[00:00:00] Denise Billen-Mejia: Welcome to Two Hypnotherapists Talking with me, Denise Billen Mejia, in Delaware, USA.
[00:00:13] Martin Furber: And me, Martin Furber, in Preston, UK.
[00:00:16] Denise Billen-Mejia: This weekly podcast is for anyone and everyone who would like to know more about the fascinating subject of hypnosis and the benefits it offers.
[00:00:24] Martin Furber: I'm a clinical hypnotherapist and psychotherapist.
[00:00:26] Denise Billen-Mejia: I'm
a retired medical doctor turned consulting hypnotist.
[00:00:31] Martin Furber: We are Two Hypnotherapists Talking.
[00:00:34] Denise Billen-Mejia: So let's get on with the episode. Hello sir, how are you? I know, it's amazing isn't it? We don't seem to have talked to as many people as we usually do.
[00:00:42] Martin Furber: No, and I'm good, but it's been a bit of a journey this series, and our regular and very loyal, lovely people who follow us will have realised that we've had a couple of little mini breaks, which we've never done before.
Um, yeah, we're sort of, we've both been dealing with the unexpected, haven't we?
[00:01:01] Denise Billen-Mejia: We have indeed. Although some of my unexpected is a bit expected. I've reached that age, you know, things start to go wrong sometimes.
[00:01:11] Martin Furber: Twenty one. Yeah.
[00:01:15] Denise Billen-Mejia: Yeah. Now, I'm the other end but I wound up in the hospital briefly, very briefly but with a succession of outpatient appointments to keep and that really messed around my schedule and you were very accommodating.
Thank you.
[00:01:31] Martin Furber: I, I was, but I was coping with unexpected eventualities myself. And then when you think about the time difference we have between us as well, it's like now it's the end of my day. I've had my evening meal. Um, it's the end of my day.
[00:01:43] Denise Billen-Mejia: I'm thinking
about lunch. Yeah.
[00:01:44] Martin Furber: You're thinking about lunch. Yeah.
Um, so there's always that thing as well. So yeah, we, we, yeah. I mean, we can apologize, but we did miss a couple of episodes out. Oh, we had to leave space in between a couple of episodes rather. And while we coped with the unexpected, um, I got me thinking about how, how far ahead do we plan and cope with unexpected things?
Because we all have to, don't we, as people?
[00:02:08] Denise Billen-Mejia: Yes. And that's, of course, why we haven't
as many guests, because all our guests had unexpected things happen. A lot of people enthusiastically said, yes, I'd love to, send me a date and then had to say, oh, sorry, such and such came up. Most of it good, most of it good, but still.
[00:02:25] Martin Furber: Yeah,
I
mean, we've, we've, we've talked about quite a few things this series and I'm thinking about things we can do in the next series. I'm guessing we could have a next series. Yeah. Okay.
[00:02:38] Denise Billen-Mejia: I think we're going to have a few in the bag before we open up the new one. I think
so.
[00:02:42] Martin Furber: I think so.
[00:02:43] Denise Billen-Mejia: It should be in
October.
Mid October as you go to Christmas, I think. That'll give us 12 weeks, won't it?
[00:02:50] Martin Furber: I'm not sure. I'm not sure.
[00:02:52] Denise Billen-Mejia: Well, we'll count through.
We'll make sure we've got 12 weeks left of the year.
[00:02:57] Martin Furber: So what else have you been in? What, what's changed in your routine and in your life then that you've had to readjust to?
[00:03:03] Denise Billen-Mejia: Going to physical therapy every morning, three days a week.
Um, went to it today, unusually, because she wanted to follow up with something we did yesterday. Um, so I don't go tomorrow. I went today instead, um, which was lovely. And. It's a, it's a lovely, cheerful place with all, mostly people my age, some very young people who clearly got sports injuries and things like that.
A lot of, a lot of people my age who've got things that aren't working quite as well as they used to. Um, so
it's a
very happy place.
