Carol Moore became a hypnotherapist because of her experience using hypnosis to quit smoking. She’s been with us here at Brisbane Hypnosis Centre since 2003. In that time, she’s been in the clinic 2-3 days a week, seeing between 3 and 5 clients a day…that’s a lot of sessions! I sat down with Carol and asked her to talk about her personal experience with hypnotherapy, and why she does the work she does.
Here’s what she said:
My personal experience mirrors exactly what happens when I see clients – I tried very hard to make a change in my life, and found it very difficult – I would put the effort in and something would happen and once again I didn’t achieve what I set out to achieve.
It was so frustrating, it feels like it will never happen.
I had heard stories of people who had had success with hypnosis, so I decided to make an appointment with someone.
My first experience of hypnosis wasn’t great – for one reason or another, I felt irrelevant in the process, like I didn’t matter so much. This felt wrong to me.
Despite this, I knew I didn’t have a lot of other options. I had some belief about the process – I knew there was something there that could help. I recognised that the problem I had was about that person, not about the hypnosis work itself. Something about that experience with hypnotherapy had me considering it again.
Finding the right person who took into account me as an individual allowed me to make that change, and to make it in a way where I felt so much better about myself. After I realised I had quit (and it felt almost surprising – I had an “Oh, I quit!” moment) I looked back and thought, that was pretty amazing as I had always thought of myself as a smoker. I had seriously identified as a smoker – but I wasn’t anymore. This made me curious to find out more about hypnosis.
Most of my clients come to change behaviours, fears and anxieties, or phobias. Most of the time people have put a lot of effort in already trying to achieve that change. Through that process they, for the most part, end up more frustrated and feeling less empowered. But they keep trying.
I believe that the human spirit is strong. That within us all we have an inner program for expansion, for positive expansion in our lives. People don’t seek negatives. We want positive expression in our worlds – we’re always looking to achieve that.
The way most of us are taught to make changes just aren’t effective.
I believe through this work that people can tap into their own resources, and make changes in a different way. More positive, more empowered – long-term benefits for themselves. And not only about the specific change clients present with, but in other ways as well. Nothing is in isolation. One beneficial change opens the door to other changes.
Over the years, Carol has become an important member of our team, and is integral to the running of this place. We’ve had other therapists working here over the years, but Carol was our very first recruit and she’s never left. You can find Carol in the clinic Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays each week, and she is also available for appointments by Zoom.