James Tripp – Beyond the Subtle Fears UPDATE

Transcend attachment… develop groundedness and presence… get better results!
Welcome to this information page for Beyond the Subtle Fears: Transcending Attachment for Hypnotists, Hypnotherapists and Coaches. Beyond the Subtle Fears is a five part online training through which I will be sharing key understandings and techniques for you to use in developing your personal grounding and deepening your connection with your personal power and innate resourcefulness.
Tales of Transformative Legends
There is an old story concerning the legendary psychiatrist and hypnotist Milton H Erickson which reveals something that is often overlooked by hypnotists, therapists, coaches and various other facilitators of change.
The story starts with another renowned hypnotist and contemporary of Erickson, Herbert Spiegel and runs that Spiegel had a smoking cessation client that he had seen several times and tried several different angles with and yet had failed to help stop smoking. It just so happened that this client had a business trip scheduled to Phoenix, Arizona, where Milton Erickson ran his private practice. Spiegel and Erickson were on good terms and often corresponded so Spiegel thought to contact Erickson to see if he would see his client (being curious – given Erickson’s reputation – as to whether Erickson might get somewhere where he hadn’t). Erickson agreed to see the client, and all was arranged.
As it unfolded, Spiegel’s client saw Erickson once only and immediately ceased smoking. Understandably, Spiegel was most intrigued to know what Erickson had done – given that he had tried several approaches himself and not got the desired result for the client. What had Erickson done differently? To satiate his curiosity Spiegel decided he would ask the client, who said something to the effect of…
“I don’t know… I just sat there opposite Dr Erickson and it was obvious that he had a lot of serious problems of his own (Erickson was crippled by Post Polio Syndrome), yet I knew… I just knew… that in that moment he was 100% there for me. I just couldn’t continue to smoke after that”
In 2016, 36 years after Erickson’s passing, there are many books on the market (possibly hundreds… some of them quite good) attempting to break down Erickson’s techniques. Of all the books on Erickson, my personal favourite is An American Healer. What I like about this book is that it is simply a collection of short pieces written by people who met Erickson or know him, talking about the impact he had on them as a person. No breakdown of ‘technique’, just testimony to his impact and influence.
We are opening a door here… Spiegel’s smoking cessation client stopped because of the impact that Erickson had upon him in terms of attitude and presence. It was how Erickson was able to BE with his client that served as the catalyst of the man’s change. The book An American Healer carries testimony after testimony to Erickson’s impact, not just as a psychiatrist and hypnotist but as a human being. And Erickson is not an isolated case!
In 1973 a pulp mill worker named Sydney Banks had a life changing epiphany. As a result of a throw-away line uttered by someone he was chatting with (“You’re not insecure Syd, you just think you are!”) Banks came to directly see that his experience was 100% the product of thought, and that his fears and worries were all essentially illusory. According to the testimony of those who knew him at the time, Banks manner and overall ‘way of being’ transformed form being up-tight and insecure to being very still, grounded and joyful. Banks also developed the capacity to move others to a place of peace and wellbeing simply through his presence and words.
I could recount many tales I’ve heard of Syd Banks and the transformative impact of his presence, but what is more interesting to me is that many of the things said about Banks are the same kind of things I’ve heard time and time again about Erickson:
“There was something special about Syd/Dr. Erickson”
“When someone needed help, he always knew exactly what to say”
“You couldn’t be around Syd/Dr Erickson without your life being influenced for the better”….