Denise Billen-Mejia MD, CH  office@aahypnosis.com www.healandberadiant.com

Les Roberts Dip.Hyp GHR ADPR GQHP contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk 

(0:00) Welcome to Two Hypnotherapists Talking with me, Denise Villamih here in Delaware, USA. (0:06) And me, Les Roberts in St Helens, United Kingdom. (0:10) This weekly podcast is for anyone and everyone who would like to know more about the fascinating (0:14) world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.I'm a clinical hypnotherapist (0:21) and specialist in working with children. And I'm a retired medical doctor and consultant (0:28) hypnotist. We are Two Hypnotherapists Talking.So let's get on with the episode. (0:36) I'm fine. I'm fine.Are you? (0:38) Get rid of that little we're recording button. It always drives me bonkers watching that. (0:45) All nice and refreshed after a weekend.(0:49) Yes. I didn't do anything work related except upload yesterday's podcast. (0:57) But we've had wonderful.The weather is now, I would say, broken. We had high 90s for a long time (1:05) and it was very exhausting and some major thunderstorms. But now it's mid 80s, if we're (1:12) lucky.And that's great. We went for a lovely long walk by the river. It's very nice.And it's (1:20) whether you can bear to go out and do some gardening in the 90s. No, nothing's happening. (1:24) No, it's actually my tomatoes are coming in.Yeah, we're going out there now. (1:29) Oh, oh, definitely. We've grown tomatoes out there, but we're a little bit late planting them.(1:35) They're not quite flowered yet. So we're just hoping fingers crossed that we're not too late. (1:40) It actually rained here yesterday for the first time in weeks and weeks.And considering I'm (1:48) north west England, it's always raining. Yeah. Not enough for it to stay wet, but it still (1:56) rained because it was, you know, there was rain on the cars and a few of the windows and everything.(2:01) So that was nice. That cooled it down a little tiny bit. So but it's overcast today, but that's (2:08) OK.It was an admin day for me today. So self-improvement and yeah, self-confidence, (2:15) which is another area where I hope most is going to be very helpful. (2:19) Massively, massively, can't it? Yeah.And it probably is very much in that you work with (2:25) small children or not even small, but, you know, don't forget to be eight or nine. They're very (2:30) self-conscious. Yes.Yeah. I see a lot of children for confidence, self-improvement. (2:39) I wouldn't I don't really use that word self-improvement for the children because (2:43) they wouldn't understand it.But confidence, self-esteem and self-belief, (2:49) I feel that they all fall hand in hand. They don't like self-improvement, (2:53) but they're OK with self-esteem. That's great.Exactly. Yeah. Educated crowd.Yeah. I don't (2:59) think the word self-improvement is used that often for the children. Confidence, definitely.(3:05) Mm hmm. I think children, from my point of view, I think children underestimate how confident they (3:13) actually are because when they come across something that's unfamiliar or something (3:20) they've never done before, something tells them that, you know, they can't do it. (3:26) And which is also self-improvement when thinking of adults.Yeah. It sounds like (3:33) massaging your ego. But for kids, it's self-confidence at school.Yes, I can do that. (3:40) I don't know what all those symbols are in between the numbers, but I know I can figure it out. Yeah.(3:47) Most definitely. Absolutely. And exams.If you don't have some confidence when you walk in the (3:52) exam room, it's awful. I think children, I think children underestimate themselves, how confident (3:59) they actually are. Because I see a lot of children, because we live in a rugby town, (4:05) a rugby league town, and there's a lot of boys and girls who both play rugby league.(4:13) And it is a very, very competitive sport to be in. And it's a very, it's a tough sport. It really is (4:22) a tough sport.But the children that come to see me for sports related issues, they've already (4:30) got that confidence. It's just sometimes it's hidden. So it's up to me to sort of draw it back (4:35) out again.You work with a lot of junior athletes. I wouldn't say a lot, but a fair few. Yeah.Usually (4:45) what happens is when I see somebody from, say, a football team or a rugby team, I usually get a (4:53) trickle of children afterwards because their parents or whoever will say, you know, I've been (5:00) to see theirs, you know, and this is what I can do. You advertise in their little programmes, (5:05) they give out the games. I don't.I don't actually. But maybe you should think about it. (5:10) I know that is something.My grandson plays football and he plays in his league. It's not (5:19) in my town. It's in the next town across and he plays in his league.And I am going to sponsor (5:28) the team. Not this season coming, but the next season I'm going to sponsor them. So (5:34) they'll have my name all over their kit.They have your name on their jerseys. Yes, they will. (5:41) Yes, they will.Including my grandson. So he's quite happy about it. I can't remember my kids (5:47) baseball.That's that's the thing here. My kids are pretty ancient now, but they all had the (5:56) numbers on the front and on the backs was, you know, like a repair shop or something. (6:01) I'm glad you know, I've got to figure out some way of getting my name out a bit more.(6:05) Yeah, I saw a couple of couple of young boys for confidence and self-esteem really issues. (6:15) And I've offered to go and do a talk to the football team. So I'm just waiting for the coach (6:21) to come back and we can arrange some some date dates.Because if I'm right, I think football (6:28) has finished now. I might be wrong. Sorry, I think a football is a cold weather thing.(6:38) Yeah, I think it starts again like September or I don't know. I might be a bit confused. (6:45) Yeah.So I think football is due to start again after the World Cup. See what happens in it. But (6:53) I did.Funnily enough, talking about confidence, self-improvement, a couple of years ago, (7:00) I was on Twitter. It was when Twitter was good and I was on Twitter and there is a business forum (7:07) that you can go on for your area. So it was St. Helens businesses and somebody ran a raffle and it (7:15) was 20 pounds, I think it was, and went into a draw to win a sponsorship for an adult football (7:25) team.And I won it quite a few years ago. It's probably about seven, eight years ago. And I (7:30) won it.So my name was all over their jerseys. I got a free jersey as well. And I also went down (7:38) pre-match and spoke to the team.Excellent. And it was lovely. It was really it was good.(7:45) It was way out of my comfort zone because that's not what I do. But that is a very good thing to (7:53) do for yourself. So often it was, it was good.And funnily enough, I was sorting out my wardrobes (7:58) and I found the they gave me the jersey that they gave me and it brought a smile to my face. (8:04) And I think, do you know what? I'll get that framed one day, you know, and stick it in (8:09) in the cabin. Yeah.Eventually. Yeah. It was it was nice.It was an honour. (8:14) So it cost me £20, had my name all over their jersey. And I went down and did some pre-match (8:22) talks to the players as well.It was good. Yeah. So maybe you're going to have to think about (8:28) where you can go, Denise, so you can spend.Well, yeah, there's quite a few. There's lots (8:32) of little kids sports teams, that's for sure. Self-improvement.It covers, it covers just a (8:40) general sort of, oh, I should start walking again or I should start swimming again. Right. (8:45) Well, all of those things that certainly if people are considering doing those things and (8:51) need encouragement, hypnosis is a very good way.And that's a very good time to listen to (8:56) hypnosis tapes, which sounds like it might be dangerous, but you don't get hypnotised (9:00) by a hypnosis tape, the kind I'm talking about. It talks about it. There's sort of (9:05) there's hypnosis walking, which sounds weird and it isn't nearly as weird as it sounds, (9:11) but it's good.And if you've got a circuit walk that you do, it's excellent, (9:16) because you're zoned out anyway on those things. You're just listening to the right messages. (9:21) It is.And that's what it's about, isn't it? It's about recognising where you need to improve (9:28) without, like you said, without being too down on yourself, too critical, but recognising what (9:33) improvement you need. My improvement at the moment is as far as my business is concerned, (9:40) but it's also about my weight. So I'm on that journey of self-improvement as far as my weight (9:47) and my health is concerned.Has the summer made it difficult for you? No, it's made it easier. (9:54) For me, it's not great because we've got two really fantastic ice cream places near us. (10:02) But you have to travel to get to them, so it's not like I walk past them everywhere.(10:06) I was just going to say I'm going to put myself on mute. There's a helicopter just gone past, (10:11) but I think it's... I can't hear it. Yeah, it's gone now.It was very loud. Yeah. So yeah, (10:18) self-improvement, you could... hypnosis is a really good thing for us, isn't it? It's a really good (10:23) approach and a methodology to use because you're using your subconscious mind, (10:30) which is where your self-talk comes from.It's all your self-talk is. (10:37) Yeah, exactly. Anyway, I mean, we are all supposed to be improving all the time.That's what we're (10:43) here for. It doesn't have to be, I'm going to be a gold medal winner at the Olympi

Denise Billen-Mejia MD CH www.healandberadiant.com                                                  office@aahypnosis.com

Les Roberts Dip.Hyp GHR ADPR GQHP www. Lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk              contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

Astrid Harms  www.astridharms.com                                                                                   https://www.youtube.com/@soulessensecoaching

 Welcome to Two Hypnotherapists Talking with me, Denise Billen-Mejia, in Delaware, USA. (0:06) And me, Les Roberts, in St Helens, United Kingdom. (0:10) This weekly podcast is for anyone and everyone who would like to know more (0:14) about the fascinating world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.(0:19) I'm a clinical hypnotherapist and specialist in working with children. (0:24) And I'm a retired medical doctor and consultant hypnotist. (0:30) We are Two Hypnotherapists Talking.(0:33) So let's get on with the episode. (0:36) Welcome, welcome to the next episode. (0:41) And we have a lovely guest on today.(0:43) And her name is Astrid Harms. (0:46) Astrid is a hypnotherapist and coach in Amsterdam. (0:50) And she works with clients from all over the world.(0:52) Her background is in TV media. (0:56) And she has a degree in technical communication. (0:59) Astrid has a passion for making complex ideas clear and accessible.(1:05) A skill she now brings to her work in hypnotherapy. (1:09) Astrid's deeply fascinated by the mind-body connections (1:12) and the frontiers of human consciousness. (1:15) So Astrid stays up to date on all the latest research in neuroscience, (1:20) cell biology, biochemistry, cognitive science.(1:24) Astrid specializes in challenging issues such as tinnitus and chronic conditions. (1:31) And what Astrid does is she combines hypnosis and coaching (1:34) with evidence-based insights from mind and body science. (1:40) So welcome, Astrid.(1:41) And it's lovely to have you here. (1:42) Thank you. Lovely to be here, Liz.(1:44) And thanks for the introduction. (1:46) Okay. Okay.(1:47) We've met a few times, haven't we, at the conventions. (1:50) And we managed to have some meaningful conversations in Antwerp, didn't we? (1:57) So the reason why I asked you to come on was if you could talk about tinnitus with us. (2:03) Because we have quite a few clients, don't we, Denise, with tinnitus.(2:09) I've got one at the moment as well. (2:11) So it would be very, very interesting for you to give us a talk on it. (2:15) Oh, yeah, sure.(2:16) Yeah, so tinnitus isn't just a noise in the head. (2:19) I mean, for the person it is, of course it is. (2:23) And nobody else can hear it, usually.(2:27) So clients are very much left alone. (2:29) And there's no official medication or device for it to cure it. (2:35) So doctors usually say, there is nothing you can do.(2:38) You have to live with it. (2:39) And that's what sends some people off on a downward spiral. (2:43) And others, they become either desperate or negative.(2:48) Because, you know, you have to live with it. (2:49) Most of the people I've met who suffer from that are also exhausted. (2:54) Yes.(2:55) It doesn't ever stop. (2:57) It never stops. (2:58) Well, for some people it does, actually.(3:00) When they focus on something else or when it's dependent on either stress or other input, (3:06) like food or pressure or whatever it is, then it can go away, too, or become quieter. (3:13) So it can change in volume, in how much annoyance it brings. (3:17) With the day, there's so many.(3:21) And some clients even have different noises. (3:23) Some have musical tinnitus. (3:25) So they hear really... (3:26) That sounds pleasant.(3:29) Yeah, well, it depends. (3:31) Yeah, it goes on too long. (3:32) Even if you listen to your favorite song all day long, at some point it gets on your nerves.(3:37) So, yeah. (3:39) But yeah, so tinnitus for the clients is, yeah, it eats up their patience. (3:44) It makes some of them anxious.(3:46) Others become used to it. (3:48) And they're like, oh, God, this is annoying. (3:50) And they usually come to us, hypnotherapists, as a last resort.(3:53) They've tried everything else. (3:55) They might have been told very often. (3:57) They're told by their doctors, well, try to reduce stress.(4:01) Try to change your diet. (4:02) Maybe exercise more. (4:04) You know, the usual lifestyle advice.(4:06) And that is all correct. (4:07) But most people don't know how to do that or can't get themselves to do that. (4:11) Reducing stress is what I do mainly.(4:14) And reducing that anxiety with the tinnitus. (4:18) But we also work on the underlying factors. (4:20) Because tinnitus very often is just a symptom and not a disease or a condition in itself.(4:26) It can become a condition when it is the cause of distress, anxiety and more. (4:31) So that's when it's called a disorder very often or just a condition. (4:36) So as a symptom, it can be a symptom of over 200 causes and comorbidities.(4:42) It may start and nobody knows exactly why all of the cases come about. (4:48) There are four or five or maybe even more models that we can use to explain where it comes from. (4:56) And in my experience, most of them cover part of it, but none of them cover all.(5:00) So the clinical explanation is it's a heterogeneous or mixed group of conditions (5:09) stemming from a big diversity of causes. (5:12) That's as defined as we can get it. (5:17) So yeah, it might be from becoming deaf or hearing loss.(5:22) It might be from somatosensory issues and head and neck issues. (5:26) It might be from inflammatory issues, chronic conditions. (5:30) Medications, cancer medications, certain vaccines or diseases may cause it.(5:37) And also, of course, the huge psychological side that we definitely can help with. (5:41) Sorry, my cat's trying to climb on the desk. (5:45) And yeah, but we can do a lot with hypnotherapy, (5:49) even in the fields of inflammatory causes and somatosensory causes, (5:53) because we work a lot or we can work a lot in pain.(5:57) And it's very often compared to chronic pain, too, (6:00) which is not the full picture, but it can be. (6:02) And yeah, we've got so much influence on all the little parts and bits with hypnotherapy (6:07) that move tendencies. (6:09) If you imagine like a stew that's on the fire and the stress (6:12) that comes through the tendencies is the big fire.(6:15) And all the ingredients is what we're picking out (6:17) so that we get a clear soup at some point. (6:18) Well, that clear soup, forget the clear soup, (6:20) but we want to reduce the issues and we want to reduce the distress as well. (6:26) And that's where we usually have a lot of success (6:30) with reducing, first of all, the distress itself.(6:34) And then also the sound itself can go down because the distress is reduced. (6:39) Right. That explains a lot, though, really, doesn't it? (6:42) That explains a lot with tinnitus, especially, like you said.(6:46) Does it ever occur just on its own? (6:49) No. Good, good question, because most or lots of researchers have found (6:55) that tinnitus has two or more causes that occur together to create tinnitus. (7:01) So many of my clients, they will have had something like (7:05) adverse childhood experiences or trauma in childhood (7:08) and then something else coming up out of one of the different groups.(7:12) So inflammatory cause or more stress. (7:17) So those kinds of things or just noise trauma. (7:21) Veterans are very susceptible to getting tinnitus.(7:24) And that's actually one of the highest, one of the most important reasons (7:28) why veterans, you know, become disabled. Tinnitus. (7:33) Wow.Wow. (7:35) I've got a client at the moment who I'm seeing, (7:38) and she has quite a few complex conditions. (7:43) She like fibromyalgia.(7:47) That's a big connection. (7:49) Yeah. And also she's been in a few road traffic accidents where, (7:55) you know, she's not broken any bones, but she's, you know, (7:58) she's had some impact onto her shoulders, onto her neck.(8:02) So I think that explains it really, doesn't it? (8:05) Well, I wouldn't be definite about it because there's always (8:10) reasons that might be above our capability. (8:13) So I would always send a client when they haven't been to the doctor, (8:16) I would send them to the doctor, (8:17) maybe have them look at just the ears because it might just be earwax. (8:21) That's blocking the ear canal.(8:23) Just be something simple like that. (8:25) And I don't think it's fair to have a client come to you, pay for sessions, (8:28) and then afterwards find out they've only got earwax on their ears. (8:31) That would be stupid.(8:33) But OK, it might also be something like a tumor or something else, something. (8:37) Yeah, something important going on that we shouldn't overlook (8:40) because we can't diagnose. I can't diagnose.(8:41) No, no, not at all. (8:42) As you know, I don't see anybody unless their doctor said it's OK. (8:48) I've actually had permission of her doctor because it was her doctor that (8:52) recommended that she went for hypnosis.(8:55) Yeah, fibromyalgia is a very common one, yeah. (8:58) So that would potentially be where I say this fits into the inflammatory bracket. (9:05) Fibromyalgia is also one of those, for so long it was an imaginary disease (9:11) that people give themselves a label.(9:13) And it really is only in the last few years that it's become accepted (9:17) that it's an actual diagnosis. (9:19) Yeah, because you're a retired doctor, Denise, aren't you? (9:25) W

