I want to say that I have been praying for the victims and their families of the catastrophic storm that has moved through the south of our country. We wish them the very best. We also send out special prayers to our graduates in the southern states that have been hit.
I have some good news. I haven’t had a chance to talk with him directly yet, but I got a message from Mike Walker,PhD, saying that he has been hired on by the federal government to help with the victims of the disaster in New Orleans! Mike is one of us, a 5-PATHer who is ready, willing and able to use his hypnosis skills to help victims out in a way that no one else will be able to. If I understood the message correctly he has been hired as a hypnotherapist. Way to go. Mike, if there is anything that we can do to help you out just let us know.
With you in our prayers,
Cal Banyan
www.CalBanyan.com
I’m just sitting here on a Friday night in my office, thinking about the last couple of weeks. It has been a wonderful whirl-wind of activity, first getting ready for the NGH Convention, then doing the convention with all of the excitement that entails, and now coming back home and getting back into the old routine.
It is always great to go and do the convention, but after a week or so, now I can appriciate getting back into the “groove.” I think that one of the most satisfying things that I do is teaching new hypnotherapists. That is one of my favorite parts of the, “groove.” It is so wonderful working with enthusiastic people, who are ready, willing and able to go out and make a difference.
It takes a great deal of enthusiasm to get started in this profession. There is so much to learn, and unlearn. Part of the challenge is simply digesting all of the new information, inductions, deepening techniques, and so, so much more, as you begin to learn and understand advanced techniques such as age regression and parts therapy.
Hypnosis is almost unbelievable in what it can do, and as such, there is almost as much to unlearn as there is to learn. All my years of talk therapy training did little to prepare me for what I do now.
I had to unlearn so many things.
I had to unlearn restrictions on touching my clients. In the professional use of hypnosis there are so many great tools that can only be used if the hypnotherapist is able to let go of the unnecessary taboo of not touching clients.
I had to let go of the idea that change takes a long time. Quite often change can happen quite rapidly, as little as just a couple of sessions, to a few sessions, longer in more complex cases.
I had to let go of the idea that one needs to study for years to learn how to help people. Surely a life time of study puts us on the path of ongoing improvement, but a serious student of hypnosis can be off to a splendid start in just a couple of weeks of training, and that followed up with a few months of study, and the new hypnotist can really do wonders with those who want to make good, powerful and significant changes in their lives.
It has been a process, for me, of letting go of the old, so that I can embrace the new. I am so fortunate to have our profession to embrace with a full sense of gratitude and excitement.
With you on the Path,
Cal Banyan
www.CalBanyan.com
Cal Banyan Teaching Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy Courses at the 2005 NGH Convention
“Oh what a night!” Last night I had the honor of going to the National Guild of Hypnotist’s main office in Merrimack, New Hampshire. First off I got to visit with Dr. Dwight Damon, and we talked about some of the recent history of hypnosis, the time since around 1950 until now. It is interesting how the different hypnosis organizations have come and gone. Some of them had just disappeared and others have joined with the NGH. I’m looking forward to a future publication from the NGH that will shed some light on that recent history.
Afterward I got the grand tour. The first thing that I noticed was all of the different awards, plaques and framed documents on the walls of the office that go back many years. Few people really realize the contribution that Dr. Damon and the NGH has consistently made of these last few decades! I was completely impressed with what I saw.
The next thing that caught my eye was the display of all of the recent NGH, Journal of Hypnotism covers which were framed and on display. It was a photographic whos-who of hypnosis, many of which had either made contributions to the journal, or have give an talk at the NGH Convention, or both.
However, I have to admit that the one thing that most impressed me was the audio-video library, about twenty years worth of all of the audio and video recordings of all of the classes, workshops and seminars given at each convention over the years! What an incredible amount of knowledge, probably more than any one individual could absorb in one lifetime. (I hope that backup copies are safely stored somewhere just for safe keeping, because the breadth and depth of the knowledge contained in the library is just incredible, and should be kept safe for ever.)
My best wishes and gratitude go out to Dr. Damon and his family. My hat is off to him, and what the NGH has done for us. I cannot even begin to estimate how many people have benefited from that body of work. Imagine how many people have sat in all of those workshops or listened to tapes, or viewed videos and then gone out and used that knowledge to help countless other people around the world! Thank you!
