Interview with Nathan Chang, author of: Seven Interviews: Hypnotism and Hypnotherapy

Interviewing seven prominent figures in the hypnotherapy industry, Nathan Chang’s book ‘Seven Interviews: Hypnotism and Hypnotherapy’ looks to inform the general public about hypnotherapy and how it can help.

We asked Nathan a few question about his book to find out more.

What compelled you to write this book – where has your interest in hypnotherapy come from?

I was once again trying to quit smoking. I have attempted to give up a number of times over the last 10 years with varying degrees of success. However I would always relapse after maybe 6 or 12 months.

This time around I stumbled across some information on hypnotherapy and decided to research the subject further. It was during my research here that I realised that my questions were similar to those others were asking on the internet. I also tend to seek out first hand experiences and information, on social media, Reddit, or various forums and blogs.

It occurred to me at this time the value of the interview format in providing answers in a way people trust, and also enjoy reading. This coincided with a period of my life where I had left my job and was deciding what I would do next, and I had enough time on my hands. So I decided to make the book, Seven Interviews: Hypnotism and Hypnotherapy.

How did you narrow down your interviewees?

Narrowing down interviewees can be a bit difficult and time consuming. For this book I contacted famous hypnotists and those with Wikipedia pages. I looked at those that had authored books. I also contacted those who run a hypnotherapy practice with excellent reviews from customers. If a practitioner has 100+ five star reviews, they must be doing something right. These are the sort of people I am looking for to contribute to the book.

Not everybody who I contacted wanted to take part. Sometimes they agreed to take part but their responses are too short or rushed. This can be a pain as while I’m very grateful that they took the time to respond, I couldn’t include that in the book. Good, interesting and informative answers are far more important than the fame or status of the interviewee.

What is your aim with the book? Who do you think would benefit from reading it?

The primary aim is to help someone new to the subject get their head around it. With this format it feels like a friend has been chatting to you for a couple of hours about it. It’s a comfortable and accessible way to learn about hypnotism, or any other subject for that matter. Not only that, you are ending up with seven different opinions and experiences on the subject.

This to some extent may eliminate the worry that we are reading a biased source, and that’s important in this age where trust can be in short supply, especially if we are searching for answers on the internet. The book has no editorial line whatsoever.

Aside from beginners to the subject, I think anyone vaguely interested in hypnotism can benefit. Hypnotists can read the thoughts and opinions of other practitioners. I think having a continuing interest in the subject is a key theme amongst everybody I spoke to in the hypnotism community. There is a continuing search for knowledge.

In fact something I really loved about compiling this book was how passionate these people are about their work. It makes the book a more interesting read, and it also inspires confidence in anyone looking to hypnotherapy to help them with a particular issue.

What is one thing you wish everybody knew about hypnotherapy?

This is a good question; I could have included it in the book! From my experience with hypnotherapy now, I do believe in its effectiveness. I believe in it from my research, from the interviews I’ve done, and from using it to quit smoking.

I asked in my interviews, what are the common misconceptions about hypnotherapy? A popular response was that people assume it is like stage hypnosis, whereas in reality it is very different. A hypnotherapy session does not look like that, and the way it works is actually pretty well understood – there isn’t some crazy magic happening. Maybe if people understood that they would be more willing to give it a try, and in turn benefit in different areas of their lives.

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Written by Kat Nicholls
Kat is a Content Producer for Memiah and writer for Hypnotherapy Directory and Happiful magazine.
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Written by Kat Nicholls
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