Happy New Year to you! It is the first official day back in the office for me and cogs are slowly but surely turning once again as 2018 gets underway in earnest.
At the end of each year, I spend some time reflecting on the year we have had here at the college; assessing how we measured up with regards to goals set for the year, examining the contribution we made to the field of hypnotherapy in general, how the college and myself (Adam, obviously) have developed and moved forwards ourselves. I like to examine what we could do better, though it always gives a chance to recognise the things that went well during that previous year.
2017 was a great year for me and this college. Some highlights that really stand out are as follows:
1. Lectured at the Royal Society of Medicine. I was part of the annual prestigious Waxman memorial lecture event at the Royal Society of Medicine, it was a major honour, the feedback was incredibly encouraging and the experience was very valuable to me in a number of ways. I wrote about this in more detail here: Lecturing at the Royal Society of Medicine.
2. Met and spent some time with Irving Kirsch. Though mostly/officially retired today, Irving Kirsch is still associate director of placebo studies at Harvard University and his work on placebo has made him a veritable titan in many academic fields. For me, the fact that he has been one of the most prolific researchers in the field of hypnosis has made him a real hero of mine. Last year, he came to Bournemouth University, primarily to work with my supervisor Dr Ben Parris at Bournemouth University, but I also had the chance to present my research to him, as well as having lunch and dinner with him. It was a really special day for me, I wrote about it here:
My Take On The Adage “You Should Never Meet Your Heroes”.
3. One diploma course came to an end while another one began. It is always a big deal to me to wave goodbye to one group who I have dedicated so much time and effort to, and then start all over again with a new group. It is always a highlight for me though, because the fact that I see some amazing people embarking on incredible careers instills me with the knowledge that there are more people doing good out in the world each year, and there are more people that we have helped to do that.
I end almost every training that I run telling those present what an honour it is to me, that people continue to have faith in what we do here each year and choose to train with me and this college. It is so true. I really mean. I work so hard to uphold a very particular ethos here with this college, with values that I defend strongly and principles that do not always make us popular with much of the hypnotherapy mainstream, yet there are those who are receiving our message, taking it on board and in turn duly sharing it and owning it and when I meet a new class of students on our diploma course each year, it fills me with hope for this field – and gives me hope that in my lifetime, we may see this field portrayed in a much better, more credible way that it mainly is.
What’s ore, all of our seminars were full to capacity last year. I posted selfies and pictures on social media from all of my classes last year because I was so proud of that.
4. Great responses at the UK Hypnosis Convention. The UK hypnosis convention was another great event, now in it’s second year, and having been the keynote speaker at the inaugural event I was interested to see how the subsequent year would measure up to what was a fantastic event for me personally in 2016.
It was fabulous, and I loved it. I had over 160 delegates attend my presentation, had a lot of fun with my hypnosis geek badges, and got some wonderful feedback, you can read my report about the event here:
The 2017 UK Hypnosis Convention: My Brief Report.
5. My first experience of peer review was very educational! This is about as diplomatic as I can put it. It is a highlight, not because of it being a positive experience, but because of it being so informative and such a high level learning experience for me. I have often written about and taught about the value of ensuring our citations and references are from peer-reviewed journals, so to undergo the peer review process personally with a major academic journal was something that taught me greatly. The process is designed to spot flaws, challenge assumptions made, and rigorously scrutinise, and boy did that happen to me. I am all the better for it, and my skin in thicker and I am a lot less precious about my research today as a result!
6. The popularity of my personal blog has continued to the point whereby we get daily clicks each day on my articles in numbers I never imagined would be possible. For those of you who are hypnotherapists, this is one particular entry that I recommend you have a great read of:
My Top Ten Important Articles I Recommend All Hypnotherapists Read Today!
8. Our online courses went from strength to strength. As I’ll be writing later on, I plan on teaching further afield in the next couple of years. For those who are unable to train with me directly, we have offered rigorous online training courses that we have had unprecedented demand for and continue to get great feedback about.
