The Alumni Gathering 2011 is scheduled for the 25June and will take place at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian & Country Resort. It is our party designed to celebrate the contributions that each of us has made to take clinical hypnosis to the recognition that it enjoys today.  And to make it all the sweeter Michael Joseph has agreed to give the famous LCCH Training DVD free to the first 50 of you who register for the workshop. Hurry .... There are only 28 left to give away.

Nowww to put you in the mood for those reminiscing days, let me take you for a gentle trip down memory lane and the journey we have made:

Certificate 1 - the Pioneer Certificate in Malaysia and Asia will still remember the early days before we have our own premises. Those days we camped out at the Commonwealth Club and enjoyed tutorials by the poolside. Some of you will have some precious memories of those early days and we would love you to share anecdotes and pictures so that we can collect them into a commemorative document detailing those early years. It is important especially since we are making history.

Certificate 2 and Certificate 3 - we would love to hear your stories and those of you who have pictures and would like to help in the celebrations, please do get in touch with Alice Joseph (no she is not Michael's wife!!) and Thanam who are co-ordinating the event at the LCCH KL office.

Certificate 4, Certificate 5, Certificate 6 and Certificate 7 - We probably have the most pictures of you. Thanks for all the sharing and updates in the Yahoo group. But this is not the time to rest on your laurels. Many of you are working and seeing patients and it would be great to have your stories. Funny ones or profound ones. Pictures are great - of course we have one of Dr Gaya taking Ernest and Fami into trance. Remember that one - it will definitely be the picture of the class, unless someone has a better picture. Send them in and we will see.

Certificate 8,  Certificate 9, Certificate 10 and Certificate 11 - You are almost the next generation  - you have all the benefit of where we have been and all your exciting new ideas. Your enthusiasm is shaping the new Diploma and opening up the new opportunities both in Malaysia and the region. We definitely need your opinions and pictures, so please do send in so that we can create a full gallery of the last five years.

Those attending

Please let us know as soon as you can and before the 21 May if you can make. Simply download the registration form by clicking here and return it to us, and please remember to enclose your cheque. The quicker you let us know the more time we have to make this the happening event it is meant to be.  Peter Mabbutt from UK will be flying down just to party with you. And we have to show our "official" unofficial member of the Asia team!! how Malaysians have a party. You know what I mean. And as for Peter you are one of us now and we will be expecting a bit of cakap Melayu! That extends beyond bagus and banyak suka!We will coach you on Mandarin for the next gathering. OK!

Guests are most welcome. The more the merrier. We are having a minimum age limit of 16 years. For the older generation, remember those of you who want to party later will be able to move on to the late night disco! And to those most special colleagues who would like to help - please don't be shy - we need you. Let us make this celebration the party of the decade. 

An Elite of Professional Clinical Hypnotherapists in Asia  

The Practitioner Diploma has been awarded an elite status in Malaysia. They become the first non-doctors to be accepted for membership by the Academy of Family Physicians. Practitioner graduates will now be eligible for affiliate membership and may add the following letters and pedigree to their names

PDCHyp AFPM Affiliate - Eligibility is conditional on graduates maintaining their BSCH membership and PI insurance. Graduates are also also eligible to write the new status MBSCH as full and registered member of the British Society of Clinical Hypnosis.

Dr Siva and Sheila Menon are now is discussion to create a referral system so that patients can benefit from a more holistic approach for healthcare. AFPM doctors will be able to refer to Practitioner Graduates who are affiliate members of the AFPM. In the same way Practioner graduates in clinical hypnosis will be able to easily identify AFPM doctors to whom they may refer patients.

This is indeed a vote of confidence from the Academic armof Family Medicine and it is a great achievement for clinical hypnosis and the LCCH in Malaysia. There are currently just 20 Practitioner Graduates who are eligible for this status. Many are actively involved in lecturing and training future generations of clinical hypnotherapists and of course increasingly involved in working with patients.

16 April 2011 was Graduation Day for the AFPM and for the LCCH.  It was also a day to remember since the AFPM voted to permit LCCH Practitioner Graduates to join the AFPM as affiliate members. We are making history since our graduates are the very first non medical graduates to receive this honour. 

