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The Devil, you say?
It seems that I was doing ‘the work of the devil’ long before I discovered hypnosis!
As near as I can tell it began in the early 1980’s when I embarked upon a path of spiritual seeking. Metaphysical reading material was in short supply in my town. In fact, the local bookstore stocked an entire half shelf of such material! This necessitated that I make frequent pilgrimages out of town – just to feed my book-lust.
One day I made the mistake of complaining to my now-husband, Bob. “Somebody should open a metaphysical bookstore in Nanaimo!”
Have you ever seen the Cadbury Cara-Milk chocolate bar ads of that time? If so, you’ll recall they featured the devil.
In similar tone, Bob replied, “S-O-M-E-B-O-D-Y?”
And so … a year later, I opened the first self-help/metaphysical bookstore in Nanaimo, BC, Canada.
Spiritwood Books provided me with a community of like-minded people. And my own personal candy store! My insatiable appetite for knowledge about self-healing expanded in ever-widening circles. I studied dream working, psychology, journaling, A Course in Miracles, Native American Spirituality, Tarot, and hands-on healing techniques like Reiki, Pranic Healing, and Touch for Healing.
Later I would learn Reconnective Healing™, EFT, and Seemorg Matrix Work™.
But I digress …
Every so often, the phone would ring and some well-meaning caller would be on the other end warning me that I was in league with the devil. On occasion a very brave soul would actually venture into the bookstore to denounce me and my evil ways. (Crystals and incense – oh my!)
While I always treated these individuals calmly and with respect, it was obvious they were quite terrified. (tee-hee!)
Well, eventually, it was time to move on. So I sold the bookstore. And spent the next couple of years journal writing and catching up on my reading. Then something happened.
It was the fall of 1999. I was on my fifth reading of Thorwald Dethlefsen’s, The Healing Power of Illness (there was something about this book that had continued to nag at me) when suddenly it dawned on me. What Dethlefsen was referring to throughout his book was regression! “THAT’S HYPNOSIS!” I thought.
And in that moment I knew – that’s what I wanted to do! (Whatever ‘that’ was.)
By the spring of 2000 I was enrolled in an intensive hypnosis certification training. And 5-weeks later, bleary-eyed and beaming, I was pronounced a Certified Hypnotherapist – qualified to practice. Except for one thing. The Hypnosis Instructor had made a point of warning the class about the dangers of age regression. Best to avoid going ‘there’, she advised us. “You can do a lot with a good progressive relaxation.”
Maybe so, but my ‘professional’ credentials soon lost their luster when held in the light of actual practice. The truth is – there’s a lot more to healing than just a good induction and deepener! So I found myself at a crossroads. Either quit and go flip burgers (metaphorically speaking). Or invest in further training to acquire the knowledge and skill I needed to go pro.
Obviously I chose option B. And started cross-training in therapeutic hypnosis.
Over a ten-year period I accumulated multiple certifications including Parts Therapy, Past Life Regression, Alchemical Hypnotherapy®, 5-PATH®, 7th Path Self-Hypnosis™ and Regression Hypnotherapy. The Devil’s Therapy: from Hypnosis to Healing is a by-product of my journey. It is a synthesis of everything I found useful – what I apply in practice.
And since this is what I wish had been available for me, I wrote it for you.
Qualifications
2012 Accelerated NLP Practitioner Certification, Matt James, Empowerment Partnership
2009 Regression Hypnotherapy Boot Camp, Matt Sisson & Randy Shaw
2008 Regression Hypnotherapy Boot Camp, Matt Sisson & Randy Shaw
2007 Ultra Height, Gerald Kein, Omni Hypnosis Training Center
2005 5 PATH® Practitioner, Calvin Banyan, Banyan Hypnosis Center
2005 7th PATH™ Teacher, Calvin Banyan, Banyan Hypnosis Center
2003 Alchemical Hypnotherapy, David Quigley, Alchemy Institute of Healing Arts
2003 Parts Therapist Certification, International Medical & Dental Hypnotherapy Assn.
2003 Past Life Regression Therapist Certification, Dick Sutphen, International Medical & Dental Hypnotherapy Assn.
2003 Transactional Hypnoanalysis, Jure Biechonski, M.A., School of Analytical & Cognitive Hypnotherapy
2003 Somatic Healing Certification, David Quigley, Alchemy Institute of Healing Arts
2000 Healing With the Mind Stephen Parkhill, Achievement & Learning Foundation
2000 Basic to Advanced Hypnosis, Gerald Kein, Omni Hypnosis Training Center
2000 Clinical Hypnotherapist, Meridian Institute
5-PATH Leadership Award
2006 with Cal Banyan
Other Healing Training
2011 Satir Transformational Systemic Therapy, Level 1. Satir Institute of the Pacific.
2008 German New Medicine 1, 2, 3. Carolina Markolin, Ph.D.
2007 Transformational Healing Method. Marilyn Gordon
2006 Weight Loss. Tom Nicoli
2007 Guided Imagery. Mary Elizabeth Raines
2005 Emotional Freedom Technique. Gary Craig
2005 Spiritual Releasement Therapy. Calvin Banyan, Banyan Hypnosis Center
2004 Reconnective Healing, 1, 2, 3. Dr. Eric Pearl, The Reconnection
2003 Seemorg Matrix Work. Asha Nahoma Clinton, LCSW, PhDr
2002 Counseling Skills, Level 1 & 2. Malaspina College
2001 Hospice Volunteer Training. Mid-Island Hospice Society