President's Message
Are we the only game in town? No, we never have been . . . and never claimed to be!
In 1950 we were the
only hypnotism member organization open to
all hypnotists. In 1956 the Association to Advance Ethical Hypnotism was founded, and within the next fifty some years many other organizations were also formed. However, after the strange disappearance of our founder, Dr. Rexford L. North, the Guild, without strong leadership, held on by a thread. How did we get to where we are years later? Our
members are the secret—we have the best and the brightest who give NGH the positive vision and energy that has enabled us to be the premier organization, and to establish a separate and distinct profession.
Since 1968 the National Guild of Hypnotists has risen from the ashes to become the leading organization with thousands of members in 65 countries. When the decision was made to revitalize the Guild in the mid-eighties there were approximately 15-20 other hypnotism member organizations across the United States. All were larger in membership, but none had the determination and vision of NGH, and its members.
Although new organizations have been formed during the past quarter of a century, not all have flourished. A significant number of well-established, well-known, long-time organizations, however, have merged with the Guild to combine their efforts with ours and to gain greater benefits for their loyal members. Unfortunately many smaller organizations have just disappeared.
Are we the best game in town? Yes, we are and we have the track record to prove it.
A chronology (1950-2010) of the activities of the Guild is available for our members and all hypnotists on our website at
ngh.net. If you check it out you will see not only the many member benefits, but also the extensive work we have done legislatively, insurance-wise, educationally, and in informing the public and other professions about the wonders of hypnosis.
You would be interested to see that we have never backed legislation that would benefit
only our own members . . . our efforts have always been for
all hypnotists. It's true that some groups and individuals want to do their own thing in their own way, and are sometimes critical of the Guild. Once in a while they are might be correct in the way they feel about their relationship with us, but if they are honest, and do their homework using our chronology as a timeline, they could find the truth if they want to.
They say that, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” If that is true it’s easy for even a casual researcher to see how many times in the past quarter century others have taken credit for NGH accomplishments. Some groups adopted our methods, or just all out copied without giving credit. We are flattered by this because it proves that we have led and others have followed—sometimes giving us credit—and sometimes unjustly claiming it for themselves.
Let’s face it, the world is chaotic because leaders don’t always lead with the best interest of their citizens. Court cases are decided in the public forum of the media, and mis-information and malicious lies can go around the world in seconds to millions of people with a simple press of a computer button. We just do our best to keep our members informed of the facts.
With all of this in mind, you can certainly see why it is so important that we all keep our positive attitude and help our clients to do the same. As president of the National Guild of Hypnotists I refuse to be anything but positive in my outlook on our profession. All my life I have been used to setting my goals and achieving them. I’ve been called a dreamer (imagination), which is true. I am also a realist (will), and we know that imagination invariably wins out over will.
How about you? Can
you say that you a positive person? Can you say that you also have “been there and done that”? If you can’t say it, I bet that you
could if you made up your mind to make this a way of life that is
positive for yourself and your loved ones. After all, isn’t that what NGH consulting hypnotists specialize in—
change? If you can do it for clients, you also need to do it for yourself.
We’re going full speed ahead for the August convention and the registration figures are already ahead of last year’s at this time. We recently did our recap on the February 2010 Solid Gold weekend and our attendance was up 4% over last year. It doesn’t mean a lot for our smaller events, but just like really big corporate conventions and conferences who deal with thousands of attendees we watch numbers diligently. So, based on our figures we should expect as many or more August convention attendees as last year. I always like to set my goals a bit higher, so I’m looking forward to having more this year, and seeing
you there!
I’m a firm advocate of “concepting,” which is now called “affirming.” The total registrations we want each month are prominently displayed in several locations throughout our office. It’s important because we want everyone in our headquarters to be on the same positive wave length. We all see our goal numbers constantly, so everybody knows consciously and subconsciously what we want to attract. You should also be doing this to attract clients on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. It can work for you too.
All of this—self-hypnosis, positive thinking with positive action, and concepting/affirming is really quite simple to use in your personal and professional life. All you have to do is—
do it! Yes, I know some of you will feel that I am over-simplifying this, but it is true. Why would hypnotists want to make things complicated when the basis of what we do for ourselves, our families and our clients is really very simple? No matter where you go or what you do you have this wonderful ability to help your family, yourself and others.
Stop looking for some “special” induction. Whatever induction you like to use best is the “special” one for you if you are truly competent and confident—and you are—aren’t you? In the past few years “instant” inductions have become a fad, but sixty-five years ago it was just a part of your induction resources, not something you had to take a special course to learn. I’m sure that hypnotism historian Dr. John Hughes, could point out to us where “instant” inductions have always been in the repertoire of hypnotists.
In this, our sixtieth year, we look back at the tremendous progress we have made as
the hypnotism member organization and also as a profession. We have progressed in a step-by-step manner and have solid groud under our feet. I know there are members who want to move faster . . . increase the educational requirements . . . upgrade our publications . . . get licensing . . . and so forth. I appreciate their aspirations and dreams for the Guild and the profession, but I also ask them to check the chronology that I mentioned before, and see for themselves how much we have accomplished in the past sixty years.
Dr. Dwight F. Damon, President
National Guild of Hypnotists, Inc.
National Federation of Hypnotists, Local 104 OPEIU-ALF/CIO