A powerful tool

Regression hypnotherapy is an incredibly powerful tool through which a person can make major breakthroughs in solving problems. When it is properly conducted, the person (client) re-lives experiences that are generally unknown to him or her in the fully-conscious state.

It’s not “thinking” about it and trying to figure it out. Basically, it is quite simple, even easy. But people make it complicated. And not only the people wanting help, but often others, such as therapists, doctors, psychologists, preachers. They get “in the way” because they often assume that they already know how to “fix” the person.

Hypnosis is a state of relaxation. Hypnotherapy is similar, but different. Hypnotherapy is a conversation that takes place while the person is hypnotized.

People see stage shows and think that is what hypnosis is. It’s not. They think the hypnotist has “taken over” the person’s mind; he hasn’t.

Dr. Brian Weiss tells a fascinating story about his first client who experienced a past life during treatment. In his talks and in his book (Many Lives, Many Masters) he reveals how his patient reached a past life and quickly began to improve from her state of depression. I’m not going to spoil his story; read his book. I heard him tell the story in 1993 at a conference of the Association of Past-life Regression Therapies in Fort Lauderdale.

Use care in selecting a hypnotherapist. And don’t let a session turn your retirement plan into his retirement plan or his kids’ college funds.

Spirit-releasement work is a natural component to past-life regression hypnotherapy. If you can’t get past a “block”, it could be one or spirits in the way, and they must be cleared out first. Again, it doesn’t take long.

I recall a client in New Jersey who told me she wanted to work on four issues. Then she asked how many sessions it would take? I asked, “Is it supposed to take more than one?” (It didn’t.)

Curious? Interested? Send me an email.

Hypnotherapy and South Carolina

South Carolina seems to have a peculiar prohibition against “hypnotherapy”, having challenged at least one practitioner on the use of the word “hypnotherapy” on his website. The State may have accused him of the unlicensed practice of psychology.

The Code defines the “Practice of professional counseling” as the “functioning as a psychotherapist and may include, but is not limited to, providing … hypnotherapy.”.

The Code could certainly be challenged as overly broad and vague, as this same definition includes “school counseling”. Could a parent who admonishes his child to study harder conceivably be charged by the State with the unlicensed practice of psychology?

I’m confident that my practice does not violate South Carolina law. At the same time, I do not wish to incur the wrath of the Great State of South Carolina, so I shall conduct hypnosis sessions, including past-life regressions and spirit releasement work. I have always explained to clients and potential clients that I am not a therapist, psychotherapist, counselor, social worker, psychologist, psychiatrist. “Hypnotherapy” will be conducted only in locations where it is not prohibited by law.

Dr. Hickman said she did therapy on dead folks and demons. I wonder how South Carolina would have controlled that.

Now in Columbia, S.C.

In April 2014 I moved to Columbia, S.C. and will be serving clients in the Southeastern U.S. From Columbia, it’s easy to get anywhere in South Carolina for sessions. North Carolina and Georgia are also easy locations. When you contact me for a session, please just pick a nice day for a motorcycle ride ….  (heh-heh).

I’ve often thought that my ideal home would be 38′ long and have six wheels under it. And a spare-tire cover with “Honk if you want to be hypnotized” on it. A Rest Area along an Interstate would be perfect for a session, wouldn’t it?

I’ll always remember a session I did in Columbia about 20 years ago. My client turned out to be a great hypnosis subject, as many are. After the “regular” (if there is such a thing as “regular”) hypnotherapy session was complete, I knew that her friend and she were anxious to step out onto the patio for a smoke. Before they could do that, I asked if we could have some fun, and she agreed.

I re-hypnotized her, using a post-hypnotic suggestion that I always include. I told her that, when she returned to a full state of alertness, she would not be able to say her first name. Then “3-2-1-wake up”, after which I explained that I was really bad with names and, although I’d been at her home for 1½ hours, I could not remember her name. Then I asked if she would tell me her first name.

