A Logical Fallacy that Leads to Unprofessional Behavior

I find myself more and more annoyed by a particular logical fallacy I hear a number of my colleagues indulging, to the point that I just can't remain silent.

Before I talk about what that fallacy is, I have to disclose why I find it so annoying: I was guilty of using it myself up until recently. So at worst, this is a rant, but perhaps I can make it a cautionary tale.

I'll slide into that tale sideways.

A few years ago, a bunch of my friends went to study spiritual healing from a, well, professional faith healer. (You could call it energy healing if you want.) Anyway, at one point a friend of mine related that this spiritual healer had a low opinion of hypnotists, because he'd had to "clean up a lot of messes hypnotists had made."

When I asked for more explanation, my friend went on, "Every time that healer gets a client who went to a hypnotist first, the hypnotist either did no good or made things worse."

It didn't take long to spot the fallacy there. I answered, "Well, of course. The vast majority of people who go to hypnotists improve, so they have no need to go to a faith healer. So it stands to reason that only those for whom hypnosis wasn't the right choice (or who saw the wrong hypnotist for them, or who gave up on hypnosis too early, and so on) will ever hire a faith healer. He drew his conclusion without a representative sample."

Now, that logic seemed pretty clear to me (and reassured my friends). But it took me a while to realize I'd been doing the same thing.

See, I've had clients who'd been to other hypnotists, or who'd been in therapy for over a year with no progress, or whose pain meds had made no impression--and in some of those cases, I was lucky enough to make a dramatic difference in a single session. So I concluded (just like the faith healer had) that I was awesome and those other people (and their methods) sucked.

Like I said, it was only a few months ago that I realized what a hypocrite--almost typed "hypnocrite" there--I was being.

And now that I've seen that, I see the same faulty logic all over the place: NLPers talking about having to help the victims of poorly done regressions, regressionists speaking dismissively of NLP approaches as superficial, direct suggestionists pissing on the Ericksonians . . .

So if there's a moral to this story, it's don't be a twerp like I was. If you get someone for whom another professional failed (or screwed up), don't assume that professional is incompetent. Don't look down on their approaches or conclude they do minimal good. Recognize that nobody's perfect. Not even you.

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Comment by J3n Wilding on March 7, 2012 at 10:33pm: Insightful post, James!

I think what helps keep me from falling into judgement of other hypnotists is that I come from a background of many creative disciplines and I view hypnosis as a very personalized art form. And, like other art forms films, music, paintings, etc, I recognize that each artist's style attracts a different audience. So, when a client tells me they were unsatisfied with a past experience with another hypnotist, three things come to mind:

1) That the client is looking for a better match to their expectations / artistic preference
2) That, fortunately, the other hypnotist wasn't so bad that the person wrote off hypnosis/hypnotists altogether
3) That this information gives me a perfect opportunity to find out what expectations were not met / or what processes were unappealing to the client, so I can tailor my approach accordingly.

That said, I've certainly met a few hypnotists or heard stories of a trainer or two that have left me curious as to who their audience/clientele is, in a similar way that I might wonder about a song on the radio that prompts me to quickly change the channel in search of a better groove...

Different strokes for different folks, as they say.

On the flip side, this allows me to consider that anyone who has less-than-desired results with my own services (after feeling I've given my best shot) is perhaps seeking a different flavor than what I'm offering- a difference of artistic preference. I'm happy to refer out if and when I know of someone who may better fit the palete (or pallete).

Comment by Don G. on March 7, 2012 at 3:39am: Hi James,

Thanks for reminding us that we can all be guilty of "moral twerpitude!"

Don

Comment by J.E. on March 6, 2012 at 4:16pm: Great Post.

Comment by Hazlerig- www.HypnosisAustin.com on March 6, 2012 at 9:46am: Hi, Michael,

I'm referring to the unprofessional act of bragging on one's successes, especially when it involves bad mouthing another professional or even another profession.

About luck--Luck is where skill meets preparation. Nonetheless, if a client comes to me, and it happens that my go-to technique is exactly what they need, so I'm able to look like a miracle worker when someone else has failed to help them--that's random chance. It doesn't mean I'm not skilled or that all of my success is due to luck.

If you're broken down on the side of the road and a tow-truck pulls over, the tow-truck driver's skill and tools aren't luck--but him finding you at just the right moment is. That's what I'm talking about.

Comment by Michael Ellner on March 6, 2012 at 9:37am: Hi James,

I appreciate your message and I believe that putting another hypnosis professional down is unprofessional but you didn't mention that specific behavior, so I wonder, exactly what unprofessional behavior are you talking about?

Another consideration is that sometimes when we recognize a pattern, we start seeing it everywhere -- even when it's not there. I am not suggesting this the case, but it could be. Question - Would you use the services of a professional who views his or her successes as luck? You are a highly skilled professional - own it! We all need to remember that even highly skilled professionals are not able to effectively help every client every time.

@ Newly certified hypnosis and students,

A) When a client has worked with another hypno and didn't get the outcome(s) they paid for, I recommend exploring what approach the other hypno took and why the client believes it was not successful. In my opinion, a big part of helping them after another hypno was not able to help them involves giving that client a reason to believe that you can help them. The mastery is doing so without putting the other hypno down.

B) Many of the discussions on HT.com are not about the effectiveness of a specific model or its related techniques in helping individual clients, they are about the effectiveness of a model and related techniques in helping mainstream our profession. If the goal is joining our health care communities as a profession, we must understand that just being effective is not enough! Like it or not, some models and techniques and terminology are better suited to help our profession move into our health care communities than others.

Michael E.

Comment by Nathan Welch on March 6, 2012 at 8:15am: Hi James

If I'm honest although I know I'm doing certain things in sessions, most of the time I'm just as amazed as the client about the results. If someone asked what do you do, 8 times out of 10 I would have to say "i'm not exactly sure". Humble pie tastes good, sometimes I serve it myself and sometimes other bring my helping along for me!!!! Wise words as always thanks for sharing smiles Nath

Comment by Rory McCauley on March 6, 2012 at 3:18am: Thanks James, a brilliant insight

Comment by Liza Boubari on March 5, 2012 at 11:05pm: James - thanks for reminding us for being human - hypocrisy. I too have had clients with incredible results and some who did not fully get what they came in for. As long as I do and give my best - I also understand I can not help everyone nor cure all issues.

My response to those who complain about others and how "it" did not work - I explain what "it" is (taking responsibility for themselves - "it" can be them or part of them) and further explain it could perhpas be timing and readiness or other circumstances in their life - and that, can happen to anyone. I also believe rapport with the therapist can play a role in any therapy.

Again - thanks for sharing!

Liza