In Cruise Ship Hypnosis, Part 01, Chapter 1, Katie Thatcher was introduced as a stage hypnotist entertainer performing a popular cruise ship show. More importantly, she is also a trained hypnotherapist who holds group sessions to help with a multiplicity of problems such as ending a smoking habit, losing weight, etc. She also holds private sessions for people with more delicate and personal difficulties. Her husband, Matt, serves as manager and agent. Her role as hypnotherapist led her, reluctantly, into a moderate sexual relationship with Janine and, later, with a more intense liaison with Jane in Cruise Ship Hypnosis, Part 02. She fears that these actions will put her on the proverbial 'slippery slope' toward using hypnosis to take advantage of clients. While not absolutely necessary, I would recommend reading Cruise Ship Hypnosis, Part 01, Chapter 1, to provide a better picture of Katie and Matt's backgrounds and of the events referred to in this story.
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Katie and Matt stood on their balcony looking down at departing passengers filing off the ship as the cruise ended. Just yesterday those passengers had been highly valued -- providers of money paid in bars, money lost in the casino, money used to buy optional services that not long ago were included in the basic cruise cost. Now, they were hustled out of their cabins early in the morning and stored elsewhere in lounges, bars, etc. until it was their turn to disembark. Finally they were sent off ship to a big terminal warehouse to search for their luggage. By 10:00 AM, they were gone. All this rush to empty the ship and to prepare for the influx of new passengers who will be loved until they are ousted for the next crowd. It's a business and the old is thrown out to make ready for the new.
Katie and Matt, of course, were immune to that expulsion and later watched those new passengers file out of the cruise terminal building, happily smiling and eager to board and search for their accommodations. As entertainers, Katie and Matt were not required to do so, but they regularly pinned ID badges on themselves and aided the staff by walking through, on this ship, the Royal Promenade, introducing themselves and answering questions from the newcomers. This served a dual purpose -- they provided useful information to the new cruisers and also, by introducing themselves, they encouraged people to look for their stage performance schedule. If those people happened to be young and attractive, it wouldn't hurt if they came on stage!
After wandering about meeting people for some time, Katie observed to Matt, cynically, "My, it seems that quite a few good looking women have needed your help! It seems that every time I look over and find you, I see them hanging on your words. Is that just a coincidence?"
"Now, honey, you know that this is a good time to solicit business for the show and the sessions! We need some attractive women to be decorative on the stage! Getting a few of them under hypnosis is good for business."
"Yeah, but what kind of business are you thinking about? Another Jane? Forget about it."
"Why Katie, you hurt me! My thoughts are a pure as the driven snow!" The truthfulness of his statement was somewhat undermined by the licentious grin that accompanied it.
"You're as pure as the big bad wolf! You're also as transparent as glass! Now, if you've trolled for victims long enough, let's go up and get some lunch before you try to seduce any more women."
The cruise was underway shortly with its usual shakedown period during which the ship was explored by those new passengers. Matt, as the manager of their show in which Katie was the on-stage talent, had negotiated a good contract, with their usual excellent amenities, and was anticipating a pleasant summer when on board and visiting new sites when docked.
It was the third day of a 7-day cruise on the Mediterranean, Barcelona to Venice, and the day after Katie had successfully put on their first show of the cruise in her role as a stage hypnotist. The following morning, Matt was engaged in his favorite form of exercise, playing basketball. He had been a competent, but not special, player in college, a 6' 3" shooting guard. He loved playing pickup games on the cruise ships' courts but today he was limited to playing a game of HORSE with the only other player available. He still was a good shooter and, quite easily, had won three straight games and he and his victim, Richard (never addressed as "Dick") Henderson, were drying the sweat off -- it was quite hot in the sun -- and were walking off the court.
After a quick shower in their suite, Matt intended to join Katie in scheduling several private sessions with passengers who had personal problems that they hoped hypnotism could solve. Katie also offered group sessions -- ending smoking, cutting drinking, losing weight, etc., but these sessions were scheduled by the cruise director at set fees.
Actually, these group sessions were at least as important as the stage shows because, like on-shore excursions, they brought considerable profit to the cruise line. In addition to the financial considerations, these sessions were very effective, having a high success rate which led to an excellent rating on evaluation questionnaires. The private sessions, on the other hand, were very profitable for Matt and Katie because the cruise line only charged an administrative fee for handling the payments, while the rest of the negotiated fees were theirs.
As Matt and Richard walked in and headed for the elevators, Richard stopped and asked, "Do you have time for a quick drink before we go down? There's something I would like to talk about." They got their drinks and sat down in a lounge. "Look", Richard continued, "My wife, Cindy, and I went to your show last night and, frankly, I was really surprised. I've been to a couple of these stage hypnosis shows and really wasn't interested, but Cindy wanted to go. I expected the usual...well, phony shows that I had seen before. In one of those, the 'volunteers' were obviously shills or stooges. In the other the hypnotist whispered in my ear telling me what to do and how to act. I went along with it as a good sport, but I hated it.