“Sure,” she said. “It’s S – – . It’s S —. I can’t say my name!”

I re-hypnotized her, and then I told her she’d be unable to count to “10” when she opened her eyes. “3-2-1-wake up.”

When I asked her to count to “10”, she couldn’t. And then I re-hypnotized her (it only took seconds), and I told her she couldn’t say the alphabet. Sure enough, she couldn’t.

“One more time?” I asked.

She agreed and, after she was quickly hypnotized again, I told her that, if she were holding a cigarette, her arms would be so short she couldn’t reach her mouth. “3-2-1-wake up.”

Her friend and she grabbed their cigarettes and went to the patio. Her friend lit right up, but my client was holding her cigarette just under her chin and trying to get it to her mouth.

“Anything wrong?” I asked.

“No,” she replied.

After a couple of minutes, I asked her again. “Anything wrong.”

“No, everything’s okay.” But she couldn’t get the cigarette to her mouth.

And then she said, “Darn you, put my arms back like they were. I want a cigarette.” And I did.

This illustrates the power of one’s own mind. She had accepted the suggestion that her arms were so short that she couldn’t reach her mouth.

What could you do with the power of your own mind?

Dr. A. M. Krasner (1928-2013)

Today I learned that my first hypnosis teacher passed away this past week.

I met Dr. A.M. (Al) Krasner in October 1991 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His wife, Arlene, and he were on the road, conducting week-end hypnosis trainings.

My girlfriend, JoAnne, had seen his local ad and we went to the preview. In the course materials I spotted a photo of Dr. Irene Hickman, a retired osteopath I had met in Fort Collins, Colo. in 1988. Dr. Hickman had started using hypnotherapy in her medical practice in 1950! I knew Al had to be on the up-and-up, if Irene was associated with his school.

We could not afford the course, so we left without registering. The following day JoAnne ran into Al and Arlene on the square in Santa Fe and he asked why we hadn’t signed up. He told her that she’d be good and “that guy you were with would be great”. He offered her a handshake deal of $50.00/month, and we went to Albuquerque the next week-end and did the 2½-day training. It was a “How To” course, with basic scripts for various topics, such as stop smoking, lose weight and relaxation hypnosis.

I found that I did not enjoy “directive” hypnosis; i.e., using scripts. In September 1992 I started my study and work with Dr. Hickman in Kirksville, Mo., and she and I went to the American Board of Hypnotherapy conference in Orange County, Calif. in February 1993. Irene’s method was non-directive, regression hypnotherapy.

As soon as we entered the hotel lobby, I heard, “Oh, there’s the fool!” Again I heard a loud voice, “There’s the fool.” I looked around and saw Dr. Krasner and his wife coming our way. He repeated, “There’s the fool” as he approached. I didn’t know what to think and asked “What do you mean?”

He said, “Why did you do it? You paid me! You are the only one I offered the monthly payment plan to who paid me!” He said every month on the 15th, his wife would say, “It must be the 15th. Here is Gus’s check!”

Although my study and interest in hypnosis and hypnotherapy went in a direction that was different from his training, I am deeply indebted to him. R.I.P., Dr. Krasner.

Thriller author and forensics hypnosis

Last week thriller author Fiona Quinn interviewed me about the forensics use of hypnosis.

This interview can be read on her blog at www.thrillwriting.blogspot.com/2013/12/forensic-hypnosis-information-for.html

Watch for her books, coming soon. They are Weakest Lynx, Missing Lynx and Chain Lynx, featuring character Lexi Sobado. Be sure to visit Fiona’s website at www.fionaquinnbooks.com

On the road again…

You don’t have to travel to Woodstock, Ill. for a hypnotherapy session with Gus Philpott. Did you know that?

To learn when he will be (might be, can be) in your area, email him at gus@gusphilpott.com  Let him know in what city you are and when you would like a session with him.

