Stepping out of the comfort zone

Lockdown has been frustrating and rewarding for me in equal measures. At the beginning of the year I was newly qualified with my shiny certificate in Hypnotherapy and Counselling; I was beginning to see paying clients and get my business off the ground. Then the world descended into chaos and confusion - suddenly I found myself working my day job from home, homeschooling the kids and it seemed as quickly as I'd got going with the hypnotherapy just as quickly would I have to stop.

But it turns out this was actually the biggest blessing of all. I began using my extra time at home to start soaking up as much learning as I could around hypnosis - following the hypnotists I admired on Facebook, listening to podcasts and reading every article I could get my hands on. I knew it was possible to do hypnosis session online using Skype or Zoom, but how? This had not been covered in my certification course and was unchartered territory.

For the longest time I have been a fan of father and son hypnotists Freddy and Anthony Jacquin, whose Jacquin Hypnosis Academy provides some of the best hypnosis training in the world. For someone like myself, relatively new to hypnosis, they make everything incredibly simple and easy to understand. I had read Freddy's book 'Hypnotherapy' cover to cover, been completely inspired and attempted to put some of his techniques into practice, so lockdown seemed the perfect opportunity to take the plunge and sign myself up to the Academy.

This experience has quite literally been life-changing for me. In just over a month I have benefitted from many online training sessions run by Freddy and Anthony, who are just so immensely giving of their time and knowledge. The sessions are held on Zoom, and embrace the use of 'breakout rooms' so that once you have been taught a technique you can immediately put it into practice with a fellow student in a safe and non-judgemental environment. At first it was a terrifying prospect - the breakout rooms are selected at random so you never quite know who you will end up in a room with - but very soon I found myself excited to discover who I would be working with, and I think I now actually prefer it to conventional training as there are no distractions or other people working around you. One thing's for sure - I no longer have any fears about working online!

I have already completed the certification in Freddy's signature technique for pain, The Arrow and this weekend I am doing a 2-day course with Freddy and Lori Hammond, during which I will be able to benefit from their amazing skills and knowledge to learn a range of hypnotic techniques. I have no doubt that I will finish the weekend with a ton of insights that I can put into practice immediately to help others overcome their challenges. I'm just so excited!