Denise Billen-Mejia MD CH www.healandberadiant.com       office@aahypnosis.com

Les Roberts ACH www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

 Welcome to Two Hypnotherapists Talking with me, Denise Billen-Mejia, in Delaware, USA. (0:06) And me, Les Roberts, in St Helens, United Kingdom. (0:10) This weekly podcast is for anyone and everyone who'd like to know more about the fascinating (0:14) world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.I'm a clinical hypnotherapist and (0:22) specialist in working with children. And I'm a retired medical doctor (0:26) and consultant hypnotist. (0:29) We are Two Hypnotherapists Talking.(0:33) So let's get on with the episode. (0:36) So hi, how are you? (0:39) I'm good and the weather has cooled off. It's only in the 80s now, so people can barely go out.(0:45) It was so bad. 95 is not comfortable. I don't care where you are.(0:49) No, I can imagine. It's just so nice here. It's just so nice.(0:56) And I know it's going to break eventually because we live northwest of England. (1:02) It's bound to be, you know, rainy, but it's just so nice at the moment. (1:07) Sitting out in the morning.(1:09) Plus the fact that now the smoke from the fires in Canada were across half of America. (1:17) Yeah. (1:18) So you couldn't even go, let's drive to the next town.Same problem. (1:21) And driving was going to make it worse. (1:22) Yeah.A couple of days ago I said to my husband, I said, I can smell smoke, you know, like wood (1:28) smoke, like smoke, smoke. And we thought, well, there's nothing around here. (1:33) And it wasn't until we looked at the maps where the fires are and you've got like the moors and (1:41) you've also got Conway, you know, around Conway and Snowdonia.So we were obviously getting it (1:47) from both ends, depending on, you know, which way the wind was blowing. (1:51) Yeah. (1:51) Yeah.But nothing for the last few days. (1:54) So what I thought of talking about today, if that's OK with you, is the myths and misconceptions (2:02) surrounding hypnosis or hypnotherapy, whatever you want to call it. (2:07) Can you, yes, I do think it's an interesting topic.(2:11) Can you remember the things you thought about hypnosis before you became a hypnotist? (2:16) Yeah. Yeah. Oh, definitely.To be perfectly honest, my husband, when I was training to be (2:24) a hypnotherapist, my husband used to say to me, is it this weekend that you're going away doing (2:30) your Voodoo Jedi stuff again? Oh, yeah. (2:33) So and he just said it as a joke. But when you when you think about what people, their perception on (2:41) hypnosis, it's all mind bending, mind control stuff, isn't it? (2:45) And it's based on movies and TV, actually.(2:49) Yeah. And we've said it quite a few times, haven't we, that, you know, the movie industry (2:54) has sort of taken the mick about what over what we do. You know, it's not.(3:00) I mean, honestly, they do that with every single profession. (3:03) Yeah. There's a lot of that.I don't watch anything medical because it drives me nuts. (3:08) Well, I can imagine. Yeah.You being a retired doctor, then you see (3:12) a medical program, you think, yeah, but I'm finally watching cop shows because (3:17) nobody is a cop in my house. So I don't care. (3:20) But it is so we've had this discussion that I know we've had this discussion privately.(3:26) And I know I've mentioned it a few times on our podcast that I've had to change my business name (3:35) to my masters because the schools would not recognize hypnosis. They don't like hypnosis. (3:43) They don't like the word hypnosis.We have a similar problem in this country. (3:47) There are certain states that don't allow you to use the term hypnotherapist. (3:51) I believe so.It doesn't appear on any of my written stuff. It's silly. I mean, (3:55) respiratory techs don't get flack from them.They're allowed to call themselves therapists. (4:00) You know, we're not competing for your business. It can get people in some serious problems.(4:07) And fortunately, it's also a reason for people to sort of rebrand. (4:12) So all these looks like hypnosis to me kind of things getting labeled. (4:17) So if I was to work over in the US, I mean, literally physically work over there, (4:24) I couldn't call myself a hypnotherapist, could I? (4:26) Depends.Do you have a psychology doctorate by any chance? (4:31) No. (4:33) Surprising. Very few people do.In the greatest scheme of things. But you would have to have a (4:40) license as a psychotherapist, not a hypnotherapist. (4:44) So what could I call myself? (4:46) If I were using my medical degree, if I was licensed still as a doctor, which I gave up (4:53) because it was an expensive thing to do and not be a doctor, I could probably use it because (4:58) they're not going to come after me.(5:01) So is that why you call yourself a hypnotist and not a hypnotherapist? (5:07) I don't have to worry about which state I'm talking to. There's two states I can't work in. (5:12) The state of Washington, which requires you to be licensed in Washington, and the state of (5:18) Connecticut, which requires you to be licensed in Connecticut.(5:22) Right. (5:23) And you don't need a licensure anywhere else. So I just pass them on.I know people in both (5:28) the states, and I pass people on. But I did consider it for a while. If I had somebody (5:35) contacted me who had a really interesting problem, I might go and see.(5:40) Yeah, yeah. (5:41) And what's so silly about it is it's just pay your money and get the stamp. They don't (5:46) check your credentials.They do make you take, and this is truly bizarre to me, (5:51) they make you take a test on HIV transmission, which if you consider that you and I both (5:57) work a lot on a Zoom link, remarkably little risk of AIDS. I suppose it was, it's probably (6:05) a lot of other, that's probably a requirement for a lot of other licenses to get general (6:10) information to make sure they're covered. (6:12) It just nuts.It's that, pay us $175 and you'll be licensed too. (6:17) I've just been updating. The reason why I ask you is I've just been updating all my (6:21) insurances from moving premises and my indemnity and all of that malarkey.And I've just found (6:31) out that I have to take out extra on my insurance because I work with people in Canada and America. (6:41) Because they like to have bigger lawsuits. (6:43) That's all I can guess why.I haven't the foggiest idea, but everywhere else, (6:49) everywhere else is fine, but the USA and Canada. (6:53) How much does it cost you for your insurance? You can take this out if you wish. (6:57) To be perfectly honest, I don't know because I'm just waiting for it to come back now because (7:02) it's all changed because I work- (7:05) I had to have a $3 million policy, but it doesn't cost me very much.(7:09) I think I've- (7:10) But they cost more. If I did anaesthetic level, I would require a higher degree, but I don't do that. (7:21) Yeah.Well, my indemnity is 10 million. That's because I was advised to take that out when I was (7:27) doing all of the classes when we had 20, 30 children. Whereas now I'm just waiting for it (7:33) to come down because I don't need hardly any contents insurance now.I've gone from (7:41) 20, 30,000 contents to less than five, which is great. It's great for me because (7:48) all the expensive things like the laptop and my phones and things like that, (7:55) they all stay with me in the house. Of course, the house is alarmed and everything.(8:01) And insured. (8:01) And insured, yeah. But the only thing that's got to change now is I have to contact my (8:10) contents and building insurance for home because people will be walking through the garden and- (8:17) Snuggling board.(8:18) Or something. Yeah, exactly. So all of these things I've been doing today and it just made (8:23) me realize about all the misconceptions and the myths behind hypnosis because I had to change (8:30) my name.I had to explain to my insurance why I've changed my name as well. And it just made (8:38) me think, you know, there is still that stigma, isn't there, about hypnosis or hypnotherapy? (8:45) And you just- (8:45) Definitely got that voodoo- (8:47) Voodoo Jedi stuff, yeah. (8:49) Yeah.I don't know about Jedi, but certainly. And yeah, I guess they could make the whole rise up. (8:54) It's- I think we do- we're always complaining about movies and TV, but I think that is a lot (9:01) of the reason that that idea has gone on.And the stage shows. I've only been to one stage show in (9:08) my life for that. It was a local guy who works reasonably locally and he was doing a show for (9:16) some organization that was charitable, like the Knights of somebody or other.(9:20) And he was quite good. Everything he was doing, you feel like there was no point to it. That's (9:27) my issue with the stage shows.It's just really, why would you want to cluck like a chicken? If (9:31) you want to cluck like a chicken, go ahead. I just don't see the value to that other than (9:38) giggling at people and that's not my kind of humor. So, it is interesting to me.I've only- (9:46) other than my own physician that I've spoken to a lot of these 70 clients, there's only about (9:51) three or four other doctors around here who've ever asked anything about it. I think that is (9:56) really the sticking point. We need to get more professionals.We do. To realize that it's not (10:02) something to do at a party because it's fun. We do, yeah.Which of course is how- you know, (10:08) what we think of as anesthesia, chloroform and ether, those were done at parties. People took (10:14) tanks and they just- everybody giggled. Oh my goodness, really? And

Denise Billen-Mejia MD CH www.healandberadiant.com       office@aahypnosis.com

Les Roberts ACH www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

Albert Bramante PhD https://bramanteartists.com    albert@bramanteartists.com

 Welcome to Two Hypnotherapists Talking with me, Denise Billen-Mejia, in Delaware, USA. (0:06) And me, Les Roberts, in St Helens, United Kingdom. (0:10) This weekly podcast is for anyone and everyone who'd like to know more about the fascinating (0:14) world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.I'm a clinical hypnotherapist (0:21) and specialist in working with children. And I'm a retired medical doctor and consultant (0:28) hypnotist. We are Two Hypnotherapists Talking.So let's get on with the episode. (0:36) Welcome again. Today, I'm really happy to be introducing Albert Bramante, (0:42) who I met on a course about three, four years ago, I think.I've been always a little bit (0:48) fascinated about what he actually does in hypnosis, since he's also a talent agent. (0:53) This is an unusual thing. So Albert, thank you so much for coming to talk to us today.(0:59) Well, first, I really want to thank you, Denise, and Les for having me on here. (1:03) And I'm really happy to be here. And yeah, this was all kind of an accidental, you know, (1:10) discovery of mine.If you asked me when I was growing up, would I ever work in the entertainment (1:17) industry? I would say no, that's foolish. I always was intended to be a clinical psychologist (1:24) and college professor. And that was where I really, where I wanted to, where I felt like (1:31) I really thrived in, was psychology and research and teaching.But there was a part of me that (1:39) enjoyed the arts ever so slightly. I was in the high school drama club for three years. (1:45) I took a few acting classes as electives and theater classes.And I really enjoyed it, (1:52) but it wasn't really anything I didn't really pursue or take seriously. Now, ironically, (1:59) I tell this story. When I was in grad school, I went on a whim and a dare to go get my fortune read (2:06) by, you know, a local reader.And I really felt walking out of there like, this woman does not (2:13) know what she's talking about. Not gifted. But the one thing that really stood out for me, (2:17) and the reason why I bring this up, because I asked her, when she asked if I had any questions, (2:21) I said, well, what do you see me in career-wise? This was way before, you know, years before I (2:26) started working in the entertainment industry.But she says, I see you working in show business. (2:31) And immediately I thought, okay, no. You know, this woman is all for rocker.I'm out of here. (2:38) Rockers, you know, totally. I walked out of there and even told my friend, you know, (2:42) who I went with, I said, you know, this was a ripoff.And I didn't think anything of it for (2:47) years, but I happened to be driving past where the office was, and I still saw that she was there. I (2:52) didn't go see her. But when I drove past, that memory flashed in my head years later, and the (2:58) hair on my arm stood up because I was like, wow, she was spot on.But who would have thought? (3:04) So what happened was, it all started when I was finishing up my master's degree. You know, (3:10) I was going, you know, I received a master's degree from Seton Hall University in New Jersey (3:17) in psychology with a concentration in family therapy. During my last semester, I did a (3:23) practicum, unconventional practicum, but it was at a New York City talk show.And it was a staple, (3:31) for those of you who may remember, it was a Sally Jesser FAL show back in the 90s and early 2000s. (3:39) And what my role was working in the aftercare, what we meant by aftercare, (3:44) is for legal purposes, all of these talk shows had to have a debriefing afterwards, (3:50) you know, or some sort of, or follow up, just in case nobody, you know, didn't need an extreme (3:55) after an episode, because there was a, you know, an incident in the 90s with a dog show where (4:00) someone was murdered. So they wanted to kind of cover their, you know, themselves by creating, (4:06) you know, an aftercare department.So that's how it started, working with the social worker on the (4:11) show. And I realized, first of all, TV is very chaotic, and I never wanted to work in production (4:19) again, you know, dog show environment again, because it really gave me a rude awakening. (4:25) And what the rude awakening was, how much of it is performative, versus real, yeah, (4:33) the issues were real, the people, the stories were somewhat real, you know, but it was all staged.(4:41) Like the host, for instance, like Sadr just read the L, everything was scripted, every comment, (4:49) every question, every remark, was already scripted, he was reading a teleprompter, (4:54) or someone was feeding, you know, in an earpiece. And the questions were, it was all manufactured. (5:01) So, and doesn't surprise me now, you know, years later, at the time, it did when I was young.(5:07) So after that happened, I kept in contact with the people, you know, from the show. (5:13) And this was the same year, unfortunately, that 9-11 had happened in New York, (5:17) and being very close to that, I was very affected, you know, in that, you know, every industry was (5:24) affected in the where I'm at. So I started volunteering with a group of people, you know, (5:29) some of the contacts from the show, and a lot of that were actors.You know, a lot of those people (5:34) were actors I was volunteering with, some were established, you know, some were, you know, (5:40) because they were given back and trying to, you know, because they're New York icons, you know, (5:45) and so that started getting me into just an acting. Now, I really, you know, so I did my (5:51) hand a little bit as an actor in New York, local, you know, stuff. But I realized I didn't really (5:56) like acting, for instance, but what I loved was the energy of actors, the psyche of the actor, (6:04) you know, the energetic field.It was just really compelling, like how much I really just wanted to (6:10) be around actors. And so I was like, okay, I don't want to be an actor myself. But how can I still (6:17) keep myself immersed in this environment? So I said, Well, let me become an advocate or a support (6:22) agent.And so I started my, you know, representing actors in 2004. Now, when I started this process, (6:29) I was also going back for a PhD in psychology. And one thing that I kept noticing, especially (6:35) with the actors I was working with, was there was a lot of self sabotage happening, where they were (6:42) not preparing fully, not showing up for auditions, being late, you know, all these factors that were (6:48) kind of taking themselves out of it, out of the field, which is already immensely competitive (6:54) show business.It is a one of probably the most competitive industry out there. You know, it's (7:00) 97 to 98% of actors that are declared are unemployed chronically. So it's not an easy (7:08) industry.But if you're already taking yourself out of it by self sabotage, it makes it even more (7:12) difficult. And I wanted to know why this was happening, because this was not a calm, this (7:18) was not like a one off thing. This was happening a lot.So when it came time to do my investigative (7:24) dissertation for my PhD, I said, what's going on with these actors? What's psychologically (7:30) happening? Why are these actors self sabotaging? Because in another industry I work with is also (7:35) in higher ed, I've been in higher ed for 20, you know, 22, 23 years as a college professor. And (7:41) I've seen it several times, hundreds of times where really some students are really talented (7:47) and smart, but they're not self-sabotaging as well. Yeah.So that was the top coming to class. (7:54) I'm studying, you know, not, not opening up the textbook, but when I would speak to them or, (7:58) or having interactions, I'm like, you're very intelligent. I don't know what's happening here.(8:04) And so it was that combination of those two things that were like, I really need to start (8:09) doing a deep dive on self-sabotage. And then that's when I started discovering I could notice (8:13) as an NLP because of, you know, working a lot with limiting beliefs and patterns and identity (8:19) was a huge part of it, you know, and, and so, and plus I was also getting a little disillusioned (8:25) with clinical psychology. Now I'm not here to say I think clinical psychologists do a great job.(8:31) I think it's a wide, you know, I have immense respect, but for me, there were a lot of things (8:36) that weren't resonating. The labeling, the diagnostic, the pathologizing was a big factor (8:44) for me. And then also the prolonged therapy.I mean, I would have colleagues and professors (8:49) that were saying, Oh, I've seen this person for eight, nine, 10 years, and we're starting to make (8:55) breakthroughs. I'm like, what do you mean starting? You know, I would think at that point, you know, (9:00) that's a lot of money to burn through. And for very little progress, it's got to be never away.(9:08) Now I'll backtrack when I was in grad school, I was, was exposed, not, not in the context of (9:15) hypnosis, but like with Fritz Perls and Milton Erickson and, and Jay Haley and Chloe Madonnas, (9:22) who were proposing and the way we were taught was it was solution focused therapy, (9:28) which actually is really a foundation of a lot of hypnotic and NLP principles. (9:34) And I really found myself so much identifying with these people, you know, because it was get (9:40) in,

