It is partly due to these misconceptions that there are going to

be some very exciting developments next year which will be

primarily to raise awareness of hypnotherapy and its

therapeutic applications. Hopefully, they will also work towards

changing people's views and increasing their knowledge of the

subject. Nearer the time BSCH members will be getting

information about how they can get involved and promote

I have a confession to make ..... I still

themselves as well as hypnotherapy. These events will coincide

cannot believe that this stuff works !!

with the college's twentieth year anniversary and I am still

I am waiting for Jeremy Beadle to

working on Michael (Joseph, not Jackson) to throw a star

jump out and say "Ha! Gotcha!" It is

studded bash (hey you gotta try!) but I am sure it will be an

with great effort that I hide the

interesting time so watch this space ....

surprise in my voice when a patient

informs me that their presenting

You probably know by now about the links the LCCH isforming

symptom has dramatically subsided

with the medical field and the teaching of the special study

with only two or three sessions. Don't

modules in some of the medical schools like Oxford University

get me wrong, I understand the

Medical School and St. George's etc. This all helps to increase

principals behind it and the necessity

the credibility of the profession and the college is steadily

of the commitment from the patient,

gaining more and more respect within the medical field, which

but to see the results unfold before

in turn makes my job even easier. In fact, if you keep your eyes

my eyes still astounds me .....HYPNOTHERAPY WORKS !!

peeled in January, you will see our Vice Principal, Ursula

James, on a programme on Channel Five called "SCREAM".

So when the opportunity came about to actually be given

And no, she is not wearing a black and white mask; it is about

`permission' to shout this from the roof tops, I was not going to

the history of anaesthesia through the ages. Ursula is on the

let it pass. Forgive me if I sound like a hypno-evangalist to coin

panel of experts, talking about hypnosis and pain relief. So be

Ursula James' term, but when I regress to the beginning of the

sure to watch for an interesting subject.

Certificate and look at my life now, which has been transformed

since taking the course, it is hard not to be.

And on that note I would like to say that if anyone has anything

they wish to contribute or wants advice on how to promote

When I was deciding what course to do, my aims were to find

themselves in their local press, then you can email me at:

something that I could fit around my children; earn enough to be

comfortable; answer to no-one and, not forgetting, job

satisfaction. (Me and a trillion other people out there!) Truthfully,

I never thought it would happen but I had to try something or get

a `real' job. Over a year later and the dream is becoming a

reality and that was before I had even learnt about pseudo-

There are so many different and new projects going on at the

LCCH that there is no difficulty trying to promote them, just

deciding which one to do first! My role involves contacting

journalists and keeping them updated on the latest initiatives at

the college. One of the ongoing things I am doing is to promote

individual BSCH members who have a story to tell. Any kind, as

long as it would appeal to a particular publication. Brian Gill was

recently featured in Disability Now, and his story can help to

inspire lots of people who have had to take a different approach

03 and 04 April 2004

to life. If members write and send in their story then I keep it on

24 and 25 April 2004

file until a relevant opportunity comes up, which is far quicker

22 and 23 May 2004

than waiting for the opportunity to occur and then looking for

19 and 20 June 2004

stories. Perhaps you have used hypnotherapy to help yourself

17 and 18 July 2004

with something. So, if you have sent your story, thank you and

21 and 22 August 2004

they are being held so they can be used to maximum effect.

And if you haven't ..... What's keeping you?

Many Job Centres across England now have an LCCH

prospectus available and the other regions are also soon going

to have some so that people have another option open to them.

This demonstrates the barriers to hypnotherapy being slowly

lifted as we continue to promote the credibility this profession

deserves. So far the feedback from the libraries is that they too

would be willing to display our brochures as well.

The public relations work I do is not just for the college but also

for hypnotherapy in general. Ask people if they have heard

about its use in the treatment of IBS and you would surely get

a reaction of surprise and perhaps a comment like "What, are

you gonna hypnotize my bowels to think they are Michael

Jackson? Ha ha ha".