Cincinnati Therapy Guy's Anniversary

April 1st marks the 1 year anniversary of opening up my full time private practice – It’s been a fun year!

I had a part time private practice going for about 10 years or so – working a couple of nights a week, or on a Saturday morning. My wife had been talking to me about the work I had been doing, helping people and couples and believed that if I opened an office for a ‘full time’ practice that I could help a lot more folks. She spoke to me about this off and on for about a year before I finally agreed to her idea. She believes in me and what I do – she came up with my practice name, ‘Cincinnati Therapy Guy’; she made bumper stickers with a catchy phrase ‘He’s Hypnotic!’ on them; she convinced me to blog (she wants me to do this more often and I’m working on that), she developed my website and logo of the pocket watch (a connection to the hypnosis work I do). She was instrumental in coming up with my current brochure; she is my biggest fan and I cannot stress the importance of having someone in ‘your corner’ like this – it makes all the difference.

I remember being told by someone last year in March when I announced that I was going to start my practice, ‘this really isn’t a good time to do that sort of thing, because of the economy’ – I heard what that person said, thanked them for that feedback and pushed on ahead. I found an office site (6900 Silverton Avenue) in Silverton, near the Kenwood Towne Center, had business cards made, took my brochures, and hit the town making calls on Doctor’s offices, businesses and any place I could put up a card on a wall. I joined the Greater Cincinnati Regional Chamber of Commerce and have since renewed my membership with them; a very good thing to do.

The first couple months were spent networking; getting my name ‘out there’ in the community (I still need to do this) and making contacts and connections. Talking to people about the work I do, how long I’ve been doing this work, and answering questions.

And as I did this, my anxiety was pretty high. My wife though, she reminded me ‘trust - The Universe will provide’ – a difficult message for me to hear. I had spent my life relying on myself and my own abilities and skills, but I had never done before what I am doing now. And I listened to her, and I did, and I still do, and The Universe provides. But that doesn’t mean I sit on my butt and wait for The Universe to drop people in my lap. My job is to keep my eyes open for opportunities that present themselves and then act on those opportunities. It means presenting topics to organizations, and talking to people.

So the year has been fun. I’ve met a lot of people and look forward to meeting even more folks. My wife likes to tell me that I help people who are ‘stuck’ somewhere in life. I agree with that. I help people get ‘unstuck’ and move forward on their life path.

If you feel stuck, if you’re in pain and you’re not feeling like what you are doing is working or relieving your pain, give me a call – 471-2250 or email me and we’ll talk about what we can do together. I have been doing this for over 30 years because I believe people get unstuck.

Namaste
Dennis Mendleson/The Cincinnati Therapy Guy

Trusting the Universe

I used to say, on a regular basis, ‘if you are open to it, or when you trust The Universe, (whatever the person defined as ‘it’, such as looking for positive relationships, or new jobs, that sort of thing) The Universe will provide’. And I meant what I said, but, I think that I took that phrase for granted, or I wasn’t aware of what those words really meant. It was easy for me to say to others. I wasn’t the one who was struggling.

However, I have recently become very aware of what that phrase ‘if you trust The Universe, The Universe will provide’. I have worked in the mental health field for the past thirty years of my life, and over twenty of those years in the public sector. I worked with community mental health agencies, providing various counseling services to those who were indigent or had little or no insurance. I enjoyed my work and was good at what I did.

I had climbed the ladder of success, supervising more staff, and interacting with people from different organizations and companies to help improve relationships between organizations, and build cohesiveness. I continued to see some people, but not many. I had become increasingly dissatisfied with the politics associated with my work.

My wife regularly reminded me that I was good at what I did, and encouraged me to develop a full time private practice. I had been seeing people for counseling on a part time basis for about ten years. This provided me with what I called ‘my cigar money’.

So, with my wife’s full support and encouragement, I quit my job and on April 1st of this year, began working full time in my private practice. A big step for me. I have ‘issues’ around being secure in life, and one of my definitions of security is financial independence.

I was very scared. Not at first, because I still had money coming in from my previous job. But, after that ran out, I started losing sleep.

But, I have continually remembered, ‘trust The Universe and The Universe will provide, and Provide Abundantly’. At times it’s been difficult for me to do this. But, my wife has been very supportive and has gently reminded me that The Universe does Provide. And as I have trusted this, The Universe is Providing to me. Abundantly.

There are times when I still struggle. And I remind myself trusting The Universe is a process, and I am growing. I hate all this growing sometimes. It’s so good for me, but it can be so painful. But, no matter what, I wouldn’t change what I’ve done.

So, I say this with as much love and meaning as I can, understanding a little more about what I am saying, ‘trust The Universe, and The Universe will provide’.

Law of Attraction

People talk to me about ‘why do I always seem to wind up dating some loser’, or ‘how is it that I always pick friends who take advantage of me?’

I believe in the law of attraction. What you, me, any of us focus our thoughts, emotions and energies on in this Universe, we attract to us. People who worry about ‘finding Mr. or Ms. Right’, or ‘am I ever going to find a job I’m happy with’ are sending out into the universe negative energy – their focus is on what they don’t have, and this attracts more of what they don’t have. However, when they focus their thoughts and energies on what they do have, such as ‘I have good friends now and I know I’m going to find Mr. or Ms. Right’, or ‘I am grateful that I have a job and I’m looking forward to the day when I have a job I’m happy with and in’ their energy shifts, sending out positive energy into the universe, and attracting more of what they have. This can be difficult because we live in such a negative world. It seems to me that a lot of people are so pessimistic about life, and if everyone around them is negative, they often take on those same attitudes, which only attracts more negativity.

Changing how you think and focus your energy is not an easy task, especially if you’ve been in this same thought and energy pattern for a while. However, it’s not impossible. One of the things I have found to be helpful, in my life and with others is creating a ‘gratitude list’. This list, which you spend at least 5 minutes every day writing, is a list of those things you are grateful for. The list doesn’t have to be ‘big things’, like, ‘I’m grateful for my car’ (although that can be something to be grateful for), it also includes those everyday things. ‘I’m grateful for this day’ or ‘I’m grateful for breaks at work’. Finding things to be grateful for can be difficult at first, but think of the small things – ‘I’m grateful for having shoes to wear’. Over time your gratitude list will grow – you’ll be focusing on what you have, not what you don’t have, and you’ll begin attracting more of what you want.

It’s about trusting The Universe.

Do the people around you have positive attitudes? Do you draw from the energy of those around you? Do you feel you give off good energy?