
How does a Professional Clarinetist get involved in Hypnosis?

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David in hypnosis event
It was the early 90s. I was in graduate school preparing for my big performance recital. I was always good at dealing with stage fright...but I had wondered, was there something else I could do that would help fuel my nervous energy towards a more positive performance? So I did some research, and found an online thread speaking about hypnosis. Not knowing anything about it, I dug deeper and eventually learned that my college actually had a resource in the counseling department - a hypnotist who studied through the Air Force. I had free sessions for a week. After a while of working with her and seeing results, I approached her with a request: could we write a hypnotic script for my master recital performance? She was happy to oblige and we got to work. Together we wrote a detailed script - what I was wearing, how one piece was going to flow to the next piece, the audience reactions, that I was playing better than I ever had...we wrote in the script everything I wanted to see, hear, feel, and experience. We recorded the script onto a cassette tape so I could listen to it on my Walkman and I listened to it every day for months in preparation for my big recital. By the time my recital came, I was excited, but there was no stress! I had felt as if I had already been there and done that. Everything I recorded came to pass...every part of my vision that I recited to myself every day for the past few months. I was calm, I played the best that I had in my life to that point, the audience reaction was great - I was sold! So I decided that I wanted to get trained as a hypnotist and help other people.
What is hypnosis exactly?
Hypnosis is a trance-like state in which you have heightened focus and concentration. When you're under hypnosis, you usually feel calm and relaxed and are more open to suggestions. Hypnosis can be used to help you gain control over undesired behaviors or to help you cope better with anxiety or pain.