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Welcome to "Hypnotherapy Reflections: From Training to Practice!" Join us as we dive into inspiring stories of individuals who chose to train with CPHT as solution-focused hypnotherapists and transformed their lives. Discover how their specialised training empowered them to become successful practitioners, profoundly impacting their clients and communities. Each episode features candid interviews, valuable insights, and practical tips from seasoned hypnotherapists who share their journey, challenges, and triumphs. Whether considering this rewarding career or seeking motivation to elevate your practice, "Hypnotherapy Reflections" offers the inspiration and knowledge you need. Subscribe now and embark on a journey of transformation and success in the world of solution-focused hypnotherapy!
Lovely.
Gary Johannes:So welcome to hypnotherapy reflections from training to practice. And today, we have the lovely Kiira Smith with us who qualified some time ago, but has lots of experience in dealing with people in lots of different guises and help them to achieve more, whatever they were looking at. And then went on to join us at CPhD and trained as a solution focused hypnotherapist. So we're gonna explore her journey, the unique insights both personal to her and what she now does with her clients. And those gains from the training would and giving her that powerful impact of solution focused hypnotherapy, both for her and her clients.
Gary Johannes:So get ready for an inspiring conversation, which is highlighting the transformative power of hypnotherapy and the exceptional training provided at CPHT. So first of all, we better introduce Keira. Keira, say hello, and then tell us all about you.
Keira Smith:Hi there. Thanks for having me on today, Gary. I'm Ciara Smith, as Gary said. My, hypnotherapy practice is positive change hypnotherapy. I work in Stratford upon Avon, not far from Birmingham, and I work online and face to face.
Gary Johannes:That's fantastic. So you're not just gonna be talking Shakespearean language at me all day, are you?
Keira Smith:And in interestingly, Gary, you know, no one knows about Shakespeare. You have to say, from near Birmingham, where Peaky Blinders come from? There you go.
Gary Johannes:That that's another sign that I'm really old, or I should be watching more modern TV one of the 2.
Keira Smith:Yeah. But there we go. That's what I've discovered now.
Gary Johannes:Really good to see you.
Keira Smith:And you.
Gary Johannes:First question I have, and I I've told you the questions. We're gonna have about 20 questions. But the first question is, what motivated you to pursue training as a hypnotherapist in the first place?
Keira Smith:I desperately wanted a career change. And I wanted to do something in well-being, because that's always been a big passion of mine, but I wanted to do something that actually got to the root for people and actually made an impactful difference. And at the time when I wanted that change, I didn't realize there was something so incredible that I would be able to do for myself and for other people. So, yeah, it was that. Sorry.
Gary Johannes:No. Go on. It was that.
Keira Smith:I was just gonna say my own mental health Mhmm. Had got to such a poor state, But I really wanted something that could help me as well as as, you know, me giving giving me a new career.
Gary Johannes:It's really interesting you say that because I was part of the training team with you on the course you trained on.
Keira Smith:Yeah. And
Gary Johannes:Yeah. Possibly now knowing you, I've seen you a few times over the years you've been trained. But actually on the course, and I think that happens with a lot of people with mental health, nobody and I don't I never clearly saw that you were struggling with your own mental health. We we you always looked amazing. You always was intelligent and smart and very took part in everything we did.
Gary Johannes:So Yeah. Clearly something you didn't wear on the outside.
Keira Smith:Yeah. Very much. I come from a family full of people who do wear it on the outside, who are very there's a huge amount of trauma, huge amount of very toxic behavior, and I'm the youngest child by quite a long way. And I was always the one that people came to, even as a very young child. I was their kind of pick me up, you know, kind of blank canvas.
Keira Smith:She's not gonna spoil anything for us. So I think it's a role that I'd really played since
Gary Johannes:Wow.
Keira Smith:Being a baby, really. And, you know, I always knew it made me feel better to to behave like that. It made me feel better to take part in things to present well, you know, but you're totally right. It's and that was actually a real downfall for me, Gary, because a lot of my friends said the same thing. They were like, we didn't realize how poorly you were.
Keira Smith:Yeah. Because I didn't tell people. Mhmm. And that's a huge thing, isn't it? You know, we get into these roles in our life.
Keira Smith:We play these roles. We do it better and better and better, but actually it's not Yeah. Beneficial to us.
Gary Johannes:Yeah. Absolutely. So what did you do before you decided to train as a solution focused hypnotherapist?
Keira Smith:I was a personal trainer and a yoga teacher and a massage therapist. So very much caring for others, listening to everybody else go on and on and on and on and on. And I also did that in my home. So I had people coming into my house, which, you know, I did not realize until lockdown when it all went online how impactful that was as well, in a negative way.
Gary Johannes:Yeah. Did you train during lockdown with us? Or
Keira Smith:It was coming what year was it? I think it was 20 21 I began training with you, Gary. September so long.
Gary Johannes:I feel like you've been around forever.
