Hello Hypnosis Pros!

Have you ever thought that there is an imbalance in our profession with more people in it being caucasian?  I have.  I've even written a blog entry about my view on this.  Before you go any further in participating in this group/movement, I suggest that you read it.

Our Profession Should Reach Out to Non-Whites

Do you agree or disagree?  Let us know here.

If you believe that there is an imbalance and you would like to see things change, you can take a small step by getting involved in the discussion.  Hopefully we will come up with some ideas which will help to bring more people into our profession, and in the process lift the profession as a whole.

Whether you agree with this perception or racial and ethnic imbalance or not, can you agree that it would be good for the profession if we actively promoted it worldwide?  Let's talk about it.

Cal
www.CalBanyan.com

I had never thought about the imbalance, but it is an interesting topic to discuss.  I live in a town that is 80% white.  It would be interesting to look at the demographics of the entire US to determine how much the imbalance is in this country.  The goal would be to inform the general public in a way that would allay misconceptions, and superstitions among some groups.  One way that I thought of reaching out on a small, local level would be to volunteer my services to a non-profit, for example providing stress relief for women in crisis.

Cynthia

www.hypnosisforwomenonline.com

Hi Cynthia - Thanks for your suggestion and participation in the group!  I really the idea of working locally through volunteering services.  I'm also wondering about how we, in the profession, could reach out by talking to groups in other professions that consist of specific racial groups in those professions.  For example, I think that there is a association of black nurses.

Cal
www.HypnosisCenter.com

I admit to having had this thought in class.

Id be curious to know the stats for non whites in other helping professions. psychology, counseling, different alternative healing and allopathic medicines.

And yes I agree.. Ill tell my own story to illustrate why I suppose that might be.

I think hypnosis as a trade is still extremely shrouded in mystery for the general public (and perhaps we have some secondary gain issues with this )

for me it was a REVELATION when I took the time to call a hypnotist I worked with experimentally over 10 years ago prior to getting training and he told me about the NGH and cleared up this misconception that formed early in my head that hypnotherapy took years of college education at the level of the licensed professions . That people who do really well and make it their life's work dont necessarily have PHD's, MA's or are psych majors.

It meant (with my weird interests and inclinations) I could actually have a place in society, strange as that sounds. perhaps it was a calling.

the only reason I thought it was unattainable with the decisions I had made in my education was because the hypnotist I worked with seemed to have all sorts or credentials PHDs and doctorates everywhere I looked.

Because he was aka a psychotherapist, we got reimbursed by insurance, therefore this really fascinating thing I was doing was only costing me $20 a session. If it werent for this reimbursement I never would have seen him in spite of my curiosity and hypnosis would have remained in my mind a luxury item for people with money to burn. (note that i didn't go for typical treatment)

So In my opinion, the notion that for a reasonable investment and a short amount of time one can become a practicing consulting hypnotist or hypnotherapist and potentially do really well financially is not widely known. My guess is that people that know this are people who were originally clients and eventually got curious and just asked.

heres an idea:

One way to reach out might be an annual inner city stop smoking program where several hypnotists could volunteer some hypnosis sessions for free and out of maybe for every 50 people you'd get a few who were interested in training if there were hypnosis training pamphlets around. maybe for that national kick the habit week or whatever its called.

For this to work I think we'd really have to rewrite scripts and draw from pain management techniques and have a lot of people really not suffering the withdrawls after session 1 for those first few days. it would be a great convincer.

those neighborhood clinics that do health care for people with no insurance are usually all volunteer from what I understand.

Hi Rob – Thanks for joining in on the discussion. Thanks for sharing your story and insights.

So, you think some of the problems are:

1.  People mistakenly think that they need to be a PhD or MD to enter the profession.

2.  People think that it is very expensive to see a hypnotherapist/hypnotist and as a result only wealthy, predominantly white people receive hypnosis services.

3.  Because mostly white people receive services that is why mostly white people think about going into the profession.

You suggest as a solution that hypnosis professionals should go to the “inner city” and provide free stop smoking sessions, etc. which would stir interest in the profession.

Thanks again for your input!

Anyone else have any ideas to share?

Cal
Working to spread the light of hypnotism to everyone.