[00:03:36] Martin Furber: It sounds like it, just to clarify though, because you say physical therapy, is that the same as physiotherapy? Yeah, okay, uh, just to clarify sort of thing for over here, because I know we're slightly different terminology.
Over here, although I've never been for physiotherapy, my other half has, and it's very hands off what they do these days.
[00:03:56] Denise Billen-Mejia: Oh really?
[00:03:57] Martin Furber: Yeah, very hands off. Um, more sort of demonstrative of what you need to do for yourself.
[00:04:03] Denise Billen-Mejia: Oh, I see.
[00:04:03] Martin Furber: And giving people big rubber bands and things to flex the knees with.
[00:04:07] Denise Billen-Mejia: Oh, yeah.
Lots of big rubber
bands. I haven't had to use them, but I've seen them being handed out. Mm. But no, it's, it's very, it's a really nice, Let's call it a studio. Why not? Um, it's got mirrors. It feels like a studio. They're very nice. And they also have a program that once you come off the sick list, if you want to go in there rather than go to a regular gym, you can go there.
I'm going to investigate that because it, it's so a regular gym just feels very competitive.
[00:04:37] Martin Furber: Yeah.
[00:04:38] Denise Billen-Mejia: And I just want to walk around in circles because that's what I'm here for, walking around in circles. So, I'll examine that with them.
[00:04:46] Martin Furber: So, presumably even in the gym though,
there is somebody there, a member of staff, are they clinically trained or?
[00:04:52] Denise Billen-Mejia: Mm hmm. Yeah, the head woman is a physiatrist. She's a physical therapist.
[00:04:58] Martin Furber: Right, okay.
[00:04:59] Denise Billen-Mejia: With
additional qualifications. And then she's got people who are in training who work with her, so she'll explain what she wants done. It's very nice. Some people have been working there for years. Some who I've met very briefly, a young woman who's Goes in, I guess, a couple of times a week, and she's happened to be at my spot too, so.
Uh, in training to be a physiatrist.
[00:05:25] Martin Furber: Okay, right. That's good.
[00:05:26] Denise Billen-Mejia: Good exercise, but
I'm a bit tired now.
[00:05:28] Martin Furber: Yeah. Oh, that's all right, that's allowed. But it's like, we were talking before we came on air, weren't we? About coping with the unexpected or preparing for the unexpected. And of course, it comes back to that old friend of ours.
Resilience, doesn't it? That ability to bounce back from something because, and I was having this conversation today with somebody else, you know, life chucks lemons at us. Things happen that we don't expect all the time. Um, and,
[00:05:56] Denise Billen-Mejia: And you can't plan for everything.
[00:05:57] Martin Furber: No, you can't plan for every eventuality. And of course, if we have already built up some resilience, we will bounce back from it far quicker, won't we?
Deal with what's thrown at us. Um, I had a particularly stressful day the other day. Um, yeah, in the moment I was very, very stressed out.
Um,
but by the next morning, everything resolved. Um, you know, bounce back from it immediately. Yeah. And I think if that had happened 10 years ago, um, before I was a therapist, it might've affected my mood as in put me in a low mood for the best part of a
week.
[00:06:37] Denise Billen-Mejia: I was just thinking while you were saying that, not saying, I'm not saying everybody has to be sunny about everything that happens. Just, just know it's not probably going to be life altering really in the grand scheme of things. And to give yourself space to be upset about it, really annoyed.
[00:06:53] Martin Furber: Yeah, but it's also, I think it's being able to deal with that one issue and not let everything else suddenly overwhelm you.
And I think that's the thing, because we both talk, don't we, about that metaphorical stress bucket. And I think if there's a lot floating around in there all the time, it can only take, it can take only rather one large item. That is, yeah, to make it overflow. Um, so as I say, I, I was dealing with something particularly stressful the other day.
Um, I dealt with it and then the next day I felt it right as rain, back to my usual sunny self.
And, you know, you've sort of bounced back from and dealt with, um, everything you've been dealing with really quickly, haven't you?