Keira Smith:So it was
Gary Johannes:In a nice way. Yeah.
Keira Smith:It was kind of I know that basically I remember you saying, don't worry if we get another lockdown because we have permission to still train face to face. So I think it was, we were coming to the end, I think that Christmas when we were training, people were worried.
Gary Johannes:Yes.
Keira Smith:That we were gonna have another lockdown, but it never happened. So Yeah. Thank god.
Gary Johannes:Oh, yeah. Absolutely. So Yeah. You what in you know, you were still working with people. You was you whether you were doing yoga, personal training, some massage, you were still helping people, you know, find ways of enjoying themselves, being good for themselves, their self care.
Gary Johannes:Yeah. So you've always been like you said earlier, you you you well-being has been quite a priority for you, whether that's in your personal life because you're a go to person or you've helped people.
Keira Smith:Yeah. Yeah. Very much.
Gary Johannes:So what inspired you to transition into the field of hypnotherapy?
Keira Smith:Yeah. It's an interesting one that Gary, because I knew I wanted to change, didn't know what to do. And YouTube kept throwing up these videos repeatedly about law of attraction. So I go on YouTube a lot, and it kept throwing these videos up. And I was thinking, what the hell is this?
Keira Smith:I listened to it, and I started to listen to it. And a bit like, as, you know, you talk about a lot is that when people start solution focused hypnotherapy, they push back against it because they think, oh my god. I can't be responsible for myself. This is a you know? But that that's what these videos were saying.
Keira Smith:You know? Your thoughts, the quality of your thoughts shape your life. And I was thinking, wow, hang on a minute. This is, this is amazing. Started to, you know, practice it and saw the changes.
Keira Smith:I also felt the changes in myself and I felt myself kind of coming away from the parts of my life that I didn't like. Mhmm. And so I was like, this, this is incredible. And then just sort of out of nowhere, really, hypnotherapy popped into my head. I knew nothing about it.
Keira Smith:I didn't appreciate there were so many different types at that point. Yeah.
Gary Johannes:Yeah. There are so many different types. Mostly problem focused.
Keira Smith:Absolutely. Which is something because people kept saying be a coun oh, be a counsellor. Be a counsellor. And I said, I don't want to be a counsellor because I feel I am a counsellor currently in my current job.
Gary Johannes:Yes.
Keira Smith:So I just started looking around at some courses, Obviously, one of them being CPhT, spoke to you on the phone, and I thought, really like him. He's straight straight down the line. Half of my family is Glaswegian and they're very and I thought because I was in a pickle, and I was feeling all over the place, and you just gave the answer straight.
Gary Johannes:Yes.
Keira Smith:And I thought, yes. I like that man. He sounds like my sort of guy. And the course looked really in-depth. You were able to answer all my questions.
Keira Smith:And then when I came onto the course, obviously that first weekend, you're learning a lot about the neuroscience, what we do, how we operate as solution focused hypnotherapists. I was like, this is the scientific version of law of attraction.
Gary Johannes:Okay. Nobody's ever described it as that before.
Keira Smith:Yep. Everything you were telling us, I was like, yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Keira Smith:Yes. That fits with everything that I was hearing, but from a sort of slightly different And I thought, this is incredible. It just lit my world up. I was like, wow, this is amazing. This is incredible.
Keira Smith:So I do feel it was a sort of journey, like a guided journey, really, that that put me there. So, yeah, amazing.
Gary Johannes:It's really interesting because if you could see my screen saver, which I've got 2 screens here. And if you could see the other one, it says visualization sets the direction, which is very Yeah. Close to that law of attraction. Yeah. Visualize what you want, and it sets a direction.
Gary Johannes:However, lots of people see it and wait for that then to happen. And the second part of it, it says execution takes you to it. And that's the bit what the law of attraction quite often doesn't do. But you took action, and that the the is to take an action bit what executes it or what gives you
Keira Smith:the outcome. And that's that's the thing that solution focused hypnotherapy teaches you is find the easiest access point into what you want to do. So it don't, doesn't need to be straight away this massive step.
Gary Johannes:Yes.
Keira Smith:Where's the easiest place to start? Really tiny example that I use with my clients is I wanted to learn to knit a few months ago. So I ordered a chill, a children's knitting kit off Amazon.
Gary Johannes:Yep.
Keira Smith:Because I'm gonna be able to learn from that. Yes. Absolutely. Complicated pattern. So it's definitely that, Gary.
Keira Smith:It's like lots of people, you know, spout out about visualization and this, that, and the other, but it's like you say, it's knowing. Actually, let's pull back from that and find where we actually begin with this.
Gary Johannes:Yeah. And take an action towards it, a small step.
Keira Smith:So Take an What
Gary Johannes:what was it that, you know, you looked at all those different courses, and you said you realized it was lost? What Yeah. What did it make you what made you choose CPhD amongst all the other amazing schools that seem to be out there?