Denise Billen-Mejia MD CH www.healandberadiant.com       office@aahypnosis.com

Les Roberts ACH www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

0:00) Welcome to Two Hypnotherapists Talking with me, Denise Billen-Mejia, here in Delaware, USA. (0:06) And me, Les Roberts in St Helens, United Kingdom. This weekly podcast is for anyone and everyone (0:13) who'd like to know more about the fascinating world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.(0:19) I'm a clinical hypnotherapist and specialist in working with children. (0:25) And I'm a retired medical doctor and consultant to hypnosis. (0:30) We are Two Hypnotherapists Talking.(0:33) So let's get on with the episode. (0:36) The nice thing about when it's just you and I, I don't have to introduce you, (0:40) you don't have to introduce me. Everybody knows us.(0:42) I know. (0:43) We were talking before we came on air about what do you want to do for next season? (0:48) We both think that we probably should have a little more direction in where we're going (0:51) when we do this. So I really like the idea of bringing in fears and phobias.(0:58) I agree. (0:59) Those issues, because there's so many, there's so many fears. There's so many phobias.There's (1:04) a lot of different ways that this can manifest itself. And there isn't anybody on the planet (1:09) that hasn't got some little, you know, dark corner somewhere that they don't like to look at. (1:15) Okay, so what are we going to talk about today after the next season? (1:20) What about where we're up to, what we're doing for that, you know, for in the next few months, (1:27) what we're going to be up to? (1:28) Well, you know, I changed my marketing plan.So I'm, I'm, I'm advertising and writing about (1:35) one particular issue for the entire month. So June was all, what was it? (1:44) Pain. (1:45) Pain.Pain. Yes. Chronic pain.And then this month is anxiety, (1:52) stress, and sleep because they tend to be all mish-moshed together. (1:56) Um, and next, I think fear and fear and phobia is a natural one to do. (2:06) Yeah, yeah.Like you said, (2:09) Do you see many people for fear? (2:11) I do. Actually, I've got to tell you about, I've just had a consultation with a young boy (2:19) who has a fear of people sneezing. (2:25) Does he think he'll catch it? Or he just doesn't like the noise? (2:28) We're not quite sure.We've not got there yet, but he doesn't like it. (2:34) Seven. He gets very, very upset.(2:37) Will he run around that room and leave or scream at them? Or what happens? (2:42) I will. Initially, when I got the inquiry from mum, I initially thought, oh, I wonder if it's (2:49) COVID-related. But he was a baby during COVID, so he, you know, he doesn't, he doesn't remember (2:55) COVID at all.(2:56) But you don't have to remember something to be frightened of it. (2:59) No, you don't. But he has this really bad, intense, that's all how I can explain it, (3:09) intense fear of sneezing.And I said to him, what happens if somebody sneezes at school? (3:14) What happens if somebody sneezes at home? So mum said, well, if we want to sneeze, (3:20) we have to go out of the room and hold it as much as you can. It's very hard. (3:26) It makes it worse.(3:28) And if anybody sneezes at school, especially in this weather now, then he really does have (3:38) these overwhelming behaviours where he has to leave the class. (3:44) Oh dear. Does he sneeze himself? Has he had allergies? (3:52) No, he doesn't.No, very, very rarely sneezes himself. I think it goes deeper than that as (4:00) well, because he actually said that it's not just sneezing, it's actually other bodily functions (4:07) that he doesn't like as well. (4:09) Oh dear.(4:11) We will look forward to hearing more about this young man as you find out more. (4:15) Yeah, we'll see. (4:16) When are you starting to see him? (4:18) I'm not quite sure yet.We're just waiting for mum to get back with some dates, but I have (4:24) offered them two sorts of packages. One is hypnosis in an indirect way because he's a child (4:33) and the other one is hypnosis with my version of sleep talk, which is rest and reset. (4:41) Oh, yeah, that would be a good way really.(4:43) Yeah, I think, I think it would probably work. (4:47) I think it really would work for him. (4:50) Does he want it to work? Does he feel like this is my thing, leave me alone? (4:56) No, he does want to change, but this is the delay in whether he's coming back or not, (5:03) because he's not quite sure whether he wants me to help him.So I've just said, (5:09) I've just done a video, sent it to mum and the video is for him and we'll just have to see. (5:15) Just sit there and... (5:16) Oh, well, good luck. (5:17) Yeah, he's very reluctant.He's very scared of change as well. So that doesn't help, (5:25) but we'll just have to see. (5:27) Does he like school? (5:29) He does, he enjoys school, yeah.He's a good achiever, high achiever. (5:34) Do you know whether he developed this before he started school? (5:39) How long has it been a problem? (5:40) Since he's been to school, it's only, it's been about 18 months, two years. (5:45) So it's before, it's after he's been to school.He went to what's called reception, (5:52) not reception, he went to nursery, then reception, then I think he's year two now, (5:57) something like that. So we'll just have to see what happens. Mum knows, (6:01) you know, what I'm capable of doing and I came highly recommended by somebody else.(6:06) So we'll just have to see. (6:09) Yeah, well, good luck. (6:10) Yeah, yeah.But we do get some weird and wonderful ones, don't we? (6:15) And I think they're nice because they challenge us, don't they? (6:20) Yeah, and I think the other thing is, while we're smiling about this, (6:24) there's a little boy who doesn't like sneezing. (6:25) Oh, no, no, it's no. (6:27) We will not laugh at whatever your thing is.We know that these aren't (6:35) trivial to the people we're suffering from. (6:37) Definitely not. You know, it's just that when you're in, when you're doing this line of work, (6:45) it's just nice.It sounds awful, this, but to me, in my opinion, it's nice to have something (6:51) different. And it's nice to be challenged, really, isn't it? Rather than just... (7:01) Well, good luck with him. (7:02) Yeah, yeah, yeah.So this is a busy... (7:07) Keep us posted, yeah. (7:08) I will, so... (7:10) Are you busy? Is it because kids are out of school now? (7:13) No, they don't finish yet. (7:15) They're just about to leave school.(7:16) I think it's 22nd of July they finish. (7:20) Right, but it's getting things set up for during the holiday. (7:24) So I'm running some wellbeing classes for the children.I'm running them four weeks, (7:31) but I'm only running them on a Monday and a Wednesday mornings. That's all I'm doing because (7:38) for the past couple of years, when I've been running them for the likes of our local council, (7:43) they've really taken over my whole summer. So I'm just going to run them for... (7:49) Yeah, it's nice to have a summer as well.(7:51) 90 minutes a day for four weeks on a Monday and on a Wednesday, and they will get a booklet, (7:58) they will get all kinds of stuff. And there's lots and lots of crafting (8:02) and activities to do as well. So that's nice.(8:04) Oh, what's the age spread? (8:06) Uh, six to 12. I'll accept a five-year-old, but I'll also accept a 13, 14-year-old book. (8:16) Yeah.I probably wouldn't want to be here with a bunch of little kids. (8:20) Exactly. So I just leave it open for parents, you know, at parent's discretion.(8:28) But it's nice for those things that work for groups like weight loss, (8:34) which is a good thing, because everybody in the world has complained about their weight, (8:40) either one direction or the other. So it's not... People aren't shy to talk about that issue. (8:44) No, no.(8:46) You know? And so I think groups are much easier for people to deal with that. (8:50) And we're also been sort of socially accepted with Weight Watchers, not the rest of it. (8:55) So people are surprised to say that you have a group program.(8:58) Yeah. I mean, they are very small groups. They're only eight.(9:02) The maximum eight I'm going to have here, because eight children, I think that'll be enough. (9:08) These are in person, though. These are face-to-face.So I don't want more than (9:14) eight children here at a time. I just think it's going to be bedlam, but it's going to be fun. (9:19) So I really like it.So that's what I'm doing. (9:23) Do you have the seating in the new place? (9:26) Yes, we'll have it there. (9:28) Do you have the seating available? (9:29) Yes, there's lots of seating.(9:30) That is on the floor. (9:31) Yeah, but also we've got room away from it, at the front of it, to put the gazebo. (9:38) So the gazebo can go there as well.(9:40) So we've got plenty of room. Lots and lots of chairs. (9:43) We've got big, long tables.So it'll be good. (9:47) Okay. When you have a client come to you who says, (9:52) I've had backache for the last 20 years, other than saying earlier, (9:58) what's the first thing that you ask them? (10:02) If they've been to the doctors, actually, and what the doctor has said.(10:07) Well, yeah, 20 years, they're better off. (10:09) Yeah, and I would be asking them for, I would actually want to write to the doctor to see (10:18) why they've still got this pain. So, and go from there, really.(10:24) And find out what else they've done, because it's interesting, you can get through a lot of things. (10:28) I've actually got a lovely lady who's coming to see me for pain. (10:32) But the pain that she's struggling with is from some road traffic accidents.

Denise Billen-Mejia MD CH www.healandberadiant.com       office@aahypnosis.com

Les Roberts ACH www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

Garry Coles MSc www.hypno-oncology.com             www.releasehypnotherapy.com +44 1252 687260

Two Hypnotherapists Talking with Garry Coles E6 S9

Two Hypnotherapists Talking with Garry Coles E6 S9

Jun 29, 2026, 12:19 PM

Two Hypnotherapists Talking with Garry Coles E6 S9

Welcome to Two Hypnotherapists Talking with me, Denise Billen-Mejia, here in Delaware, USA. (0:06) And me, Les Roberts in St Helens, United Kingdom. (0:10) This weekly podcast is for anyone and everyone who would like to know more about the fascinating (0:14) world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.I'm a clinical hypnotherapist (0:21) and specialist in working with children. And I'm a retired medical doctor and consultant (0:28) hypnotist. We are Two Hypnotherapists Talking.So let's get on with the episode. (0:36) Hello and welcome. Welcome to episode six of season nine.And Denise and I have got a wonderful guest (0:44) today. This is Gary Cole. And Gary Cole is a oncology based hypnotherapist.Was that what (0:52) you say you were, Gary? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'm a general hypnotherapist, but I do see people for (0:58) everything.But I specialize in hypno-oncology, if you like, is hypnotic interventions for the (1:05) cancer journey. Yes. Yeah.I've also read about you as well. And in 2016, the UK Hypnosis Convention (1:13) claimed you to be amongst the top 30 hypnotherapists in the world. Yay! Kudos to you.That's fantastic. (1:23) Yeah. That's great.And the other one to show that I'm truly international. One of the oldest (1:30) hypnotherapy conferences, the Mid-America one in Chicago, gave me an award in 2024 as (1:36) Medical Hypnotist of the Year in the US. Excellent.Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. (1:43) Do you see a lot of people from everywhere? Or is it mostly UK? No, I do.It is mostly the UK, (1:51) but I'm doing more even in the UK on Zoom. You know, I was working with somebody I'm based on (1:57) the Hampshire-Surrey border. And I was working with somebody just now in Oxford (2:01) via Zoom.I've got a cancer patient this week that I'm working with in Boston in the US. (2:09) So yeah, so it is getting slightly more common to do internationally. (2:15) Your interest originally was because you had a family member with cancer? (2:19) Um, no, I have had that when my mother sadly passed away with lymphoma and my grandfather (2:27) had esophageal cancer, but he lived till he was 94.So that didn't really. (2:32) But that wasn't really I that wasn't really the reason it was it was sort of more accidental, (2:37) really. Because I qualified as a hypnotherapist back in 2005.And it was only a few weeks after (2:46) I qualified. So the word had seemed to go around and I had a call from the hospital. (2:51) And they said, Oh, we used we used to have a hypnotherapist here in the cancer department, (2:55) and they've gone.It's really useful with cancer patients. Would you like to come and, (2:59) you know, come and excellent. So I must admit, my original idea was I wasn't (3:03) greatly interested in that area, particularly.And I thought, well, I'm newly qualified, (3:09) I need experience. So I thought I'll go in there for a few weeks, because each day I was in there, (3:15) I was servicing four clients, four patients sort of in half a day. So I thought I'd go in there, (3:21) you know, for a few weeks, get my experience skyrocketing, and then I'll disappear.(3:25) And that didn't quite work because, you know, sort of 19 years. (3:31) Do you still work mostly with patients from that hospital? Or is it a referral from other places? (3:39) Now, everybody I see that contacts me sort of directly are private patients from (3:45) the place, because I'm in the fortunate position now that on social, lots of people know that I do (3:51) this area. And people track me down for it.But it's also rather nice on social media. (3:57) If anybody puts anything about does anybody know a hypnotherapist who specialises in cancer? (4:02) There you are. (4:04) Somebody put my name up sort of pretty quickly.So yeah, so I spent 19 or did 19 years in the (4:10) hospital. And I think I did about 3000 cancer patients in that time. So I've developed a lot (4:17) of techniques that worked for them, I could see what would work and what wouldn't know what you (4:21) can work with.And then because I was there, I had the chance to do a master's degree in (4:29) clinical hypnotherapy through the University of West London. And it freaked the university out (4:35) like mad because it was the first cohort in this country to do a master's degree in clinical (4:41) hypnotherapy. And they wanted to do some research.So most people would say, no, I'll do some (4:47) research on weight loss and smoking, stuff like that. And I said, I want to do some stuff with (4:52) cancer patients and panic their ethics committee. So I thought, well, I've been doing the cancer (4:57) work for so long.And I thought it'd be really, really useful to do something medical based in (5:03) the hospital. Yeah. So I actually did a study.And I did a study into pre-surgical hypnosis and (5:10) the effects that had on the recovery quality and breast cancer operations, and was able to (5:15) demonstrate that it did and how and why. And that sort of got me known a little bit more in that (5:21) area. And it wasn't due to my research, I must admit, but the Royal College of Anaesthetists (5:25) now actually recommend pre-surgical hypnosis.They don't call it that. What do they call it? (5:31) I think it's just preparing your mindset for surgery. Yeah.So they do offer recordings (5:40) and things. So it is in the right direction. But I did my research and then sort of word got out.(5:45) So I started getting people emailing me, hitting the therapist saying, oh, you know, you're an (5:49) expert in working with cancer patients. Can you give me some advice? So I did. And then a few (5:54) people said, oh, you ought to do a training course in this.You know, at that stage, I thought nobody's (5:58) going to be interested. And then I did a couple of podcast interviews. I was getting more emails.(6:05) And then it really went that I was invited to do the first UK conference. And they suggested, (6:12) oh, yeah, you ought to put a course together. So eventually I did.So I did put the course together. (6:17) And then I did the first UK conference and I got invited whether I'd like to go and do the (6:21) one in Las Vegas. So I went there and it sort of escalated from there.Really. I saw training (6:27) courses both online and in person and all around the world. I mean, last year, I was teaching (6:33) nurses and hypnotherapists in Iceland.Actually, next week, not this weekend, the following (6:38) weekend, I'm actually going to be teaching medical staff in Warsaw in Poland. Are you doing most of (6:45) that online? Or do you actually travel there? I've done one online. I've done one online to (6:52) this country.I've done two online to this country, but the first one was due when we had COVID. So (6:58) I couldn't see. Yeah, so I took mine.And I've done one online one to Australia because I couldn't get (7:05) enough people going out there. But the other ones are in person. I mean, I did one in Iceland.(7:10) One last year in Iceland was in person. I did a private one a couple of years ago for psychologists (7:15) in Bahrain. And I'll be doing Warsaw next week, the week after next.I'll be doing that in person. (7:22) And then I'm actually going to be doing a workshop next month in Vegas as part of the conference (7:27) there as well. It's a very full schedule.You get to relax at all. Well, yeah, it's nice when I go (7:34) visit places. I do add some extra days for downtime and fun.But yeah, this year, the (7:40) schedule's gone stupid, really. I mean, I've already presented in Dublin, Copenhagen and Antwerp (7:49) in the last three months. I shall be in Vegas next month, obviously Poland next week, Vegas next (7:55) month.Nothing in August, but something will show up. Well, September, September, I'm presenting (8:04) in Detroit and then Los Angeles in October. I'm presenting in Chicago and then Toronto.(8:11) And then I've got the UK one back in November. So that's my schedule for this year. (8:16) I believe also you've published a hypno-oncology book, haven't you? (8:20) I've got a hypno-oncology script book and I'm trying to do an academic book on it as well, (8:26) where I must admit, I hold my hand up guilty of a little bit of procrastination and being too busy.(8:32) I'm trying to do an academic book sort of based on my course work. I've still got about three, (8:38) I've had about three chapters to do for about the last 18 months. (8:44) You've been practicing about 20 years.So have you seen any difference in people's (8:49) attitude to hypnosis? Yeah, it's becoming, I think, (8:53) more and more, I mean, I think the market's getting a little bit saturated by everybody (8:58) thinking, oh, I can do that and, you know, do a two-day course or an online course. I saw one (9:03) yesterday, somebody offering a $7 online course to be a certified hypnotherapist. So that's sort (9:10) of annoying, but I think it's becoming more accepted by people because people now are looking for more (9:16) holistic approaches rather than, you know, medical and pharmaceutical approaches.And it is (9:23) becoming more accepted by the medical fraternity. Al

