Interview with Joe

1) Describe your training, experience and qualifications.

Training and Qualifications:
*Counseling Hypnotherapist—Member of the International Association of Counseling Hypnotherapists.
*A Master Practitioner Certification in Neuro Linguistic Programming taken with Dr. Steve Davis in Winnipeg MB.
*1000 hours of training based on the Psychology of Vision (Relationship & Family Dynamics Training) created by Dr. Chuck Spezzano.
*300 hours of Meditation training, practice and technique.
*1000 hours of training based on The Pathworks of Self Transformation (deep self discovery, relationship dynamics & spirituality) by Eva Pierrakos.

Experience:
My roll as a counseling hypnotherapist began four years ago in Red Deer Alberta. What started as a part-time practice rapidly grew by word of mouth into a fairly busy full-time operation. From the start, the demand for the healing up of issues affecting a client’s primary relationship and family life was high. Helping people create balance in their lives by healing up the unresolved traumas of childhood along with the relationship patterns of their family of origin that no longer served them was usually the order of the day. All of this work has to be done in feeling not just in thoughts. If you heal the feelings the change is for life.

We moved from the city with business doing well knowing that we would have to start over but knowing that the change would be worth it. We made the move in May of 2006 and by summer of 2007 we have reestablished a nearly full-time home based practice.

2) How would you describe the work that you do?

Describing the work one does is akin to a fish describing the water in which it lives. My work has been a process of evolution for over twenty years and has over the course of time become second nature not only professionally but as a way of life for me personally. It is as intuitive and guided as it is based on formulas and protocols. Much of the work I do with people comes back to the basics of relationship patterns because there is never a moment in our human experience when we are not engaged in relationship with something or someone including ones self.
The way I work with clients is generally deep in feeling. I walk them through the understanding of how and why a situation was created. Then I create the space for them to safely access and experience their related feelings. My belief is that the thing which is meant to guide you in your life is your intuition. Intuition is not a thought process; it is a felt-sense experience. This means that you have to be “in feeling” to access this powerful force and for these feelings to be accurate and reliable they need to be mature (not stunted or shut down). I help people individuate by helping people to heal their feelings and access their intuition. When an individual can understand the how of something and the why of something it becomes possible to evolve through the unmature feelings associated with the issue resulting in more choices, resources and awareness.

3) Describe your work space.

The walk out basement of my residential home has been converted to office space which my wife and I share. There are two session rooms; one which I share with a giant philodendron, the other is used as a massage room by my wife. There is an open living room reception area which we use for computer work station and appointment desk. The back decks over look the city in the winter and a beautiful green treed area in the summer.
The other half of the basement has been converted to a private one bedroom suite for out of town clients who wish to stay for a few days. We offer multiday packages which include several hours of counselling sessions, massage and B&B accommodations. This gives people an opportunity to experience an intensive, accelerated personal growth process in a safe, private environment.

4) Tell us about your greatest challenge as a counseling hypnotherapist.

I usually work with clients anywhere from three months to two years. There is a timing component to any kind of personal process. Learning the patience to wait for a client to arrive at their correct timing for resolving an issue was very challenging when I first began this work.

5) …and your greatest accomplishment.

I am extremely grateful in an overall sense for the gifts of grounding, intuition and authenticity which enables me to help clients find peace and permanent change regarding most any issue. Several of the techniques I use to accomplish permanent resolution did not exist in a text book; I have had to create them on my own. The accuracy, effectiveness and efficiency of these techniques are easily my greatest accomplishment.

6) What are your spiritual or religious beliefs? How do they impact upon your work?

I believe in a power greater than us humans. I believe all life to be connected and to have purpose. I believe Planet Earth to be a living, life giving system. My experience of this connection to a greater power, my purpose and our earth is a knowing that I can not express in words. My training in Shamanism has taken me to many unconventional experiences of a spiritual nature. In my work this has been a blessing as I have expanded my awareness of these places farther than most of the people I work with. This allows me to work cleanly in a client’s belief structure without imposing any of my values upon them or implanting any dogma of a religious nature.

7) How have you evolved spiritually and mentally since becoming a counseling hypnotherapist?