Keira Smith:Yes. So talking to you, that was a huge one. Really into reading reviews of stuff, which are incredibly useful. And there were tons of incredibly positive reviews. People said how thorough it was.
Keira Smith:Yeah. And the way you described it to me, I thought, it sounds like I'm actually gonna come out with something. Mhmm. I will understand it. And it you know, a lot of the courses were kind of 6 weeks or, you know, an intent, one intense month of training.
Keira Smith:And I just, you know, I knew from my personal training work that that's not that is not enough. That's just not enough. CPHT seemed to have, and it did have, a very thorough and guided approach. So, you know, talking to you, you explained it very well. And I thought, well, if he's explained this very well, that bodes very well for the style of teaching on the call.
Gary Johannes:For that. You know, and and I'd like to say I paid you to say that, but I didn't. So it's a double compliment.
Keira Smith:It's all genuine. Yeah. All genuine. So
Gary Johannes:how's, you know, your you've done yoga. You've done PT, which is really investing a lot of time and energy in understanding people's body and, you know, the master and stuff. How's learning what you've learned as a solution focused hypnotherapy from CPhD shaped the way you approach your work with your clients?
Keira Smith:Yeah. So so the what I've learned from solution focused hypnotherapy, the biggest takeaway from it, Gary, is boundaries. For me, that's been the biggest, biggest thing. I didn't have any.
Gary Johannes:It's interesting you say that because I I've just done an interview with another person I told you about. Yeah. It's gonna be on a YouTube channel as well.
Keira Smith:Yeah.
Gary Johannes:She is, as you, incredibly knowledgeable. She you know? And she said exactly the same thing. Wow. And it's not like, wow.
Gary Johannes:That's amazing that, one, that you've learned it. But 2, and she said the same thing as you. She wants to help everyone.
Keira Smith:This is that was that was me. I I now sometimes I'm list I'm sitting with people and I'm listening to them and they might say something. Like yesterday, we were sat with a couple of friends and he was saying, oh, I'd really like to get into yoga and stuff. And I'm, I'm still having to go. Don't offer.
Keira Smith:Don't offer. Do you want do you do you want to do this? No. Because you don't teach yoga anymore. You don't want to do it.
Keira Smith:So I'm I'm I'm I have to still take a beat
Gary Johannes:Mhmm.
Keira Smith:But now I actually say no to myself.
Gary Johannes:So that's really helped the way you've shaped how you do what you do. Yeah. How do you stay covered with the new developments? So one of the things about solution focused hypnotherapy, particularly CPHD stuff, It's very neuroscience based, and that's Yes. That's continually evolving, and the course evolves, alongside that.
Gary Johannes:How do you now now you're qualified, how do you stay current?
Keira Smith:Yes. Well, that's where CPhT is absolutely amazing because it's a one stop shop for, CPDs. Career progression is dead easy because you go onto their website and you can just book yourself a new, CPD course whenever you want. Wow. For very reasonable price with a fantastic lecturer taking the course.
Keira Smith:You know, sometimes it's a lecturer that I've had, sometimes it's a new person. You can do it online. It's very simple. And, you know, like you've said, the course is always progressing. And I know that you've said you can do a CPD course 1 year and then do it again the next year and you'll get a whole load of new information.
Keira Smith:So that is, that's the big way. But also attending supervision, which obviously is, is with you, with the other lecturers, They not only pass on phenomenal amounts of information all the time, so that's like a CPD in itself. Yeah. You've got all the other students passing all that information on, and then they recommend books for you to go away and read or listen to. And then some of them have podcasts.
Keira Smith:So Ally Hollinshoot, she has a lovely podcast, which I've learned loads from. And they recommend other podcasts for you to listen to. So
Gary Johannes:Yeah.
Keira Smith:The website, CPhD website and supervision are just constant fountains of knowledge.
Gary Johannes:How amazing was that for you to access then? You know? How simple from the day you qualified, you then Yeah. How did you how easy for that?
Keira Smith:So easy because the website has all the handouts on that you've used. If anything changes, they'll let you know. So passwords or anything like that. It's dead easy to navigate. And also, you know, I can get into if I need to.
Keira Smith:I mean, I remember one CPD I did, the link hadn't come through and it was half an hour before the course.
Gary Johannes:Yes.
Keira Smith:And there was a number on the on the website, and I just rang it, and Jennifer sent me the link.
Gary Johannes:Yep. Absolutely.
Keira Smith:So it was it's so easy to use. That's
Gary Johannes:that's good.
Keira Smith:Brilliant. It's absolutely brilliant. Yeah.
Gary Johannes:That's good to hear. So I I can't remember if you're a mom or not, so I apologize for that. But maybe you are. You're not?
Keira Smith:At the moment, No.
Gary Johannes:Okay. But you still seem to have a very busy life and a busy family. How do you maintain that work life balance as well as Yeah. Therapy practice?
