Okay, let's be honest. Deep down, every one of us feels like a God when we walk off stage. We've just managed to take total strangers and somehow talk them into doing some mighty strange things. And to the average audience member, our power is just short of limitless. So why not take advantage and sell some therapy on the side, now that we've overcome the image issues?
 I do it all the time. At the end of most of my shows I end up with a person or two in my hotel room working on smoking or some sort of phobia. And it's not uncommon for people to schedule sessions for the next morning, as well. Of course, there's a trick to making this work, and it goes a bit beyond just asking. But first, it's vitally important that we don't go around selling snake oil.
 I know it's tempting. Once we have the induction part down, it's hard to not assume that means we qualify to cure all the illnesses of the world. Heck, if we can get them to bark like dogs, why can't we just tell them to stop smoking and then get on with our lives? There actually are several reasons, not the least of which is ethics.
 We've all gone around telling people for years that Hypnosis is harmless, that nobody gets hurt, and many of us have even come to believe it, to some degree, ourselves. The truth is, in a therapy setting, it can be very harmful, if not done right. In a stage setting, where volunteers come to have fun, and don't expect any long lasting suggestions, most of what we're doing is, relatively harmless. There are a couple places where we can dive in over our heads, though.
We do need to be careful with time regression, and the possibility of taking someone back to some repressed memory. Suppose a person saw their father being crushed by a car on their 5th birthday, but soon managed, as a survival mechanism, to block the memory from their conscious mind. All the relatives managed to live with the distorted truth, because nobody wanted to see "little Johnny" suffer any more than he had to. Well, little Johnny is now Mr. John, a 45 year old manager for a major engineering firm. His inner mind has that nagging feeling that there are things he hasn't completely come to grips with, but generally he's managed to live comfortably in his state of denial. Now suddenly, during a show by the Magnificent Dr. Do It All, he's told to go back to a time in the past. In fact, he's now at his 5th birthday party. "Little Johnny" gets all excited, the way he actually did during the first hour of the party. He's very expressive, and the audience is eating it up. Then he tells you he wants to go tell Daddy to come in so he could open presents. He mentally walks to the door, opens it, and suddenly, years of repressed fears and imagined monsters, all come flying out of your exposed Pandora's Box. Right there in front of him is the horrible truth. There lies his father, with brains and guts splattered all over the sidewalk. If you don't know what you're doing, this could easily lead to trauma, schizophrenia, neurosis and a hefty lawsuit. Taking people back in time is something we all need to do with the utmost care, if at all. If you have a regressive bit in your show, be sure you remember to watch for the first sign of possible concern or worry. Even the slightest hint of an unexpected emotion is your signal to immediately move to a different time in their past.
Another possible problem on stage, is the possibility of exposing a schizophrenic to a traumatic experience. If, as you start to hypnotize a person, you find someone is having mild convulsive reactions to suggestions, you may want to send that person back immediately. If someone who naturally suffers of a multiple personality happens to be told to "focus intently", you automatically create a logic loop in their inner mind. Which of them should focus? Should one of them listen in as the other obeys? Is it possible for one to focus completely, when in fact a full half of their thinking power is being used by a second personality? Don't play with this, it too is dangerous. If you chance upon one of these situations, and they're not that difficult to spot. You'll see a person trying to focus, while at the same time, creating a troubled look on their face. You can almost see the conflict expressing itself in the changing facial expressions. It's almost as if a person were shooting back and forth from a trance to a faking it state. It you find yourself dealing with this kind of person, don't bring them out traumatically. This can cause problems. Instead, pamper them back out. Make them feel safe. Use simple phrases like "everything is going to be okay, you feel comfortable with yourself, secure in who you are, at the count of three you'll wake up, feeling very relaxed, aware of all that's happened, but convinced you were never actually hypnotized. At the count of three, feeling alert and alive, One......Two....... aaaaaand..... Three".
