Sadly Bill died two years ago, just before reaching his eightieth year. He was helping clients up until the end of his life and was as sharp witted as ever despite his illness.
It was a pleasure recently when one of Bill’s former clients booked an appointment with me at Broughton Physiotherapy, Preston. He knew Bill well and it was great to hear him going through the techniques Bill had taught him and explaining how much they had helped.
It was like being back again in Bill’s cluttered book-laden study with the view of the secluded garden stretching away peacefully beyond the window.
Michaela and I were fortunate enough to have Bill as our supervisor for two years when we were first setting out as Hypnotherapists. In fact we were probably the very last people to have had an appointment with him.
By then he was clearly feeling the effects of his illness, and our session should probably have been cancelled. But our appointment had been overlooked in his diary, perhaps because we saw him on a more occasional basis as supervisees rather than clients.
When we turned up unexpectedly on his doorstep he still went ahead with the session and was as enthusiastic and encouraging as ever.
A Fount of Wisdom
Bill was a fantastic source of knowledge as well as a brilliant and dedicated Hypnotherapist and Master NLP Practitioner. His was a fount of wisdom and could always surprise us with incredible range of techniques he was able to draw upon.
Bill didn’t just use the techniques of NLP and a range of other approaches, he understood their underlying principles and would mould and develop them to suit his own purposes.
The advice he gave about clients we were treating sparkled with wisdom and inventiveness. He could always surprise us with an approach to a problem which we hadn’t thought of.
He also had a great sense of humour and an approach to life which was summed up in his parting phrase at the end of every session: ‘Have fun!’
Love of Learning
What struck us most about Bill though was the fact that even at his stage in life he was still always eager to know more. He had an insatiable love of learning and a belief in the continuing possibilities for self-development and understanding. That in particular is what made him seem so vital and full of life.
His shelves were crammed with books on all aspects of therapy and complementary treatments, many of which he recommended to us and which have influenced our own evolution as therapists.
And yet if we happened to mention a book he hadn’t heard of he would immediately note it down on his pad. He was always recommending courses to help our development and had been on many himself.
Much Loved
Bill was no doubt much loved by many people, and had aspects to his life which we could only guess at. Many clients who he has helped may not even realise that he has passed on.
In our encounters with him over two years we speculated on how much time he had left to give us. And that day we turned up unexpectedly on his doorstep we knew in the back of our minds that this meeting with him would be our last.
We felt sad but grateful that we had been able to know Bill and partake of some of his great wisdom and learning - even if only relatively briefly and in the last months of his life. Although perhaps it was then that he had the most to give.
Hopefully we have managed to absorb some of his great wisdom and learning into our own practices and can pass on some of his magic through our own treatment of another generation of clients.
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