Keira Smith:So one thing that I came to the decision of doing, especially around really, really busy times. So, like, I don't know if you find with your practice, but Christmas is a very busy time. I won't really see more than 3 clients a day.
Gary Johannes:Yeah. It's
Keira Smith:not the way everyone would choose to operate. But for me, to be able to fit the rest of my life in Mhmm. And look after my own mental health. You know, there's occasionally I've seen 4 people a day and it's felt a little bit too much. Again, it's those boundaries, isn't it?
Keira Smith:So monitoring how many people I see per day is a big one. And then around that, walking is a huge thing for me, whether it's walking with my dog, walking on my own, or me and my husband driving out somewhere and walking. Wow. That's a huge one. And after, after being a personal trainer, it took me a while to want to come back to exercise because I was sick of it.
Gary Johannes:Yeah.
Keira Smith:But I do, I do because that is a time of exercise, which is not stressing my joints. It's not overdoing it. It's keeping me healthy and well. And I remember listening to a podcast with somebody else who said working on myself has become like a, like a hobby Yes. For me.
Keira Smith:And it's the same, it's the same for me. I find it really exciting to constantly be reevaluating my life. Is this still working for me?
Gary Johannes:Yeah.
Keira Smith:Or is there something better? So I think that self awareness is a big, big thing.
Gary Johannes:That's huge.
Keira Smith:And it's it's a big thing with clients, isn't it Gary? Because they're actually so they might have never been asked.
Gary Johannes:Yep.
Keira Smith:What what do you wanna do?
Gary Johannes:Yes.
Keira Smith:Is what you wanna do?
Gary Johannes:Yeah. And and it's the opposite because most of the time, they've been asked what can't they do. Yeah. Exactly. Ask that.
Gary Johannes:What what can you you know? So that's amazing. And it's interesting you set your boundaries around 3 to 4 clients. I know people are seeing 7 or 8 people a day every day, and I know people are seeing well, I see 6 people a week. And it's that it's what's right for them, and they're not they're they're aware of what they can do, and they're not pushed or bullied into doing more than they want to do.
Gary Johannes:They're completely in control. So that's
Keira Smith:great. It's not set. And, you know, I remember my husband saying to me, you know, you don't have to explain everything to everyone. Clients don't know. If you just say, no, I can't fit you in.
Keira Smith:It's no, I can't fit you in. I now don't go, oh, because of, you know, this, that, and the other. Never mind. They don't need to know. They don't want a therapist who is cracking at the seams because they're doing that's ridiculous.
Gary Johannes:Yeah. Absolutely. And and and it has been seen, hopefully, not in CPhD, and because we we have a good structure, I hope. So move on a bit. And can you share something where you've particularly from, you know, in that 3 years since you've been seeing clients where you've just been sort of knocked over, because it just stands out as being amazing or unexpected as brilliant outcome.
Gary Johannes:Is there anything that the work goes well to you?
Keira Smith:Do you know and there are so many, aren't there, Gary? Because it is astounding. Is it it is it, it, probably I was, I was thinking about this before. There's, there's 2 things that I'm gonna mention briefly. First one is a, is a client whose husband rang up for them.
Gary Johannes:Yep.
Keira Smith:And as you know, it's always a bit, oh God, someone else is forcing them to come. This was a lady, she said she'd looked at my website 18 months previous.
Gary Johannes:Yes. And she
Keira Smith:then, 18 months later, as you, you know, you all say, sometimes things have to get quite a lot worse before people will come. So I thought, oh, God. Her husband's, you know, said, made her come. How's this gonna go? You know, how wrong was I?
Gary Johannes:Yeah.
Keira Smith:She She is absolutely wonderful. She's gonna be having her last session next week.
Gary Johannes:Brilliant.
Keira Smith:She just absolutely grabs hold of everything. She has, she almost has a new pad every time she comes because she's constantly brainstorming, writing stuff down during the session.
Gary Johannes:Yeah.
Keira Smith:She made herself a sticker chart to put on she had different stickers for different activities that she'd kind of if it was like family time, this, that, and the other, she'd stick on the chart. But the the and she just went up and up and up and up. You know, she went from drinking several bottles of wine a night to drinking nothing. Wow. She wasn't, I mean, as you know, they stopped talking about those sorts of things anyway because it's no longer an issue.
Keira Smith:Big thing for her boundaries, you know, up and up again. But I think the key thing for me was when she said, and if I've got nothing to write in my 'What's Been Good' book, that's on me to be, to be creating something for myself that is good. Yeah. So I think for me, that was like, wow, you have taken 100% responsibility for yourself here. Yes.
Keira Smith:And she is so positive. She's written a wonderful Google review.
Gary Johannes:Doubly.
Keira Smith:But the second one I am gonna briefly mention, I don't want this to sound narcissistic, is myself.