If you choose to do therapy, be sure you take the time to understand what you're doing. Do some research. Be aware that the therapeutic setting is a lot more permanent. Clients walk in expecting long term results. One careless word can leave its impression. I remember hearing about a guy doing an abductee session where he was trying to figure out what happened during a missing time period in a lady's recent past. The lady was very nervous, and obviously expected something terrible to happen. In an attempt to give her a secure anchor to work off of, he mentioned casually that  "you're in a safe place. The Doctor is here and is taking care of you. He won't let anything happen to you. The Doctor loves you too much to let you suffer any pain." The session went well, and all the gory details were dealt with. The woman came out of the session convinced not only that she had in fact been abducted and severely abused by probing aliens, but unknowingly the therapist had also created a causal response that made her assume that the only reason she had survived, the only reason these terrible "monsters" hadn't gotten the better of her, was because of the incredible love of her knight in shinning armor, the therapist. Fortunately the therapist realized what he had done later on when he read the transcript of his session and understood the possible implications. It wasn't easy for him to call her up and ask if she had been feeling any misplaced love feelings for him. She told him she had, and that a lot of her recent dreams had involved him. He had her come in immediately and dealt with the potentially neurotic response. Be careful, and be sure you know what you're doing before getting started.
Figure out how to use metaphors and which ones to use. Try to stay away from negative reinforcement. Instead of telling someone that every time they see a cigarette they're going to think of a worm (I actually heard of a guy doing that), tell them they are a lot stronger, a lot more capable of taking control of their life. They are able to overcome, and can now run long distances without loosing their breath, they can breath in and smell nature like they haven't smelt it in years, in short, they have become the masters of their lives. Where the negative metaphors might stop the smoking, in the long run, it will simply ruin their lives. Every time they see a person smoking, their inner mind is going to visualize a worm crawling on their face. It'll make them feel gross, insecure and unsocial. Positive reinforcement, on the other hand, works wonders. Every time they take a breath, they'll be convinced it's a lot fresher, and they are more in control of their lives. Over the years I've kept track not only of my own success rate, but also of the hundreds who took hypnotherapy courses through my Mind Dynamix Institute in Los Angeles back in the 70's. Across the board, we had an 82% success rate, without ever having to ruin anybody's day. This rate is measured based on call backs done 3 months after a two session treatment to see if the subject had gone back to smoking. Our successes with in other areas are just as impressive. In fact, in recent years, I've put on about 60 extra pounds. For a year or two after I gained my "40's" weight, I felt like a hypocrite offering to help others do what I obviously wasn't doing myself. But so many asked, that I gave in, and now, I still do a lot of wait loss clients, who accept that the methods work, even if I choose not to use them myself. Make sure you know what you're doing, and then start making plenty of extra money.
When I do private sessions back in my office, I usually charge $100 a session, for a one hour session. Smoking and weight loss usually take 2 sessions, phobias take 3 and most sexual issues take 3 to 4. When I'm on the road, I rarely have the luxury of offering more than one session. When I do therapy on the road, I usually sell a 90 minute session for $150, explaining that we'll need to really dig in deep and make this one session effective. Because of the mystique surrounding a stage performer, these single session treatments do seem to do a lot more good than anything I can do at my office. Clients walk in convinced I can do anything, as opposed to wondering if I'm a con man who's only going to steal their money, as often is the case in an office setting. The fact that I've already forewarned them that we're really going to have to "give it our all", tends to make them enter the room ready for business. And the fact that they've watched me do multiple rapid induction's on  stage makes it acceptable to do a rapid induction rather than having to drag out a slow, full body, induction. Bringing a small Karaoke  machine with earphones, and letting them lie on the hotel bed creates all the comforts of home, complete with music, a recorded copy of the session (for them to use again daily) and a relaxing setting.
So how do you go about getting all this extra money? It all starts long before you walk on stage. During the talk shows and newspaper interviews promoting the show you casually mention that you not only have fun on stage, but for x number of years you've also been doing hypnotherapy. In that setting, it sounds like an endorsement for your competency as a hypnotist. In reality, it's a suggestion that you are as capable of helping anybody in this town with a problem, as you are of making them think they are Dolly Parton. Several locals who have always wished they could find the right "miracle worker" capable of helping them deal with, say, their fear of flying, may come just to meet you, wondering deep down, what they'd have to do to get you to help them.