[00:07:43] Denise Billen-Mejia: Yeah, relatively quickly, I think. Yeah, and it's nice. It's also nice to have this other. a person that I can probably go to and get some more, you know, I'll eventually when I graduate, I'll be given a list of suggested things to continue doing to improve things, which is really nice.
[00:08:00] Martin Furber: Like a self maintenance program?
[00:08:02] Denise Billen-Mejia: Yeah.
Yeah. And I'm gradually getting more clients that are coming from unexpected places. People that people who've been on this program who've recommended me to friends and friends and family of theirs, which is nice. It's especially nice to get, um, recommended by another professional in the same business.
[00:08:23] Martin Furber: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. But I'm just thinking, um, about memories and thoughts. Okay. Well, we're, we're talking loosely hypnosis today on this one. Um, yesterday, nine 11, everybody remembers where they were don't they?
[00:08:38] Denise Billen-Mejia: Yes.
[00:08:39] Martin Furber: You know, when we talk about those neural connections, it's an instant one, isn't it?
[00:08:43] Denise Billen-Mejia: Mm hmm. I was still working then. I mean, as a doctor,
[00:08:48] Martin Furber: I was going to the dentist that day,
[00:08:51] Denise Billen-Mejia: But it's, it's like the old JFK thing, isn't it? Really?
[00:08:55] Martin Furber: Oh, I wasn't born then.
[00:08:59] Denise Billen-Mejia: Well, you won't remember very much then. I was, I was nine and my aunt Sandra was babysitting us. My parents had gone out to the movies and we were watching TV when they announced that he was dead.
And I remember telling her. Please remember I was nine at the time. I remember telling her, Oh, but he wasn't going to be president much longer. He was like three years into his four years. And also, of course, with relatives in New York, quite a few stories from where they were when, what happened when, and how the skyline has changed.
It certainly has.
[00:09:39] Martin Furber: Yeah, well, I mean, they were rather prominent, weren't they, to say the least. That's why they went for them,
I would imagine .
[00:09:45] Denise Billen-Mejia: I would
imagine too, yeah.
Yeah. Anyway.
[00:09:50] Martin Furber: How big were they compared to the Empire State Building?
[00:09:53] Denise Billen-Mejia: How what?
[00:09:54] Martin Furber: How big were they?
[00:09:55] Denise Billen-Mejia: Oh, they were taller.
[00:09:56] Martin Furber: Were they?
[00:09:56] Denise Billen-Mejia: Much, much taller.
Yeah.
Empire State's only 33 stories, I think.
Oh, right. Okay.
I mean, it's, that's not nothing. It was, at one point it was the tallest, but it hasn't been the tallest for a long time.
[00:10:09] Martin Furber: I've not heard it mentioned for years in any context, as it were. You hear of Trump Tower getting mentions and things.
[00:10:16] Denise Billen-Mejia: That's for a lot of different reasons.
[00:10:17] Martin Furber: For a lot of different reasons, yeah.
[00:10:20] Denise Billen-Mejia: Let's get a bit more hypnotic, shall we?
[00:10:22] Martin Furber: Yeah, yeah, okay.
[00:10:24] Denise Billen-Mejia: So, since people haven't, couldn't listen to us last week and now they're listening, and wondering what on earth we're talking about now. Do we have any plans for next season?
Has anybody
said yes, they'd love to come and join us?
[00:10:36] Martin Furber: Um, not as yet. No.
Okay. Have we asked anybody?
Well, I was thinking we should invite some guests back. It's been almost three years we've been doing this now. And I think it will be good to bring back. We did have Jason back on, didn't we? Our very first guest ever came back on. But I think we should invite some of the other ones.
Catch up, find out where they're up to. Find out what's going on in their hypno world. Because I, I can see, look at, I mean, obviously we talk to people anyway, but I can see looking at social media, um, certain people are really expanding in their niche and making a huge difference. Dr. Sue Peacock springs to mind.
[00:11:12] Denise Billen-Mejia: I was
thinking the same thing, yeah,
yeah.
[00:11:15] Martin Furber: I think that would be great to catch up with her and find out what is going on, because she was so passionate about pain relief, wasn't she? In fact, I'm talking about chronic pain and mental health in my next week's newspaper column. That's what I was writing this morning.
