As we gain experience as hypnotists, we need to remember to follow our own advice, especially when using hypnosis to address our own personal issues. Here is my lesson in humility.

“If you suspect an underlying medical cause for the presenting issue, always get a doctor’s referral before doing any work with your subject.” Especially if that subject is ‘yourself’.

The most dangerous, self-limiting statement you can say to yourself is “I know” because it immediately shuts you off from any other possibilities, or from taking any action.

Case in point, a week ago I began experiencing pain in my kidney and abdomen. I ‘knew’ instantly what it was…a kidney stone. I ‘knew’ this because I had passed a stone a couple of years back and it felt the same way. Confident in my ‘self-diagnosis’ I decided to push through the problem on my own (no pun intended). I used dissociative language on myself to disconnect from the pain which worked very effectively most of the time, but I ignored my own advice and didn’t seek medical attention. I even had my brother come over and be my hypnotherapist for a session to stop the spasms that I was experiencing. My brother is one of my top students, and a very capable hypnotist, and he did an excellent job in reducing the pain, but my body was persistent in trying to tell me something.

“When your body speaks to you LISTEN.”

The first stone I experienced in the past only took 2 days to pass; however, this time was different. After 1 week of ‘labor’ pains I finally listened to what my body was trying to tell me and I went to the emergency room. The CT scan revealed a 7-8mm stone lodged in my urinary track. The stone was too big to pass on its own. The ER doctor kept me over night and in the morning the Urologist went in with a laser and blasted that sucker into dust.

Had I followed my own advice and sought medical advice from the beginning, I could have avoided a week of pain and discomfort…got it? Yes, lesson learned! J

So, on to the point of this newsletter, “Know your limits”.

As you are working and growing in this field, you will run into training or information, which on the surface my seem familiar and redundant, however instead of saying “I know” and shutting off, say to yourself “I know something about that, but there is always more to learn” and listen carefully. Who knows, you may gain a new insight, frame or nugget of information that will take you to a new level of understanding and competence.

That’s it for this month.

Michael C. White, C.Ht.