"As I said, something like that was what I expected last night. Cindy wanted to go on stage and see what happened. All I remembered afterwards was hearing your wife telling us to relax and sometime later, I came to or woke up, feeling very good but vague about what had gone on. It was all over, whatever it was, and we left the stage with everyone applauding. Neither Cindy nor I remembered doing anything special and I suddenly was afraid that I had been doing something embarrassing like clucking like a chicken or something weird. Fortunately, the couple we were with had watched from the audience and had used their phone to record us. There we were, singing a duet and neither of us can sing! Even more unbelievably, we sounded reasonably good! Another person was playing the piano as if he were in a symphony, but he had no piano! I talked to one of the ship's officers later and he said that he's seen her act several times and that your wife is amazing."
"Well, I appreciate your kind statement and," grinning, "I hope you will say that if you're asked to evaluate the show! We move from ship to ship over the season and, even cruise line to cruise line. In reality, Katie, my wife, is not a 'stage hypnotist' like those entertainers you have seen. She's a hypnotist who works on the stage. She actually is a certified hypnotherapist and did clinical work while getting her master's degree. She does her best work in group and private sessions just as she would in an office or clinic on shore. We really enjoy the travel and meeting people, but one of these days we'll probably settle down somewhere and she'll work in a more professional setting. In the meantime, we like this life.
"In any case, I have to leave now, go down to our suite, take a shower and meet several passengers who have some personal problems that Katie may be able to help solve. She likes the show business part of this job, but she really enjoys the problem-solving challenges. People don't take a cruise to have therapy sessions, but it's surprising how many see her stage performance and wonder if hypnosis can help them change their behavior in some way. Of course, most of those people join a group session to try to stop smoking, lose weight or whatever, but some situations are more personal and we have one-on-one meeting with them. Anyway, I really have to go now and start setting up a schedule." He paused and continued, "Look, we'll be eating in the Windjammer [they were on a Royal Caribbean ship this cruise] this evening around 6:00 if you would like to meet her."
"I'd like that very much, but I would like to go further with this right now if you can take the time and treat me as a potential client. As you saw, I'm not much of a basketball player. Actually, my playground is the casino -- poker is my game -- but I came up this morning to meet you personally and ask for some help. Cindy and I have a serious problem and that it is the reason I wanted to talk to you!"
"Oh? Well, sure, this is a surprise, but that's my job. Go ahead. Give me a quick summary of your situation and I'll present it to Katie and she will decide if she thinks that hypnotism can help. If so, we'll schedule a more formal meeting for her to talk to you. She's the professional, I'm just the manager."
"Perfect! This is rather personal, but I guess most of the problems she sees are personal. Cindy and I were married just after graduating from college, both about 21. Our sex life was excellent -- it couldn't have better, in fact. About a year later she got pregnant and had a baby boy. Two years later she had a girl. Now, for many people, having children dampens the libido and sex drops or virtually disappears. That didn't happen to us. Obviously, having kids around and the work involved led to some constraints, but our interest in sex never abated. The kids grew into teenagers, we reached our mid-thirties, but, sexual interest and satisfaction still was a significant part of our relationship. She was an active participant and had no problem initiating sex herself.
"Then she began having physical difficulties with her sexual equipment, saw the doctor and they found a large cyst growing in her uterus. It didn't turn out to be cancerous, fortunately, but they agreed that it should be removed. Since we had no intention in having more children, the decision was made to have a hysterectomy and avoid any future problem. Everything went well, she healed up perfectly, but a different, and, for us, very serious problem, appeared -- she lost any interest in sex! No, that's wrong. The interest was there, but she gets nothing out of it. Her gynecologist checked her over and found no physical problem.
"We discovered later that this really is not uncommon. There are all sorts of explanations, mostly psychological, but knowing that hasn't helped. As you can imagine, this is very difficult for us. We have sex, but, as I say, she gets nothing out of it. She tries to do it for me, but having her lie there just being used or, worse, faking excitement, ruins it for me. With the best will in the world, this has begun to undermine our relationship. We left the kids with her parents and we took this trip, visiting Spain and, now, this cruise hoping that her libido might return in more romantic situations, but it hasn't.
"Suddenly, yesterday, after being part of your show, I had an epiphany. Could your wife hypnotize Cindy and bring back her ability to enjoy sex? I mentioned this brainstorm to Cindy last night and she is more than willing to try anything. She is even more frustrated about this than I am because she wants to feel that sexual pleasure for herself as well as for me. So, that's my, no our, problem. Do you think that it is possible that your wife could help us? Will she be willing to try?"