[00:11:29] Denise Billen-Mejia: How many are you writing these days?
Five. Five completely different.
[00:11:34] Martin Furber: Five completely different newspapers.
[00:11:38] Denise Billen-Mejia: That's pretty good. Yeah. Just that they're in the counties surrounding you, I assume.
[00:11:42] Martin Furber: Yeah. Lancashire,
Yorkshire and Cheshire.
Okay. Nice. Yeah.
[00:11:48] Denise Billen-Mejia: So
what did you say? What this topic is?
[00:11:50] Martin Furber: Chronic pain and mental health.
So with explaining more how somebody experiencing long term chronic pain can, um, you know, how it can affect their mental health. For example, if we can't do something we could do before
we can
start to get depressed about it. It can also go to your mood.
[00:12:09] Denise Billen-Mejia: And it can go the other way too. The pain is always worse when you're
[00:12:12] Martin Furber: Yeah, but what I was actually talking about was watching out for danger signs in people of things like skin picking and trichotillomania.
Because when we have chronic pain, as we know, an acute pain will cancel it out. And this is when people can develop those habits of starting to pick at a scab and it will grow and grow. I'm talking about Older people particularly who have a scab on the hand and they can't understand why it's growing and growing.
[00:12:36] Denise Billen-Mejia: Yeah,
because you're doing
it to yourself
[00:12:39] Martin Furber: Because they're picking at it. Yeah, but because
I hadn't thought of trichotillomania I've seen that as a stress response in teenagers, but I haven't I haven't seen, have you, have you had clients who've had that as well? I've, I've,
I've seen it in the, in the, the research I was doing for the project, The Mental Health for Older People, and that's why I've mentioned it.
Because again, people might start to pick out their eyelashes or their eyebrows, because of course we're getting that little endorphin hit as we do it, and acute pain will cancel out the chronic pain in, in the moment.
[00:13:08] Denise Billen-Mejia: Yes,
yes. Don't complain about slamming your finger in the door, kick something else.
[00:13:15] Martin Furber: So, um, yes, I was writing about that. And again, it's something that usually piques people's interest because when we think of a physical pain, we don't think of the mind, do we? But of course, that's where it all registers.
[00:13:26] Denise Billen-Mejia: What we do need to do and what I need to do certainly is to get to the page that is the landing page for the show and get that, get caught up on that that's seriously out of date.
[00:13:40] Martin Furber: I think we should go
and get some new glamorous photographs done of ourselves, Denise.
[00:13:45] Denise Billen-Mejia: Well, good luck with that. I'll get my hair done tomorrow, see what I can manage.
[00:13:53] Martin Furber: I don't have that problem.
[00:13:58] Denise Billen-Mejia: Was it a fashion choice?
Oh good,
alright.
Alright, so yeah, we've got things to look forward to in the next series. It's been a little bit patchy this one. Not for lack of trying, not for lack of wanting to do it, but just.
Right.
And remember if there's
something that you, if there's anybody listening wants a particular issue addressed, please write to us and tell us.
And our contact information is in the show notes below.
[00:14:25] Martin Furber: Absolutely. So, Denise, I will see you on Series 7. Can you believe it's Series 7?
[00:14:31] Denise Billen-Mejia: Yeah, I'm feeling really old. Thanks for reminding me.
[00:14:35] Martin Furber: You're not as old as Joan Collins. And she's still working. She's still working. There you go. Alright. Catch you on the next one, Denise.
[00:14:43] Denise Billen-Mejia: Okay, dear. Bye.
We hope you've enjoyed listening. Please remember this podcast is designed to give you an insight into therapeutic hypnosis and is for educational purposes only. So remember, consult with your own healthcare professional if you think something you've heard may apply to you or a loved one.
[00:15:09] Martin Furber: If you found this episode useful, you can apply for free continuing professional development or CME credits using the link provided in the show notes.
Feel free to contact either of us through the links in the show notes. Join us again next week.
