Hypnosis at a Bridal Shower

My friend Matt Davis and I went to a bridal shower last night. No, we haven't crossed over to the other side! We were there to entertain the ladies with a hypnosis show. We did some of the well known stuff like hot and cold, missing belly button, x-ray vision and the like. At the end I told one young lady that for the next hour, any cigarette she smoked would taste like burning rubber. Then we followed her outside with the video camera. I really hope she give me permission to post the video. It's really good!

December Update

Just back from a class in NYC. We held an Instant and Rapid Induction course at the Holiday Inn, JFK on 8 December. It was a small class, so we got to cover a lot more material than we usually do. One highlight of the course was that Jacob Bimblich, an extremely talented and knowledgeable hypnotist (40+ years of experience) joined us and even did a stop smoking session with a subject. It was terrific! I will ask Jacob if I can interview him for the blog in the near future.

A New Direction

I have decided to take this blog in a new direction and turn it into a resource for other hypnotists and those interested in hypnotism. I am going to begin interviewing prominent hypnotists about what they do, where they see the field of hypnotism going and also what budding new hypnotists should know. I believe this will allow readers to get to know the best and brightest in the hypnosis business and will benefit all concerned AND, I get to talk with leading hypnotists that I admire. Stay tuned!!!

Instant Induction Course 20 October 2007 in Ocean City, MD

Well, we're all set for the class in Ocean City! Saturday, 20 October we will teach instant inductions and then (weather permitting) we'll go down to the boardwalk and trance some people out!

Health Fair - Instant Inductions

Went to a health fair today. One lady asked me if I would hypnotize her and after that, a line formed! I did about 18 inductions in four hours... about half Elman inductions and the other half instant inductions. I had a great time and the organizer told me I was "the life of the party." I don't know if I'll get any clients out of the outing, but I had a really good time and showed lots of people how hypnosis works.

Television Interview!

Got a call from the local television station and they want to do an interview with me next Tuesday about hypnosis and weight loss. They want to interview one of my star clients too. I think this will be a great opportunity to show that hypnosis is a scientific, natural state... definitely non-spooky stuff. We need to educate the public that this is "regular guy-type stuff" and not weird new-age woo-woo.

A Call From the Washington Post

Received a call today from the Post. They wanted to know about increases in the number of people with bridge phobias following the bridge collapse two days ago. I told them that as far as I was concerned, there has been no increase in the number of people calling in to find out about removing that fear. So from where I sit, all the media attention is not fueling the flames of bridge phobia, at least not around these parts.

My First Time on Radio

Got a call from Chris Emry of WZBA 100.7 FM this morning and he interviewed me on the air about the bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Wanted to know how hypnosis works and if my operation was swamped with clients because of it. Chris asked if I had talked with Lisa Robinson of WBAL about her bridge phobia. I told him that I hadn't yet, but I was sure hypnotherapy would fix her quickly and I really hoped to work with her. After asking about how phobias are formed, Chris shared with me his practical joke he played on his cousin and I said, "Man, you're a phobia factory!" This was a first for me, being on the radio. Sort of intimidating, but fun!

Our Bridges are Safe

Big story today is about the bridge collapse over the Mississippi. I found this article:
http://www.startribune.com/10204/story/1338956.html
which indicates that in the past 40 years, only 13 people have been killed in bridge collapses caused by poor maintenance. There were others, but they were caused by barges slamming into the bridge or by earthquakes. If you're afraid of bridges, I know this doesn't help much, but I thought I'd post it anyway.

Calling Lisa Robinson

After the Baltimore Sun ran the article on my phobia work, I heard about a recent story on WBAL-TV in which reporter Lisa Robinson was driven across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge while she hid under a jacket because she is so afraid of the bridge. Here
This is so easy to fix! I sent a package to WBAL asking them to put Lisa in touch with me so that we can take care of this now. Lisa, I was once in the same situation, but we can wipe this out quickly. One or two sessions and you'll be done with this forever.

Am I Famous Now?

The article in the Baltimore Sun was published this morning. Do I really "giggle so much I cringe?" Hmm. I asked my wife and she said, "You just did it again!" I never knew that I giggled. I've decided I'll have to post a video on my website that shows what a "manly man" I am since giggling is definitely a "girly-man" type of thing, to quote Arnold Schwarzenegger. Here's the link to the article. I really like the way it turned out since it shows how hypnosis can cure someone of a fear.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bal-to.hypnotist30jul30,0,7018441.story?page=1

Don Patterson in the News

Abigail Tucker, an award-winning reporter from the Baltimore Sun called me about a week ago. She wanted to know about using hypnosis to cure the fear of bridges. We arranged to get two people in my office so that I could take away the fear while the reporter looked on and took notes. Well, it started off very badly. The first client popped out of trance when I began the treatment. This doesn't happen often, but I should have known that with a reporter present, it would! For some reason the client's conscious mind jumped in. ARGH!!! At this point I was feeling like a real dope!

The lady left and the reporter and I chatted for about half an hour until the next client arrived. She sat in my chair and said, “I have to tell you that I’m really skeptical about this hypnosis stuff. I really don’t think I can be hypnotized.” Now I KNEW I was in trouble. I used the Bandler tactic of anchoring her doubts about being hypnotized to something she knows is false and boom, down she went. The session went very well and we knocked out the fear. Just in case, I conditioned the client for reinduction.

The reporter asked when we would know if the treatment worked and I said “Let’s drive over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge now.” We hopped in my car and headed for the bridge. The client called her house on her cell phone and during her conversation she wanted to pass along a telephone number, but she couldn’t remember it. I pointed at her and said “Sleep!” and she went back into hypnosis. I asked her for the number and she spit it our without hesitation. The reporter was impressed!

When we got to the bridge, the client said she felt wonderful. She kept talking about how beautiful the view was from the top of the bridge. After we crossed it she called her family and gushed about how she was on the other side of the bridge and I could hear her daughter scream, “You’re where?!!!!” It was very cool. We drove back over the bridge again and once again, there was no fear. I will post a link to the article when it's published.

No-Nonsense Hypnosis

The next installment of the No-Nonsense Hypnosis class will be 24-25 March in Ocean City, MD. Seating will be limited. The price will be $495 but if you sign up before 1 March, the price will be $395. Here's what you'll learn:
Hypnotic tests
The Elman Induction
The Pre-talk
History of hypnosis
Old hypnosis
Levels of hypnosis
Rapport building
Suggestibility testing
More inductions
Elman Practice
Abbreviated Elman
Deepening techniques
"Sounds around you patter"
Indications of hypnosis
Tests for depth
Post-hypnotic suggestions
Safety
What can go wrong
Trance-Dermal Anesthesia
45-second headache cure
Pendulum fun
Graduation

For more information, go to http://marylandfamilyhypnosis.com/tattoo.htm