[img]560|left|Nicholas D. Pollak||no_popup[/img]I recently contacted a Santa Monica public library to see if it would be interested in hosting a workshop on hypnotherapy, what it can do and how it works. I was told to put into writing what I wanted to present, with a detailed breakdown of the subject matter and all else I would use in my presentation.

I was asked about my fees for the workshop and whether I would offer anything else. The answer was yes, a self-hypnosis CD as well as an analysis of handwriting, for which there would be a small fee. Thirty percent of the fee would be donated to the library.

Upon submitting my letter, I was told to wait 6 to 8 weeks for a response.

When the library manager did call, we talked for 30 minutes. But at the end, this outrageous woman said she had no clue how hypnosis works. Consequently, she did not want to include the workshop in the library’s lineup of public offerings.

Now this is a lecture I have given more than 15 times. At the end, no one ever has said he or she did not understand hypnosis.

I had gone to great lengths with the library manager to explain hypnosis was created by overloading the conscious mind, gaining access to the subconscious and creating change for anyone who sought change.

She Had Listened Respectfully

For hypnotherapy to be effective, both the hypnotist and the client must understand suggestibility and how it works in forming a hypnotic trance. The client also needs to understand his or her own behavior and the theory of the mind. Otherwise, hypnosis becomes no more than a circus act without depth or real meaning.

The library manager had listened without interrupting. Even though she acknowledged I had explained the subject thoroughly, she felt no understanding of hypnosis. When I asked how I could give her greater clarity, she could not come up with a single question.

In my opinion, this outrageous woman is an idiot, apparently a tyrant of her self-created kingdom. Even though she accepted the explanations and understood what was said to her, she was incapable of making a fundamental connection as to how suggestibility, behaviors and theory of the mind relate to hypnosis.

If I Can’t Grasp It

After she pointed out she was intelligent, the woman arbitrarily decided that because she could not understand, others would not.

I take great exception. She would be the first I have come across in 20 years of hypnotherapy practice who could not understand and was closed to talking about the matter any more.

Her pettiness was preventing an audience who might have an interest in hypnosis and hypnotherapy from learning about an amazing tool for so many things.

What kind of a world are we to expect?

Isn’t a library where you go to learn new things, whether you ultimately comprehend the meanings? Isn’t a library a place to experience things that you would not normally have the opportunity to see or be part of?

The library manager must have forgotten the reason she was at the library where one of her responsibilities is to book subject matter for curious minds those rather than basing the decision on her own tastes.

I wonder if she even realizes she has forgotten that she is a public servant, not a petty dictator of a Third World country.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me by telephone, 310.204.3321, or by email at nickpollak@hypnotherapy4you.net. See my website at www.hypnotherapy4you.net