Driving to a friends' house yesterday afternoon to take my kids to a sleepover, I passed the Riata apartment complex. I've spoken to folks before who have mentioned that they offer a wide variety of classes and programs and such to their residents, and I thought (not for the first time) that it might be a good venue for a Seventh Path(R) class. I'm also thinking of looking into Continuing Education classes with ACC and/or UT. Retirement Centers, and possibly Sun City would also be good venues for Self Hypnosis classes for groups.

I've finally found a part-time job, which should bring in a fairly reliable source of income. This will allow me to finally rent an office and start to market my business. I was looking at the Austin Woman magazine today, and plan to check out their advertising rates. I'm also considering becoming a contributing writer to some of the natural magazines found around town. I just have to figure out what to write about!

Now is the time to really get my website materials finalized...

Hypnosis FAQ (a work in progress)

I have been working today on the FAQ that will eventually end up on my website. I've looked for input from my friend Deanna, my sister, and anybody on Facebook who is interested in helping me. I've tried to think of all the various questions I've heard about hypnosis over the years. The one I haven't added yet (and might not, I'm not sure yet) is "Does Hypnosis Really Work?"

I'm hoping that I can have the FAQ finished within another day or two, then I can write my Services page.

Moving forward on the office situation

I got to look at Sabrina's office space yesterday afternoon, and I really like it! She's got a small suite of 3 rooms - a sort small waiting room, her office, and her massage room. She's decorated it quite nicely, and the location seems to be pretty quiet, even though it's very close to MoPac and 2222. The rent seems like it might be reasonable, too, although she hasn't gotten me the details yet. She's looking, ideally, for someone to rent the space for 3 days a week (Saturday, Thursday, and "one other day"). I'm not too excited about the thought of working on Saturdays on a regular basis, but this might be a good temporary situation for me.

I've also been talking with the mother of some of my kids' schoolmates, who is a Family Therapist, and she's looking to change her office situation as well. There might be a possibility of getting into at least a reciprocal networking situation with her, if not also a possibility of eventually sharing office spaces.

Progress on the website

My lovely and talented friend, Deanna, is helping me get my website content up and running. So far, I have re-written my biography info and started my blog. Next on the list of things to do is to write a page about my services and update a FAQ I was using from a different website.

I have an appointment to look at an office space tomorrow afternoon. My friend Sabrina, who is a Massage Therapist, is willing to rent out her office space. She's even willing, at this time, to rent to me on a per-client basis, at least until I can get enough clients to warrant a weekly or a monthly rent. Sabrina uses a folding massage table, which can be put out of the way while I'm working with a client. I've been thinking of a portable solution for my clients - a folding recliner chair (I've heard them called "zero-gee" chairs) - but wasn't certain if that might be either sturdy enough or comfortable enough for my heavier clients.

Deanna to the rescue once again! She turned me on to a website called www.livingxl.com. They have the chair design I was interested in, and it's rated up to 400 lbs. I'm pretty excited about that. Here's a link to it: http://www.livingxl.com/store/en_US/catalog/browse_sku.jsp?clear=true&catID=cat70187&prodId=X1413&id=cat70187 Of course, once I get into a real office, I will need to invest in real furniture, but meanwhile, this will be a suitable portable option, I think...

Hypnosis (and Self Hypnosis) With Kids

I wanted to take this opportunity to talk a little bit about hypnosis for kids. I can't say I have a great deal of experience with this segment of the population, but I have worked with a few kids, and generally speaking they are terrific subjects! The more imaginative they are (just as with adults), the better experience they're going to have. The coolest thing about kids is that they typically don't have any pre-conceived notions about what hypnosis is or is not - notions which, more often than not, limit adults.

I have done a little bit of work with my own children, but most notably I find that they are very responsive to the 7th Path system of Self Hypnosis. This system works within the individual's Mind/Body/Spirit framework, and consists of 9 Reflections. We do our Reflections each night at bedtime, and it really helps them settle into a calmer state of mind. Right now, I have given them 6 of the 9 Reflections, and they are asking me when I will give them the 7th. I love that!

My eldest has also reported that on occasion, when she gets upset at school, she'll start reciting her Reflections in her mind, and that it does help her calm down more quickly and easily when she does.

First Blog Post - or How I got from There to Here

While I am not new to personal Journaling, I am new to Blogging for my business.

2008 was a year of many changes for me, and found me going freelance with my hypnosis work. Positive Changes was a wonderful learning experience for me, and I will always be grateful for the opportunities I had there, but everything changed for me when Dave and Holley decided to sell the business. Nicholas had a very different vision for the business, and ultimately he parted ways with Positive Changes as well. I respected Nicholas and his desire to run the business his way, but our philosophies were not the same.

When I originally took my training with PCH in 2003, it seemed almost too easy - much of what I was given in my training materials were concepts and techniques that I was already familiar with. I received my certification, granted by the International Society of Psycholinguists (I believe this was a group run solely by Patrick, the founder of Positive Changes), and was told that with that certification, I could join the American Board of Hypnotherapy. I was not informed that I would need ongoing training to maintain that certification, nor was I encouraged to seek out further training. On my own, I read as much as I could from sources outside of PCH, in addition to meeting regularly with my co-workers.

From the very beginning, I knew that one day I would want to strike out on my own - little did I know it would take me 5 years to do so! I also knew that I wanted to become the very best hypnotist that I could possibly be. I noticed that while some of my clients responded very well to hypnotic suggestion, most did not have the kind of success that I knew hypnosis could give them. The more this happened, the more I became convinced that this was a problem in the hypnotic techniques I was using - NOT a problem with any of the clients. I simply did not know enough to give them the help they wanted and needed.

Early in 2008, I started looking into advanced training. At the same time, Nicholas was making plans to move the office into South Austin - tripling my daily commute. The client base was shrinking, too, and I had less and less to do. I knew my days with PCH were numbered, one way or another.

I found the methodology I wanted to learn - 5 PATH hypnosis, and found a training center in Dallas. In three 3-day weekends, I could get advanced training, and my certification would be recognized by the National Guild of Hypnotists - the oldest, largest, and most well-respected hypnosis organization in the world. Sadly, the trainer I wanted to learn from did not receive her State certification in time, so my training was postponed another two months. Happily, though, I ended up taking the training directly from the gentleman who developed 5 PATH. I was able to attend this training in an interactive online setting - 10 hours a day for 10 days - so I didn't have to leave my family (or pay for travel, food and accommodations - a HUGE bonus!).

The things I learned in this two-week course absolutely changed the way I looked at hypnosis. I always knew it was a powerful tool, but I had NO idea how to use it properly! I couldn't wait to start using this amazing information. The only thing I was missing was clients. Okay, and an office.

I left Positive Changes for good in late June of 2008. I started my training in early July. During the time I was in training, a new opportunity came along for me. I was asked to partner with a new company - Austin Health and Wellness Architects. I was given a furnished office to work from, and things were looking up. I got in touch with some former clients who had become disillusioned with the program at PCH, and we started working together with tremendous success. Sadly, AHWA did not manage to attract enough clients, and the doors closed in early October. I was left without an office once more. Even though my hypnosis business was slowing down, my music kept me really busy in the last months of 2008.

2009 has found me with a renewed enthusiasm for building my business. My sister, Teresa Barr-Jones, is my web designer. My friend Deanna Goodson is helping me with web content and marketing ideas. Another friend, who is a massage therapist, is looking to share office space until I can find more permanent digs and get them furnished. I'm reaching out to more former clients, working to attract new clients, and I'm hoping to become a Certified Professional Hypnosis Instructor by the end of the year. This stuff is just too good not to share!