The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the view of the American Council of Hypnotist Examiners.

by Roger C. Dent

While working with clients, a number of trends appeared. Most significantly, I saw that several of my clients had been “phased out” of their careers once they’d reached 50-55 years old. Some people were really happy with an “early retirement,” most not so much.

In both conversations and hypnosis, my clients were telling me that in reality, they hadn’t found the level of satisfaction that they’d hoped for in their careers. Even those who were struggling financially didn’t want to go back to the same routine and the same problems. The more people I worked with, the more I came to realize that for MY clients, at least, many could begin to look at changing careers at this point in their lives as an exciting opportunity.

The experiences many of us were exposed to as children, where our parents and grandparents retired to the rocking chair, no longer exist as we remember. So, it makes sense that many of those who leave the workforce will want to do something else, either professionally or recreationally.

My clients come from various backgrounds, though many elements of their stories are similar. One trend is that those clients who are dissatisfied with the careers they’ve had (or sometimes still have), often are very creative people working much of their careers in structured work environments. This group tends to be the most receptive to hypnotherapy as a means of re-focusing their career and life goals, and is most profoundly satisfied with their new direction.

With a growing number of viable and valuable seniors out there, the potential for building your practice is limitless. I’ve found a number of strategies that work for me, and likely will help others interested in increasing their client hours.

Many of the clients in this group come from existing clients or as referrals. When I conduct initial consultation sessions, I always ask about the things clients find satisfying in their lives and those they find frustrating or unsatisfying. Sometimes clients really are ready to vent, so I always allow enough time to explore all of their areas of concern and interest. Once I had worked with a few clients on “finding their path,” they shared their experience with others and my practice increased. I also use typical practice-building strategies such as networking, offering self-hypnosis classes, and meeting with other health professionals, especially those who work with older adults. Taking on pro-bono clients creates links to those who pay, provides community service, and helps me to build and maintain skills.

There are a number of key indicators that tell me when a client might be interested in changing their life or career path. Those include reference to anxiety, mild depression, anger, frustration, dissatisfaction with a job or relationship. Learn from your client what their interests are; they must lead the way, they ultimately must choose the path.

In all cases, ask open, thoughtful questions, and let the client lead the way. With nearly all of my clients, I follow a basic format for the initial consultation and first session, especially if the client has limited experience with hypnosis and hypnotherapy. I often use regression techniques for the client to explore life experiences that they’ve found rewarding and pleasant, also those that were less pleasant. With some clients, I’ll devote several sessions to resolving family and personal conflicts, or feeling good about choosing a path for themselves. I also have had a great amount of success with inner-child experience.

The Japanese concept of ikigai refers to satisfaction and meaning of life. It is a reason for being, or reason to get up in the morning. For many clients, this part of their life is missing.

In many cases, the exploration done in hypnosis represents the first time the client is making a life decision for themselves and not to please someone else. It can be very emotional, and hypnosis can both open doors for their creativity and give them comfort in making difficult decisions.

As hypnotherapists, the greatest gift we often provide is listening. Not just hearing…truly listening to what the client means, what they need. Clarify for intent, follow up for understanding. Draw on whatever experiences you’ve had, listen well, and be creative. As with any client, your role is to guide clients to their own conclusions. Open the right doors for your clients and they’ll fill in the blanks.

Change can be positive and exciting. For some clients, change can be difficult and scary. Success can be very personal. I consider clients’ experience successful when they appreciate and internalize their value. I would love to say that all of my clients are now happy, prosperous and fully satisfied with their lives and careers, but these things all are based on perception. If a client chooses to spend their time in a rocking chair watching the Discovery Channel after exploring their worth and the world around them, then they’ve made an informed choice. Maybe not my choice nor yours, but it’s what satisfies them.

One client, a 55 year-old woman, had been in the same job for 15 years, and was ready to walk away in frustration. She viewed her job as unfulfilling and was becoming depressed. During sessions, which included some frank discussions about her personal interests and identification of what she valued in life, I learned that her hobby was art: drawing and painting. Through hypnosis, she began to realize that her frustration with work resulted primarily from the lack of creativity. Rather than walk away from the time invested in her job (and the associated benefits), she began to see her job as a support system for her art. While she still doesn’t “love” her job, she continues to perform well at work while diminishing her level of emotional attachment…the passion that she now devotes to creative experience. In short, hypnotherapy simply changed her perception, which in turn, increased her personal satisfaction.

So how do we get there?

• Discussion about sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction

• What would be the “ideal” job/lifestyle (given NO restrictions)?

• Did they pursue it at any time? Why or why not? What was the result?

Craigslist exercise (for career-related exploration, I often assign clients to read on-line job postings. We then work with their feelings around certain tasks and components of selected jobs. This grounds some clients and minimizes exploration of unattainable fantasies.)

Moving beyond the boundaries of the past through hypnosis

• Explore the why and why-not

• Identify sources of satisfaction and happiness

• See a positive future

Regression (where appropriate)

• Resolving old barricades and roadblocks

• New perspective on the past = new perspective on the future

• Re-visiting positive life experiences for application in the future.

The part of this work that’s most rewarding for me is when clients call or email me because of the exciting things beginning to happen in their lives. In the beginning, many feel they have been “put out to pasture,” and there is nothing that they can do at this point their lives. It’s wonderful to see them excited and looking forward to a positive and productive future.

Roger Cooper Dent, MB, CCHt, has a hypnotherapy practice in Santa Rosa, California. He completed training at HTI in 2010, after four years teaching in public schools and almost thirty years in corporate management.