Our busy centre here at the University of Central England, Birmingham continues to grow and flourish, with class sizes expanding and students continuing to achieve high standards. With this pursuit of excellence in mind, the LCCH is constantly on the look-out for motivated and innovative students who wish to develop further and make their mark in unique and challenging ways. This can be developed either through the innovative use of clinical hypnosis in specialist contexts or by becoming an assistant lecturer on course weekends, which involves supporting and supervising learner students.

This facility allows the student to reinforce and enhance earlier learning, thus gaining more experience, knowledge and skill. One such student selected for assistantship is David Taylor. Currently on the Practitioner Diploma he is aiming his sights on specialization in performance enhancement.

David Taylor
 

David (on the left) is currently on a long sabbatical having sold his optical business which he and his wife built up from scratch over an eight-year period. He has used the time to study many aspects of the psychology of the self and self-actualisation. He has a particular interest in hypnosis, having been successfully treated by a clinical hypnotherapist for depression, a condition which had persisted since childhood and which had failed to respond to medication and other therapeutic interventions historically utilized within the N.H.S. David also used hypnosis for enhancement of sports performance in his motor racing life. So in his words: ‘my belief in the power and efficacy of clinical hypnosis is immense.’ (When used by suitably qualified and competent practitioners.)

Since successfully completing his Diploma Course he has seen clients at his home and his goal is to continue to practice on a one-to-one clinical basis and broaden the scope of his work to motivation and goal oriented work within a business setting and to ultimately specialize in the enhancement of sports performance.

Peter Doherty

Peter Doherty, who is currently on the Practitioner course at UCE, is a highly motivated and enthusiastic individual who from beginning his training has shown total commitment and enthusiasm. Peter has made great strides by applying clinical hypnosis to stress management and memory enhancement at the Police Training Centre in Essex. 
Here he describes his development of Clinical Hypnosis in his work as a Police Trainer.

Background

I am a sergeant in the Ministry of Defence Police currently working at the Police Training Centre in Wethersfield, Essex. I work in the OSPREYTM UNIT which is a department dedicated to the production and delivery of training courses and materials, for officers seeking promotion to higher ranks.

Hypnosis

I have had an interest in memory and learning techniques for almost 15 years now. My appetite was first whet when I read 'Use your Head' by Tony Buzan many years ago. I found the idea of “Mind Mapping” fascinating, and was immediately hooked. I have used the technique extensively ever since and have always found it to be a very useful tool. When I studied for my own sergeant's examination, I “Mind Mapped” the whole syllabus, which was great for revision. My interest developed from there and I began to read as many books as possible on memory and learning. I could not pass a bookshop without buying a book on memory, learning or the brain (someday I will get a life).

About five years ago, a colleague from another police force loaned me a set of audiotapes by Earl Nightingale called 'Lead the Field', which I found to be very thought provoking. That got me thinking about the process of self-affirmations and self-hypnosis, and the positive benefits that could be derived from either source. I bought some of the usual self-hypnosis audiotapes and was happy to use them at the time for my own personal benefit.

It was not until the year 2000 that I actually made any concerted effort to find a training provider for hypnosis. I was working as a trainer and noticed how some of the students would get themselves into a high state of anxiety when it came to practical assessments. I used to address this by using NLP and anchoring techniques, which usually worked quite well. I decided that if I could find a good training course in hypnosis, I would be able to combine the memory and learning techniques with the hypnosis, and, as a result, be able to help students to improve their abilities to learn, remember and develop more confidence.

I spent a considerable amount of time surfing the Internet and other sources to find a course provider that would satisfy my hypnosis needs. Following a rigorous sifting process, I contacted the LCCH and received the course information - I was hooked from there. I booked myself onto the certificate course and chose the Birmingham venue for my training, as this would give me an opportunity to visit my family who still live in the City. I currently live in Suffolk. I found the LCCH courses to be the best part of my month; they were very stimulating and the course trainers were always very approachable and supportive, particularly David Valencia, who would always return my calls and offer advice when I had a particular issue to resolve. 

The other course members were also a good source of inspiration and support and I'm pleased to see that many of the diploma students are on the practitioner course with me. My supervisor, Paul Bradshaw, was also very influential during my training and always managed to extract the necessary knowledge from me during our supervisory sessions.