Office 1.0 - The Good, The Bad, The Ugly (Part 3)

Part 1 is here: http://www.hypnothoughts.com/profiles/blogs/office-10-the-good-the-bad

Part 2 is here: http://www.hypnothoughts.com/profiles/blogs/office-10-the-good-the-... 

You never know who might call or walk into your office. It doesn't matter what you market to some people. I was primarily giving a go at weight loss. All of my marketing was focused on weight loss. However, hypnosis and Hypnotist are both featured words in the marketing. So when you're marketing to a niche you will attract others.

My very first paid client was seeking help for anger. We had an interesting consultation. Here I was all set up for weight loss clients, and this guy wants someone to help him chill out. He wasn't being seen by any mental health professionals, and he had never been diagnosed with any official disorder. So I informed him of some good professionals that could assist with Anger Management (tm). Meanwhile, I helped him with calming down and learning to relax.

I gave him anchors for relaxation, worked with limiting beliefs, used a a couple NLP techniques, and direct suggestions over two sessions. He came back for his third session feeling great. He was sailing through most of the interactions that made him angry with ease and comfort. I spent that third and final appointment teaching him mindfulness meditation.

I don't know what exactly did it, but something he learned in my office saved his life. That's the words of an Emergency Room doctor. About a month after my former angry client's last appointment, he had a heart attack. First responders and doctors alike were all in agreement that he was extremely lucky to be alive. It was his ability to remain calm and relax (as much as possible) in that situation that kept him ticking. When his doctor told him this my client told the doctor all about me. I didn't know any of this until my phone rang.

Apparently, over a coffee I imagine, this emergency room doctor is telling a child psychologist about this interaction. The child psychologist is having a problem with the way a psychiatrist is drugging an 8 year old. They wanted to know if I could help.

Since this was the only time I worked with a child, I will not reveal any details of his case. I will say it was a wonderful success. Everyone was pleased. In case you're wondering, every doctor in the process signed off and gave permission to work within guided parameters. It was an interesting learning experience.

The success there led to a practicing psychologist becoming my weight client. I also had a couple nurses come through my program. These all started from one client surviving a heart attack.

Over time these in house hospital referrals dried up. The newbie mistake I made was allowing that to happen. It never occurred to me that these professionals would keep silent about where the help is coming from. One of them confessed that they heard what was going on with the kid or the angry client, and that led to them investigating on their own. They would stumble upon an ad I ran or an article online, and that spurred them to finally make an appointment. They weren't referring each other. They didn't want their coworkers to know they were seeing a Hypnotist! I was stunned when I found that out despite being warned in my training that this could happen.

Needless to say, I canceled my daydream of moving my office into the hospital.

To be continued ...