Once your audience starts gathering in your showroom, make sure they have something to read. I use either small 1/3 page flyers or fancy table toppers (depending on the setting). On these I write in 3rd person about myself. Comments like "He's performed in clubs nationally for over 25 years and has successfully practiced hypnotherapy for 27" again suggest that I know what I'm doing. I also include a line in there to the effect that "while Howard is on the road he is available to do private therapy on an appointment basis. Please talk to him after the show if you are interested."  I back this up with tapes, CD's and books on self hypnosis at the back of the room. The flyer also suggests that clients can mail order therapy tapes at a future date. Not many do, but with that much pushing for my brand of therapy, there can be little doubt I'm able to do whatever is needed. Then the show begins. Suddenly, all the skeptics in the room change their colors. People who entered believing hypnosis is a bunch of Mumbo Jumbo, suddenly watch their wives falling in love with brooms, and decide maybe it is real. Basically, the setup is perfect. Anybody who has ever wondered if a hypnotist could "heal them" is suddenly wondering if they can afford my services.
As I'm finishing the show, it's only natural to mention the tapes, books, t-shirts, posters, etc. available at the back of the room. I also usually plug copies of videos of the show and end by mentioning, almost as an afterthought, that "I'm going to be in town until noon tomorrow. I know after shows like this one I usually get quite a few people interested in private therapy sessions. If you're interested in sneaking in to one of the 3 time slots I'll have available before leaving town, let me suggest you come up and talk to me as soon as possible." After that line, I've actually watched wives turn to their husband, quickly beg, and then start working their way up to the front of the room even before the show was over.
There are couple serious issues to keep in mind when doing therapy. First, most of your clients are going to be women. This isn't to say they are more sick than the guys are, just more willing to deal with it. If you happen to be a guy, you might consider adopting a policy I use where I refuse to do therapy on a woman where I'm stuck in a room with her alone. There's just too much room for question there. With all the misconceptions about hypnosis floating around, I want to make sure nobody ever wonders what went on during our session. I invite them to bring their husbands or another female friend. When they enter the room, I become a doctor. Quiet, sympathetic, concerned. I ask plenty of questions before diving in, and make sure she's comfortable with what's about to happen. I then do several in and out sessions, which let her experience it, and get over the "I expected a lightning bolt" issues. I make a point of remaining unemotional even is she happens to be talking about personal sexual issues or some other potentially awkward topic. Basically I want her to rest assured I've heard it all, and I'm not here to get my jollies. She can be honest, and we'll soon get down to dealing with the issues.
The second, and the one that most beginning therapists end up ultimately discovering the hard way, is to be careful when dealing with pain. Remember you aren't a doctor. Those guys spend 7 years learning how to tell the difference between indigestion and ruptured appendixes. As a hypnotist, you do have the ability to take away most any kind of pain, but that isn't always the advisable way to go. Someone who is convinced they are suffering from reoccurring serious stomach gasses may actually be suffering from an ulcer or damaged lung. Without an actual written permission from a Doctor saying it's okay to relieve any kind of pain, it's usually a good policy to explain you really don't want to risk creating a dangerous situation. Imagine finding out a week after you left a simple stomach ache victim that they smiled and had a great time until they keeled over dead from a ruptured spleen. Remember, there's a lot of money to be make here, but along with any ability, comes a certain level of responsibility. Don't abuse it, please. It'll not only bankrupt you in the long run, it'll also make it impossible for any of the rest of us to do business in the areas where you've given hypnotists a bad reputation.
Email:howardmorgan@witty.com
Web Site http://www.HowardMorgan.com/

Besides his 25+ years as a performer, Howard also
lists, to his credit, 3 years as a Casting Director for
Newport Pacifica Films out of Los Angeles, 2 years
as a stunt coordinator and stunt man for the National
Association of Stunt Actors, and 18 years experience
as an Agent/Promoter with his own company, The
Merlyn Arts Group. He's a writer, lecturer, actor and all
around lousy cook.

  ©1998 SZELES INC. UNAUTHORIZED COPYING, REPRODUCTION, BROADCAST ,USE OR SALE OF ANY AND OR ALL
                     PORTIONS OF THIS WEB SITE IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
                      © 1998 SZELES INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
szeles home page