This paves the way for the formation of the Hypnotherapy Chapter, which will serve as a meeting, sharing and training ground between the LCCH clinical hypnotherapists and medical doctors who share an interest in clinical hypnosis.  It is certainly a day to celebrate. The role call of Honour includes

• Dr Siva who received a Fellowship from the British Society of Clinical Hypnosis
• Thevi Sinnadurai, Thanam Selva and Dr Ng Khian Boon who received the Practitioner Graduate Diploma
• Thevi Sinnadurai, Thanami Selvanandam, Jyothi Chelamcherla, Ng Yi Ching, Monica Low, Kong Poei Moon, Shuen Lim, Dr Gayathri Kumarasuriar, Dr Alan Soh Abdul Hanan

We are delighted to report that the British Society of Clinical Hypnosis has recognised the role that Dr Sivashanmuganathan Sagathavan has played in the successful negotiations leading up to the granting of AFPM affiliate status to Practitioner Graduates who are non doctors.  

This is a significant recogbnition of the value and contribution that  Practitioner Graduates of Clinical Hypnosis are able to make for healthcare in general and patients in specific. It is also a vote of confidence in the high standards of training and competence achieved by the Practitioner Graduates. Dr Siva's began discussions on this matter in 2009 and his achievement is the culmination of two years negotiation between the Principal of the LCCH Asia and the AFPM. During that time Dr Siva also accepted the role of liaison between the LCCH and AFPM in his capacity as AFPM member and pioneer graduate of the LCCH. He is also now a  committee member of the AFPM.  

The BSCH Fellowship is granted to a hypnotherapist who through their individual and or collective effort has made significant contributions to the practice, benefit and progression of clinical hypnosis. And it was with tremendous pleasure that the British Society of Clinical Hypnosis recognised Dr Siva contributions for the advancement of clinical hypnosis as well as his fellow colleagues and clinical hypnotherapists. Dr Sivashanmuganathan Sagathavan was awarded the BSCH Fellowship at the AFPM graduation ceremony in April 2011.

Darren Roscoe Visits Singapore 

A few months ago, Darren Roscoe PDCHyp MBSCH traveled down to Singapore and met our enthusiastic Diploma students. Darren had so much fun teaching you that he sent us a short description of his classroom experience:

"It was my first visit to the University of Singapore. I found the culture there completely different and yet strangely complimentary to Malaysian culture where we covered the same topics. There were lots of great questions and   students demonstrated deep understanding of the subject.  We focused extensively on the use of "anchoring" as an allied tool to a main therapeutic approach to impart a feeling of control in a given situation and also to centralise a patient's locus of control.

We discussed the importance of understanding the underlying principles of a given technique such as anchoring as this can allow one to creatively invent one's own version to suit particular style of therapy and particular patient. We ended the day in high spirits with an interesting demonstration of a pattern braking induction.

I am looking forward to visiting the Diploma students again to see how they are developing their technical skills. It will be a fun weekend and I have some great exploring in dissociative techniques planned for them."

Hypno-Learning for Children 

Workshop in Kuala Lumpur 23 May 2011

Workshop in Singapore 24 May 2011

Working with Children is one of the most satisfying areas of hypnotherapy. But many hypnotherapists feel a little apprehensive about starting to work with these junior clients.

To help you expand your knowledge in this area and more importantly to help you to create a therapeutic context for working with children, the LCCH Asia is sponsoring two workshops designed specifically for you.

Darren Roscoe, MBSCH from LCCH UK will provide an all important glimpse into the world of working with children. These workshops called Hypno-Learning for Children will focus on Anxieties and Phobias in the KL Centre and on Learning and Success in the Singapore Centre.

The three hour programmes will provide Diploma graduates with everything they need to make those first important steps in working with children. It is open also to interested parties and certificate students since children are our future and the more we know about what can help the better informed the next generation will be.

This is a heavily subsidised workshop so please take advantage on this offer. Next Time Darren is in town it will be the full cost price.

Click here to download more information on the class in Kuala Lumpur.

Click here to download more information on the class in Singapore.

You can also check out our websites for more information too: http://www.hypnosis-malaysia.com/workshops.htm or http://www.hypnosis-singapore.com/workshops.htm  

Some of you will remember the smiling faced Darren Rosecoe when he lectured earlier this year. We all had so much fun that Darren is visiting us again in May. Here is what Darren Roscoe said about the visit.

"It was a pleasant surprise when setting up for my lecture in University Malaya KL to see so many familiar faces on the Diploma course that I met last year when teaching weekend 2 of their Certificate.

Although in a different part of the university this year, I was made to feel very welcome and so  it all felt reassuringly familiar.

It was fantastic to see the student's knowledge and understanding of hypnotherapy had developed and was evident from the start with interesting questions and discussions.

We especially focused on alternative ways of inducing the hypnotic state through confusion, distraction and surprise.