Denise Billen-Mejia MD CH  www.healandberadiant.com      office@aahypnosis.com

Les Roberts ACH www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

 Welcome to Two Hypnotherapists Talking with me, Denise Billen-Mejia here in Delaware, USA. (0:06) And me, Les Roberts in St Helens, United Kingdom. (0:10) This weekly podcast is for anyone and everyone who would like to know more about the fascinating (0:14) world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.I'm a clinical hypnotherapist and (0:22) specialist in working with children. And I'm a retired medical doctor and consultant hypnotist. (0:30) We are Two Hypnotherapists Talking.(0:33) So let's get on with the episode. (0:36) It is silly though, isn't it? When sometimes we forget the most simplest of words. (0:41) It really is.Les and I were talking about my next, my marketing plan has changed slightly. (0:50) Every month I'm working on a particular aspect of hypnosis or what it's used for. (0:55) This last month that I'm in right now, but you're not in June.June was, (1:01) my mind's gone blank again, I've been working on this. (1:05) Stress. Stress.(1:06) No, no, no, no, no. June was not anxiety. See, my brain's just gone.(1:13) Anxiety. (1:14) I need a session myself. Bring my brain back.(1:18) Chronic pain. (1:20) And so, and then the next one is anxiety and stress. (1:24) Those are the two big ones that I consider medical people come to me for.(1:28) A lot of weight. You see a lot of people for weight. You see children for weight.(1:33) I've only ever seen two children for weight in all the years I've been doing this. (1:38) Two children for weight. I've seen them for food issues, eating issues, (1:42) fussy eating, ARFID, which is food avoidance.(1:47) But I haven't seen any child for weight apart from those two. (1:52) That was a long time ago, yeah. But that's just something that I want to be able to do.(1:59) Because there is, apart from the dieticians for the National Health Service, (2:04) I don't think there's anywhere else for them to go. (2:07) Yeah, and you don't really want children following the ones that are advertised on TV (2:11) and all the other... (2:12) No, no. But I think I might have to do like a nutrition course or something first.(2:18) So I'm not quite sure really. (2:20) You think you're limited legally, you think? (2:23) I don't know. I don't know.I'd have to look into it. (2:26) It's something that I've never really thought about. (2:28) But I have been thinking these past few weeks, (2:32) well past few months about working with children in that capacity.(2:37) Because we're limited, aren't we? (2:40) Wherever we go, whether we're in the United States or whether we're over here in the UK (2:45) or whether we're anywhere in Europe, children's services are very, very limited. (2:52) Always has been. (2:53) Yeah, unless you're prepared to pay private.(2:56) Yeah, exactly. Politician, they're growing, they continue. (3:01) And at some point they will be voters, so pay attention to them now.(3:05) Yes, exactly, exactly. (3:08) It is all about them being healthy, but a healthy mind as well. (3:13) So like I keep saying, we'll just keep flying those flags, banging those drums and hopefully... (3:20) But tell me about your course or your webinar that you're running.(3:24) The webinar which is occurring this coming Saturday, (3:28) which is well before we're putting this out, this is later on in the month. (3:32) It's just me blathering on for about 15 minutes talking about hypnosis for pain (3:38) and the things it can address and how to go. (3:42) Hopefully some people coming will be doctors (3:45) who can then pass around the idea that hypnosis is good.(3:50) Because yes, it would be lovely if you said more to me, (3:52) but I'm only one person and I'm okay with them sharing with other people too. (3:56) But what we worry about as a group of people (3:59) is for more people to realise how helpful hypnosis can be (4:02) and how side effect free it is. (4:06) Yes, it can.(4:07) Really unusual to have a negative thing that happens. (4:11) The old happy action, that lasts about three minutes and it's gone. (4:15) So you're one on pain and then is it a rolling month? (4:22) I'm just going to, yeah, I'm going by the date of the month.(4:25) July 1st coming up next is the Wednesday. (4:30) So I'll start everything on... (4:34) It's gone again. (4:36) Is it very warm there? (4:37) Because as you can see with my face, it's very, very warm here.(4:41) It's actually fairly cool today. (4:43) This floor we air condition, this is the floor we sleep on. (4:46) But downstairs, it felt okay.(4:48) Today up here, it almost feels cold. (4:50) It's very grey. (4:51) There's not a lot of sun out.(4:53) It's very, very hot here today. (4:58) I love the hot weather. (5:00) We've been doing a little bit of gardening, (5:02) but where we've been doing the gardening, it's a bit of a sun trap.(5:06) So I came in a couple of hours before we came on to record to get a shower. (5:13) My face was bright red. (5:15) So I'm hoping that I've put enough stuff on now so it calms it down.(5:20) You put sunscreen on before you went out, naughty girl. (5:23) Well, I did. (5:24) I did because my facial stuff is factor 30.(5:28) But I didn't renew it and it was very, very hot. (5:32) And I kept just wiping my face, you know, because it was really hot. (5:35) Wiping it all off.(5:37) Yeah, yeah. (5:38) So I'm very, very red here, but I've got some nice... (5:45) I've never used it before, but I find it absolutely fantastic. (5:49) It's like a bar of soap, but it's oil.(5:52) So when it heats up in your hands, it turns to oil and it's like an after sun. (5:59) And you put it on your face. (6:01) So I've... (6:03) Please show me the details.(6:04) I'll see if Amazon's got it. (6:06) I will. (6:06) It's only a little bar, just a little bar like that.(6:10) But it's really, really good. (6:12) And there's also one that you can have for... (6:15) You can actually use it afterwards like a balm for going to sleep. (6:20) And I think that's like a lavender.(6:22) I used to get these beauty boxes every month, you know, (6:24) where you'd get all these free... (6:26) Not free things, but these trial things. (6:29) And that's where I'm experimenting a little bit, (6:32) thinking I've got so much stuff upstairs that I need to use rather than, you know, throw away. (6:37) By looking at it without just throwing it out the window.(6:41) Yeah, yeah. (6:42) So how organised is your new office? (6:45) Very organised. (6:46) There it is.(6:47) This is it? (6:47) Oh, yes. (6:48) That's it. (6:48) I can see it through the screens, yes.(6:50) Through the screen, yeah. (6:51) So I'm in it, but the electrics aren't in yet. (6:55) So once the electrics are in, then I will be... (6:58) Oh, so by the time people are listening to this, (7:00) you'll probably be in it.(7:01) Oh, yeah. (7:01) I think it's next week now because I don't think it'll come this week (7:05) because it's far too hot here. (7:06) We're expecting it to be in the 30s by Thursday, Friday.(7:13) And, you know, people up north, we're not used to that kind of temperature. (7:19) But it'll just come when he's ready. (7:22) So everything's more or less ready for him.(7:25) So it'll be great. (7:26) A little breeze outside too, which is always good. (7:29) A little, yeah.(7:31) Not much, but a little. (7:33) But it's just nice. (7:34) Like where the bit of the garden that we've been working on, (7:38) it's all about... (7:39) I've done my herb garden and everything.(7:41) That's what I was doing out there today. (7:44) So it smells lovely and I've got loads and loads of sage. (7:47) So I've hung it up to dry.(7:48) It smells delightful in our kitchen. (7:51) So getting back to... (7:53) Yes, sorry. (7:53) What's my first? (7:54) No, it's perfect, my wine does that all the time.(7:58) And I can't remember words, but words come out of my mouth (8:00) and they're not the right words. (8:02) The... (8:03) I don't know how effective this is, (8:06) but I'm going to try it for the rest of the year. (8:07) I'm going to concentrate on one aspect of problems.(8:11) And two articles in the online paper, (8:16) two talks, an online talk. (8:19) The nice thing about it is I could sit down (8:22) and do all my social media in a block. (8:24) You know? (8:26) Instead of, oh, I've got to write something.(8:28) If you're not, it's just like... (8:30) So I think it works. (8:33) I think it's a system that's going to work for me. (8:37) Now, will I get new clients from it? (8:39) I don't know.(8:40) Let's hope. (8:40) It's all about generating that interest though, isn't it? (8:45) And seeing where you go from there. (8:49) And the thing is that people do need... (8:51) Most people need to see something several times (8:53) before they'll act on it.(8:54) Yeah. (8:56) You'll have to put some videos out, Denise. (8:58) I do have a couple.(9:00) I've been doing it. (9:01) I've been making videos this weekend. (9:04) So as soon as we finish here, (9:05) I'm going to make a video to go out tomorrow morning.(9:08) So... (9:09) Do you make it with a topic in mind or a modality in mind? (9:15) It depends. (9:16) Yes, it's got to have something behind it, hasn't it? (9:20) So the one that I did for this morning, I made yesterday. (9:24) And it was for children's behaviours when they're anxious.(9:29) So talking is... (9:31) It was directed at parents. (9:33) I can change it. (9:34) But the one I'm doing tonight, as we've finished, (9:38) is about a parent cafe.(9:42) Cafe. (9:43) What's a cafe for? (9:44) Cafe. (9:45) I don't know.(9:46) A parent cafe. (9:47) So I'm going to run a parent cafe every Thursday, 10am to 5pm. (9:52) In real life or online? (9:54) No, online.(9:56) Via Zoom. (9:57) And I'm going to run it ev

Denise Billen-Mejia MD CH  www.healandberadiant.com      office@aahypnosis.com

Les Roberts ACH www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

Welcome to Two Hypnotherapists Talking with me, Denise Billen-Mejia, in Delaware, USA. (0:06) And me, Les Roberts, in St Helens, United Kingdom. (0:10) This weekly podcast is for anyone and everyone who would like to know more about the fascinating (0:14) world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.I'm a clinical hypnotherapist and (0:22) specialist in working with children. And I'm a retired medical doctor (0:26) and consultant hypnotist. We are Two Hypnotherapists Talking.(0:33) So let's get on with the episode. (0:36) Hello everybody and welcome. So we're way into season nine now, aren't we, Denise? (0:43) We are indeed.Talking to a lot of our friends (0:45) and a lot of our colleagues. So I want to introduce John Scanlon. He's a hypnotherapist, (0:53) a trainer and creator, organizer of the Irish Hypnotherapy Conference.He practices in Ireland (1:03) and he specializes in working with clients with trauma, adoption related issues, FND, (1:11) functional neurological disorder and identity change. John also trains therapists in both (1:19) working with trauma, FND and adoption. And he's developed wonderful techniques, (1:27) such as the Little Star and Lighthouse, which John's going to talk about today.(1:32) So welcome, John. It's nice to have you on. (1:35) Thank you.Nice to meet you. (1:38) And you, Denise. We haven't met in person.We'll have to fix that. (1:41) Okay. When we figure out whether we're going to be able to fly from the US to anywhere (1:47) very soon.Anyway, so what are you going to talk to us about today? (1:53) I'm going to Hypnothots in what, six weeks time? Be in Las Vegas. (1:57) Vegas. (1:59) Opposite side to you, isn't it? (2:01) Yeah, I'm in Delaware.It's a long way away from Vegas. (2:04) It's a long way away. (2:05) As far away as here.(2:08) It is a very good place to have a function though. So many hotels. (2:14) Yeah, it is.It's a nice place. (2:17) Wow. (2:18) Anyway, sir, so what are you going to talk to us about Lighthouse? The only thing I know about (2:21) Lighthouse is the shipping aspect of them.So what does it mean to you? (2:26) What is it? Okay. Well, I'll tell you what it is and I'll tell you how I got there. So (2:33) Lighthouse is a model for identity change.(2:37) And I suppose how I got there was that from working with people with trauma and working (2:43) with people with FND and being adopted myself, it changes. I won't say even with adoption, (2:50) it doesn't even change who you are. You become somebody at a very early age and it's not (2:55) always who you wanted to be.And particularly, I suppose, when I started to work with functional (3:01) issues and people couldn't drive and there were so many things they couldn't do that they lost (3:06) the ability to believe in themselves. They lost the ability to be able to do things that (3:11) most of us take for granted. (3:13) To project the future.(3:14) Yeah. (3:16) I mean, you think about the loss of freedom of not being able to drive and not being able to walk. (3:21) You know, that loss of freedom, and if you have it for a couple of years, and I've worked with (3:25) people who've had it for 10 and 15 years, and it just literally, it's a gradual thing, but it does (3:32) change them bit by bit by bit.And suddenly what's available to them is no longer available (3:38) in their own mind. So what Lighthouse came from was a process that I developed where we clear the (3:47) past to a large degree, and we help people to clear the nervous systems and start to reset the (3:52) systems and all that. And what I've always used is the process called Little Star, which is a (3:59) connection back to a very simple idea.It's a really simple idea, which is that we're born as (4:08) unlimited potential and resources, pretty much. We're born confident, we're born resilient. (4:14) And I know we're born confident, and I know we're born resilient because we learn to walk, (4:19) and we fall hundreds of times on the journey, but we get back up each and every time.(4:24) And when we're hungry as a child, we don't really care what you're doing. We're going to say, (4:30) feed me. I don't care.Just give me food. Right? So we're born confident, we're born resilient, (4:35) and we're born with curiosity and joy and so much else. Life knocks it out of us.(4:41) So Little Star was a process that would bring people back to that essence of who they were, (4:47) along with every positive thing that ever happened to them, and taking the lessons then from the not (4:53) so positive stuff, if you want. And the real thing was, I suppose, the first thing I would (4:59) tell my clients each and every time is, everything before today is over. And your left hemisphere (5:06) knows that, but your right hemisphere is now going, but what about, because I'm running this (5:10) loop from whenever, and Little Star journey is a process that says, right, everything before (5:17) today is over.We put a marker here to mark it, and then we start to look forward. And then it (5:23) became, well, what are the tools that people need? So if you think about what a lighthouse is, (5:29) it's an initially, I probably would have thought about it as a beacon, something that could, (5:34) you know, light the way for you. But actually, now it's become more that no matter whether it's (5:41) a storm outside, or whether it's raining, or whether the sun is shining, the lighthouse is (5:45) still solid.It doesn't matter what's going on around it. So if you can instill in people, (5:53) the beliefs, and more importantly, the identities that they want, (5:59) then they're solid within that environment, no matter what's going on around them. (6:03) It also becomes a guide for them.Yeah. So it's based on logical levels. And it is based on that (6:11) logic NLP logical level model.And I do it for two reasons. One is that I use it as a way to (6:20) clear out any remaining bits that might be left. And the other is I use it as a way to install.(6:26) So if you think about it, if we try and change a behavior, but there's a value attached to it, (6:31) and once upon a time, people would have called that secondary gaming, they still do. (6:35) I don't, it's the real game. It's the real reason why people do it.(6:40) You know, you can change, it can be hidden from them. That's the problem. (6:44) Most people aren't aware.Most people aren't aware consciously of that hidden game. (6:49) Correct. Yeah, absolutely.But it's the real reason that goes behind it. And if you try and (6:55) change the behavior, and the value doesn't change, or something higher up that chain doesn't change, (7:00) then suddenly, you may get short term gain, but you won't get that long term thing that people (7:05) are looking for. So what Lighthouse became was a way to clear that stuff for once and for all the (7:11) remaining bits that might have been left, but also to give people a semblance of, they might even see (7:17) a picture in their mind and go, it doesn't bother me now, you know, you can still just get rid of (7:21) it once and for all.And then connect them back to the, the work that was done up to that point, (7:28) which was the star journey, basically everything before today is over. But you're bringing with (7:33) you a toolkit now, that includes all the positive things that have ever happened to you, plus all (7:39) the stuff that you were born with, and then start to build the identity from identity down. Define (7:46) who it is that you, we are, I am, and then work down through the values, work down through the (7:52) beliefs, work down through the behaviors, and ultimately, the environment changes itself.(7:57) And that literally is what Lighthouse is. Now, it was originally developed from working with trauma, (8:03) but actually, most of us arrive at who we are by default. And, and if we try and think about (8:11) how we might want to do something, and there's internal resistance for, or, you know, it's kind (8:17) of like, I use this for everybody at this stage, whether they've had trauma or not.(8:21) Mm hmm. And you don't always know what's traumatic to somebody. (8:28) Well, trauma is perceived, perceived meaning.It's there, exactly. Especially if they were little. (8:37) Correct.Absolutely correct. And what Lighthouse allows me to do is help people to create the (8:43) future they want. Very clearly.Yeah. When did you develop it? About 18 months ago, (8:50) about 18 months ago, I'd say. Okay.And because I was getting to that stage where (8:55) people were, they were, they cleared the reasons that came in the first place, but now they were (9:01) going, what goes next? Yeah. So it kind of was demand driven, almost. Okay.Yeah. You know. (9:09) How long have you been inhibitors? How long have you been inhibitors? 10 years.Okay. 10 years. (9:15) There was a real surge of, I trained in 2019.You were a couple of years before me, Les. (9:23) 2015. 2015, yeah.(9:24) We seem to be a lot of people all of a sudden in this. We're a big cohort of recent people. (9:32) Do you think 2015, 2016, there was nothing else to do? (9:39) We all must have known something was coming, that we were going to be sitting on Zoom.(9:45) Helping people all over the world. Yeah, yeah. Can I ask you, John, (9:49) how do you use this model? Because I know you work with people who are adopted and are going (9:57) through that journey.How do you use this model? Is it to help them to find their identity? (10:04) It's to help them create it to a large, sorry, create the one they want. (10:10) Okay. Yeah.(10:11) Not, I mean, they have an identity, right? Yeah, of course, yeah. (10:14) If you think about, say, people with adoption,