I am the deep end guy when it comes to the level of work I do. I know to be true that any person committed to helping others on their personal journey can only take another person to the depth and level of awareness that he himself has travelled. To work at the level I do, I have had to learn the disciplines of meditation, setting intentions and clearing energy. I have had to heal my own feeling of past trauma and also come to the understanding that life is a journey of constant learning and self evolvement. I have learned to appreciate each and every moment of an amazing life and the people and pets that share it with me. Being a counselling hypnotherapist has deepened my sense of spiritual and mental wellbeing.

8) What book, if any, do you find most useful in your practice?

“The Pathworks of Self Transformation” a channelled work by Eva Pierrakos. For me, Pathworks has been a journey of freedom for the soul and the path to balance and sense of self. It is both an exploration and a process. If used in meditative contemplation, it helps a person disassemble intergenerational attitudes and dogmatic beliefs. The foundational beliefs of this book are based on reintegrating the separated ego instead of overriding or surgically removing it. As an outcome of pathworks, one who studies it in depth will come to know a quiet mind and a safe and gentle relationship with the self.

9) If you had to pick a favorite, what counseling hypnotherapy technique would you choose, and why?

I like to use vague generalities along with specific metaphors during trance inductions. Anytime I am working with a client sorting through their life I am tracking for key experiences significant to their unique understanding of life. At a later time during the session I will use the mental notes I have made to create metaphors specific to this person as part of my trance induction while keeping the directional component open ended. Because we are working in full feeling during the trance, I know that a part of this person’s awareness knows exactly where it needs to go. My job is to make the journey there as productive and safe as possible.

10) What would you like to see change in the field of counseling hypnotherapy?

I would like to see more generic promotional materials available to hypnotherapists for use in our efforts to extol the virtues of hypnotherapy to the general public and the medical community.
I would also like to see EFAP programs expand their boundaries to include counseling hypnotherapist who are able to provide a proven track record of performance and competency. Passing out pills to an ailing society does not heal its wounded soul.

11) Who is your hero(ine)/mentor/guru and why?

Several years ago my wife and I attended a workshop called Millionaire Mind Intensive. The facilitators name was T. Harv Eker. Harv Eker is a millionaire and financial guru not a psychologist, doctor or counselling hypnotherapist. So why would I choose this man as my mentor? At the time of this workshop I had a nagging sense of purpose which was to do this kind of work that I do now; however blinded by my own ignorance of certain areas of my life, there seemed to be no hope of ever pulling it together enough to fulfil my purpose successfully. Immediately into the workshop I could see the value of what was being taught. As I watched Mr. Eker speak to over a thousand people I noticed that he was highly skilled in NLP language pattern and body language. He showed me how my programming, beliefs, attitudes and feelings were keeping me stuck, miserable and broke. He did for me what I now do for others; he showed me myself in a way that I couldn’t not see it. Because of this workshop and the several years of learning that followed, I can say that my purpose is being fulfilled successfully. Thanks Harv!

12) How do you unwind/rebalance?

To unwind I often join my wife and daughter walking our dog Lucy up the mountain trail two blocks from our house. I read a lot, putter a bit and pet the cats.
Rayana and I are renovators. We drywall, do plumbing, build walls, install floors, run ducting – most anything needed to renovate a house. I find this to be a nice break. I enjoy working with my hands and seeing the obvious fruits of our labour. Counselling is both abstract and intangible so renovating is a good balance for me. The feeling of building something straight, plumb and square, in my own space with some music in the background is a soothing creative outlet.
I meditate each day as a part of my daily practice to stay centered, balanced and grounded.

15) What is your greatest hope?

My greatest hope is that our humanity will catch up to our technology. Soon.

16) …your greatest fear?

My greatest fear is that it won’t and that we will consume the planet and its resources without conscience or remorse.

17) How do you want people to remember you?

I’m a Leo. In the movie “The Lion King”, Simba, the young lion who is next in line to be king looks up into the night sky where Mufasa appears to him in a swirl of stars. When Simba asks what he is to do, the old lion replies ‘remember who you are’. That is how I want to be remembered. If I have fulfilled my purpose when you remember me, you will remember who you are.