In the 13 years that I have been an NGH Certified Instructor, I have had 4 blacks, 2 American Indians, 1 Indian and 1 Asian as graduates.  Only 2 of these are still practicing that I know of.  The one from India moved back to India so I don't know about him.

Maybe it is as Rob said that there too many misconceptions.  I'd like to hear from others too.

Jeanette

I totally agree with the hypnosis field having few minorities as members. I live in Toronto, Canada, this is a large city and very multicultural with citizens from all over the world. When I trained five years ago, I saw only white Canadians or European inmigrants, there was only one middle eastern student who would be considered a minority.

I have taken two past life classes in the US and both times I was the minority. One group had about sixty people, all white, I felt really weird being there since I live in a city where when I am out in the street I see faces of all shades of colour. Being in that group I also felt concern for the lack of visible minorities and I wondered wether this lack had to do with cultural, educational or financial barriers to access these classes.

The same thing has happened when I travelled to Michigan twice to learn Reiki, one small group had one chinese student who lived in Hong Kong and I, the rest were all white. The second class I took, I was the only non white. So I would say that this doesn't happen with just hypnosis. Considering that the US has a large Latino and African descent population, I really wonder who caters to these groups and how does a white person relate to a client who has experienced racism or all sorts of barriers in life.

I do feel that money is a huge barrier for training and for treatments. Even when someone knows hypnosis will benefit and enhance their life,  if they have to choose between feeding their kids and paying rent or going to the hypnotist, the basic needs come first. In this town most hypnotists charge fees that are out of reach to inmigrants or minorities. Even in learning I still find the reasonable fees out of reach for many. And I have yet to see teachers offering monthly installment payment options. I could certainly pay for a homestudy course or live class if I could pay for the program in 3 or 4 months instead of all at once. I see that even the Home Shopping Channel sells some of their expensive items in installments nowaways, they bill to your credit card and deduct the amount each month. And no, I still will never buy from the HSC but sometimes like to watch their selling skills on TV.

I would love to see more asian, african, latino and faces from all over the world in the classes that I take but unless we make it accessible and inclusive, it won't happen just on its own.

Maybe there should be a fund from the NGH or some other large group that can help minorities with small loans and professional advise to set up their hypnosis practices and helping them succeed in their comunities.

Hugs to ya'll

Marie

Cal,

I wanted to say that I also once thought that you needed an advanced degree, at least a masters in counseling, to become a hypnotherapist.  I would have entered the profession sooner if I had known the truth.

In your initial interview with Loretta on the training dvd's, she mentioned that she had heard from one of her church-going friends that evil spirits could enter you while you are in hypnosis (or something to that effect).   I wonder how widespread opinions like that are in the black community.  

I have a BS in social work, I used to work in public welfare, which was about 50-50 white and black.  It is possible that retired or soon to be retired social workers could be interested in the hypnosis profession as a second career.  That may be a target market to pursue.

It is all a matter of getting the word out about hypnosis in whatever way we can.  I just set an appt. and will be seeing my first black client.

Cynthia

Hi Mr Banyan,
>
> My name is Richard and I'm a black practicing certified hypnotherapist in Southern California. I'd rather think of myself as just a hypnotherapist. PERIOD.  I have clients of all races and ethnic background. I help people, not races and they come to me as a hypnotherapist, not as a black hypnotherapist.
> When you attend hypnosis events and don't see people of color there, it's because they choose not to attend and not because of their race or color. When I was in school, there were people of many races there. True more white than any other but then that happens to be the makeup of our area right now. Recruit people not races. Market to people not races. In the end, I believe our society will be better off for it.
>
> Richard Elliott, Cht

Hey Cal,

Big fan. 5 Path is awsome. I have great success with this system andI thank you for your contribution to hypnosis.

I have no problem with minorities in this field nor any other field for that matter. I am not sure that if their is a lack of minorities, it is creating enough of a problem to see the need for focusing recruiting to minorities. I spread the word to everyone no matter what their race. Again I am not against anyone in this field and only like to see that they have the passion to help our fellow person.

Cal, again you are a visionary and I admire your efforts and contributions to hypnosis. Keep up the great work and continue the vision. O.K. i'll stop before you get a big head and have difficulty getting through the door.

Bruce Taylor