Denise Billen-Mejia MD CH                                                                       office@aahypnosis.com www.healandberadiant.com

Les Roberts ACH                                               contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk  www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

 Welcome to Two Hypnotherapists Talking with me, Denise Biller-Mejia, in Delaware, USA. (0:06) And me, Les Roberts, in St Helens, United Kingdom. (0:10) This weekly podcast is for anyone and everyone who would like to know more about the fascinating (0:14) world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.I'm a clinical hypnotherapist and (0:22) specialist in working with children. And I'm a retired medical doctor (0:26) and consultant hypnotist. We are Two Hypnotherapists Talking.(0:33) So, let's get on with the episode. (0:37) Episode three. Hello again.(0:39) Episode three already. I know, it'll be nine before we blink. (0:44) Anyway, my dear, today we're going to talk about just you and me, because you and me (0:48) are who's on the call.It was a great call last week with Melanie. It's very nice of her to come (0:53) on. Last time we spoke, we talked about your business.So, can I be a little bit selfish (0:59) and say, let's talk about mine for a minute. That's not being selfish at all, of course. (1:03) I've got my, all of my marketing work is now, for June, is pushing towards something.I haven't (1:14) decided the actual date, but before the end of June, I will do a webinar on hypnosis and pain. (1:19) Not to teach hypnotists, although they're welcome to join me, but to talk to the general public (1:26) about whether pain is really useful. And pain can be useful, but hypnosis is really useful (1:33) for getting rid of it.That's the idea. Yeah. And it's really funny, isn't it? It's been in (1:43) the public arena since the early 1800s.Actually, the late 1700s, but early 1800s is when they (1:54) labeled it hypnosis. That's when it got the name. And it has been, it's been this sort of, (2:00) we've talked about hypnosis for 10 years and then it'll go away.It just disappears for another 20. (2:05) Then it comes back again and disappears again. It is having a bit of a time, I think.Maybe the (2:10) internet is part of that, but I am constantly annoyed at how little I knew about it when I was (2:19) a doctor. I'm amazed that I wasn't taught in medical school, particularly since both of our, (2:25) both English and American health associations, for doctors, said it should be taught in medical (2:32) school. Yeah, I totally agree.I think it should. I think also, I think our local, (2:39) like general practitioners, our doctors need to be aware that there is other alternatives out there (2:47) than what we want. So I know that you're going to talk about pain, which I will be quiet in a (2:53) minute and let you talk about.But I do think when you go to our GPs, when you go to our local (3:02) doctors and you, you're not quite sure, you know, of like, why, why you feel the way you feel? (3:08) Is it anxiety? Is it pain? Is it lack of sleep? Is it, you know, all of the things, not one of them. (3:15) And I mean, not one of them, in my experience, thinks of hypnosis as a first call. They think, (3:24) I don't mind it not being the first call, because there's a lot of legal and medical (3:29) legal things that are going on.Well, at least by the second or third time, (3:34) yeah. And you're writing yet another pain prescription, which you also hoping works, (3:39) but you know, everybody reacts to drugs and to hypnosis differently. Yeah, different types of (3:46) hypnosis work for different people.So you need to find somebody that you're comfortable chatting (3:52) with. And that, you know, you feel like a simpatico with the hypnotist, because you're (3:58) going to be working together to find those things that really speak to your subconscious. (4:03) Yeah.Get rid of the pain. Yeah. I've just picked a client, a lady for six sessions.And she was, (4:15) she went to her doctors and her doctor said, why don't we try hypnosis? (4:22) Had you spoken to the doctor? How did that person? Why is he so different from the other 99%? (4:28) No, I haven't spoken to him yet or her. But however, I have got permission to (4:36) write to the doctor afterwards when we finished her sessions. (4:40) It's interesting how different I think it's because I'm a doctor myself originally.(4:44) Yeah, but I it's a it's mandatory that I can communicate with the doctor. Yeah, they often (4:51) don't call me back. But I get to at least say, do you have any objections? Do you realize that (4:57) XYZ problem? But when I then the opportunity to tell me other things about the patient that they (5:03) may not have told me? Yeah, because yeah, definitely.And I know a few few a few minutes (5:10) ago, I don't want to think that I'm contradicting myself. And I know a few minutes ago, I said that (5:15) I have never had a referral from a doctor. This is wasn't a referral to me.This was just a referral. (5:23) The object Google hypnosis. Yeah.Yeah, she is she hyper local? She like (5:32) she's about three, four miles away from me. So yeah, she's very nice. Yeah.Yeah. Which is great. (5:38) May I ask what kind of pain she's dealing with? (5:41) She has been in a couple of RTAs.And she's just suffers with with this pain (5:49) constantly. traffic accident, I'm assuming. Yeah, our acronyms are different than yours.(5:54) Oh, sorry. Yeah. accident.And she's struggling with with pain. But this lovely lady is also got (6:05) fibromyalgia. Yeah, she's lovely.We're enjoying. We're enjoying the session. She's she's really (6:12) lovely.So well, if anybody listens to last week's episode where we were talking to Melanie McCall, (6:18) who I've currently I'm currently using her system. She's she's she and her husband Sean have built (6:26) out a great system where the website and all the things that you need to have a business all (6:31) mesh. It's in one place.She was the reason for that. That is the impetus for me to get (6:38) super organized for a change instead of this fake organized. And all of my marketing tools (6:46) this month, meaning June, because right, is to have the person with chronic pain, hear about (6:58) hypnosis.Yeah, I truly don't mind if you don't come to me, but please look into it for your for (7:04) your pain. So I'm hoping that the audience that will come to the webinar will be a mixture of (7:11) patients. Yeah, but we've we've had this conversation before, Denise, if you remember from (7:17) season eight, where I told you when I used to work for our National Health Service, there was (7:25) a department called MSK, which is musculoskeletal.One of their managers actually said to me, (7:34) because it is when I was training to be an NLP practitioner. And one of their managers said to (7:39) me, I wish that you could get involved with the the clients, because there's a lot of patients, (7:46) you call them as a lot of patients that come in that have psychosomatic pain. (7:52) It makes sense, doesn't it really make sense.And it's not all it isn't necessarily that (8:00) psychosomatic pain, because we know it also works in the acute phase as well. People can have whole (8:08) big time operations under hypnosis, not recommended for everybody. It is for people who can't use (8:15) standard anesthesia.But it is amazing. And for those people who have experienced it, (8:23) you can't understand why the rest of the world doesn't know. I don't know whether we exactly all (8:29) the TV shows I've ever seen this one recently, I'm not saying answer anymore.They've always got (8:34) that sort of boom part on instead of just playing. It's just a technique that will make life easier (8:42) for you. Go and talk to a hypnotist find out.I don't know a hypnotist at all. He doesn't do a (8:48) free consultation. That's not true.I do know a couple that charge and that money is put towards (8:53) your first session. But yeah, most don't charge most I don't charge you. I don't.I don't. It's (8:59) usually we just if the only thing our business was doing was educating people on hypnosis, (9:06) we'd be happy. We are happier if we can pay the rent as well.But the important thing is to get (9:12) the word out there. It is this really good. And especially like you said, what what you're working (9:18) on it with pain with you know, with pain relief.It's really, really important because it takes (9:23) over your life, doesn't it? Yeah, exactly. It becomes everything you wake up and you think, (9:30) am I awake? I must be awake because I can feel it. You know, the pain's there right from the get go.(9:36) Yeah. Yeah, it's not good, is it? But I think I think if we keep ringing the bell and keep, (9:42) you know, banging our drums and everything, I think eventually some of it is going to start (9:47) trickling through. And I do think because we're getting more organized, the internet is a wonderful (9:52) thing.Yeah, real gift from God. We we can communicate with you. We spoke to Melanie in (9:58) Florida, we're going to be speaking to other people in England and other farther flung people.And (10:05) hypnotists themselves aren't working in a little silo anymore. We're able to go to meetings virtually (10:11) instead of having to find the money to fly to Australia, which is great, because now I know, (10:17) probably a few thousand hypnotists. Yeah.And where I could name, if I really force myself, (10:24) I could name a hundred. But people you recognize or subjects, you know, (10:30) yeah, my mind, I know, I know him,

Denise Billen-Mejia MD CH                                                                       office@aahypnosis.com www.healandberadiant.com

Les Roberts ACH                                               contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk  www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

Melanie McCool  CHt                                                                      melanie@mindworxco.com  Hypnosis Education Association President   

Welcome to Two Hypnotherapists Talking with me, Denise Villamih here in Delaware, USA. (0:06) And me, Les Roberts in St Helens, United Kingdom. (0:10) This weekly podcast is for anyone and everyone who would like to know more about the fascinating (0:14) world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.I'm a clinical hypnotherapist (0:21) and specialist in working with children. And I'm a retired medical doctor and consultant (0:28) to hypnosis. We are Two Hypnotherapists Talking.So let's get on with the episode. (0:37) Hi. So today we get to welcome Melanie McCall, who is, she's not my boss, but she runs a program (0:45) I'm now taking great advantage of in getting my practice out into the public world.Melanie is the (0:55) founder of Hypnobiz in a Box. And everything is a win, which sounds great for hypnosis. (1:02) And she is also the current president of, I'll get this title right, Hypnosis Education Association.(1:10) Okay, good. Since I'm just joining, I ought to remember the name. (1:16) Melanie, why don't you go ahead and talk about yourself a little bit.And then I think you (1:21) were going to talk about overwhelm for hypnotists. Was that the topic? (1:27) So I'm Melanie McCall. I'm the entrepreneur's hypnotherapist.And my specialty is actually in (1:35) helping entrepreneurs through the, well, the many things that we deal with, but especially (1:42) burnout. So I have a protocol that I've developed for people who have experienced (1:50) extreme burnout. And because, well, when I experienced that, I found that the ways that (1:59) people typically said to get help were not working.Now I, so I, yeah. (2:08) Can I just interrupt you for a sec? Was this when you were working in the business world? (2:13) Yes, exactly. So, and I started in business in 2000.I know that's so easy. And it's 25 (2:20) because my daughter's 25 years old because I got started to be her mom, like working from home. (2:26) So I was learning online business and all kinds of things that I had never done before in my life, (2:34) but I did and I became very successful.And, you know, this term, this idea of like being (2:39) very successful from the outside. Well, yes, I was very successful on the outside and my life (2:46) and, you know, it appeared, but in, but inside I was clearly not well. I was overworking and (2:54) there's many reasons for that, which I'm not going to go into necessarily.But what I can tell you (3:02) is when I went, when I got to this point where I, I could not work. So unmitigated stress, (3:10) okay, this is, this is the, the cause of burnout and the world health organization actually (3:19) caused this a, um, a mental syndrome caused from unmitigated workplace stress. So I'm just going (3:28) to put that out there because so many people use the word burnout all the time for all kinds of (3:32) things.Um, but I think, I do kind of think it's kind of odd. You know, they just call it workplace (3:37) place stress because it costs corporations like trillions of dollars a year. (3:43) Yeah.But when you're, when you're an entrepreneur, you're not in an organization that's spending (3:50) trillions to help you. If you're an entrepreneur and you burn out, you literally are taken out. (3:56) So burnout is characterized by three main symptoms.I can, you can tell where somebody (4:02) is on this path by where they're at. Number one is that kind of overwhelmed, but (4:10) exhaustion that you cannot rest from. So you can sleep, you can do yoga, you can meditate, (4:18) you can go on vacation, you could do, and your body literally just does not do the healing it (4:24) needs.That's one. When that continues unmitigated, um, two, you start to get really, (4:32) I just think of it as a cynical phase. Like I hate this thing.I built this to have freedom (4:37) in my life. And instead I hate this. I want to burn it all to the ground.That's, that's phase (4:43) two. When you get to the third, well, you're out of the game. Basically it's lack of productivity.(4:51) Then I'm going to pause there because that's why corporations spend trillions. (4:55) Lack of productivity is what they want. But again, for a, for a business owner, (5:03) lack of productivity means you literally cannot support yourself anymore.I had no idea that this (5:08) could happen. Um, I had, I, when I think back through time, I think I probably burned out four (5:15) times before the big one where I literally couldn't think myself my way out of a paper bag. (5:22) I couldn't.And I was really scared. I'd, you know, at that point I'd been in business for (5:27) almost two decades, my children and our whole lifestyle was built on me being (5:32) a business owner with online business. Um, so I really struggled.I was, I had like massive (5:41) symptoms. And these are all, again, we're going to say the, the burn, they call it burnout as a (5:47) workplace syndrome or, you know, because work workplace stress, but we are not in a vacuum. (5:54) Right.There's family stress. There's the, uh, your, the economies, the, whatever the heck, (6:01) the, all the things around you are all piled on top. Right.So, uh, the idea that it's just from (6:08) work is silly. Um, but I, but all I knew is that I had to, I had to save myself, um, for the sake of (6:16) my family, probably always because of, for somebody else more so than me. Um, and I, I was meditating (6:25) a lot.So if you're familiar with like Dr. Joe's dispensers work, and I mean, when I was listening (6:32) I had, I have such a library of good recordings to share, like really do meditating a lot, (6:41) but I found that it was as if I was coming up against a wall that went to my healing. Like I (6:50) knew that there was just something I couldn't do myself. And I don't know what I searched online to (6:56) get the answers back that, um, led me down the path of getting help from a hypnotherapist, (7:04) but I basically read, which I now can translate as a hypnotherapist gets past the critical factor, (7:11) the critical faculty, or the gatekeeper as we think of it as, and can help me with the insomnia, (7:20) heart palpitations, muscle wasting, anxiety, (7:28) anger, all the things that were wildly out of control.I said, well, you don't have to tell (7:33) me twice, like, hello, I need help. And in the process of getting help, it was like, I just (7:42) imagine this Tetris game happening. All of these pieces were falling into place for me.(7:49) I had worked with literally tens of thousands of people across the world for almost two decades at (7:55) this point, and I saw all of their patterns so clearly. It was really amazing. And I realized (8:05) then that all of that time, all I was ever wanting to do was to help adults to reach their potential (8:12) and to get out of their own way and to do the things that they were passionate about and the (8:17) good life changing things that the services that they provide to humanity.And that's kind of a (8:24) big thing, but I do, I believe that people I get to work with are people who are doing good. So I (8:29) want to free them from their limitations. But back before I was a hypnotist, I didn't have any tools (8:34) to do that.I couldn't say, you know what you've, I've taught you everything I know about sales and (8:40) marketing. You've been in my classes for seven years and you still, the term self-sabotage. (8:51) And I couldn't say, you know what, I think back before I couldn't say, I think, you know, (8:56) you should probably get some therapy for that.Like I didn't have the permission and I didn't (9:01) have the tools and I couldn't talk to people like that. But when I got hypnotherapy, I was like, (9:09) oh, my goodness. I was like, not only did I need that, obviously, because I had to unlearn (9:19) so many habits that were.Yeah. And hypnosis does make that a lot faster for you. It was (9:25) incredible.Like I said, hypnosis and self-hypnosis. Once I got the, the, you know, I think of it as I (9:32) got the weeds out first, right? You can't plant the garden with self-hypnosis and all the good (9:37) things without the weeds. So a hypnotherapist helped me get rid of the weeds and then planting (9:41) the seeds of good habits, getting rid of the bad ones that were keeping me stressed and dying.(9:49) But yeah, at that point I was like, honestly, I, I realized I'd already pretty much stopped (9:55) my business. It took me easily four to six months to even heal enough to do something again. (10:02) I remember waking up and going, oh my gosh, my entrepreneur mind is back online.Thank goodness. (10:08) Like, I'm not going to, you know, I don't, I didn't know what I was going to do. Am I going (10:12) to go be a teacher again? I didn't know what I was going to do.And, um, but when I did, (10:18) I was like, I'm not going back to that same old world. I'm going to do this work. (10:24) Wow.Yeah. And

