Well - the NGH convention is over for another year and it was another well organised event. Members from 25 countries attended Marlborough, MA, for what was the NGH's 60th anniversary.
I had a great time. Not only did I attend many workshops and seminars but I also caught up with some colleagues I hadn’t seen in a long time and made some new friends as well. But the main reason for my attending (apart from the evening socials) was to learn.
I couldn't attend all seminars and workshops, as there were hundreds of them and I could only be in one place at a time. So I had to be selective as to what would be of benefit to me in my hypnotherapy practice www.hypnoticsolutions.co.uk or what I could learn to pass on to my students on my hypnotherapy training courses http://www.hypnoticsolutions.org.uk/
The NGH convention is only 3 days, so to make the journey to the US worthwhile I did a pre-convention course in weight management and a post-convention course in sleep improvement.
So here are my comments on some aspects of the 5 days I spent in Marlborough
PRE-CONVENTION
On my first full day I did a 1 day training course with Tom Nicoli on the DEPTH method for weight control. Tom's a great guy, and considered somewhat of an expert in weight control since he was featured on US TV back in 2003. Tom had lots to share, and he even brought his tech guy into the course to give us info on marketing and promotion, but overall I felt that the course would have benefited from a little more structure, and particularly a step by step guide on what to do with clients on each session. Having said that the course was enjoyable, Tom shared lots with us including some very good scripts, some of which I will be using in my practice.
CONVENTION WORKSHOPS
Of the many seminars/workshops I attended I can highly recommend :
- Debbie Papadakis' courses on The Relationship Code and Sleep Improvement. I sat in awe as I watched her doing live demos in front of class
- David Fredericks class on the 4 minute Flash Technique for pain management technique blew me away. He was another presenter who demonstrated his technique in front of class - in this case helping a lady with a frozen shoulder to vastly increase her arm mobility.
- Larry Elman - what an honour to meet him, see him talk about his father Dave Elman, and have the opportunity to hang out with Larry on the last evening
- Don Patterson (aka Sean Michael Andrews) .... The World’s Fastest Hypnotist. His demonstration and explanation of an instant induction was excellent.
- John Weir’s seminar was on Anchoring for Success. This was another seminar that used a demonstration (I really like it when presenters demonstrate their techniques). John is very young by comparison to the majority of attendees at the convention, but he is very knowledgeable.
- I was waking up fairly early each morning and on days 2 and 3 and attended a morning hypnosis session run by Matthew Zinder. Thank you Matthew.
- Richard Harte gave a demonstration of automatic writing. (I demonstrate Automatic Writing to my students on my training courses but wanted to see how Richard did it). Due to a combination of factors (the particpants chosen, and the results achieved) this turned out (unintentionally) to be one of the funniest seminars I've been to.
Sorry to those presenters who didn't get a mention.
Some presenters I had high expectations but I ended up disappointed:
- Don Mottin, whom I admire tremendously, gave a 2 hour workshop on PTSD. Most of the 2 hours were spent on what questions to ask rather than covering what techniques to use apart from suggestion scripts.
-C Devin Hastings. His presentation was on the immune system and hypnosis. Another really nice guy who uses a lot of humour in his presentations. But sorry Devin, you lost me with this one.
-Norman Posner was the last seminar of the 3 day event. His workshop on how to conduct group weight loss sessions was so outdated. Sorry Norman, but a waste of 2 hours.
STAGE SHOWS
There were three stage shows on the Friday evening. I couldn’t go to the first one as I was attending a workshop. I was able to get in half way through the 2nd show (Mr & Mrs Hypnotist) to see my friend Wayne up on stage. The actual show itself seemed a little slow. The 3rd show had stage hypnotist Mr Kellogg ( – sorry can’t recall your first name) and this was very funny and entertaining.
BANQUET/AWARDS
Each year there is a banquet at which various awards are given out. The award ceremony always seems a little incestuous (awards this year given to both Dwight Damon and his daughter Melody! Among others). Unfortunately the sound system in the hall wasn’t too good so we couldn’t hear what the awards were for. I ordered a veggie meal –in previous years it was vegan so I could eat it, but this year it was covered in cheese so I had so send it back and the lady in charge kindly brought me some potato and vegetables without cheese). I didn’t stay for the dancing, instead choosing to see Tom Nicoli and Marcel (?) play guitar and sing – they were fantastic.
POST-CONVENTION
I spent a day training with Debbie Papadakis in Sleep Improvement. Debbie did demonstrations on two of the course participants – I’m amazed at how fast she works - and then we all practiced on each other. This was an excellent course I’d recommend to anyone wanting to help others sleep better. There were one or two in the class who were fairly new to hypnosis and may have felt the material was a little advanced for them, but for me it was perfect. Thanks again Debbie for sharing. I now will be helping my clients with their sleep issues, and have already added it to my website www.hypnoticsolutions.co.uk
CONCLUSION
I had a great time, and finances and schedules permitting I intend to be back another year.
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