An Alternative Approach to Healing at Cameron Hypnotics
When most people hear the word ‘hypnosis’, they tend to picture a pocket watch swinging back and forth, perhaps accompanied by a voice murmuring, ‘You’re feeling very sleepy…’ But clinical hypnotherapy involves a whole lot more – as Brett Cameron of Cameron Hypnotics can attest. Originally from Newcastle, Brett been a practising hypnotherapist for the past 13 years. He worked in Sydney and Coffs Harbour before settling back home and establishing Cameron Hypnotics in 2013. Combining formal training in clinical hypnotherapy and neuro-linguistic programming with studies in sociology and experience in coaching and mentoring, it’s safe to say Brett knows what he’s doing.
Hypnotherapy can be used to aid in the treatment of a wide range of problems, from stress, anxiety and trauma through to smoking addiction and weight issues. Brett offers clients an alternative approach to healing the mind, breaking bad habits and behaviours, and surpassing the things that are holding them back from happiness and success. While it might not be for everyone, a quick glance at the testimonials for Cameron Hypnotics shows that many people have experienced great success with this type of treatment.
This month, we chatted with Brett about his career path, the hypnotherapy process, and what can be expected when you visit Cameron Hypnotics for a session.
How did you get into this line of work?
If someone told me when I was 40 that I’d be working as a hypnotherapist, I think my first question would have been, ‘What’s a hypnotherapist?’ It was something that I got into later in life. My first wife was practising as a hypnotherapist in Sydney, so it was through observing her, and observing what she was achieving through hypnosis that enabled me to see the benefits of hypnotherapy. I was really interested in business coaching and executive coaching, and that led me through to NLP [neuro-linguistic programming], and then to hypnosis. And since I discovered hypnosis, I thought, ‘That’s it – I love this.’
It’s beautiful to find something where you just want to jump out of bed in the morning because you just don’t know who’s going to walk through the door. I love it.
What qualifications are required to be a clinical hypnotherapist?
It’s interesting because hypnotherapy is an unregulated industry – which means that unfortunately, someone can do a weekend workshop and put up a shingle saying, ‘I’m a hypnotherapist’, and there’s nothing to stop them doing that. However, to be a clinical hypnotherapist, firstly you have to do training equivalent to about 650 hours, and then you also have to be able to prove that you have over 500 hours of face-to-face work with clients.
You’ve been practising hypnotherapy for 13 years. When did you start Cameron Hypnotics? I moved back to Newcastle six years ago, and that’s when I started with Cameron Hypnotics. That’s when I put on a serious hat and thought, ‘Let’s go down a professional road entirely,’ and it’s certainly paid off – it’s been great. Newcastle has been very kind to me.
What do you like most about running your business?
What I find most rewarding is observing people experiencing change. As an example, I had one lady who refused to get on a plane, and yet her son was living in London, and she wanted to go and visit him. I saw her about two years ago, and then I bumped into her shopping before Christmas [last year], and she told me she’d been to England three times now. There are little things like that where it just gives you that little moment of joy, realising that you have helped someone to move away from whatever was holding them back.
What can clients expect when they visit for the first time?
Firstly, they will experience hypnosis. A hypnotic trance is basically where we are disengaging the conscious mind, which is your thinking mind, and where I can access the unconscious mind, which is where we store our habits and behaviours. That’s where the real work is. My goal is for [clients] to experience change so that, in the first session, we can get rid of whatever it is that’s holding them back. It’s about finding out what it is that the individual wants to achieve, and then allowing them, at a deep subconscious level, to make those changes.
Can hypnotherapy work on everyone?
What it won’t work with is someone who doesn’t want to work with me. I say to people, ‘Look, you’re the orchestra, I’m the conductor. And my job is to get you playing in tune. At the moment there are a few parts of the orchestra that are playing their own song, and we have to get them all playing together.’ If the orchestra doesn’t turn up, the conductor’s on their own.
What types of trends are you seeing in the hypnotherapy industry?
The trend I’m seeing is that across Australia now, hypnotherapy is becoming more mainstream – where I think for a long time it was seen as the weird, wacky cousin sitting in the corner. I think there seems to be more of a general acceptance of the role that effective hypnotherapy can play in helping people to make a change. Like all industries, there’s always going to be some areas of hypnotherapy that perhaps give the profession a dodgy name, but I think that’s becoming less and less [common].
What do you like to get up to when you’re not working?
Thankfully I live close to the beach, so I love to walk our schnauzer of a morning around the beaches at Merewether and have a morning coffee. I love my gardening; I love cooking, I love reading, I love my wife! And I love to travel whenever the opportunity arises. I’m feeling very blessed in life at the moment.
I’m also involved on a voluntary basis on the organising committee with the Newcastle Institute, and I’m in the Australian Hypnotherapists’ Association as an executive. I am passionate about the hypnosis industry. I certainly want it to prosper as well.
For more information about Cameron Hypnotics visit www.cameronhypnotics.com.au