Denise Billen-Mejia MD CH www.healandberadiant.com       office@aahypnosis.com

Les Roberts ACH www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

Welcome to Two Hypnotherapists Talking with me, Denise Billen-Mejia, here in Delaware, USA. (0:06) And me, Les Roberts in St Helens, United Kingdom. (0:10) This weekly podcast is for anyone and everyone who would like to know more (0:14) about the fascinating world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.(0:19) I'm a clinical hypnotherapist and specialist in working with children. (0:25) And I'm a retired medical doctor and consultant hypnotist. (0:30) We are Two Hypnotherapists Talking.(0:33) So let's get on with the episode. (0:36) How about your presentation or everybody else's presentations? (0:40) It's fine. (0:41) It was an amazing weekend.(0:44) Absolutely exhausting, but an amazing weekend. (0:48) So I went to Hypnotic 2026 in Antwerp, Belgium. (0:54) Who's the governing body that organizes that? (0:58) Naila, her name is.(1:01) Naila, yeah. (1:02) So and her lovely sidekick Angelique, which she's such a lovely, lovely person. (1:08) I made some very good contacts there.(1:11) Some really, really nice people. (1:13) Met some lovely people and caught up with two of at least two of our guests. (1:18) Or could potentially could be three.(1:20) And it was just a fantastic weekend. (1:24) And they really look after you in Belgium. (1:27) Shame they couldn't save your throat.(1:29) I know. (1:30) So we were fed and we were watered regularly. (1:34) And it was such a lovely, lovely experience.(1:38) And it was just great. (1:39) It was just lovely, but it was so, so tiring. (1:42) Because you know, and I'm sure everybody else knows who networks.(1:46) The minute you hit the ground is the minute you start to network. (1:51) Yeah, so even over breakfast, you're talking to people. (1:54) Then you're attending presentations on the Saturday and the Sunday.(2:01) So you can consistently talk. (2:04) Non-stop. (2:05) Yeah, so.(2:06) How late did the conference go? (2:08) Did you get a decent night's sleep? (2:09) Did you get any social time built in? (2:11) Yeah, there was a little bit of social time. (2:13) Like we got, I flew in on the Thursday. (2:17) So I had the Thursday evening with one of my colleagues, Cara.(2:22) And then on the Friday, Jackie Thompson, another one of our colleagues. (2:27) She met us for breakfast and we spent the day in Antwerp. (2:32) We were tourists for the day.(2:33) We had lunch in Antwerp and then we came back to the hotel. (2:37) The hotel's quite a distance from the town. (2:39) So you have to either get an Uber or you have to get the bus.(2:44) So it's quite a distance. (2:46) And then on the Friday evening, we did some more networking, some more talking. (2:51) Everybody was there, you know, everybody was arriving ready for the Saturday morning.(2:56) It was just a brilliant convention. (2:59) Very, very well run. (3:01) Very put together, you know, so, so well.(3:04) And Neela and Anjali just ran it perfectly. (3:08) It was lovely. (3:09) All right.(3:10) So let's go with who did you listen to during the talk then? (3:15) I listened to quite a few people. (3:16) I listened to Jackie, of course. (3:18) And I listened to Cara.(3:20) I also went to John Scanlon because every time John has appeared at the UK, (3:27) I've never been able to see him because it's always ran against something else. (3:31) Either I'm talking or, you know, so I've always missed John. (3:36) So that was very, very good.(3:39) John is going to be a guest. (3:40) John's going to be a guest, yeah, during the season. (3:42) I also went to see Nicole Wackenegels.(3:47) Nicole was talking about what she does, (3:50) this wonderful thing to help with surgeries. (3:54) So nobody has any anesthetic. (3:57) It's all to do with hypnosis.(3:59) Really? (3:59) What sort of surgeries does she work with? (4:04) I don't think it's anything really, (4:06) but I think it's anything to do with any musculoskeletal or anything. (4:12) I know in Belgium particularly, (4:18) it's fairly well established for those patients who cannot undergo regular anesthesia. (4:27) There are a few conditions that make it difficult.(4:30) For those of you that don't know, (4:31) Nicole's from Switzerland and she runs the Swiss Hypnosis. (4:37) And I met her husband, Jacob. (4:39) What a gentleman.(4:40) Absolutely lovely gentleman. (4:42) I also went to, on the Sunday, I went to Giancarlo Russo's presentation. (4:52) What an extraordinary guy.(4:55) If we can get him on here one time, it would be amazing. (4:59) It would be lovely. (5:00) I haven't heard him since.(5:01) He was a presenter with the Elman conference about two, three years ago. (5:08) Yeah. (5:09) He was very helpful when a friend of mine had a stroke.(5:14) Because he's a physio, isn't he? (5:16) As well as a physiotherapist, yeah. (5:20) I've seen quite a few of these things on YouTube, yeah. (5:23) I also went to see a guy, I forgot his name, I do apologize.(5:28) And he did all havening and he did havening with hypnosis. (5:33) An Irish guy, such a gentleman. (5:35) So I'm hoping to see him in Ireland.(5:39) He was very, very good. (5:41) Get him on the show. (5:43) Well, I will actually.(5:45) I'll try and get him on if we can. (5:47) He was just fantastic. (5:49) And it made me look at the things that I do with children.(5:52) You know, when children are struggling with their feelings, (5:56) struggling with their emotions, if they can do the havening themselves, (6:01) then, you know, it would be great. (6:03) And I know he actually did it, you know, to someone, (6:06) but I just think it would be so, so good. (6:08) Yeah.(6:10) So I'm very, very interested in what he does. (6:12) So yeah, do you know what? (6:13) I shall email him and see if I can get him on. (6:16) If not, it will be next season.(6:19) But all together, it was such a lovely, lovely environment. (6:23) And everybody supported everybody. (6:26) Can you guesstimate how many people were there? (6:29) And how many countries were represented? (6:33) People don't seem to realize how far flung hypnosis is.(6:38) It's well-established in Iran, for example. (6:41) Yeah. (6:42) So there was the UK, of course.(6:47) There was American hypnotists there. (6:50) Giancarlo's Italian. (6:53) Nicole is Swiss.(6:55) John is Irish. (6:57) Cara's from Scotland. (6:59) Paulina's from Scotland as well.(7:01) And I'm trying to think who else was there. (7:04) There was a lot of Belgium hypnotists. (7:06) Of course.(7:07) Rob was there. (7:08) Rob de Grasse was there as well. (7:12) I'm trying to think who else was there.(7:13) Quite a few British, quite a few English, British people. (7:17) Oh, that's close. (7:19) Yeah, so I mean, people did travel, didn't they? (7:22) A lot of people flew in.(7:24) Oh, there was Astrid as well. (7:26) Astrid's from the Netherlands. (7:29) And the lady from Portugal.(7:31) She was amazing. (7:32) I went to see her speech as well. (7:35) It was all about narcissistic behavior.(7:38) She was absolutely fantastic. (7:40) She runs the Portuguese one as well. (7:43) Oh, yeah.(7:44) I'm going to go to the Portuguese one. (7:47) We'll see. (7:48) We'll see.(7:49) If you're going to be a speaker at one of the European ones, (7:53) do you have to speak in the language of the country? (7:57) No, the majority. (7:58) I would, well, I would say everybody. (8:01) I assume you were not speaking Nederlands when you were in Mantua.(8:04) Well, everybody, everybody was speaking English. (8:08) Everybody presented in English. (8:10) Yeah, that's the embarrassing thing about Europe, isn't it? (8:14) And then you look at me and get, speaking English, a bit of schoolgirl French.(8:18) Yeah, it was, it was just, it was just so, so nice. (8:22) It was, it was quite relaxed as well. (8:24) Even though it was busy, it was quite relaxed, you know, (8:28) and there was plenty of time for talking to people.(8:32) Everybody broke for lunch at the same time. (8:34) It was one central thing where, because lunch was provided, (8:38) we all stayed within, you know, that area of the hotel where we all had lunch. (8:44) And it just seemed to, it just seemed to sit nicely.(8:50) You know, it wasn't, I can only speak for London and Belgium now (8:54) because I haven't done the Irish. (8:55) What were the, what were the topics that you most appreciated? (9:00) Because you've been in the business now for 10 years. (9:03) So, yeah.(9:05) So, as a newbie, everything is amazing, (9:09) but you've probably been to several conferences now. (9:11) What did you feel was most groundbreaking for you? (9:15) Mine, the Havening. (9:16) The Havening definitely, for me, that was just fantastic.(9:20) And it was something that I thought, this is definitely something I want to bring in (9:25) and have as my, you know, as part of my toolbox. (9:29) Jackie's talk about the inner child was really, really interesting, (9:34) about how we can look, you know, even, even though I see the children, (9:39) I always look at the parents as well and see where the parents are coming from. (9:43) And sometimes you can see they need a little bit of inner child work and everything.(9:49) Cara, of course, neurodivergent, which I see neurodivergent children as well. (9:54) So, there were, I don't think there was anything that I didn't take away (9:58) from each and every one that I sat and watched. (10:03) Even Nicole's, you know, even though I don't, I don't want to do surgery, (10:09) I think it's just helped me to sort of think, (10:12) how can I use those sorts of tools in an indirect way? (10:16) It's also, it also helps you to refer people too.(10:20) Yes. (10:20) To let people know it exists. (10:22) Yeah, definitely.(10:24) And also to help the chil

Denise Billen-Mejia MD CH www.healandberadiant.com  office@aahypnosis.com

Les Roberts www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

Cheryl Elman www.elmanhypnosis.com      cheryl@elmanhypnosis.com

0:00) Welcome to Two Hypnotherapists Talking with me, Denise Billen-Mejia, here in Delaware, USA. (0:06) And me, Les Roberts in St Helens, United Kingdom. (0:10) This weekly podcast is for anyone and everyone who would like to know more about the fascinating (0:14) world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.I'm a clinical hypnotherapist (0:21) and specialist in working with children. And I'm a retired medical doctor and consultant (0:28) hypnotist. We are Two Hypnotherapists Talking.So let's get on with the episode. (0:38) Hi, welcome again. And today we're going to talk to Cheryl Ellman, who some of you may (0:44) remember from before when Marta was recording us, but Cheryl has been a hypnotist for some time.(0:51) And this time she's going to talk about another favourite subject that she likes. (0:55) Okay, take it away, Cheryl. (0:59) Hi, everybody.It's such a pleasure to be with the two of you here. (1:07) Lots been going on in the last year or two. But I wanted to say that back in 2011, (1:14) I was at Shelley Stockwell Nicholas's conference in California, and I met a woman named Joan (1:22) Goulding.And Joan, we got to talking and she had been married to her husband. He had passed away (1:30) and they had a school in Victoria, Australia. And they taught hypnosis.Interestingly enough, (1:40) it was illegal to do hypnosis in Victoria. But what they did was they could teach it, (1:47) but you couldn't hypnotize anybody. So the interesting thing of what they did is they (1:51) went through the coursework.It was like, I think, a two-year course. And then they took (1:56) a bus to another province, another state, and went into like a couple of weeks of really like (2:05) hypnotizing each other and going through all the practice stuff and came back and they graduated. (2:14) So she fought for years to get it legalized in Victoria.So she had a daughter. (2:25) Do you happen to know why it wasn't when it was allowed in the rest of Australia? (2:34) Yeah. No, but there are states in the United States that Israel, you have to be a certain (2:45) doctor to take a certain course to do hypnosis.So there's different things in different countries. (2:52) And also the whole country, Israel requires you to be a physician. (2:58) Yeah.Yeah. (2:59) Anyway, let's get back to Australia. So what did she do? (3:04) So Joan had a daughter and she and her husband, her first husband, had moved.They were, (3:15) what do you call them? Poms? They had moved from England. 10 pound pom, I think it was. (3:20) 10 pound pom, yeah.(3:22) Right. And they moved to Australia. And so she had one daughter and she always felt like (3:32) she was a little clumsy.She wasn't really speaking. And then she had another daughter, (3:38) almost like Irish twins. They were pretty close in age.And what she started to notice is Teresa (3:45) was doing all of the, she was following, instead of following her older sister Michelle, (3:52) Michelle was always following and imitating what Teresa was doing. (3:57) So she and her husband had separated. And meanwhile, Joan had gone to speak to psychologists, (4:09) to schools.She had them in different schools. And Michelle, she'd come in and she saw Michelle (4:17) in this corner. And she really didn't have language.And so all this was going on. And (4:24) then one time her ex-husband had come to take the girls for the weekend and never returned them. (4:33) And she was looking for them.And so he had basically kidnapped them. And so it was nine (4:42) months later, he returned Michelle, who was difficult to deal with because there wasn't (4:46) much communication and

