I don't charge a fortune but...

Sometimes I get phone calls that start "How much do you charge?"

Well, at that point I try and find out a little more about what the person wants but I also know that 9 times out of 10 their decision making is going to be based on cost, not effectiveness.

That means that 9 times out of 10 they will not be a client.

Often they have been down the standard medical routes, sometimes with counselling, sometimes with SSRI anti-depressants. Often they feel they have no where else to turn and then I'm too expensive.

I don't have a smart answer for this. I do take on reduced fee clients and sometimes no-fee clients but without a fee being charged I don't have the resources to deliver the change work.

It feels wrong, but right now I don't have a fix for the issue of needing to charge for those who can't afford to pay and have been left behind by the medical establishment. (Arguably the medical establishment should not be involved in emotional and life skill issues anyway.)

My day.

Today I have commented on a logo, worked with client who sometimes uses drugs, driven 200 miles, drunk coffee, eaten pasta, drunk wine, washed shirts, posted a cheque, missed the children, put diesel in the car, bought a sandwich, watched the news, tweeted, texted, blogged, marvelled at fields of yellow oil seed rape, received a credit card bill, made phone calls, decided some people prefer to act like idiots, watched Jamie Oliver and finally decided to go to bed.

Nice testimonial

Getting testimonials in hypnotherapy work can be a bit of a lottery.

Some clients make massive positive changes to their life but would rather no one else knew of their particular issue and therefore do not give testimonials.

Those who do leave a testimonial are therefore a select few but I had a very nice one earlier this week who had asked for help in dealing with pre-job-interview nerves.

Well, read what she says below and if you would like to know more visit my web site www.somersethypnotherapy.com

The testimonial:

Dear John

I hope you are well. I can say that the session I had with you about interview nerves has done me so much good, as have the CDs. The first interview I had after the session, I got a job offer and have accepted! The interview involved a presentation which I would have previously been so nervous in, but I was very calm this time ! Before the interview I was even calm enough to read a book instead of manically looking through the job desccription and panicking! Thank you for your help and I would not hesitate to recommend you

Kindest regards

Linda Ajam

A very nice result in just a couple sessions together.

Warriors, Settlers & Nomads & Parent Adult Child

There are a ton of personality models out there to choose from but I often find that one of the simpler ones, Warriors, Settlers and Nomads from Terence Watts to be very useful.

Watts puts forward the idea that there are three basic personality types that derive from our inherited DNA. (These may or may not relate to our parents' personality typing).

Warriors are the go- getters. Action driven , focussed and determined to achieve goals. Want respect more than love. Analytical rather than feeling, controlled and controlling choosing somber colours (blacks/brown) for clothes.

Nomads are the drifters, they love change, colour, feelings and need to be the centre of attention. They hate being controlled by people, situations, schedules or events. They are "people people" often with a passion for the arts or performance.

Settlers are those who occupy the middle ground. Solid dependable folk who get on with life. They like to please others and value home life, friends, stable work patterns and family.

Of course we are all a blend of these personality types but imagine for a moment what might happen if two warrior types fall in love and form a long term relationship; you can expect fireworks!

If a Nomad and a Warrior get together, the drifting ways of the Nomad may exasperate the Warrior while the controlling tendencies of the Warrior may make the Nomad want to run away.

Of course these are massive generalisations and yet I have found the hypothesis a very useful one to make use of in therapeutic work.

In that work, I often find I am dealing with not just the personal difficulties of one individual but also the interaction with that person's partner or parent or child.

Since I do not generally engage in relationship counselling or couple work, I wanted a simple way to explore that dynamic and have found the combination of the Warrior Settler Nomad personality typing coupled with elements of Transactional analysis Parent - Adult - Child states to be very useful.

I am still exploring the areas where this is most useful but I thought some others might find this a useful combination to explore.

A nasty bug...

A nasty bug has me in its grasp. I have a cold and as a consequence my voice has dropped in pitch. I sound like a bad Barry White impersonator. It also makes speaking difficult and a bit painful.

Today I will be mostly silent in an effort to recover the voice, although this would be a perfect time to record a couple of hypnosis audios if I had time booked in the studio.

Actvity at a new low in hung Parliament twilight zone

It has been a strange nether world we seem to have occupied since the General Election polling stations opened on Thursday morning.

Commercial activity seems to have slowed right down, the stats on my own web sites (I have several and monitor others) are all universally down; I'll guess that those for the web sites of Sky News and the BBC are up a good deal.

This period of transition from one Government to the next has a strange unreality about it that seems to have affected nearly all of us.

It's worth remembering though that the events in the world keep moving on. We are still fighting a war in Afghanistan, still paying credit card bills and government taxes even whilst those who would lead the country decide who should be Prime Minister.

Outside of the Westminster world, the people who come to see me in person are still getting rid of unwanted habits, letting go of fears and phobias and releasing anxiety.

For all of us, whoever says they are in charge, real life goes on.