Want to really get a feel for what and how we teach here? Access all our hypnotherapy diploma courses, advanced seminars, lectures and more with our online monthly membership, and get 5 days free here, just scroll down the page to the membership options and get your free five days access, take that option and you can cancel anytime. Online Hypnotherapy Training Membership Area.
There is so much more I could write about 2017, but it may start getting a bit self-indulgent, so I’ll press on…..
This year ahead, I have some really exciting projects lined up, some of which are in response to much of what I’ve written above.
1. I will be lecturing at the Royal Society of Medicine again. I was invited to return to present again at the RSM. This time, the event is entitled “theory and practice of hypnosis in enhancing sports performance.”
I’m really excited to be returning and have already been contacted by a great many people who are planning on attending.
2. I will be lecturing on the Masters Degree programme at Bournemouth University. I was asked if I’d lecture on the MSc hypnosis in research, medicine and clinical practice, about my research and other areas of specialism. It is a great honour for me to be teaching at such a high level and I hope reflects well upon how my own college teaches and the standards that we maintain and adhere to here.
3. I am scheduled to speak and teach in 6 different countries this year. For years, I have turned down offerings and invitations to speak at overseas events and conferences. They have never struck me as commercially or financially viable in most cases, and I’ve wanted to be home based while my children have been young; I have always chosen to be a present Father and that has been important to me.
Now that both of my children are at school, I have more of an opportunity to take up invitations to events that I think will be worthwhile, make a good contribution, fit in with some of my values and aims, and are commercially worthwhile (I am not the kind of person to travel for the sake of traveling).
In Spring, I’ll be doing a mini tour of Scandinavia and will be teaching in Denmark, Sweden and Iceland. Half of my family is Norwegian and I have spent time living in Finland as a student, so I have a lot of love for Scandinavia. I’ll also be running classes in Australia and the US, I’ll be announcing more specific details here and through our usual channels as we get closer.
4. I am going to be running more courses in general, and am really excited about our advanced hypnotherapy diploma in particular. I wrote this article about that last year:
Our 2018 Advanced Diploma Just Got More Advanced – Big Offer to Qualified Hypnotherapists. https://aecollegeofhypnosis.uk/2018-advanced-diploma-just-got-advanced-big-offer-qualified-hypnotherapists/
I shall be touring the UK later this year teaching my science of self-hypnosis seminar in a number of places I have not visited before in the far reaches of England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. I’ll be making announcements, so look out for those.
5. I shall be meeting up with several of my academic heroes later this year.
Some of whom are lecturing on the MSc programme, some attending the RSM event, and others who are helping me with my research. Most of them are contributing to current hypnosis research and doing very exciting work indeed. It really helps me to be around such people on a number of levels, but it also inspires me, something I have written about in the last year too: The Value of Being Around Inspiring People. http://www.adam-eason.com/value-around-inspiring-people/
Among other things, I plan on seeing if I can twist their arms to come and feature in podcast too. Fingers crossed!
6. Major steps in my research will be undertaken. I have two major experiments to conclude this year which will start bringing me closer to the conclusion of my current research. I am excited to see the results and also excited just to be in the laboratory examining the subject of hypnosis and it’s applications.
All in all, these are exciting times!
One of the things I have loved in particular about the past year, has been spending time with friends that I have made here – graduates, students and friends of this college that have attended our parties and CPD events have continually put a big smile only face due to their commitment to this field, their dedication to seeing it portrayed in a credible manner, and for their friendship, joy and laughter. Without the people I continue to spend time with each year who make this college such a stimulating, fun and enjoyable place to be, I would struggle to continue to run this college in the way that I do.
All in all, 2017 was great. Although it was not easy, some changes in my business set-up in 2017 have given me the freedom to undertake much more of the work that I enjoy and that I am best suited to. This college and I have really contributed healthily to the development of this field and I really intend to build upon that this coming year. I do hope that you’ll be part of it, and I hope to be crossing paths with you along the way in 2018.
Again…. Happy New Year!