It is interesting to experience a rapid induction that first creates confusion that in turn leads the subject in to what we call a trance derivational search for a few seconds, which is an internal search through memory pathways to find meaning to a confusing situation. Within that time frame a rational suggestion to act upon is offered such as "close your eyes!" The resulting relief leads to a more profound feeling of trance. These induction techniques are of use with highly analytical patients, in emergency situations and also serve as a convincer.

We had some interesting experiences with these inductions, especially an impromptu demonstration of an alternative Ericksonian silent tactile handshake which led both the student and me to experience complete hand and arm catalepsy in a waking trance state. Several other students experienced a waking trance while observing.

We touched on working with children, an area of specialism for me, as we discussed hypnotherapy to help with stammering. It surprised some students to learn that subjects between the ages of 7 and 14 are the most hypnotisable of general population. If a child is not naturally growing out of many conditions such as childhood anxieties and stammering then beginning treatment as soon as that is evident leads to a higher efficacy in treatment outcome than with adults. This also reduces potential learning difficulties, reduced social development and loss of confidence.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to LCCH Malaysia and Singapore and look forward to returning again soon."

LCCH Penang Finds New Friends 

The LCCH Penang has just entered into an exciting new partnership with Prima-link. This organisation provides corporate training in the North of Malaysia and has agreed to host the Certificate and Diploma courses in Penang making the training increasingly available to students in Perak, Kedah, Perlis and Penang.   

We had a preliminary trail with Prima-Link when Terence Jiam and Jyothi Chelamcherla provided a preview of Goal Directed hypnotherapy to Penang business clients. This year Sheila Menon will present another tempting titbit for the North Malaysia companies. This is all in an initiative to increase awareness of the benefits of clinical hypnosis to North Malaysia. A number of LCCH graduates are already active in Penang including Dr Ong Beng Keat a clinical hypnotherapist and psychiatrist with his own practice in Penang. Dr Lee Dan Huey who has been making a name for herself with clinical hypnosis, and Dr Gayathri Kumarasuriar who was also the Mahadevan Fellow for 2011.

Non medical practitioners include, Tan Seow Ean, Jyothi Chelamcharla, Synthia Surin and Seong Leong Lim!

In surrounding areas Dr Azman, Dr Ong, Dr Kok and Dr Ambikadevi and Dr Supramaniam are also working with patients in Ipoh and the Northern states of Malaysia.

A new initiative will also introduce corporate training offering either hypnotherapy or goal setting and motivation training. The idea behind this initiative is to increase the awareness of clinical hypnosis and increase the number of clients and patients seeking hypnotherapy. 

Prima-Link and the LCCH Penang will also explore the option for increased clinical placements and creating greater awareness of clinical hypnosis through a series of public workshops. This win-win situation will offer cost effective hypnotherapy to low income groups and benefit students who benefit from clinical placement and increased experience.

Lecturers and senior hypnotherapists in Penang will also benefit from the corporate training programme. Practitioner graduates will be eligible to train and provide corporate training along with the usual lecture and tutor options available at the LCCH.

Diploma 4 Graduates in Kuala Lumpur 

May started in style when Diploma 4 graduating students and their families came to town over the May bank holiday to celebrate the completion of Diploma 4.

Diploma 4 with just over 50% of the students from the medical profession have been the active supporters for the Hypnotherapy Conference scheduled for 2012 and Alumni Gathering scheduled for 25 June 2011. Both events are taking shape nicely and they certainly have a fun evening planned for every one in June.

But it is time to recognize that they are a bit of a success story too. Dr Ambikadevi is now seein g patients in Ipoh has joined the tutor team. She and Dr Supramaniam will provide the support and continuity for students in Ipoh and surrounding area. Dr Ambiga will provide an active role for Penang students and r Supramaniam has in fact converted part of his clinic schedule with the specific purpose of working with patients. And thanks to all the sharing he is doing a great job at his clinic.

Dr Amarpreet Kaur shared a double celebration - graduation and her earlier wedding to Joe. Dr Preet is now also based at UMMC and has added hypnotherapy to  her clinical work. She shared that hypnotherapy does change lives. She didn't quite suggest that we add this health warning to the course description. Preet did accredit a small part of her new found happiness and wedding bliss to hypnotherapy but complained that Joe is still refusing those hypnosis suggestions to wash dishes!!! The verdict is that we still need willing subjects - but we are working on Joe!

Vicky and Sumi (better known as the terrible twins!!) or Dr Vigneswari and Dr Sumitra shared that they are planning to work as clinical hypnotherapists in the next few years. These lovely graduates are behind the fun and games for the Alumni gathering night.

