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also made clear - it is in our Constitution - that the society is independent
of any hypnotherapy organizations. And we felt it necessary to make clear
that it does not present itself as a training organisation so membership
in no way signifies “any attainment of standards of professional competence
or bestow any right to professional qualifications.”
Another important factor for such a club is to have sufficient hypnotherapists, or those who use hypnosis in their work, living within the area. Okay, London and the surrounding Home Counties certainly has a huge concentration of hypnotherapists, by far the biggest in the country. But the “critical mass” needed to ensure a successful club can probably be found in most of the major conurbations or even in the regions. So what about your part of the world? Starting from the top, Scotland would seem particularly appropriate. After all, James Braid was born in Fife and trained as a doctor in Edinburgh. There must be plenty of hypnotherapists in the Central Belt alone. Then there’s the North West of England. Manchester of course was where James Braid practised and coined the term hypnosis. In fact, wherever in Britain you live, your region or province, probably has rather more people practising hypnotherapy than you might imagine. What may be rather more challenging is rustling up sufficient speakers willing to come along to present talks and demonstrations. However we’ve found some of our most useful evenings have been “open sessions” when the floor is thrown open to discuss a particular issue, maybe smoke cessation or phobias, and anyone and everyone can pile in with ideas, observations and techniques. So that is the suggestion. Discuss it with some colleagues and if you decide you’d like to set up your own branch of the James Braid Society, contact us and we will help. Our address is: The Secretary, James Braid Society, Hillside House, Basingstoke Road, Spencers Wood, Berks, RG7 1AP or email us at jamesbraidsociety@yahoo.co.uk. |
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Beware - this is for non-Londoners’ eyes only. In fact only those living well outside of the Home Counties should read on. For we soft Southerners are making the rest of you an offer we hope you won’t want to refuse. Nearly five years ago the James Braid Society staggered into existence as a club for hypnotherapists working in and around London. The idea behind it was that most hypnotherapists have relatively little day-to-day contact with professional colleagues and it can get a bit lonely out there. In a slow but steady way the club has become a quiet success. It has brought together therapists from a range of backgrounds who gather for talks, discussion and friendly chats over a drink or a meal once a month. Rumours of our existence clearly started to spread. From time to time enquiries came in from hypnotherapists living elsewhere in the country and they were assured were always happy to receive guest visitors if they happen to be in town when we have a meeting. However, you shouldn’t have to travel all the way to London to be sociable with professional colleagues. What about creating your own club - or rather setting up a branch of the James Braid Society in your neck of the wood? Unless you are living in one of the most remote rural areas it is likely you are already acquainted with several colleagues practising not far away who in turn will know several others who in turn ... Well, you can see where we’re going. It is usually easy to identify other hypnotherapists. After all, some of them are your commercial competitors. Then there’s the Yellow Pages, various professional registers and the internet links. Without too much effort, you along with two or three colleagues could draw up a list of 50 or so local hypnotherapists to be invited to an inaugural meeting. If the idea sounds attractive and you’d like to have a go we down in London will be delighted to offer any help or advice. We might even be able to throw in a few names. The one essential feature of such a club is that it draws its members from different professional societies, associations and groups without discrimination or favour. Experience shows that this mixing of therapists from a variety of backgrounds and different training experience enriches all of us. Members exchange ideas, techniques, swop inductions and sometimes seek advice with difficult cases. Many make new friends. It is also best to keep the atmosphere as informal as possible. That too has proved a success. Hypnotherapy unfortunately is bedevilled by divisions and rivalries but a social club is neutral ground. The one category we specifically do ban from membership, is anyone employing hypnosis for the purposes of entertainment. Right
from the start the society sought to maintain its autonomy and impartiality.To
help assure this, it was decided members who own or run training organization
could not serve as officers. That has not proved any kind of problem.
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| The
James Braid Society meets ten months a year at the Victory
Services Club, 63-79 Seymour Street, Marble Arch, LONDON W2 - just
two minutes walk from Marble Arch tube station - and the meeting starts
at 7.15pm.
The dates of our meetings for the rest of the year are:
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