I am proud to be a member of the NGH, and if you are a hypnotist, hypnotherapist or are considering becoming one, consider joining what is in my opinion, the best hypnosis organization in the world. To learn more about the National Guild of Hypnotists go to their website at www.ngh.net.
Cal Banyan
www.CalBanyan.com
Cal Banyan’s Hypnosis Central with Links to Hypnosis Web Sites
Oooops! Because of a much busier schedule and a technical problem, I did not post each day as I wanted to. I apologize. Now lets see if I can catch up a bit!
Wow! A lot has happened at the NGH Convention since the last blog entry.
I was honored to be selected by the NGH to speak to their Certified Instructors, help them to be more successful. I talked about how important training hypnotherapists can be to a hypnosis center, and shared my Star Business Model with them.
At our Banyan Grads Annual Class Reunion and Awards Dinner. I was very happy to have the privilege to hand out some awards! Here is a list of the awards and the recipients.
5-PATH Leadership Award – Charlie Curtis for all the help he has provided to our graduates on our 5-PATH Email Group on Yahoo.
7th Path Self-Hypnosis Leadership Award – Beth Keil and Anne Shuman Urban for training more 7th Path Practitioners than any others.
Banyan Hypnosis Center Award of Appreciation – Cathy Olsen, for her longevity and commitment as a hypnotherapist at the Banyan Hypnosis Center.
Certified Professional Hypnosis Instructor – Roberta Worm for training the most 5-PATH Hypnotherapists.
Lifetime Achievement Award – Dr. Dwight Damon, President of the National Guild of Hypnotists for doing so much to promote our profession and hypnosis.
I had a wonderful time congratulating all of the recipients and got all misty-eyed in the process!
Maureen, wife, gave a very well received talk on how to manage phone calls coming to the office, so that the callers can make appointments.
The first talk I gave at the convention was the Universal Script: The High Road to Success, which can be used to help clients with just about any problem that involved behavioral change of one kind or another, such as increasing, decreasing and illuminating a particular behavior. It was a wonderful way to share some extra tips on doing direct suggestion hypnosis, and meet a whole bunch of new friends.
Afterward, I returned to our booth where I got to answer tons of questions from a lot of hypnotherapists who wanted to learn advanced techniques!
All in all, Friday was a wonderful day. I was kind of surprised about the what this hotel’s restaurant thinks chili should taste like. I have never tasted a bowl of chili that had vinegar and black pepper as the main seasoning. Hmmm, it was strange, but not terrible.
Saturday was a easy day for me, just helping out at our booth, answering questions, signing some books, and explaining some techniques. I was especially please to receive all the positive feedback from those who visited the book and wanted to talk about our website and how helpful it has been for them over the years. It was my first chance to announce come upcoming changes to our site, which will be launched in about a month or so. In the mean time you might want to check out, www.CalBanyan.com and get a partial preview of what is coming up.
Sunday, was a “work day” for me be cause I got to give a three hour workshop, a kind of introduction to 5-PATH(TM). It was great fun giving this brief overview and answering questions about 5-PATH(TM). There was more buzz than ever at this convention about 5-PATH(TM), perhaps that was in part because the 5-PATHers have been officially announced as a new special interest group of the NGH.
Monday through Thursday, is the 5-PATH(TM) Certification Course. I am typing this up during a short break I have during the course while I play a video tape of one of the sessions I show in class, a Phase I session (5-PATH[TM] has 5 phases).
Well, I have to get back to work. I’ll write more later.
Cal Banyan
www.CalBanyan.com
2005 NGH Convention & Educational Conference
It’s last call! Who is going to the 2005 National Guild of Hypnotists National convention?!?
If you are still sitting on the fence and haven’t decided, then I suggest that, as the famous saying goes, “Just do it.”
If you need more of a reason then here goes…
When you go to the NGH convention you get to see THE leaders in hypnosis and hypnotherapy today. That’s right, talk to the authors of the books you have read. Then, take classes from the very best instructors. Get all kinds of deals on books, tapes, CD, DVDs and much more at the convention.
If you are serious about your business, and your business involves hypnosis in any shape, way or form, you belong at the convention.