He continues to do his work on a fee schedule that will work for you. He works on a “donation” basis; meaning, you pay what it’s worth to you and what you can afford. He knows it all works out satisfactorily in the end. The Universe does provide for all of us. [“Donation” does not mean tax-deductible.]

What might that look like, if you are at some distance from the Chicago area? He travels mostly by car, so vehicle operating expenses, meals and lodging are involved. Can you line up additional sessions for him, while he is in your area? Do you have a spare bedroom where you can put him up?

Maybe gather a half-dozen friends in your home for an “Evening with Gus”, and invite him to explain regression hypnotherapy and spirit releasement? Or just to talk about the relaxation benefits of hypnosis?

In November and December Gus will be available in South Carolina and Florida, maybe in Virginia, and enroute by appointment. He has done sessions in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, Connecticut, as well as in the Midwest, the West and the Southwest.

He is planning his 2014 schedule now.

Interested in hypnotherapy? – free talk, June 19th

Like to know more about hypnotherapy and hypnosis? Do you have questions you have always wanted to ask, but either were afraid to ask or didn’t know whom to ask?

On Wednesday, June 19, 2013, I (Gus Philpott) will present a program at the Woodstock Public Library, open to the public and free of charge, and will be happy to answer questions.

The Library is located at 414 W. Judd St., Woodstock (Ill.), and we’ll meet in the training room (lower level). Elevator service is available.

We’ll start at 7:15PM and wind up at 8:30PM. The meeting room will be open at 7:00PM, and we have to be out by 9:00PM, or the staff will lock us in for the night, when they go home.

Bring lots of questions and your friends. See you there.

Where is Gus Philpott?

Gus Philpott currently resides in Woodstock, Illinois USA, where he has lived since 1996.

He conducts his hypnotherapy practice from there, serving clients in person, by telephone and Skype. He normally sees clients in their homes, traveling to them in his VW bug, on his motorcycle or, when necessary, by rail or air.

He is an entertaining public speaker, with stories (many humorous) about sessions he has led and also about life events.

He also provides non-certified training in non-directive regression hypnotherapy and spirit releasement, including “remote” (distance) work, following the training methods of the late Dr. Irene Hickman.

If you would like to discuss arranging a hypnotherapy session or a training, an interview or coaching, please call 847.971.7083, email him at gus@gusphilpott.com, or connect via Skype (gus.philpott).

Note that you can return to this blog at any time by merely going to http://www.gusphilpott.com

What’s it all about?

Often I am asked why someone would want to do a past-life regression (PLR). A person might say something like “Life is good” or “I haven’t had any trauma in my life.”

Often a person is able to find an answer to a nagging question through a PLR. The doctor who trained me (the late Irene Hickman, D.O.) was always asking, “Why? Why? Why?” When I was training and working with her, if I complained about something (cold hands, an ache in an arm, a headache), she’d ask, “Do you want to know why?”

And then I’d have to sit down in the “hypnosis chair” (a recliner) in the family room, and she’d do a session with me. And, sure enough, I’d find out “why”.

I’d have a very real experience under hypnosis. In my case I “sense” experiences when I’m hypnotized. Later I can relate them as if I had been seeing them, but I know that during the session I didn’t visualize what I was experienced. I was feeling it, not seeing it.

Other people “see” their experiences, and still others “hear” the experience.

A session doesn’t have to last a long time. Often sessions are 20-25-30 minutes in length. And a session is complete within itself. My clients often come just once, because the session is complete when we are done. It’s not like going to talk therapy for six months or six years. If a client wants further sessions, to explore additional issues or topics, that’s fine. I’m always glad to oblige.

If you have questions, please drop an email to me. See contact information in the About section above.

e-Book Just Published

I am pleased to announce the publication of my book, The Healing Power of Hypnotherapy. This book is a collection of stories of hypnotherapy sessions that I have conducted and also a few of my own stories – those of my personal experience at the hands of skilled regression hypnotherapists.

The book is available as a Kindle book on Amazon.com  Just search by the title or by my name or click on the link.