December 2005 update:
My Time in Thailand has proven to be interesting to say the least. From the time I arrive in 2004 it has been an adventure in more ways than one. I have worked with several different groups of people from all around the world. Assimilation of their culture has been one of the more challenging tasks. A very big part of the therapy evolves around each persons beliefs and culture. I was very surprised at some of this distances people would travel to seek my help. There is a vast shortage of professionals in the area of hypnosis in this part of the world. Because Thailand is a prime tourist destination, people on holiday would also want to take care of personal issues using hypnosis while here. Also people who were in Thailand for medical procedures also wanted to seek hypnotherapy between procedures. because hypnotherapy works so fast it became a realistic option even if they were here for only a few weeks. From stress management to smoking cessation people were making it a point to seek my professional help.
I have been involved with the Thai Government through the Ministry of Public Health educating their doctors and mental health providers about hypnosis. I was very surprised that so few understood even the simplest concept of the power of the subconscious mind. After Thai doctors saw the potential of clinical hypnotherapy, Thai Psychiatrists started sending me their most difficult cases, mostly people who were suicidal. They were amazed at how fast people turned the corner and started on the road to recovery.
One of the more interesting cases I had that resulted in me publishing a paper was development of therapy working with stroke. This had never been done before and as far as I know it was the first time anywhere it was attempted. The results were simply amazing in this case.
July 2009 Update:
During my time in Thailand I have been exposed to many unique opportunities to both interact with and observe. It is not uncommon for me to have people come from several thousand miles away seeking my help. It appears my reputation of being amongst the best precedes me in more ways than I could have ever expected for people to travel such a distance. The greatest distance thus far has been from Ireland with specific intent to see me. This differs from the past where as people took advantage of being in Thailand to see me. Now I have become the intent of the trip witch is a bit flattering. Many have decided on blending their holiday with therapy, and Thailand provides a unique opportunity to do that.
Only a handful of clinical hypnotherapist work full time, and as a result their experience and skill level is very naturally higher. They tend to be on the cutting edge of furthering the boundaries of hypnotherapy as is the case with me. I have had clients from nearly every Asian countries and several from the Middle east. Because of this I am exposed to many different cultures and I can see how they are different yet similar. This exposure has allowed me to refine my methods to be very specific and effective, particularly so when culture plays a key roll in many of the problems.
Also being in Thailand I see several people who have sexual problems with the majority being either erectile dysfunction or premature ejaculation. The success rate is very high, in fact I have yet to see someone who has been discontent with the results. I have also had several female clients with a variety of sexual issues mostly pertaining to lack of arousal or satisfaction. Also I have helped many women who have has a low libido modify it to be higher. That ultimately results in being generally physically healthier. I doubt I would have been exposed as much to this wide variety of sexual problems if I had not been in Thailand.
I have also developed a program to slow the effects of aging by taking key elements of certain therapies, and combined them into what could be loosely defined as a mental spa. The more negatives you can shed, the longer you live, it is very simple. Negatives in life like stress promote and accelerate aging. You don’t have to have a problem to make use of this, all you need is the desire to enjoy life better than you are doing now.
March 2011 Update:
Thailand has proven to be a wealth of experience, in fact more so than the USA. I feel the reason for this is once a person moves to America they start to assimilate American culture. However in Thailand with Thailand being a tourist destination, the people I see for the most part maintain the culture of their native country. Being honest in many cases this is much more difficult than it looks. With a significant lack of common experiences between myself and my client, finding common ground to work on is a significant challenge. There is only so much I know about their lifestyle, and they only so much about mine. On the bright I have gained significant experience in areas normally unavailable in a mono culture environment.
Perhaps one of the most flattering experience I seem to get on a regular basis is people deciding to have their personal holiday in Thailand just so they can see me for therapy. Taking a wonderful holiday in Thailand and getting their problems sorted out at the same time is a win, win situation for many people. To date the record holder for distance traveled to come see me has been from Ireland. Clients from the Middle East and India make up a significant percentage of my out of town clients. People form Korea, Russia, Singapore and Australia are also common.
March 2012 Updates:
The path Thailand has taken me is truly amazing. The wealth of knowledge and learning and experiencing different cultures in their pure form (Before they get in the great melting pot of the USA) has been A gift. The new skills I have learned from this exposure have given me an edge that allows me to develop new therapies I could not have even conceived back in the USA. Also more and more I am finding myself helping people with serious mental health problems because of how effective clinical hypnotherapy is. The time involved for clinical hypnotherapy is only a quarter of the time for a cognitive approach, and it is catching on because it is much kinder on the wallet. So when I combine all of this together the results are truly amazing.
PTSD, and dealing with panic attacks have seen significant advancements in new therapy methods I have developed in the past year. The cognitive approach to panic attacks can take months. Now in most cases the panic attacks are completely under control in the first 3 sessions. Then the remainder of the sessions are focused on bringing closure. Once that is done, it is like the trauma that cause the panic attack never happened for many happy clients.
Miscellaneous
My most recent addition to my credentials include:
HypnoBirthing: (I was taught by Marie
Mongan herself)
Fibromyalgia
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Hypertension
HypnoOncology: (A method used to
promote positive improvements in a patients medical condition by
positive thinking)
New therapies I offer now are:
Helping people get off antidepressant
medications that don't need to be on them.
In March 2007 I released a paper on Stroke and the effects of hypnotherapy. This was cutting edge development because the outcome was not known prior to starting.
in April 2009 I developed a program to slow the effect of aging by reducing age causing negatives.
Photo by Roger Lasky