Deborah Dewey our Hong Kong graduate was unable to make the journey but wrote to share that she is having lots of fun enjoying her freedom from assignments. Debbie has had such a great experience on th

e Diploma that she is working with the LCCH to open a new centre in Hong Kong.

Dr Bjinder from Johor was the first graduate to sign up for the Practitioner Diploma. There are exciting developments since both h

e and Dr Maria Fernandez will form the cornerstone of medical hypnosis in our southern region. Dr Maria was at graduation with her son who has been doubling as a willing subject. Dr Maria is increasingly active with the MMA and is pleased to be introducing clinical hypnosis increasingly to her medical colleagues.

There was a light hearted trip down memory lane when Ju Lian recounted the initial telephone conversations with the Mat Saleh voice of LCCH Malaysia's principal. Of course Ju Lian is a great mimic and had everyone laughing as she went on to describe the interview. The whole thing is on film and will be screed at the Alumni gathering this June.

Rozilla our very first HR manager and Faridah were also amongst the graduating students. Both had a great show of solidarity from their families. Husbands and children shared about the indirect learning they receive as they are involved in the technical aspects of the course - ie down loading information from the web and supplying themselves as willing subjects. Perhaps one of the great things about the course is to be able to share some of the benefits of clinical hypnosis as well as the enjoyment and fun of the classroom with the people we love and live with.

Of course no graduation could be complete without Dr Ong who shared many interesting scripts and morning inductions, Ching Ching who has begun to combine clinical hypnosis with her counselling work and Hamizi who has now joined the tutor training team. Hamizi is working with the LCCH to develop the use of clinical hypnosis in BM and once we are ready the LCCH will be taking the course to Indonesia.

Hypnotherapy and the Psychiatric Patient 

Dr Amarpreet takes us into the world of psychiatry

Many of us will be working with a huge range of personalities and issues that our clients encounter. It is excellent to have a wide range of techniques on our fingertips and be flexible enough to meet our clients' needs. But what if our clients' needs go beyond what we can and should offer? What can we do besides hypnotherapy?

Questions every hypnotherapist should ask 

 For example, when we work with clients with depression, when is it appropriate to refer on to a psychiatrist? Or perhaps clients that have over-valued ideas, when does this cross the line for a delusional disorder that may need treatment with antipsychotics? When dealing with anxiety and obsessional disorders, when do we realise that our clients need more than hypnotherapy for symptom relief?

What do we do in emergency situations, for example when a patient is suicidal or homicidal? Or what are some of the medical conditions that need to be ruled out that could mimic psychological symptoms?

These questions and more will be discussed in a one day workshop to be held in Kuala Lumpur on the 18th June.

In this workshop you will learn to create a treatment plan, for working with depression and anxiety related conditions. You will also learn how to identify warning bells and have plenty of hands-on experience and case histories to make sure that you know what to do. 

Dr Amarpreet Kaur is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Senior Lecturer in University Malaya Specialist Centre. She trained and worked as a Psychiatrist in the UK and is currently with UM for the last 3 years. Dr Amarpreet has also completed her Diploma in Clinical Hypnotherapy and will share her experience in treating her patients using hypnotherapy as an adjunct to her clinical experience. 

This is such an important workshop that it carries a certificate from the LCCH. It is open to Medical Doctors, Diploma students, graduates, and Practitioners Graduates and student. 

For further details of the course please call our office on +603 7960 6439/49 or check out the website www.hypnosis-malaysia.com

Mind Body Healing - a Practical Skills Workshop

Learning from the best

This very practical workshop presented by Peter Mabbutt CEO and Director of Studies of the LCCH, and Dr Gayathri the recipient of the Mahadevan Travelling Fellowship will offer you a hands-on tour of what is important in Mind Body Medicine.

It is designed to get you thinking about the amazing healing power that your mind holds. You will learn simple methods to include in your everyday practice and to share with your family and friends. You will learn a superb new induction that revives your inner core and may even change the way you think about health.

To set you up for maximum benefit  - members of the public will also be invited to attend this workshop. Practitioner Graduates and Practitioner Diploma students will be invited to provide some of the interactive hands-on offering one of the best way to impress members of the public and gain yourself patients.  

To celebrate the 5^th Anniversary of the LCCH this workshop will be held at the Mont Kiara Equestrian & Country Resort on 26 June 2011. It will be cosy and of course tea and snacks will be served.