Gary Johannes:Why would it? It's I It it it's definitely one of the big things what we get is and I was gonna ask you that question later anyway. So
Keira Smith:I've I think I I think I mentioned this in supervision 1, so I apologize for saying it again. But it was when I was I went to the to the the fair, came to town, the the fun fair. And I haven't been on a fun fair ride for 20 years because I've just been stress booked. It's too full. It's terrified me.
Keira Smith:But as we were walking in, my husband loves funfair rides, and he said, oh, look at that one. That I wanna go on that one. That looks amazing. And it was really high up and it was these swings that went round and round and round and round. And I actually said, I want to go on that with you.
Keira Smith:And I went on it, and I didn't have to force myself. I wasn't nervous. I enjoyed it.
Gary Johannes:Wow.
Keira Smith:That for me was just, like, that's just magic. Absolutely magic.
Gary Johannes:I and you danger. Do anything to do that. It just happened because everything else. And and we know that, you know, you just work on yourself being the best you. All those things become available.
Gary Johannes:So that's amazing.
Keira Smith:Yeah.
Gary Johannes:So, you know, stick with you a little bit. What self care do you engage in? How do you keep yourself grounded for a better word? You know?
Keira Smith:Yeah. I think a massive, massive thing with that, Gary, is I communicate and I ask for help now. Wow. That's a huge, huge thing. I've realized that, a, people want to help me, b, I can communicate to them in a better way.
Keira Smith:So it's not extreme, and it's not underplaying it. It's, it's saying it how it is. But also that it's fine, and there are people there who want to help me. You know, growing up around people who were just constantly needing or wanting help and attention, I realized it had made me not I thought I did ask for help until I went on CPhD course, and now that's the big thing for me. That's what keeps me level is if I feel myself getting panicky or worried, actually just ask somebody to help you because you're not being unreasonable.
Keira Smith:You're not asking them to do everything for you. Yeah. And just communicate properly because Yeah. It makes such a difference to other people because you're so much nicer then.
Gary Johannes:Yeah. Yeah. So that's that's amazing. And I think there's you you you're talking about the difference between, you know, actually needing help and just using it as a, you know, a tool to get attention, which quite often there's also somebody who needs help, but they don't need know they need help. You're going, actually, I'm not being the best version of me.
Gary Johannes:I'll get some support, to help you be the best version of you. So that's really, really good to hear. So talking about in a in a in a perverse way about those people who look for that. How do you deal with people who are skeptics around what we do is or really misinform misconceive what hypnotherapy is?
Keira Smith:Yeah. And
Gary Johannes:you deal
Keira Smith:with that. Because it you get a lot, don't you? And I have recently that's been a a real thing for me is working out the best way of telling people what I do so that they do take me seriously and don't think that I'm practicing some kind of witchcraft.
Gary Johannes:Yeah. They've obviously seen you.
Keira Smith:Because people do, don't they? They go, oh, don't I I the big one is, I don't know if I believe in hypnotherapy. Yes. To which I reply, everything I do is based on neuroscience and it's current neuroscience that I, is constantly being renewed and I'm constantly learning. If people, I will sometimes say to people, feel free to read my Google reviews, if you kind of want to know what, what pea how people are benefiting, which kind of takes people aback a little bit.
Keira Smith:But I didn't say it in an, in an aggressive way, but, you know, I'm just kind of backing myself up to say, you know, there's evidence there to say that people are benefiting, but it has been something that has on times upset me, Gary. Yes. Particularly because I'm not
Gary Johannes:I guess we have a lot of students who find that, you know, why are they not taking me seriously?
Keira Smith:Yeah. Absolutely. But I think I've I have become better at communicating what it is we do without using too many words and being too complicated. I use your phrase a lot, which is I help people make better decisions.
Gary Johannes:Yes.
Keira Smith:And I think the neuroscience thing Yeah. Generally lets people know that you're serious.
Gary Johannes:So a little tip, and, like, this was better to be the interview, not me giving you tips. But
Keira Smith:No. It's good. I like that.
Gary Johannes:You know, I've been doing this a long, long time, and I still get it, you know. But I've told the wife not to keep doing that. But, no, I still get people going, oh, you know, well, you know, it's just which way after which Yeah. All that. And people say, oh, well, you're gonna make people dance like a chicken.
Gary Johannes:I'm like, yeah. I can do if you want. But, actually, I work clinically So people who Right. Real challenges. So, no, I wouldn't do that.
Gary Johannes:It's not value. So that's for those people who are just not interested and just want to be free. But other people who are really needing support, but they don't understand it is where I use that neuroscience. But I go, well, listen. Let me show you how the brain works.
Gary Johannes:And I do a very quick synopsis of the neuroscience of why people suffer the way they do. And they go, oh my god. I didn't think it was that. And that changes it completely. So it's Right.
