villagepeople
Hypnotherapist’s life story proves the power of positive thinking prevails over ills
I WAS always wary of hypnotists or even hypnotherapists. Scary, I had always thought, to put oneself in the hands of a person who may be able to control one’s mind.
villagepeople by Gary Balkin
So when I heard of the New Farm based hypnotherapist Antoine Matarasso, who had remarkable success in therapy with patients seeking help at his clinic, I ventured along to hear his story. He started his clinic there in James Street, adjoining the old Petersen’s butchery, in 1998. Antoine absolutely amazed me with his positive attitude towards health and habit problems. This is not just because he has spent much of his life helping others improve their attitudes – more that in the past 22 years, he has managed his own serious health issues because of his ability to dig deeply into his mindset. When he was 35, Antoine, even then a world-renowned public speaker on leadership training and a public speaking teacher, was involved in a New York workshop conference when he became ill. He had inflamed lymph nodes, and was diagnosed with having non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, as well as Tuberculosis. It was a big shock to his system but Antoine responded bravely. “I knew the power of positivity,” he said. “I had to line up at a clinic for medical therapy where six other sufferers were queued in seats in the waiting room. They all looked despondent and defeated, to my eyes. “I picked up my chair and moved to
the hallway, alone from the others, and for every medical treatment, whether chemo, radiotherapy or other I received over that period I sat apart in that hallway. “True, it’s all in the mind how you progress. You have to really want to achieve your goal. It must come from the inside. It is not like waving a magic wand.” Antoine was born in the UK, and with his three siblings lived on the expansive family farm near Oxford. He was educated at Princethorpe College near Rugby, and went on to study Theology and Counselling. He spent five years in Israel then, at the age of 25, applied for further study in both the USA and Australia, deciding to go to whichever accepted his application first. He had both his UK and Israeli passports. He arrived in Townsville that year and, after three years, moved to Toowoomba for two years, then to Brisbane. “I came to Australia to study, and I stayed when I really liked Brisbane,” Antoine said. He has lived in our city ever since, at New Farm, not far from his clinic, which boasts two other experienced clinical and medical hypnotherapists, Glen Duffy and Geoff Sweeting. “I could not live anywhere else than New Farm,” Antoine told me. “The community here, the area, is all wonderful.” But that health setback in America had changed Antoine’s life, particularly so after his first sessions of treatment, six weeks of radiotherapy followed by a term of chemotherapy, which made him feel “quite ill”. He re-evaluated his life as a theologian, trainer and public speaker, and studied hypnotherapy under his father-in-law back in Brisbane, carrying his abilities as a counsellor through to
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his new vocation as a therapist. When asked the burning question that many of us consider before leaping into hypnotherapy, Antoine reassured me that his patients do not ‘go under’, but instead reach a trance state where they remain aware of the conversations, and indeed recall the process. “When you are driving, you may tend to daydream, especially if your driving route is familiar to you,” Antoine explained. “That is a form of trance, and that trance is similar to the state of mind I want you to reach, and we as therapists are working with the subconscious mind. “There are lots of levels of brain activity, and in the stage just before sleep, you are not out of control. From there, over time, we can help you towards the solution of your problem. I reiterate, you are never out of control in that trance.” Problems people are trying to overcome include gambling, drinking, smoking, insomnia, anxiety, being overweight, any other addictions that the hypnotherapist assists the patient to try to overcome. “Many addictions stem from anxiety. Habitual drinking, smoking and gambling are self-medications, ways of trying to defeat that anxiety,” reasons Antoine. “That self-medication is not the solution. Anxiety can be debilitating. It is a cycle.” Antoine is the author of Trancesolutions, a series of hypnosis CDs and MP3s (audio format for streaming, for example on iTunes). He speaks fluent French, trains other therapists, and following nine years as vice-president of the AHA (Australian Hypnotherapists Association) he has been National president since 2010. He joined the association when there were 60 members, and now there are over 1000 members, all qualified. “We screen our applicants for membership thoroughly,” he insisted. “For years, even now, some selfprofessed therapists put up a shingle and open for business,” he warned, “but most patients are now aware of looking for the AHA qualification.” Antoine is married to Beth, and they have three children, Dylan and Jared are electricians, and Nikki is in Melbourne, working on websites as her business, and is a blogger. Antoine has often re-visited the UK and his sister on the family farm. The property has links to the Cromwell era, and another historical note is that Antoine’s great-grandfather was Bruce Ismay, who was Managing Director and Chairman of White Star Line cruise steamships, including the ill-fated Titanic. Antoine’s earlier life has included helping the homeless and giving hospital and prison visits. Further solutions he helps patients with via hypnotherapy are complete relaxation, deep sleep, creative writing and playing to win at sport.
Antoine Matarasso. Asked how therapy assists in sport, for example golf, he explains: “It’s about motivation and focus. If one loses that, it is because of being nervous or anxious, so they have to put themselves in that (trance) zone. We teach them to translate that feeling into winning.” When asked about the prognosis of his diagnosed illness, Antoine said: “When I was first diagnosed, I was told that as it was a serious form of the illness, I had a 50 per cent chance of being alive after five years. Now, 22 years later, I am managing my un-wellness still. Today, I am due to commence a new course of more chemotherapy, more radiotherapy sessions. I have had more surgery, including the prostate.” While Antoine’s health remains precarious, and his battle continues in his mode of positivity, he also continues to hold workshops, and meetings of his AHA. So after talking at length with Antoine, I was so convinced of his ability and sincerity that I am determined to return as a patient to resolve at least one ‘big’ problem – how to downsize dining portions habitually. In answer to fears of deep hypnosis, Antoine stated: “Stage hypnotists? Only a very few are very good. The type of audience member is nearly always an extrovert. There can be a sleight of hand as to how the hypnotist performs. My friend Martin St James who passed away earlier this year was one hypnotist I considered to be a successful one.” Hypnotherapy can work, as many patients testify. They also know that the motivation first has to come from ‘within’. If motivation is definitive, that big splash of Antoine’s Positivity has to be tapped into. Like the golfer, one must relax, trance-like, and focus. Fore!