PNI or the Science in Mind Body Medicine 

The First Cognitive Behaviour Hypnotherapists in Asia 

The 2011 Graduation ceremony marked another first for the London College of Clinical Hypnosis.

Nine graduates in Cognitive Behaviour Hypnotherapy (CBH) were awarded their Diplomas. These hypnotherapists who are recognizable from their designation DCBHyp for part of the elite of professionally qualified clinical hypnotherapists are now working in Asia and Australia. 

The CBH Diploma course incorporates some of the most advanced methods and techniques of behavioural and cognitive psychotherapy. Hypnotherapists have an opportunity to explore and develop specialist application of these methods using alert hypnosis or traditional hypnotherapy methods. The result is a useful tool which can be used along side traditional hypnotherapy as an advanced method. It is useful to pin point the origin of the emotional disturbance and facilitate cognitive restructuring. It also provides a sophisticated method of working where trance states or traditional clinical hypnosis is contra-indicated or problematic.

Amongst the pioneering graduates are : Dr Gayathri Kumarasuria and Jyothi Chelamcharla working in North Malaysia, Thevi Sinnadurai, Dr AlanSoh and Thanam Selva working at the LCCH Center in KL, Ng Yi Ching working at Global Doctors, Shuen Lim, Kong Poei Moon and Monica Low, Dr Sarojini Menon based in Selangor. Next year Derrick Lim from Singapore and Ranjit Singhfrom Miri and Sam Choy from Selangor will join these elite professionals.   

Of course it goes without saying a big vote of thanks to our UK Lecturers George Houguez, Maggie Elmore and Michelle Hague.

Hypnotherapy has a Role in the Care of Cancer Patients

Sheila Menon was invited to explain the benefits of hypnotherapy in the treatment of cancer patients to Senior Nurses and Nursing Administrators. Delegates came from the Ministry of Health, private hospitals and colleges around Malaysia and Kuala Lumpur. Sheila shared her expertise with University Malaya's SAMA group was able to discuss first hand the benefits that clinical hypnotherapy offers in pain management and on the side effects of chemotherapy and other treatment. Hypnotherapists and Nurses present discussed the importance of returning an area of control to the patient. In fact this seemed to be the number one consideration of attending delegates. Other topics explored were the use of imagery and visualisation as well as basic relaxation and self-hypnosis.

Hypnotherapy reduces cost to hospitals

Sheila shared a 2007 study that showed the inclusion of hypnotherapy prior to surgery reduced the cost of the procedure on average from US$8,800 to below US$1,000. David Spiegel MD commenting on the research suggested that had hypnotherapy been a prescribed medication every hospital would want it! And reminded us that clinical hypnosis has no scientific evidence for contra-indication. 

The invitation to present this talk came from Ms Tan Tang Peng, Training Director from TPT Resources Sdn Bhd, who learned about the benefits of including clinical hypnosis for cancer patients whilst in Australia. The LCCH look forward to exploring a short training module specifically to benefit patients diagnosed with cancer.

The presentation concluded with an active discussion on how to create a treatment plan using hypnosis so that participants could get a sense of the benefit of clinical hypnosis. The four Practitioner Graduates from the LCCH KL Center, Dr Alan Soh, Ng Yi Ching, Thevi Sinnadurai and Thanam Selva shared their experiences and knowledge on working with cancer patients. Participants were divided into four groups so that they could learn how to make personal suggestions and were then shown how to take themselves into the deep relaxing states of self-hypnosis. The hands-on part of the workshop was designed to provide healthcare professionals first hand experience and insight on the experience of clinical hypnosis.  

The Hypnotherapy and Healthcare Workshop in Review 

Updates on Pain Clinic  

The Hypnotherapy-Pain Clinic in University Malaya was organised by the Tunku Dr Sara Ahmad Yahaya, Head of the Department of Orthopaedics at University Malaya and Sheila Menon, Principal of the London College of Clinical Hypnosis Asia. The clinic launched on 7th April 2009 and continues until today. This Pain Clinic provides hypnotherapy to those patients with brachial plexus injuries who failed medical managements. Until date, twenty patients receive treatment in this clinic. Fourteen patients complete the six hypnotherapy sessions, while six are still ongoing. Out of the fourteen patients, 13 patients report favourable results as hypnotherapy not only reduce their brachial plexus neuralgia, but also improve their confidence. Majority of them are still practising self hypnotherapy at home even after the sessions finished. 

The Key team at this clinic are Dr Alan Soh, Dr Siva, Peter Mabbutt and Sheila Menon and of course Tunku Sara.