Gary Johannes:Losing that little bit of knowledge we have, and trying almost explaining that first part, outgoing, you know, the reason people get anxious is because this is happening, and they move into this part of the brain and release cortisol. Yeah. And that creates anxiety. And they go, oh my god. You because they in their head, they see a swinging watch.
Gary Johannes:All of a sudden, you start talking about an expert, and they go, oh, that's not what I thought. And those people who are looking for help will then go, tell me more. Yeah. Those people who are just bigots will go Yeah. Yeah.
Gary Johannes:Yeah. But, you know, I'm not gonna listen.
Keira Smith:They'll always find a reason, though, when they turn. You know, it's it's it's interesting you, you said what you've just said though, Gary, because I've just had a guy come around from British Gas to quote me for a new boiler. And that's because he was talking about the fact him and his wife go for therapy and things. And, and he asked me what I do and I, and I, and I did actually do what you've just said. And he went away with, he said, oh, can I have some business cards, please?
Gary Johannes:Exactly that. And and, you know, so it does change the way people perceive it. So that's, you know,
Keira Smith:so You're you're far on. Yeah.
Gary Johannes:Yeah. So we just got to you know, we've just gotta be confident that we can help people who want to be helped. So
Keira Smith:That's a huge thing. Yeah. Confidence. Yeah.
Gary Johannes:Yeah. And that's what and that's one of the reasons, you know, it's important to do those supervisions and the CPDs and that Continuously connected to a bigger thing because it can be on your own. You know? So talking about staying connected, with while you were training
Keira Smith:Yes. You
Gary Johannes:know, during your training, was it, you know, was you getting was you getting plenty of support? Were the lecturers and the instructors and the mentors freely available if you needed them for that kind
Keira Smith:of training? Very much so. Like, you could just ask anything, you know, because we did each Saturday, we were there, we were doing that supervision, group supervision together. Any old question, you know, anything at all, somebody always had an answer for it. And then if they were like, do you know what?
Keira Smith:I haven't, but I think Nicole might know that, and would go and get a lecturer from, you know, another room. Come in. They'll explain it.
Gary Johannes:Yeah.
Keira Smith:And you could get hold of hold of people. Fortunately, I never I never needed to. I think I might if there was when I was sending you my coursework, that just back and forth emails was so handy because I sent you all my coursework and then I went on holiday. And because I had all of it on my Google Drive, you email me to say, oh, I can't find this bit. And I just got it off my Google Drive on my phone and just sent it to you.
Keira Smith:So it was that constant, very easy contact. So, so good. You never, you never felt on your own At any point, did you feel on your own? Never. And I still don't.
Keira Smith:I still don't.
Gary Johannes:And that's lovely to hear. So one of the things which I get asked a lot with potential students contacting me about the courses we run is, but I've never done anything like this before. I I you know, I've never run my own business. What you you know, how do we find clients and things like that when we're qualified.
Keira Smith:So
Gary Johannes:you had actually been running your own PT and your own yoga stuff. So you had Yeah. Some insight. But what do you think to the support and training and information we give you about being a private practitioner?
Keira Smith:I think it's fantastic because one of the big things that they tell you right from the start is it's got to be done your way. So if you really, like, I really hate social media. Absolutely hate it. I can't stand it. I loathe it.
Keira Smith:And it's one of, you know, I don't go on social media for my own mental health.
Gary Johannes:Yes.
Keira Smith:So a friend of mine who actually came to me for, for some sessions said to me, well, that makes sense because you're doing it for the reason of looking after your own mental health. But, you know, I remember Carmen saying, don't do anything you don't like doing, then find other ways, you know, to do it. And the other, the other main thing about CPHT training is the working with clients from day 1. So by the time you you know, that layering of you start with the relaxation, you're just doing that for a month, then they're building you into doing the initial consultation, then you're learning the initial consultation to present to the class. But by the time you get to the end, you're competent, you know, you are feeling confident.
Keira Smith:And that was an absolute game changer for me because, you know, I know people who do courses, they get to the end, they've never seen a client and they never do anything. So Yeah.
Gary Johannes:Absolutely. That
Keira Smith:was the big thing. Yeah. Massive.
Gary Johannes:Really good. But, you know, from someone who's already been out there to get clients in an industry Mhmm. Going, okay. I'm changing industry. The the model might be not changing, but the confidence does and the confidence does.
Gary Johannes:So I'm so pleased that you could see that and feel that, and it was useful to you. Right. What what's the biggest highlight you or key learning you can share from those 10 months you did as training? What what if you know, what really stuck out for you?
Keira Smith:So
Gary Johannes:What one thing?
Keira Smith:When we had to learn the initial consultation, so that that week when they were like, here's 2, 3 pages of information. You've got to learn this off by heart, and then you're gonna present this to the group. And that initial kind of, oh. And then I remember saying to other people in the class, well, other people do it, So therefore it's possible. Yes.
