Safe On Stage™ Stage Hypnosis Safety Certification Program Stage Hypnotist Safety Certification Program Justin James, THC & The Safe On Stage Advisory Board. Copyright© 2009. All rights reserved 1 Index. Introduction Pg 3 Purpose Pg 6 History Pg 7 Course Curriculum Pg 9 Abreactions Pg 11 Physical Pg 26 Moral Pg 36 Rapids Pg 41 Street Pg 44 Demonstrational Pg 48 Legal Pg 49 Top 12 Pg 55 Conclusion Pg 57 Test Pg 58 Stage Hypnotist Safety Certification Program Justin James, THC & The Safe On Stage Advisory Board. Copyright© 2009. All rights reserved 2 Introduction. Safety today is of paramount importance in the stage hypnosis industry. With a lack of consistent education, standards in the field, and, in many cases, little clinical hypnosis training or actual stage training as a performing artist, liability claims due to injury, real or perceived, have risen dramatically. Claims have come from many different areas, many due to slip-and-fall injuries and stage abreactions. Routines such as the human bridge have also contributed to liability claims. Since the mid-1990s, many new trainers of stage hypnosis have entered the marketplace. Unfortunately, most teach variations of Ormand McGill’s seminal work The Encyclopedia of Stage Hypnosis. The book, written for a performer by a performer, truly did not cover the actual safety requirements. Quality courses by Don Motton, Gil Boyne and Jerry Valley, although only three days in length, were taught primarily to people who had prior hypnotherapy training, and for many years, few insurance claims were filed. But by the year 2000, as the popularity of hypnosis as a form of entertainment grew, many schools began to advertise how to learn hypnosis to DJs, magicians, jugglers and other entertainers. In addition, others who had no clinical background began taking accelerated courses to learn stage hypnosis. With the event of YouTube and other easily accessible media, people began copying artists such as Darren Brown, and a new class of stage hypnotist was born. The street hypnotist, is a whole new and, in some cases, a very dangerous artist in our field because in many cases the street hypnotist has little to no training and performs in an uncontrolled environment where the danger of someone getting hurt is far greater than in a stage setting. Also popular is the recent emergence of speed hypnosis, which is the use of rapid or shock inductions as the primary method to induce a trance. Stage Hypnotist Safety Certification Program Justin James, THC & The Safe On Stage Advisory Board. Copyright© 2009. All rights reserved 3 All the methodologies and styles present in today’s market can be practiced safely with proper training and precautions. Unfortunately, the training time for stage hypnosis, whether or not safety issues are covered, is normally too short to allow students to absorb the vast amount of material that is presented. Although the new stage hypnotist may have gotten some formal training, when they get on stage, they find themselves in trouble simply because they are overwhelmed. Safety has become a huge concern in the last decade with the abundance of new stage hypnotists coming into the market. Seven of the nation’s top hypnotists got together to form the first safety advisory board championed by Justin James, one of America’s top performing stage hypnotists. The Board reads like a who’s who of top performers and industry professionals and includes: Lee Darrow, who wrote the first book on safety in the field, Lee outlined the safety program and provided details for its various parts. Richard Nongard, author of many books and DVDs on stage and street hypnosis, not only contributed his time and writing skills to the program but also volunteered his company’s time and resources to build the online test. Chuck Milligan, one of the world’s top stage hypnotists for over 20 years, has also contributed to the program. Tom Silver, often referred to as TV’s favorite hypnotist, has performed for crowds of 40,000 plus on a regular basis, and brings a unique perspective to the program as well. Katherine Zimmerman, with over 18 years in the field, has published nearly 20 books on hypnosis and is owner of one of California’s top hypnotherapy schools. Stage Hypnotist Safety Certification Program Justin James, THC & The Safe On Stage Advisory Board. Copyright© 2009. All rights reserved 4 Sean Michael Andrews contributed to the street portion of the program and is considered one of the world’s fastest hypnotists. Justin James is the CEO of The Hypnosis Company and founder of Safe on Stage.com. An advocate for safety and the insurance industry and a top performing artist with over 300 shows a year, Justin has taught hypnosis at the college level and has worked with over 13,000 clients, one on one, in his clinical practice. Together these seven professionals have created an industry standard program for safety training. Learn the following material well, practice it for your shows and you will be safe on