Nicole Wackernagel was always interested in hypnosis, even as a child. Funny enough, her parents told her to stay away from it as they thought it was something dangerous or something people shouldn’t mess with. When she first experienced it to help cope with a dental procedure, that’s when she started teaching herself until she finally decided to learn the trade in a formal school in Zurich.

She became a hypnotherapist in 2010 and in 2013, she began working as a hypnotherapist full-time while working as the director of the Swiss Hypnosis Institute in Switzerland. She practices what we call the Goulding Sleeptalk Process, a method that allows the subconscious mind of a child or a young adult to become more flexible in terms of accepting alternate suggestions.

In this episode, Nicole tells us her experience as a medical and family hypnotist, the struggles she encountered, and the funny memories she has with kids and their parents.

“The kids are mostly the symptom of the whole family issue.” – Nicole Wackernagel

• Common issues with kids she treated were more about fears, whether in school or from bullies.
• Her techniques depend on the age of the child.
• Every kid has the same need and that’s to be loved. In that aspect, working with kids is easier than adults. Unlike adults, they have a lot less stuff to deal with.
• If you work with one person from the family, the whole family changes.
• Regression is not always the go-to technique, especially for kids. Nicole’s go-to technique is sleep talk. The basics of sleep talk is the basics of what every human being needs.
• It's recommended for the kids to be alone with the hypnotist during the session rather than with the parents since sometimes the issues are caused by the parents.

Resources Mentioned:

• Vita-Libera
• Twitter
• IMDHA
• Hypno Thoughts Live

If you enjoyed today’s episode, please send us your valuable feedback!

• worksmarthypnosis.com/itunes
• hypnoticworkers.com
• https://www.facebook.com/worksmarthypnosis/

Karl Smith spent 12 years in the British Army before becoming a SWAT officer. Everything was fine until one fateful night in August 4, 2006 when he helped a drunk driver that crashed his car in front of his house. He found out the driver was a young boy who was depressed due to a recent funeral. While talking, he somehow got his arm snagged by the seatbelt which ended up with him getting dragged by the driver which left him with several injuries all over his body including a fractured skull.

About 18 months after the incident, he would have bouts of post-traumatic stress which occurred right after he got off the painkillers. To give him some peace and quiet, he would sneak in painkillers in his alcohol. Exactly two years after the incident, his colleague asked if he wanted help in the form of hypnosis. Karl was skeptic at first but he learned what hypnosis was about through his friend.

On today's episode, he shares the story of his experience while receiving hypnosis sessions, how it has impacted his life, and what made him decide to become a hypnotist himself. He explains his fast hypnosis methods, the techniques he uses to prepare his clients before a session, and the what he has learned not to do during a session with a client.

“I like doing it fast because what it does is it shows the client there and then that something's spectacular has happened.” – Karl Smith

• Karl’s students call it the Gandalf moment, when you open your eyes and you realize something happened.
• Rapid change may not work on schizophrenics, but it's a personal choice. It works great on people with bipolar while those with depression have a decent success rate.
• There's always more positives than negatives in situations. If you're in a dark place, you're not alone and can be fixed.
• Post-trauma usually only takes one session while weight loss takes longer since there's more guidance and coaching involved.
• The First step for weight loss is an emotional detox.
• Teaching is not about getting people to understand what hypnosis really is and how to deliver it to people.

Resources Mentioned:

• Karl Smith Hypnotherapy
• UK Hypnosis Academy
• UK Hypnosis Convention
• Jonathan Chase

If you enjoyed today’s episode, please send us your valuable feedback!

• worksmarthypnosis.com/itunes
• hypnoticworkers.com
• https://www.facebook.com/worksmarthypnosis/

Ken Guzzo is one of the most successful hypnotist today, able to earn thousands of dollars just by showing up to his clients for two days a week. Before his successful career as a hypnotist, Ken was involved in change work, a type of job that involves helping other people become a better version of themselves. He has been doing this job since 1989.

He had this gig going until a colleague told him about hypnotism and how it helps people stop smoking. It wasn’t a surprise that he initially referred to hypnosis as junk science, but he reconsidered his opinions after doing his research. Long story short, he got fascinated with the world of hypnosis and decided to learn the trade and apply it to his own practice and has since helped over 5000 people.

In this episode, Ken shares his methods on how to help the clients’ during a session, why he says withdrawal symptoms are all in the mind, and why he believes in the importance of having a script without actually using one.

“The more that I’ve been working with people with hypnosis, the more I'm actually working with their body.” – Ken Guzzo

• Clients want to have a visceral experience that something happened in the room.
• Ken created his own technique called the Guzzo Protocol. It’s composed of other several tapping modalities.
• It’s important to create a powerful impact from the start. Clear the cravings from their body before they sit in the chair.
• The withdrawal symptoms are from the mind, not a physical withdrawal. Once you shift the modality of change, it becomes easy.
• It's important to be 100% confident when facing clients regardless whether you're new or a veteran.
• It's appropriate to help the clients make the change happen themselves.
• Believe in scripts, but you should know your script without reading it on a page. Staring at a sheet of paper is equivalent to ignoring your clients.
• Ken discusses how the Guzzo protocol works in detail and why it’s effective.
• Do good work and the business will follow. Fix your success rate and the referrals will keep coming.

Resources Mentioned:

• Ken Guzzo official
• Hypno Thoughts
• Hypno Thoughts Live
• North American Academy of Hypnosis
• Non-Smoking Center
• 1800-635-8150

If you enjoyed today’s episode, please send us your valuable feedback!

• worksmarthypnosis.com/itunes
• hypnoticworkers.com
• https://www.facebook.com/worksmarthypnosis/

Just like training wheels on a bicycle, scripts are only supposed to be depended on when you’re just getting started. And just like riding a bicycle, letting go of your scripts altogether will build confidence as well as improve your skills and techniques as a hypnotist.

Today, I'm sharing my five best strategies on how to put down scripts, the various stories and experiences with each one, as well as a few techniques some hypnotists say are necessary but really aren't.

“It's all about being a hypnotist and not a scripnotist.” – Jason Linett

• Students struggle because of an expectation that is not the expectation.
• Hypnotists feel the need to play with their process to refine, experiment, and improve upon.
• Listen to your client. Clients will give you the roadmap you'll need to help them create those changes.
• Teach your clients to hypnotize themselves before they come into your office. Use forms on knowing your clients' expectations from their therapy.
• Get more training, especially in NLP training.
• Work with submodalities - the individual building blocks of reality.
• Start to learn some process-oriented techniques.
• Make use of advanced change strategies.
• Age regression is not just finding the cause, it's also a category.
• Start with a positive transcript, let the feedback tell you what techniques you need and why.
• Hide the script. If you always have that tool, you're always going to need them. If you build a dependence, it's where you're going to stay.

Resources Mentioned:

• Content-Free Hypnosis Video with Jason Linett
• Mark Sisson
• Primal Endurance book by Mark Sisson

If you enjoyed today’s episode, please send us your valuable feedback!

• worksmarthypnosis.com/itunes
• hypnoticworkers.com
• https://www.facebook.com/worksmarthypnosis/