Denise Billen-Mejia MD CH www.healandberadiant.com office@aahypnosis.com

Les Roberts ACH www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

Welcome to Two Hypnotherapists Talking with me, Denise Billen-Mejia, here in Delaware, USA. (0:06) And me, Les Roberts in St Helens, United Kingdom. (0:10) This weekly podcast is for anyone and everyone who would like to know more (0:14) about the fascinating world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.(0:19) I'm a clinical hypnotherapist and specialist in working with children. (0:24) And I'm a retired medical doctor and consultant hypnotist. (0:30) We are Two Hypnotherapists Talking.(0:33) So let's get on with the episode. (0:38) Wow. (0:39) Hello.(0:39) Hello. (0:41) How quick have we got to this already? (0:45) I know. (0:46) This year has gone so fast.(0:50) It's a third of the way through. (0:52) We're in the middle of April. (0:53) It's ridiculous.(0:53) Anyway, so what are we going to talk about today? (0:58) I don't know. (0:59) What would you like to talk about? (1:00) I'll tell you what I've just done this morning. (1:03) I have just held a class for EFT for tapping.(1:08) I've held a workshop for children about tapping, which is really, really good for them. (1:19) I don't think we've talked about it. (1:20) I don't think I've talked with Martin about that ever.(1:23) Although we've alluded to it probably. (1:26) We were trained in it in hypno school too. (1:28) There's so much stuff that's hypnosis adjacent.(1:33) I trained in it not long after I'd qualified. (1:37) I decided to train in it because I was just gathering everything together. (1:42) And I never used it.(1:43) It was something that I thought, well, I've got. (1:46) I didn't really use it. (1:47) But now I've started using it a lot with children, with adults as well.(1:52) I saw a young gentleman just before I came on here. (1:56) And he's using it to help him just, you know, sort of calm any anxieties down. (2:05) But the kids are really enjoying it.(2:07) And it's also very, it's very easy for people to do. (2:11) And for children, you want something to be very easy for them to do. (2:16) Yeah, so for those listeners who don't know what EFT is, (2:20) it stands for emotional freedom technique.(2:23) And we can use it to help us to tap out, literally tap out any blockages. (2:31) It's also called tapping. (2:33) So if you Google emotional freedom technique or tapping, (2:37) then you will see exactly what it is.(2:40) And the reason why I use it for children is it's very, very good (2:44) for helping them to sort of manage their emotions more effectively, (2:51) rather than just to think about it. (2:53) They're actually using a subjective support really, aren't they? (2:58) And it gives them something to do when they have those feelings come up (3:02) instead of tearing things or breaking things. (3:06) Yeah, so they say that by tapping, (3:09) by just tapping at certain points on your face, on your hand, (3:14) what it does is it opens up those blockages.(3:18) So I've explained it to the children today. (3:22) Not as that, because I don't think children would understand that. (3:25) So I've used it as a little exercise that they can do (3:30) to help them to understand where they are with their emotions.(3:34) Do you want to just like re-present to us, the audience now? (3:41) It'll be easier for people who are seeing the visual instead of my podcast, (3:45) which is only audio. (3:46) But if you could say where our hands are at the time. (3:49) Yeah, so I teach the child, (3:52) I know there's quite a lot of points on your hands and you can use your side.(3:57) So what I do is I condensed it down to eight points for the children. (4:02) So they start off with the karate chop and they're just tapping there (4:06) and then they will tap then on their inner eyebrow (4:11) and then

Denise Billen-Mejia MD CH www.healandberadiant.com              office@aahypnosis.com

Les Roberts ACH www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

Wendy Woo https://www.wendywoo.uk/mymoodstars                                          Linked-in www.linkedin.com/in/motherofmoodstars

 Welcome to Two Hypnotherapists Talking with me, Denise Billen-Mejia, in Delaware, USA. (0:06) And me, Les Roberts, in St Helens, United Kingdom. (0:10) This weekly podcast is for anyone and everyone who'd like to know more about the fascinating (0:14) world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.I'm a clinical hypnotherapist and (0:22) specialist in working with children. And I'm a retired medical doctor (0:26) and consultant hypnotist. We are Two Hypnotherapists Talking.(0:33) So let's get on with the episode. Good afternoon, good evening, or good morning, (0:44) wherever you are in the world today. We have a lovely special guest on today with Denise and I, (0:50) Two Hypnotherapists Talking.And we have the delightful Wendy White, who's joined us today. (0:56) Hello, Wendy. (0:57) Hello, I'm Les.(0:59) Hello. (0:59) Hi, Denise. (1:00) Hi.And you're freshly back from vacation, so you're all ready for this, right? (1:06) It was hot and sunny, so I was very lucky because back in the UK, you had the most awful weather, (1:14) so I was delighted. And actually, now I'm back, the weather hasn't been too bad. I just don't (1:20) think they know I'm back yet, because usually I am known as the rain woman.(1:25) Well, it's raining up here in St. Helens, and we've had very, very high winds the last, (1:32) say, two to three days. (1:33) And we, having had a 75 degree temperature in last week, are now expecting some snow. (1:41) Isn't that lovely? (1:42) More snow.More snow. (1:45) Yeah. Get three English people together and they talk about the weather.(1:48) Okay, Wendy. I haven't met you before today. Hello.Could you briefly explain to our audience (1:56) what you actually do? You're not a hypnotist, right? (2:00) It's so lovely to meet you too, Denise. Yes, now I am a retired childminder from (2:07) Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire in the UK. And I was a childminder for 22 years.(2:17) And in that time, we were governed by Ofsted, and we had to follow the Early Years Foundation stage. (2:28) So this is pretty new to us, because I registered as a childminder in 2000. (2:35) And then in 2014, I think it was, the Early Years Foundation stage came in, (2:42) and we childminders became, well, teachers that had to implement areas of learning.(2:51) Not just implement them, but evidence them as well for when Ofsted came to call. (2:56) What was the age that you were dealing with? (3:00) I looked after children from one year to nine, but the nine-year-olds tended to be after-school kids. (3:10) Well, the nine-year-olds, I'm okay with you deciding how much they should have learned in (3:14) X amount of time, but a one-year-old? Yes, a one-year-old.(3:20) Can I stand up by myself is the question. It doesn't matter how old they are, (3:25) you still have to evidence and implement their learning and their growth and their development. (3:34) Everything had to be observed and then noted, and I had a file for each of the children (3:42) with their steps, their progress, first words.Nowadays, it's all computerized, (3:50) and in the States, I think they call it Huckleberry. (3:53) Wouldn't surprise me. My kids are way older than that.(3:57) I can't remember now what the software application is, but generally now, (4:05) childminders use software applications to relay and recount everything that they've (4:11) learned from the children, all their observations. But in the old days, (4:16) everything had to be written down. It t

Denise Billen-Mejia MD CH www.healandberadiant.com office@aahypnosis.com

Les Roberts ACH www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

(0:00) Welcome to Two Hypnotherapists Talking with me, Denise Villamihia, in Delaware, USA. (0:06) And me, Les Roberts, in St Helens, United Kingdom. (0:10) This weekly podcast is for anyone and everyone who'd like to know more about the fascinating (0:14) world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.I'm a clinical hypnotherapist and (0:22) specialist in working with children. And I'm a retired medical doctor (0:26) and consultant hypnotist. We are Two Hypnotherapists Talking.(0:33) So let's get on with the episode. (0:36) Hi, I can't believe we're on episode nine already of this season. (0:43) It's, it's really... (0:43) Yeah, the season's been very, and the weather here has been so strange.(0:47) It's summer, practically, outside. (0:48) I was going to say it looked bright. (0:49) In the 70s, right? (0:50) Yeah.(0:51) And it's not raining. Yesterday was warm, but it rained. (0:54) So is all the snow gone now? (0:55) The official number, the official number is 69.(1:02) Except for the parts that got piled up because people just plowed and left. (1:08) Yeah. (1:09) No, like the salt, they look all right.But yes, it is, we've got a week before the New (1:14) Year, pretty much, a week and a bit. I say New Year, as I explained before, my religion, (1:20) our New Year is the first day of spring. (1:24) So explain that to... (1:27) My husband is feeling happier.(1:29) Explain why this is your New Year. (1:31) We're Baha'is. (1:32) Okay.(1:33) So every religion has its own calendar and our calendar says that first day of spring (1:38) is New Year. And it's preceded by a month of fasting for those under 70. (1:46) And so my husband, he has passed that number.He doesn't want to let go of the fast. (1:51) And he's still fasting. But the days are definitely getting much nicer.(1:56) It's very nice here today, very mild today. However, according to the weather, we have (2:03) got torrents of rain coming across. So that's what it's like, but I will... (2:08) Keep it there.We don't want it further. (2:11) No, it's actually coming. Yeah, it's actually coming from you, from your way.So I don't (2:15) know whether it's... (2:16) Oh, sorry about that. That was what we had last week then. (2:18) Probably, yes, exactly.My husband always, he always jokes about, because I'm originally (2:25) from Manchester and he always says that people from Manchester have webbed feet because it (2:30) constantly rains in Manchester. (2:32) Doesn't it rain all the time? (2:34) It doesn't, but yeah, the weather here has just been atrocious. Our garden is, it's clay.(2:42) It's, you know, the soil's very clay. So you can imagine it, it just absorbs all of the... (2:49) Heavy. (2:50) Yeah, all of the rain.(2:51) And backbreaking when you need to get out of the field. (2:54) It's just wet all the time. So that's delayed having my cabin built as well.So... (3:01) Oh, that's right. I forgot you were about to move in. (3:04) I know.But it's all right. It's all good. It's all good.(3:07) Yes, we are quite well established now and you've got, this is the, (3:12) you think this is going to be the ninth episode? It's difficult when you record ahead of time (3:16) to figure out where things are, but yes, that's good. So we're nearly done with (3:20) season eight and we'll be prepping for season nine. (3:23) We are, yeah.(3:24) Already had a guest agreed. (3:27) Yeah, it's exciting, isn't it? And I've learned so much. That is going to help my practice as (3:33) well because I never, I've run a podcast with Tony, one of our guests.We do a podcast, (3:41) but what we do is we send it out exactly as it is. We don't edit it at all. So that when I joined you (3:50) and you said that you and Martin edited it and took out al

(Denise Billen-Mejia MD CH www.healandberadiant.com office@aahypnosis.com

Les Roberts ACH www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

Guest Tony Gordon www.changingyourmindltd.com TonyGordon@changingyourmindltd.com

0:00) Welcome to Two Hypnotherapists Talking with me, Denise Billen-Mejia, in Delaware, USA. (0:06) And me, Les Roberts, in St Helens, United Kingdom. (0:10) This weekly podcast is for anyone and everyone who'd like to know more about (0:14) the fascinating world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.(0:19) I'm a clinical hypnotherapist and specialist in working with children. (0:24) And I'm a retired medical doctor and consultant hypnotist. (0:30) We are Two Hypnotherapists Talking.(0:33) So let's get on with the episode. (0:37) So, hi everybody, wherever you are. (0:40) We've got a very special guest today and his name is Tony Gordon.(0:44) He's a friend of mine as well. (0:46) I've done a lot of work with Tony over the years (0:48) and he's an empowerment leadership coach. (0:53) Welcome, Tony.(0:55) Thank you, Les. (0:55) And thank you, Denise, for having me on. (0:57) You're welcome.(0:59) So actually, it's a great opportunity to hear (1:02) somebody else's take on the work we do. (1:05) So that's really good. (1:06) How long have you been in that field? (1:09) I suppose five years.(1:11) Two thousand and twenty one. (1:14) I was made redundant from a bank I worked in, part of the HSBC group, (1:18) where I was a mental health first aider. (1:20) And I used to get frustrated in the bank that I knew I could tell people more, (1:24) but I wasn't allowed because being the first aider, (1:26) I had to then pass them on to counsellors.(1:30) And a lot of the people used to tell me that it was great doing that, (1:33) but it wasn't suitable for them. (1:35) It wasn't right for them. (1:36) So I used the redundancy to retrain rather just... (1:39) I've been a coach for over 20 years in the bank.(1:42) And what I decided to do was to train in hypnotherapy (1:45) because I'd been using self-hypnosis to help me through an illness (1:48) and realised that hypnotherapy and NLP, (1:52) which I found out through the same people, (1:54) hand-in-hand was probably the most powerful medium (1:57) that I found to help those people. (1:59) The coaching had done great things with them, (2:02) but not to the extent I could do with this. (2:05) Yeah, just a sort of asterisk there by that comment.(2:10) One of the things that we're concerned about is this overselling. (2:14) I absolutely think that, for a start, (2:16) every single person on the planet has been hypnotised in some way at some time, (2:21) not necessarily by a hypnotist, (2:23) but that this is a natural thing that happens (2:27) and we can all use it and get value from it. (2:31) And how do people find you these days? (2:35) Do you go out and speak or do you just romance? (2:39) I do a bit of everything.(2:42) Networking. (2:43) I was an ambassador for a network group for the last two years as well, (2:45) so I led the networks. (2:47) I do a lot of talks on different subjects as well (2:50) for people in the corporate world (2:52) as well as in private.(2:56) And also, a lot of my work has always came from referrals (3:00) from previous clients or companies that I've done work with (3:04) whose staff may suddenly have issues. (3:06) So although I've done the team building and leadership training, (3:09) they realise when the staff have certain issues there (3:11) that they can come to me (3:12) and I can do one-on-one with them as well. (3:14) Are these people who come to you for business issues (3:17) and you realise there are some underlying issues (3:20) that you can help them with? (3:21) Yeah.(3:22) A lot of the people who come when you do a lot of corporate things (3:25) don't always want to be in that room. (3:27) And yo

Denise BIllen-Mejia MD CH 

www.healandberadiant.com office@aahypnosis.com

Les Roberts ACH       www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk  contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

Two Hypnotherapists Talking: Denise & Les Discuss Business and Referrals

(0:00) Welcome to Two Hypnotherapists Talking with me, Denise Billen-Mejia here in Delaware, USA. (0:06) And me, Les Roberts in St Helens, United Kingdom.

Speaker 2

(0:10) This weekly podcast is for anyone and everyone who'd like to know more about the fascinating world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.

Speaker 1

(0:19) I'm a clinical hypnotherapist and specialist in working with children. (0:25) And I'm a retired medical doctor and consultant hypnotist. (0:29) We are Two Hypnotherapists Talking.(0:33) So let's get on with the episode.

Speaker 2

(0:36) Come to you with what they would often say is a minor problem, but it's really impacting them. (0:43) What kinds of things?

Speaker 1

(0:45) Not so much now, but I used to get a lot of adults diagnosing themselves with anxiety disorder. (0:56) Coming in saying, my anxiety won't let me do this. (1:01) My anxiety does this to me.(1:04) I can't sleep because of my anxiety. (1:07) I can't go out because of my anxiety. (1:10) Did they know what was causing the anxiety?

Speaker 2

(1:13) Where it came from?

Speaker 1

(1:14) Yeah, sometimes. (1:17) However, yes. (1:18) So what I used to do is I used to ask them, first of all, I was quite to say, your anxiety, who's given it to you?(1:26) Who's given it to you? (1:28) Have you been diagnosed with anxiety? (1:30) And they'll go, no, I haven't.(1:33) Yeah. (1:33) So they haven't been diagnosed. (1:35) They've not had a formal diagnosis.(1:38) However, what they have done is diagnosed themselves, use that label and obviously been living up to that label as well. (1:47) Anxiety.

Speaker 2

(1:48) So once they, when they ask you, do you then say, would you like to try some hypnosis? (1:52) Would you like to try some chat with me and see if it works or do they come in seeking hypnosis because they're self-diagnosed?

Speaker 1

(1:59) So I explained to them that I am not qualified to diagnose anything. (2:05) All I can do is refer you back to your doctor. (2:09) Should you want a diagnosis of anxiety?(2:13) I do have a little anxiety questionnaire that I use with the adults, not with the children that can sort of.

Speaker 2

(2:22) Would you mind sending it to me?

Speaker 1

(2:24) No, I will send it to you. (2:26) Yeah. (2:26) A lot of adults will come in with self-diagnosed issues.(2:32) I have a phobia of this. (2:33) I have a phobia of that. (2:36) So again, I say to them, describe your phobia.(2:40) Why is it a phobia and not a fear? (2:43) And straight away, quite a few of them will go, Oh, I don't, I don't know. (2:47) I don't know the difference.

Speaker 2

(2:48) I think most people not having taught what they are, would say phobia is just worse fear. (2:55) It's a clinical word, so it must be a serious thing.

Speaker 1

(2:59) Yeah. (2:59) But we, we know, correct me if I'm wrong, Denise, that a phobia is something that's already happened to you. (3:05) You've had a past experience.(3:07) Say for instance, it was wasps or something. (3:10) You've had a past experience that's not been very good and it's.

Speaker 2

(3:15) Yeah. (3:16) Although very often, well, I would not, I would not define it that way. (3:24) Phobia is something that's, that's possible.(3:27) Fear is something that's possible. (3:28) Phobia tends to be unrealistic. (3:31) Like I personally have a phobia about sharks.(3:36) But you've never met. (3:37) Because I, I've met a dead one and I've seen lots of the aquarium. (3:4

Denise Billen-Mejia MD CH www.healandberadiant.com office@aahypnosis.com

Les Roberts ACH  www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

Nova Lewis www.essex-hypnosis.co..uk nova@essex-hypnosis.co.uk

(0:00) Welcome to Two Hypnotherapists Talking with me, Denise  Billen-Mejia in Delaware, USA. (0:06) And me, Les Roberts in St Helens, United Kingdom.

Speaker 3

(0:10) This weekly podcast is for anyone and everyone who'd like to know more about the fascinating world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.

Speaker 1

(0:19) I'm a clinical hypnotherapist and specialist in working with children.

Speaker 3

(0:25) And I'm a retired medical doctor and consultant hypnotist.