Keira Smith:It can be done. And learning it sort of every day I added another sentence on. So I learned a sentence, like added a sentence a day and learnt it like that. And then getting to the weekend where I was gonna be doing my IC, and I was meant to do it on the Saturday, and they said, oh, well, actually, we're not gonna have time for you on the Saturday. So Gary's gonna be in tomorrow.
Keira Smith:You do it with Gary. And I thought, oh, okay. Well, at least he'll give me some good feedback. He'll be direct. And I was going out for dinner with a friend that night, and I knew I had the IC the next day.
Keira Smith:But for me, that was the key moment when I realized I was starting to be able to control my thoughts and my emotions because it would drift in and I'd feel slightly nervous and I'd just push it away. Yeah. And I think fine. It'll be fine. And that for me was a that was a light bulb moment.
Keira Smith:I thought, well, this is as a result of what I've learned.
Gary Johannes:Yeah.
Keira Smith:I'm able to push that feeling away and my rational brain is able to step in.
Gary Johannes:Yeah.
Keira Smith:And I think that for me, that was, like, the biggest, biggest thing, was then I came in the next day. You were like, right. You can just do it straight away.
Gary Johannes:Yeah.
Keira Smith:And I did it. Yeah. You did. Yeah.
Gary Johannes:And and it's interesting because, obviously, I wouldn't have known about that, what happened in, you know, when you were now. But in in our language, in in what we're talking about, you had control. You'd actually moved into an intellectual brain. You don't hit your bucket. You came on the course saying that you had all those mental health issues.
Keira Smith:Yeah. At
Gary Johannes:the time you've done that, because of learning you've done that, you'd actually already applied so much to yourself. Your bucket was emptier to give you the capacity to do that. So that's fantastic.
Keira Smith:Yeah. It it was a massive it was a huge huge light bulb moment then. Really big. Really big. Yeah.
Gary Johannes:So you trained as a yoga teacher, your master, and your qualified PT, and I know you did all of those. So you but what do you find most rewarding about working as a solution focused hypnotherapist?
Keira Smith:It is people actually becoming well. And you know yourself, Gary. You see people who they say, I've been for this therapy, that therapy. I've seen people who've been in therapy for 5 to 10 years.
Gary Johannes:Yep.
Keira Smith:And they cry tears of joy in the initial consultation when they realize I don't have to go back and talk about all that awful stuff again. Mhmm. And then, you know, they actually get to a point where they're well and they say, I'm feeling well now. They achieve their goals, no matter what they are, because I've had people come, Lady came because she was setting up a business.
Gary Johannes:Mhmm.
Keira Smith:And that was wonderful because she achieved everything she'd set out to achieve in 6 sessions.
Gary Johannes:Yeah.
Keira Smith:And for people to be well and to go, if I need to come back, I'll be like, yep. Door's always open. But, you know, if you're ready, that's great. And that's, that's really wonderful. So as a PT, you feel like you're scraping the top off constantly.
Gary Johannes:Yeah.
Keira Smith:Yeah. As a super focused hypnotherapist, you feel like people actually get well and get what they want out of life and get to be the person they are underneath layers of just rubbish that have just got coated on them over years. Yeah. That's the best bit.
Gary Johannes:Do you think the way we work because you would have been taught, and I'm sure you used loads of education within it. You're continually explaining why and how Not just where how they got where they were, but how to stay well. So not our own they don't only get well, but they stay well. Does is that part of what you enjoy knowing that that person probably isn't gonna go back to where they went?
Keira Smith:Absolutely, Gary. Absolutely. Because that then means the journey never ends for them because every single day they can continue to get better and better and better. And it's not creating codependency on me. They've become self reliant for that.
Gary Johannes:Yes.
Keira Smith:And yeah, absolutely. And they and, you know, I I know it from my own experience of every single day you can just continue that every single day. So
Gary Johannes:Do you think that and this is an extra question, but do you think that self experience, which
Keira Smith:you
Gary Johannes:got without even knowing you was gonna get?
Keira Smith:Yeah.
Gary Johannes:Because that's the side effect of doing the course. You actually become the best version of you because you're on the course. Do you think that's given you confidence work when working with clients?
Keira Smith:Definitely. Because although we don't we don't sit there and go, oh, yes. I know how terrible this is. I can say to them, you know, because unfortunately I have experienced most things or a version of most things people come to me for. And they might say, oh, yeah.
Keira Smith:I I read your blog about addiction. Not my personal addiction, but within my family. And that does help because it does make them feel comfortable. Like you're not judging them. You're not sitting on an ivory tower.
Keira Smith:They think this person, like one, one chap said to me, you're the first therapist I've been to who's actually known something. I haven't.
Gary Johannes:That was
Keira Smith:nice. Because he was getting the neuroscience.
Gary Johannes:Yes.
Keira Smith:He was like, I didn't know any of this. Everything else that the people have told me, I've kind of read on Google or you know? So, yeah, it it has. Yeah.