stage! Stage Hypnotist Safety Certification Program Justin James, THC & The Safe On Stage Advisory Board. Copyright© 2009. All rights reserved 5 Purpose The purpose of this program is to establish a set of guidelines that will act as a generalized form of standards and practices for stage hypnotists. The standards and practices are designed not only to protect the insured from potential liability, but also to provide the public with a set of expectations for the precautions and safeguards that have been put in place for their protection as well. Designed, mutually, by the members of the Advisory Board listed above, this set of standards will be adopted on an industry-wide basis. All stage hypnotists who have passed our required safety instructional program adhere to these standards as a matter of professional practice and as a requirement for their insurance coverage. Stage Hypnotist Safety Certification Program Justin James, THC & The Safe On Stage Advisory Board. Copyright© 2009. All rights reserved 6 History Stage hypnosis has been a popular form of entertainment since the late 1800s, when it first appeared on the scene in parlors, stages and theaters across Europe and the United States. In the early days, little to no regulation or training was required for these itinerant hypnotic entertainers to ply their trade on any audiences they could find that would hire them. Shows ranged from the educationally focused to the outrageously funny to some that were, by today's standards, rather embarrassing in nature, especially for those who were brave enough to volunteer to appear on stage. Many used props and stooges. Some even resorted to using chloroform to make certain their volunteers went to sleep! In the 1930s and 1940s, a new breed of stage hypnotist started to appear on the scene, headed by such stars as Ormond McGill, Gil Boyne, Franz Polgar and, later, Edwin Baron. These gentlemen focused on raising stage hypnosis from the levels of demeaning entertainment to showcasing hypnosis as powerful artistry and as an amazingly rapid method for helping people change unwanted behavior! In the 1960s and into the late 1980s, the late, great Pat Collins was the name on the scene, accompanied by people like Ginger Corte, Melvin Powers, Edward Baron and John Lautrec. Pat Collins, named "The Hip Hypnotist" by no less a star than Lenny Bruce, was a fixture at the Celebrity Club in Hollywood, which she later bought. She hypnotized many stars of the period, including Sal Mineo, Pamela Mason, Dustin Hoffman and Lucille Ball, on whose show she later appeared. Stage Hypnotist Safety Certification Program Justin James, THC & The Safe On Stage Advisory Board. Copyright© 2009. All rights reserved 7 From the 1990s to today, stage hypnosis has come even further, with television shows starring people like Derren Brown, Paul McKenna, and Tom Silver. Moreover, an explosion of hypnotists is evident on the Internet. With the YouTube revolution, over 25,000 videos relating to hypnosis or to hypnotists can be found online on a daily basis, featuring everything from movie clips from old feature films to some rather unusual hypnotic techniques aimed at a more "adult" audience. Stage Hypnotist Safety Certification Program Justin James, THC & The Safe On Stage Advisory Board. Copyright© 2009. All rights reserved 8 Basic Considerations Common sense dictates several areas where a stage hypnotist could get into trouble with volunteers – mental, physical and moral. More specifically, the following areas can be challenging and troublesome to a stage hypnotist. Mental • Abreactions, including signals of oncoming hysteria, refusal to exit trance, disorientation, crying, and the non-responsive volunteer. • Emotional issues, including bi-polar, schizophrenic and hysterical personalities. • Phobias. • Improper set up of age regression skits. • Misunderstanding of suggestion. • Inadvertent triggering. Handling an abreaction. Physical • Stage borders, railings, etc. • Stage lights, volunteers and glare problems. • Getting volunteers on and offstage safely. • Marking the stage - some suggestions. • Chairs, props and pinched fingers. • Other volunteers (stage management, group management). • Volunteer’s physical condition, fatigue issues, physical danger routines. • “Floppers" -- people who try to fall down when re-induced. • Outdoors – for example, sun, heat and cold problems, bug bite reactions). • Alcohol and "over-served individuals". • Pain and routines that involve it (or seem to) – guidelines. • Subject’s physical conditions, which determine if they are going to have problems. Stage Hypnotist Safety Certification Program Justin James, THC & The Safe On Stage Advisory Board. Copyright© 2009. All rights reserved 9 • Pregnant women. • People with severe physical conditions, such as back problems and other physical problems, including, leg problems, respiratory conditions, asthma or seizures, and heart conditions. • People who may be under the influence of drugs or narcotics.