In the Hypnosis Technique Exchange (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HypnosisTechniqueExchange), a question was posted recently by a person asking for advice on becoming a professional hypnotist. He lives in a small town in Texas and while he would like to make the shift into hypnosis as his career he's not sure the local community can support it. Every locale is different and every person in those different locales has their own context to deal with. There were quite a few good comments in the discussion, but my response is as follows . . .
No one can tell you WHAT you SHOULD do. That's up to you to decide. You've got some hurdles, that's for certain and you have to decide whether or not to cut the cord and jump in or move to another locale or whatever based upon your own situation.
However, there are a quite a few folks who've surmounted worse obstacles than those you face and made a go of it and done very well . . . and far far far more who've had fewer obstacles and failed big time. Most folks going into a new business fail. As was rightly pointed out by another respondent to the discussion, that's the average. I suspect a higher percentage of new hypnosis businesses fail . . . particularly since many folks who go into hypnosis have a mindset that makes it difficult for them to concentrate and focus on growing their business. Some even feel guilty about charging a fee to help others.
If you want your business to survive then you have to grow it and focus on that pretty much ALL THE TIME. There's not point where you sit back and just let the dollars flow in.
As to training to become a competent hypnotist . . . most folks have their bias as to who "the world's greatest hypnosis trainer is" and a number of folks have chimed in with their own suggestions, some touting the services of the person they were trained by and others suggesting that you attend or purchase their own courses . . . obviously, I would strongly suggest you attend or purchase my training programs . . . oftentimes such opinions are based upon primacy, often mediated by lack of comparative experience (that's the guy who trained me and the only one I have experience with but I got a lot out of the experience so he must be the best) or self-promotion (hint, take a look at the name on the home page of the Hypnosis Technique Exchange) which in and of itself is not a bad thing (certainly, I encourage folks to attend my trainings or purchase my training products but as they are also excellent programs, that's a good thing rather than merely self-promotion, albeit, I naturally have a desire to promote my own programs and anyone who says their opinion of their own products is completely unbiased doesn't actually understand the meaning of the term).
In the end, it honestly doesn't matter who your instructor is . . . or even if you have a formal live course instructor . . . what matters is WHAT YOU PUT INTO IT. I've known plenty of folks who went to fancy big universities who had average or less educations and I've met quite a few who went to smaller lesser known colleges who had first class educations . . . the difference in a large part was what they put into it.
Distance courses are fine for starting off . . . however, they don't do you any good if they just sit there unopened or if you just watch the DVDs without doing the exercises or practice.
I have an EXCELLENT home-study program for hypnosis certification (http://www.briandavidphillips.net/store) . . . seriously, it covers all the core skills and more and you can find even more high quality instruction in my other programs to supplement that material at http://www.briandavidphillips.net/store including some package deals that are so generous it will seem as if you are getting a whole lot of the material free, because you are.
However, some folks who've purchased my training programs did not get much out of them in part because they just watch the DVDs and seem to hope that the skills will enter their brains unconsciously. Sorry, I don't do "unconscious installation" . . . and – in my opinion – most folks who claim they are doing that are just dressing up poor teaching with mumbojumbo . . . if you want the skills, you HAVE to get out into the real worls and practice with real humans.
However, if you put the work into it, a distance program is a very good way of finding out if this sort of thing is right for you before you invest in the costs of live training which I also reccommend . . . albeit, live course costs aren't just about the tuition, you have to factor in travel, lodging, and time off from work. I've had folks travel from places pretty much spread around the entire planet to attend one of my trainings . . . and most have said they have found it very much worth the effort . . . however, if you're not yet sure that you're ready to invest that much, then starting with a distance training may be appropriate.
As to business, most hypnosis courses – distance or otherwise – do NOT cover running a business and if they do, it's usually glossed over. So, you need to get some solid tutoring on that front as well as understanding the local laws in your area. You will also want to look into all that marketing stuff floating around (Craig Eubanks posts some great stuff on the Hypnosis Technique Exchange and you would do well to read his blog).
It's a big decision you're facing . . . one that you should make on your own without allowing or asking others tell you what you should do, you are the only person who can really answer that question.
Hypnosis is a wonderful profession . . . however, if you have any itchings of cold feet then DON'T DO IT. You have to be fully committed and you have to dive in at a run from the get-go . . . skillsetwise and businesswise. If you are not one hundred percent certain that this is what you must be doing in order to follow your bliss, then I honestly would suggest that you back off for a bit and go the distance training route first and get your basic skills up to par before making that big either-or decision.
Of course, you don't have to buy my set (although, I obviously encourage you to do so), if someone else's program looks appropriate to you, then get it (heck, get 'em both) but do get something and stop thinking about it and get started on the work and actually do the practice, not just for the training program – whatever program you settle on – but also outside of the program with real actual humans as your trance partner volunteers . . . and as many as you can manage . . . so you get those skillsets (honestly, this is not rocket science) and can then make an informed decision about the rest sooner rather than later. Do some part-time work as a hypnotist and see how you like it.
In my opinion.
Oh . . . just in case folks forgot . . . see my excellent distance and live training options too. Just head on over to http://www.briandavidphillips.com and check things out.
All the best,
Brian
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Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH [brian@briandavidphillips.com]
Hypnotist, Hypnotherapist, Intuitionist, Trance Wizard
President, Society of Experiential Trance
Associate Professor, NCCU, Taipei, Taiwan
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