Dear member;
Last week there was a very controversial letter sent to our membership
by our Treasurer Betsy Brown that I believe needs some interpretation.

After talking with Betsy, her intention by writing that piece was a
call to the general membership of the Wash. State Chapter of the NGH
to become more involved in the organization by attending the monthly
meeting, classes, seminars and giving the Board/officers their ideas
and suggestions. This is exactly the same message we have been giving
for years and is a very simple one. Become Involved!

Betsy aired some concerns that all the Board members have had for some
time, namely attendance at the monthly meetings and
participation/involvement by the membership. Since the Chapter is
funded by membership dues and attendance receipts from our monthly
meetings, without member participation at monthly meetings there is no
chapter. Plain and simple.

In the last three years that I have been President of this Chapter, I
have stood on the soapbox and encouraged all our members to continue
their education and gain more knowledge in our field. This has been a
continuing theme for all meetings. Invest in Yourself!

In Wa St, the average registered hypnotherapist has only 150 hours of
classroom education or less. Many are the 3- day "weekend warrior"
type of certification. Currently at one adult education venue in
Seattle there is such a class (3-days, 16 hours "Hypnotherapist
Certification" course) offered by someone with absolutely no
professional affiliations or credentials as an instructor. This is
exactly why there are hypnotherapists that tell me they "can't make a
living" doing hypnotherapy in their area. My simple reply answer is to
them is examine your commitment to your profession. Would you go to an
MD that took a weekend course, studied 150 hours or less, read a few
books, listened to a few audio tapes or watched a video and put out
their shingle and invested no more time that that in their training?
Invest in Yourself!

At no other time in history has Hypnotherapy been so accepted, gained
such advances in the medical and general public forums. The flip side
is also at no other time has hypnosis been so closely scrutinized by
the public. What this means is that as hypnotherapists we must be as
well trained and knowledgeable as we can be.

The Wa Chapter (formerly the Charles Tebbitts Chapter) is one of the
oldest chapters in the NGH. It was built and formed on the ideals and
principles of providing a forum for education and sharing of ideas
between professional hypnotherapists and the general public who were
interested in our field. This is still it's charter.

My call to you is to become involved in your profession, come to the
monthly meetings and network, take classes and continue your
education, invest in yourself, commitment to personal excellence.
The Chapter meeting is once a month; one single Friday evening for
three short hours. There is no serious student of hypnosis or any
hypnotherapist that could not gain something by being there.

Support your chapter, your profession and yourself…invest in
yourself…become involved…commit to yourself to be there.
I encourage any and all comments or replies to this letter.
Ron Stubbs, WA St NGH Chapter President
My personal email is RStubbs@...