Speaker 1

(0:29) We are Two Hypnotherapists Talking. (0:33) So let's get on with the episode. (0:36) Hello everybody from wherever you are in this world.(0:39) This is Two Hypnotherapists Talking, myself and Denise. (0:43) And we have a special guest on today, which is Nova. (0:47) And Nova runs Essex Hypnosis down south in England.(0:54) Welcome Nova. (0:55) Hello.

Speaker 3

(0:56) Or as we would say, over the pond.

Speaker 1

(1:01) Yeah, but I'm a bit over from south. (1:03) I just wanted to say down south, you see.

Speaker 3

(1:09) That's reasonable. (1:11) Okay, so Nova, what did you first concentrate on in hypnosis when you started walking?

Speaker 2

(1:22) So my first thing that I started with was quit smoking. (1:28) Wow. (1:29) Yeah.

Speaker 3

(1:30) Did you find it easy to market that? (1:33) I get a lot of people ask me if I do it, but when I say yes, they don't call for appointments.

Speaker 2

(1:40) Yeah, I did in the beginning. (1:42) Yeah, I did market it because it was one of the only things I was doing. (1:47) So yeah, I had to push for quit smoking clients.(1:54) Yeah.

Speaker 3

(1:56) How long is the program that you use to get something from smoking heavily to not smoking at all? (2:09) It is one session. (2:10) Three sessions.(2:11) One session.

Speaker 2

(2:12) One session. (2:13) Yeah. (2:14) Is it a longer session?

Speaker 1

(2:16) How long is the session?

Speaker 2

(2:17) Yeah, yeah. (2:18) So it can the session can go anything up to two hours. (2:22) Right.(2:23) Okay. (2:23) And a bit more sometimes just rings out the hypnotist usually.

Speaker 3

(2:31) Yeah.

Speaker 1

(2:32) Yeah. (2:33) Just through just talking about this, weren't we before we started recording and we were talking about how long we've all been, you know, practicing and what you know, what our easiest thing was. (2:46) And you said, Nova, your easiest thing was spoken.(2:50) And Denise and I both went, well, the easiest thing, because it's not there, is it really?

Speaker 3

(2:57) Well, people have so many reasons for asking about non-smoking programs without really engaging them. (3:03) They are not the ones asking. (3:05) It's because they want to change because of their girlfriend or because of their kids or whatever.

Speaker 2

(3:09) It's got to come from them. (3:11) Exactly. (3:12) And I find that I always with all my clients, if they're coming in for quit smoking, I will always say to them, are you doing this for you?(3:23) Is this about you wanting to do it? (3:26) Because I've had people contact me before that have said, oh, no, I'm doing it for ex family member or they want me to stop because I've got this wrong with me. (3:37) But then you're not doing it for you.

Speaker 3

(3:38) You never have anybody say, my doctor wants me to quit.

Speaker 2

(3:45) No, it's never about the doctor.

Speaker 1

(3:48) No, no. (3:49) It is so easy to ask those questions, isn't it? (3:53) You know, who are you giving up smo

Denise Billen-Mejia MD CH www.healandberadiant.com office@aahypnosis.com

Les Roberts ACH www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

(0:00) Welcome to Two Hypnotherapists Talking with me, Denise Billen-Mejia, in Delaware, USA. (0:06) And me, Les Roberts, in St Helens, United Kingdom. (0:10) This weekly podcast is for anyone and everyone who'd like to know more about the fascinating world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.(0:19) I'm a clinical hypnotherapist and specialist in working with children. (0:25) And I'm a retired medical doctor and consultant to hypnosis. (0:30) We are Two Hypnotherapists Talking.(0:33) So let's get on with the episode. (0:36) So hi, it's just us again today, isn't it? (0:40) That was exciting.(0:43) We've had some really good guests on so far, haven't we? (0:47) So I thought, Denise, what about if we talked about our clients and explain to whoever is listening why we, of the craft that we deliver, hypnosis or hypnotherapy, is that much shorter rather than weeks or even months? (1:07) I think that, I mean, that's the big selling point.(1:10) Yeah, yeah. (1:11) The fact that hypnosis can get there really quickly compared to other forms of therapy. (1:17) And for most people, once that particular thing is fixed, it isn't like this wears off after a year.(1:25) No, you can be sure that you're OK. (1:28) And all of us, I don't know any hypnotist who wouldn't say, oh, just give me a call if it comes back. (1:34) You know, it's not, you know, we would re-address the issue.(1:38) Because we're dealing with the opposite side of the brain, aren't we, to traditional therapies like CBT and counselling? (1:46) Although I think it's more of an internal side of the brain. (1:49) Yeah, but one size doesn't fit all.(1:52) It doesn't mean to say that we're the better. (1:55) It just means that, you know, we can offer a different way, can't we? (2:00) Rather than just keep going week after week after week or month after month.(2:04) The really major difference, I think, is that with hypnosis, you don't have to keep going over whatever the original insult was. (2:14) It's something, we need to have some idea of what it was. (2:18) Otherwise, we can't craft or talk to you.(2:21) But you don't have to keep revisiting whatever the traumatic event was. (2:26) That's true. (2:27) And I find a lot of it, you can do it content-free, can't you?(2:32) You don't have to. (2:33) Like you said, you don't have to talk about it. (2:35) Because if you talk about it, you have to reprocess that.(2:39) And you're adding all different kinds of emotions and feelings each time. (2:43) Whereas if you deal with the emotions and feelings that are attached to whatever issue you've come to see us for, it just seems to fall into place, doesn't it? (2:55) But it's not an instant thing, even though it's a lot quicker.(2:58) It's not an instant thing, is it? (3:00) No, and obviously, it's also not. (3:02) It looks like the therapist is doing all the work.(3:06) The hypnotist is just, you know, zooming. (3:09) But the client has to, A, really be engaged. (3:13) Really wants the change.(3:15) So it's a lot more client-driven than they believe. (3:20) It is. (3:21) And also, the client needs to want that change.(3:25) But want that change for themselves, really, and not for anybody else. (3:29) Because we did touch a little bit with one of our guests, didn't we? (3:33) About making changes as in smoking or weight loss.(3:37) And you don't do it for anybody else. (3:40) You may have somebody in mind that, you know, you want to stay, you know, longer and be fitter to spend time with them. (3:48) But at the end of the day, it's got to be done.(3:51) Because really, you want to make this change. (3:53) Yeah, that's really the most important thing. (3:55) What's one of your most memorable clients?(3:58) The one that always is

Denise BIllen-Mejia MD CH  http://www.healandberadiant.com                                                                                       office@aahypnosis.com

Les Roberts  ACH                 http://www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk                                                                       contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

Denise Oatley-Hall              http://www.deniseoatleyhall.com                                                                                              denise@deniseoatleyhall.com

0:10) Hi, hello. So how are you doing? (0:13) Alright, okay. So this week over in the UK, it is Children's Mental Health Week.(0:20) So I've been busy, busy, busy putting a lot of information out on social media (0:27) about what Children's Mental Health Week means over here (0:33) and also other things, you know, to help parents. (0:38) So there's always a theme behind the Mental Health Week (0:42) and this year it is, this is my place. (0:47) That's the theme.(0:50) So who are they aiming that title at? (0:55) Children. So this is nice. (0:57) Okay, but children in foster care, children in class? (1:01) I think it's everywhere.(1:03) It's to help children and also to raise awareness (1:08) that children need to feel safe no matter where they are. (1:13) Do you still have a lot of immigrant children? (1:16) I mean, obviously people have been immigrated to Britain as long as they've been there, (1:19) but there were so many refugees coming across. (1:24) Is that still a large number? (1:26) I don't know about whether there's a large number still coming in, (1:31) but we have a large number.(1:32) We've got quite a large refugee community here where I live (1:38) and I had the pleasure of working with some refugees and their families. (1:45) A couple of summers ago I went over to a place called Birkenhead, (1:51) which is over the River Mersey. (1:53) You'll be familiar with that.(1:54) I've heard of, yes. (1:57) And I had the pleasure of working one summer with refugees and their families, (2:04) predominantly with the children, but their parents, some of the parents were involved. (2:09) What were you working with? (2:11) Just helping them to understand emotions.(2:14) We did a lot of crafting, which the mums joined in, (2:18) and just to help because these are children. (2:21) A loss of place in their home lands. (2:24) Yeah.(2:25) Some of them must have had really pretty nerve-wracking. (2:27) Yes. (2:28) So these are children from well-born areas who have literally come over on the boats, (2:36) and it's quite strange.(2:38) They're absolutely gorgeous

Denise Billen-Mejia www.healandberadiant.com   office@aahypnosis.com

Les Roberts AHC www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

0:10) Hi, hello. So how are you doing? (0:13) Alright, okay. So this week over in the UK, it is Children's Mental Health Week.(0:20) So I've been busy, busy, busy putting a lot of information out on social media (0:27) about what Children's Mental Health Week means over here (0:33) and also other things, you know, to help parents. (0:38) So there's always a theme behind the Mental Health Week (0:42) and this year it is, this is my place. (0:47) That's the theme.(0:50) So who are they aiming that title at? (0:55) Children. So this is nice. (0:57) Okay, but children in foster care, children in class? (1:01) I think it's everywhere.(1:03) It's to help children and also to raise awareness (1:08) that children need to feel safe no matter where they are. (1:13) Do you still have a lot of immigrant children? (1:16) I mean, obviously people have been immigrated to Britain as long as they've been there, (1:19) but there were so many refugees coming across. (1:24) Is that still a large number? (1:26) I don't know about whether there's a large number still coming in, (1:31) but we have a large number.(1:32) We've got quite a large refugee community here where I live (1:38) and I had the pleasure of working with some refugees and their families. (1:45) A couple of summers ago I went over to a place called Birkenhead, (1:51) which is over the River Mersey. (1:53) You'll be familiar with that.(1:54) I've heard of, yes. (1:57) And I had the pleasure of working one summer with refugees and their families, (2:04) predominantly with the children, but their parents, some of the parents were involved. (2:09) What were you working with? (2:11) Just helping them to understand emotions.(2:14) We did a lot of crafting, which the mums joined in, (2:18) and just to help because these are children. (2:21) A loss of place in their home lands. (2:24) Yeah.(2:25) Some of them must have had really pretty nerve-wracking. (2:27) Yes. (2:28) So these are children from well-born areas who have literally come over on the boats, (2:36) and it's quite strange.(2:38) They're absolutely gorgeous children, absolutely fantastic children, well-behaved. (2:43) Took an interest in everything that we're doing, really got stuck in. (2:47) But it was so funny because they've got, like, a foreign accent, (2:53) but mixed up with a Liverpudlian accent as well, so I found it quite amusing, actually.(2:59) But it was nice to work with them. (3:02) It was nice to... (3:04) How long had those children been there? (3:06) Because children pick up language so fast. (3:08) Not very long.(3:10) Some of them were in school already, (3:12) so hence, you know, their accents that they were picking up. (3:17) But not very long because they were still in hotels (3:22) because what this charity did, which is called Heart for Refugees, (3:28) and what this charity did was they raised money to help them, (3:33) and they had a community centre, like a church hall, (3:36) and the families used to come and cook because they couldn't cook in the hotels. (3:44) So they'd get food vouchers or they'd get money for food or however it worked.(3:48) Right, but that must have been really good because for a lot of people, (3:51) that's part of taking care of your kids, right? (3:54) Cooking for them, feeding them. (3:56) But it was nice, you know. (3:58) Do you know what was really nice, Denise, is to see different countries, (4:02) different cultures, different beliefs and everything all coming together (4:07) just to help each other.(4:09) It was lovely. (4:09) Yeah. (4:10) It was really lovely.(4:11) And of course, I got to taste some of the food, you know, as well. (4:14) That's also nice, isn't it? (4:17) Yeah. (4:18) But we have, here in St Helens where I live, we have

Les Roberts                         contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

                                         www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk/

Denise Billen-Mejia        office@aahypnosis.com

                                                 www.healandberadiant.com

Turan Mizra                     Turan@feel-good.today

                                        www.feel-good.today

Welcome to two hypnotherapists talking with me, Denise Billen-Mejia, in Delaware, USA. And me, Les Roberts, in St. Helens, United Kingdom. This weekly podcast is for anyone and everyone who would like to know more about the fascinating world of hypnosis and the benefits that it offers.

Les,I'm a clinical hypnotherapist and specialist in working with children. Deni

Denise, And I'm a retired medical doctor and consultant hypnotist. We are two hypnotherapists talking.

So let's get on with the episode. I'm lucky if some people can remember my first name. And I've seen what you're doing.

That's it. That's it. It's Turkish, so not everybody can pronounce it.

And those that can't pronounce it can't remember it. You're indelible in my memory. So how about we ask, what do you like to talk about? What do you think people don't know enough about in the world of hypnosis? In the world of hypnosis? Well, obviously, probably street hypnosis is the thing I'm well known for and I like to talk about.

Do you use that as an entertainment for people? Do people pay you to do it? Or do you use it just to gain awareness in the area? I'd say all of the above. You're happy people pay you? I say no, no, no, no. The thing is, that's how I got started in this crazy business called hypnosis.

I always say the phrase, I have no intentions of helping people. Isn't that a terrible thing to say in a therapeutic professional way? Like most people, maybe even people listening in tonight or today, this afternoon, whatever. I used to watch it on TV and say, oh, they're just playing along.

This is not real stuff. I have four kids and way back 10, 15 years ago, 16 really, 16 years ago, they were younger and I used to do what I call silly dad magic. I would produce a coin from behind their ear, that sort of stuff.

Nothing I'd probably do to an adult or in front of an adult. It was just to sort of play with the kids. And when I saw something on TV, it was actually Darren Brown.

You know, and he when he's talking about his, he says showmanship, misdirection, psychology and magic. He doesn't even mention hypnosis in that list of I think there's one more item he mentions, but none of them are hypnosis. So I thought, oh, that's magic trick and I do a little bit of magic for the kids.

I'll do that for the kids. And when I looked into it, I realized it was hypnosis and not magic. So I got interested in hypnosis that way.

Just for one second. Had you been introduced to hypnosis before that? Just like most people watching TV and Scooby Doo, you know, people getting hypnotized. My first experience was olive oil being hypnotized through a window and floating down to the sea.

And that was like when I was four. That's a long time ago. 20 years ago.

It's a long time. But yeah, so I went on a training course just to learn inductions. And I thought, right, I need to practice this.

And I always say this phrase, you know, if you're lea

Denise Billen-Mejia MD CH  www.healandberadiant.com  

                                                 office@aahyhpnosis.com

Les Roberts ACH                   https://www.lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk/further-information           

                                                contact@lesrobertshypnotherapy.co.uk

Welcome to Season 8 of Two Hypnotherapists Talking.  As many of you know Martin passed away in late Ocrober 2025 and he really wanted THT to continue. Les Roberts has been a hypnotherapist for several year sand she has worked with children for many more and I was thrilled when she volunteered to join me in continuing our work of demystifying theraputic hypnosis.

In this first episode we just wanted to reintroduce the program and encourage you to send in your comments and questions

Thanks

Denise

In this episode of 'Two Hypnotherapists Talking,' Brenda Rhodes returns as a guest to discuss her innovative work with clients using left-handed techniques to access younger parts of the self for trauma release and playful expression.

She elaborates on her methods, particularly with children, using a play board to facilitate emotional release. Branda shares her extensive experience working with individuals affected by narcissistic behaviour, drawing from her own 30-year marriage. Brenda tells Denise and Martin about her new program, 'From Survive to Thrive,' to help clients overcome such trauma. Brenda also talks about her upcoming presentations in Ireland, Orlando, and New Zealand, focusing on energy, hypnosis, and working with narcissists.

She briefly discusses her recent publications, 'Great Relationships' and 'The Worry Detox,' which provide tools for self-care and stress management. The episode emphasises the importance of self-love and finding the right support to navigate and overcome personal challenges.

This podcast is unlike any other. It’s a weekly transatlantic Zoom call between two professional friends and colleagues who want to share their knowledge and experience with anyone and everyone who ever wanted to know more about therapeutic hypnosis and the benefits it offers. They feature a guest every other week, and aim to remove much of the mysticism around this much misunderstood discipline.

Denise Billen-Mejia https://www.healandberadiant.com

Martin Furber https://www.martinfurber.com

Brenda Rhodes https://allentownhypnosis.com

#hypnosis #hypnotherapy #selfcare #narcissism #worrydetox #survive #thrive #internationalhypnotist