The Art of Becoming a Hypnotist

One of my hypnosis friends, Roy Hunter, is well known for his series of hypnosis related books titled, The Art of….. (If he’s not your friend, you should get to know him)
I think one of his next books should be titled, The Art of Becoming a Hypnotist.
After hypnosis certification class is over, many young hypnotists get discouraged or egotistic.  I have met many new hypnotists who are so full of themselves that they think they invented hypnosis!  The discouraged ones just give up for various reasons.
Somewhere I heard a statistic that, only 3% of people trained in hypnosis actually are successful and make a career out of it.
On top of that, many hypnotists who I have reached out to – from other organizations – have been very cliquey. As if there are not enough clients for all of us. Well, at this point in my life, I am used to being snubbed by people, I’ve marched to my own drum for a long while now. 
It seems I am out to change the way hypnotist’s treat and view each other, and how people in general view hypnosis. At times I feel like the squirrel in the meme that went around: “Relax…We’re all crazy…It’s not a competition!”  Only I’m saying, “Relax…Your already in trance… It’s all Hypnosis!”
I once heard, “You know you are a success, when you do not need to introduce yourself.” Or another way of saying it would be, “Your reputation precedes you.”
Well, it seems I am reaching that point in my hypnosis career.  Recently I have had some interesting experiences. One was when I ordered food from a local restaurant. As I waited, there was murmuring in the kitchen, (It seems the cook was afraid of me, so she hid in the back) then a bit later, a man walked in and introduced himself. We chatted for a bit, then someone from the kitchen said, “She’s the hypnotist I have been telling you about! Talk to her!”  He suddenly had that star struck look on his face. 
Another day, my neighbors football came over the fence, again, and I tossed it back.  We exchanged some polite chitchat and he apologized for the football, again. (It’s no big deal, they are great neighbors) This was followed by, “I saw you in the paper last week.  Congratulations on your speaking engagement in Florida!  I saw the picture, and said, ‘I know her, that’s my neighbor!”
Then it’s the way people approach you. Recently more people are approaching me out of the blue and asking for sessions. These folks are professionals who keep their personal lives low key. It is an honor to be asked. Usually it’s during an impromptu meeting, they ask you to stay for a moment and close the door.  Or it comes in an email, “So, I’ve got XZY going on and can hypnosis help me?”
Like any artist, I keep working on my style.  Looking back over my career, I discovered that I already have some interesting ‘periods’ of my hypnosis work!
There’s: The just certified period, The hanging out of the shingle period, The I can do this period, The big move period, The writing period, The shoot for the moon land among the stars presenter period, and my current, The Instructor Period.
I am looking forward to; The award-winning period!  But that may be a while yet. 
My inner hypnotist has been developed: hair and clothing style, way of sitting, way of speaking, way of being, etc. and it only “gets better and better, every day, in every way!”
The other day, as I was getting ready to go to the office, putting my badge on, I realized – I was ‘Trance-Forming’ into “the hypnotist”.  Things had changed so slowly that I hadn’t noticed I stopped feeling nervous before a session. I was confident in my own skill set and had no need to worry about the session. Somewhere inside, I knew that the client had all the answers, and that I had all the techniques to help them achieve their results.  
I suppose you could say that I was in my ‘hypnotist trance’.
Somewhere along the way, I have ‘become a hypnotist’.  One of my non hypnosis mentors used to jokingly say about everything, “I can’t even spell the word, now I are one!”
More things are congealing! While I was describing my hypnosis certification course, to a couple friends, as we were volunteering.  I told them, that at the end of my course, I am going to look each student in the eyes and tell them, “Congratulations, you now know nothing!  You have a manual, some books, and some hands-on experience; you’ve learned your hypnosis ABC’s and 123’s. Now it’s time to go out and let the knowledge become you.”
And still more Trance-formations are happening, as other hypnotists are now asking me for advice about submitting conference proposals. It seems, “the more I embrace ‘The Art of Becoming a Hypnotist’ the more I are one!” 
One aspect I am creating ‘every day, in every way’ is; to always be approachable and teachable. My focus is on the client first, money second. (I think a little bit of Michael Watson rubbed off on me). This is a good thing you see, because before I met Michael, I already had a Mother Theresa quote on my desk, which I read before every client, “Always start with the person nearest to you.” 
If I regress just a bit, my late mentors, John & Bambi Hinson, had 2 favorite quotes which have stuck with me as well, “We then that are strong, ought to bear the burdens of others, and not to please ourselves.” -   Romans 15:1 and “Bear ye one another’s burdens.” – Galatians 6:2
Then there was that quote that found me in high school “Volunteering your time it true living.”
If I’m really honest, I have been ‘becoming a hypnotist’ since I was 13 years old.  You see, it was Ruth Harris who looked a terrified young Jessica in the eyes and said, “I am not going to do anything to you. I am going to teach you how to help yourself.  I am going to teach you hypnosis.”
The Art of Becoming a Hypnotist, this is a good title for Roy Hunter’s next hypnosis book. There are lots of: people, phrases, and things, that Trance-form all of us “each and every day, each and every way”, as we are ‘becoming a hypnotist’.
At the last conference I attended, there were murmurings of people retiring. To this I said, “Hypnotists don’t retire, they just forget to remember.”
Hearing these murmurings made me sad, and then I realized, I AM part of the next hypnosis generation! 
All the big names in hypnosis are getting older and/or passing away.  Many big names who contributed a LOT to the field passed since I became certified.  Many of these folks I never got to know, but learned of them because of a technique.
I’m already making my mark in the hypnosis world!  For starters, I helped Michael Watson write the new IACT Hypnosis Student Training Manual.  I created, The TURTLE Trance-Formation Process. I have had the honor of speaking at several Hypnosis conferences, and have written 3 books on hypnosis related topics. The biggest and best has been, becoming a state licensed private hypnosis career school owner and teacher.
There’s a big world out there, and I’m just one hypnotist practicing my art.
Thank you to ALL the teachers and mentors who have Trance-formed me along the way!
Because of YOU, Trance-forming lives is what I now do! I am a hypnotist.
“Relax…Your already in trance… It’s all Hypnosis!”
Happy Trance-Forming:)
Jessica L Hanson