pain When doing research the best places are actually local newspapers, avoid Wiki it’s not very accurate, especially regarding hypnosis. Your main competition is drugs so I would find out how many people get hooked on painkillers and then sell your ‘natural’ approach.

Personally though I would go for Phobias, there’s no real big budget established drugs or medical competition there, or Tourette’s syndrome, or Irritable Bowel. A friend of mine specialises in MS clients.

In my experience it’s harder to sell solutions for which the client already has an easily obtainable and totally guaranteed cure. Pain killing drugs work for most people most of the time so it may be easy to do, but it’s hard to sell and if you are a full time professional hypno then you need to earn a living.

AVOID niches that cause long term disability or unemployment. Sadly these people can’t pay for your services. However you can keep the Kama going by charging well for those who can pay and doing freebies for those who can not.

Smiles
Jon

My thoughts on head hacking anywhere are:….

First off. I taught Anthony Jacquin and Kevin Sheldrake impromptu techniques on my stage hypnosis masterclass in 2004. They have taken it way beyond anything I have ever done with it and have found a market for it. I would like to think I somehow played a small part in getting them going, although Ant was already a very good and successful hypnotherapist. But I have to admit I’m totally jealous of their Youth – compared to me – their energy and their following. I think they should be banned and possibly imprisoned! Or at the very least hung drawn and quartered. How dare they have a whale of time being well known and successful!

The ‘Problem’ with street hypnosis seems to ME to be this… Except for my friend in New Zealand Reg Blackwood and the head hacking team themselves, the exponents of the Street form don’t appear to make money from it, even at a busking level. And lets face it the odd free drink or cucumber may be refreshing or bowel cleansing but you can’t buy your Broadband with it. So the point seems to be to entertain the performer more than a paying audience, but then that can be said of most people who do magic as well as over 80% of people buying tricks today will never use them outside of a small group of friends or colleagues. And what seems to upset many established stage pros is that street hypnosis is way more popular than full blown stage hypnosis at the moment.

The difference between Stage and Street for me is that whilst one can be passably executed with a knowledge of simple technique, the other can Only be presented with just a simple basic knowledge of technique. I can think of several professional stage performers who’s shows are not very good in theatrical terms. However unlike singers, dancers or actors not being very good doesn’t show that much as we are still a very small bunch and for everyone who has seen a full stage show there are a dozen who have not. Although the InterWeb is certainly putting a few heads on blocks. I’m planning on putting my full show up there, gulp!

Most stage ‘shows’ are just a collection of routines with no shape or finesse. Few of them are actually ‘shows’ but nothing more than Street done on stage. Most ‘Comedy’ hypnotists are not themselves funny – for the record I’ve never used that term – with the exception of perhaps Ken Webster that certainly covers most UK players. So perhaps the problem with Street Hypnosis as far as the stage performers are concerned is that it shows how anyone can hypnotise and when the amazing ‘skill’ is shown to be a shallow disguise of simple psychological procedures, then presentation skills and showmanship is up for scrutiny.

Stage hypnosis took a knock along with all forms of stage entertainment in the 90′s in the UK. No, not because there were more people doing shows as some people think, it was the fall of the Miners Welfare clubs and working mens clubs which taught people to go to live shows from being children, right up to the simple fact that it was shown on TV and people then only wanted to see the bloke on the Tele.

Then as the century turned we entered the age of ‘Show Me’ where with the internet and the Karaoke mindset more people want to do rather than watch. In 1999 when we started teaching there were 13 schools of hypnosis, at last count there are 162 and 10 of those are ‘stage’.

The truth is I didn’t like the street approach at first. Not sure I do now. For my old head they looked as if they should be taking a box of tissues with them and in the early videos came across as a group of giggling schoolboys playing pranks and copping a quick feel from drunk birds in pubs. Some still do. But to be honest and when I Really look at it, there is little difference between that and me making peoples arms go stiff without bothering to hypnotise in recognisable fashion – certainly not using a trance state, or removing someones phobia at a party with my ‘Hypnotic Powers!’ when there is no chance of that becoming a booking.

Then, I am doing it for Me.

I am after all, above all else, a SHOW OFF, and that is what street hypnosis is all about. It’s about showing off. Pure egotism. Having a laff at the expense of others which, to be frank is what hypnosis relies on, the fact that people laugh AT other people in embarrassing situations. People doing ridiculous things, that’s right, being ridiculed.

So for me the difference is this. Street Hypnosis is about mind manipulation techniques entertaining the protagonists and little else. Stage Hypnosis is, or should be, about the art of making those techniques a Show and entertaining a fee paying audience.