Gary Johannes:But so one of the things because we do so much. If you were to give some advice to someone who was considering a career as a hypnotherapist Yeah. There was online, hypnotherapies about you know? What would you be saying to someone who is looking around, thinking about maybe training as hypnotherapist? Maybe.
Gary Johannes:Maybe.
Keira Smith:Be a solution focused hypnotherapist because you are not taking on everybody else's garbage. You get to get people to a stage where they're well and you get to look after yourself at the same time. And I think if you are thinking of becoming any kind of hypnotherapist, boundaries again, right, even from the beginning of your training, decide and be aware of your boundaries with even practice clients and that sort of thing. That's a very, very important thing. Yeah.
Gary Johannes:Totally. So I've sent you all some of these questions, but I I think you said you've looked at some of the other interviews. So I always ask an extra one, which I haven't told you about. You know? Do you know did you know this?
Gary Johannes:I was gonna ask you an extra question.
Keira Smith:Well, I thought who knows with Gary, and I don't mind. So Wow.
Gary Johannes:So I don't know what to ask you. I think because you live on Stratford upon Avon. Mhmm. If you could have a hypnotherapy session or a set of hypnotherapy sessions helping any historical figure Yeah. Who would it be and why?
Keira Smith:Oh. How can it can it be someone who's, like, passed away, like, recently? Yeah.
Gary Johannes:Anybody. It could be someone who's still alive. But who would but but historically, it would be easier because it would negate any lawsuits.
Keira Smith:Oh, that's a really, really interesting one. I guess John Lennon, because he's quite a fan. Yeah. I mean, he had an awful lot, a really sad childhood. And his kid, his his first son, Julian, you know, he didn't have great kind of relationship with him because of that.
Keira Smith:And yeah. And he's I know you obviously passed away so young, but, yeah, I I would that would have been an inch. Because I think he's one of those people who always seemed to me like he he put on a lot of bravado, but actually was quite hurt and damaged inside. You know, he'd lost his mum, and his dad wasn't around.
Gary Johannes:You know a lot about him.
Keira Smith:So my family were big Beatles fans. And when I was about 10, the Beatles, a Beatles documentary came out and I remember watching it and I just found them really fascinating. And then recently I've watched that thing on Apple TV with them again, and he is just one of those sort of, bit like Amy Winehouse, one of those
Gary Johannes:Yeah.
Keira Smith:Pretty damaged, but very interesting people.
Gary Johannes:Yeah. So I just watched Back to Black the other day. It's,
Keira Smith:amazing. She she's
Gary Johannes:on all the Oscars, the lady who played that. But it's really interesting that you said that because you're the 2nd student graduate who've actually named that person, and it was never Really. Ada. So that's really strange that
Keira Smith:Yeah. He
Gary Johannes:didn't come up with. And and clearly, he he didn't his music only covered up so much of what he'd been going through. Maybe the dog taking, as we know, was a coping mechanism for everything else, But that's really good. Yeah. So to finish that up, I'd be
Keira Smith:very honest
Gary Johannes:about not getting you to promote who you are, what you do. People will be fascinated by your story and wanna work with you. So how can they find you?
Keira Smith:So the easiest place to find me is my website, which is www. Positivechangehypnotherapy.co.uk. Let me get that. That has got I'm actually doing a big revamp of that at the moment, Gary, and I'm, listening to an amazing book, about kind of condensing everything, getting your message really, really clear. So that's the best place.
Keira Smith:I've got my relaxation on there that you can download and listen to, information about all the things that I can provide support with. But really, as you know, Gary, you can come to me with absolutely anything because solution focused hypnotherapy just helps you cope.
Gary Johannes:So so after you talking about social media, I'm not sure whether I should ask you how would they find you on social media.
Keira Smith:Well, I am on social media, but it's so sporadic.
Gary Johannes:Right.
Keira Smith:The, and I do I do try and put stuff on there, but I just load it. I just
Gary Johannes:Oh, your website is where I need to find you.
Keira Smith:Websites where and then people can just text me, call me, and I'm always happy to have a a call or an email or whatever with people. Yeah. But that's and do you know what, Gary? Kind of looking at my my figures and where where my work comes from. It's all either through recommendation or my website.
Gary Johannes:Yep.
Keira Smith:So I've and that's what I'm just focusing my I
Gary Johannes:I know people who haven't got a website, and they only have social media.
Keira Smith:Yeah. And they're really busy.
Gary Johannes:And I know people who have nothing to do with social media, and they're really busy. So it's whatever suits you where you Absolutely. So that's fantastic.
Keira Smith:Yeah.
Gary Johannes:Kiara, thank you so much for today. It's been really helpful, and, you know, everybody listening will be getting so much from it. So thank you for that.
Keira Smith:It's a real pleasure. A real, real pleasure. Thank you for having me, and thank you for listening.
Gary Johannes:No problem. Thank you. Bye bye.