Here are some of my favorite people to see at the convention:
> Dr. Dwight Damon, President of the NGH
> Orman McGill, the “Dean of Hypnosis”
> Gerald F. Kein, Master Trainer and Inovator
> Don Mottin, for inspiration as well as information
> Roy Hunter, Author Extrodinaire
> Shaun Bookhouse, the most fun you have and still learn something!
> Ron Eslinger, The King of Pain (Management)
> Marilyn Gordon, The Angel of Highly Spiritual Hypnosis
> Wil Horton, Master of Master NLP Trainers
All of them “must see” teachers, trainers, and more.
I’ll also be giving some workshops as well. Take a look!
Hope to see you there!
Cal Banyan
www.CalBanyan.com
New Scientist Premium- Under the knife, under hypnosis – Features
To read the whole article you have to subscribe to NewScientist.com, but you get the idea from reading the portion that they let you read for free. Hypnosis for anesthesia works! (Click on the link above to read teaser.)
Using hypnosis to avoid pain has been around for more than a hundred years and has been recognized by the American Medical Association as a valuable tool since 1958.
Recently Ron Eslinger (USN Capt. Ret.) a nurse anesthesist has done it both ways, helping his patients experience pain free surgery both taking the usual route and the hypnosis route. He has also helped set up pain management centers. A a couple of months ago he came to the Banyan Hypnosis Center for Training & Services, Inc. and conducted a two day Hypnosis for Pain Management workshop. It was a real hit with everyone who attended, and now many of those students have encorporated HypnoAnesthesia for Pain Management into their practices.
Thanks to Ron and hypnosis, the world is a bit less painful!
Thanks Ron. You are the King of Pain (Management). 
Cal Banyan
http://www.hypnosiscenter.com
Off all of the articles I have written for my website for hypnotherapists, this in the one I get the most requests for reprints, so I thought I would pass it along to you. The first few paragraphs are here in the blog, but if you want to keep on reading, just click on the link below and it is all there for you!
Free Article On How To Keep Your Clients Coming Back Until They Have Completed The Therapy
Getting Clients to Come Back Until the Therapy Is Done
Next to getting the client to walk through the door for the first session, the next most important step is getting the client to come back so that you can complete the work that you started with them. This article is about how to keep your clients coming back so that you can have a sufficient number of sessions, to do great hypnotherapy (and get lots of referrals).
I opened the Banyan Hypnosis Center for Training & Services, Inc. in June 1996, right after I completed my National Guild of Hypnotists Certification training in March of that year. We started off with 2,000 sq. ft. and three years ago expanded it to 4,000 sq. ft. to accommodate our growth (including a classroom and practice areas for students going through our Minnesota State Licensed School of Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy). As a new business, the center needed to build up a clientele and begin receiving referrals from clients to further promote the business. Doing excellent hypnotherapy that gets results for your clients, leads to receiving referrals and is the
most cost-effective way to develop and grow your business. But if your clients do not come back to complete their course of hypnotherapy, your success will definitely be negatively affected.
First, let me give you some background information on our center. The office is located in a strip mall that has a sheltered hallway, with shops on one side of the hallway and glass windows on the other, which faces the parking lot. The set up has worked well for us. From the first day, people just walked in and ask if we can help them stop smoking, lose weight and just about everything else. To date, I personally have seen over 1,200 clients and the other hypnotherapists whom we employ at our center have seen an additional 4,000 clients. This count does not include any group sessions that we have conducted. So we have seen over 5,200 clients to date. Furthermore, because we use a systematic multi-session approach (5-PATH™) to doing hypnotherapy, we average four to six sessions per client, we have conducted more than 20,000 individual one-on-one sessions. Not bad for starting with zero clients and one newly trained and certified hypnotherapist.
Of course, the first and most important thing that a therapist can do to ensure that clients return and complete their therapy is providing a good hypnosis service. Approaches to doing good hypnotherapy varies from one therapist to the other, so in this article I am not going to spend time in this paper discussing how to do good therapy, but we have found that there is much you can do that is peripheral or supportive to the actual hypnotherapy process to improve your client return rate.
I think that even the most experienced and successful hypnotherapists will find some useful techniques and rules below to help your business grow like ours has. I am going to present these in order of contact that you have with the client. I will start off with the first impression and end with setting up the next appointment.
Cal Banyan
