Happyboomernurse Interviews Dr Bill Tollefson
A multifaceted life coach, therapist, author, book publisher, and radio personality uses HubPages as a new platform to share his ideas
1. How did you find out about HubPages and what made you decide to join?
Over two years ago I broke away from working for an inpatient psychiatric hospital and returned to school to learn a new profession after 35 years and opened a private Life Coaching Practice. I had written a book, Separated From the Light, and from that experience I learned that process is long and very political and by the time you get your ideas to the public, it is out dated. So I was looking for a different platform to convey my ideas. A close friend recommended HubPages to me. I checked it out and found so many good writers on HubPages. I found as a writer wanting to publish my ideas that HubPages is innovative, ethical, effective and immediate. I have been involved ever since.
2. What do you like most about writing on HubPages?
I like writing on HubPages because it is such a good platform for me. As I transform in my new profession and develop new ideas and skills to help others I am able to convey them as quickly as I can write my ideas in an article. I can touch my readers with a new concept or skill to help empower them or convey a new concept to the world. I have been blogging for some time but to me blogging is not a publishing or respected writing platform like I have experienced on HubPages. I like the many different categories of writing that one can get involved in and be creative, expressive, innovative or serious.
3. Can you tell us about your professional background and how it informs the Hubs you write?
I have been working in the mental health profession for forty years. I cut my teeth in the field of mental health for my first 10 years at a long-term state psychiatric facility. I have earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Sociology, Master’s Degree in Counseling, and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. I am a board certified hypnotherapist, certified reality therapist; board certified clinical psychotherapist, certified rapid reduction therapist, certified subconscious rapid transformational technique coach, certified master life coach and holistic addiction recovery life coach. I am an author, and book publisher, as well as a radio personality and radio co-host. I have traveled both nationally and internationally speaking at conferences and educating other professionals on the effects and my methods of treating of trauma, abuse, Post Traumatic Stress Disorders, Dissociation, Dissociative Identity Disorders, and Stress disorders (including PTSD). With all that being said, my articles on HubPages is a way to express my ideas, methods and concept about ways to heal and for others to reach their maximum potential.
4. Your profile page has the quote, “Re-authoring Your Life Can Be a Reality.” Can you explain what you mean by that statement and tell us whether you believe your Hubs can help readers re-author their lives?
Re-authoring yourself is a concept that I developed to denote that it is possible for anyone to shift their mindset to reflect who they want to be today and in the future. My expertise has been on memory and how it affects how one thinks, acts and feels. I have discovered that during the time the brain is recording a life event a core belief forms that simultaneously develops a belief about the person. Over time the core belief roots its self to the memory and sits in the shadow of the memory. In short, rooted core beliefs rule how a person functions in the present. As a life coach, I guide individuals to examine their rooted core beliefs and then assist them to shift their negative rooted beliefs to positive ones so they can reach their maximum potential in their life today. Shifting core beliefs is possible, powerful and can be a reality. So re-authoring self is re-writing your belief system and starting a new personal story.
5. Can you share with us your own personal transformation from psychotherapist to life coach?
As a psychotherapist I worked in a variety of settings. About 16 years ago I formed my own Behavioral Management Corporation, known as the Women’s Institution for Incorporation Therapy (WiiT), and I treated abused and traumatized women in an inpatient psychiatric facility on a contract basis. Due to the poor economy, my corporation lost its contract and disbanded in 2009. I continued to work for the hospital but without control of the program. My strong principles, program guidelines and professional values got ignored and the clients began to get heavily medicated which was against what I believed in. Ties to the hospital were severed. Toward the end of my service at the hospital I started taking courses in the budding field of life coaching and became certified as a Master Coach and Holistic Addiction Recovery Coach. I believe that Life Coaching is the profession of the future. As a coach I have seen individuals progress, succeed and heal faster than I ever saw in all my years in therapy. This quote I wrote should sum up my view- “Life Coaching helps people to write new chapters in their lives instead of wasting time editing old chapters that have already been written”.
6. My favorite Hub of yours is, “PTSD: A Battlefield of Its Own,” because it gives compelling, heart-wrenching stories about what it’s like to have PTSD and also discusses new treatments. Do you have a favorite Hub, and if so, which Hub is it and why is it so special to you?
Many of my Hubs are favorites of mine for different reasons. "PTSD: A Battlefield of Its Own” is one of the tops. This article chronicles all my experience, knowledge, skill and my innovative technique (personally and professionally) all in one article. I developed Rapid Reduction Technique® (RRT®) 11 years ago and it has helped tens of thousands of survivors to gain power over their PTSD flashbacks and begin the process of healing their wounded souls. This article was a way to share my ideas and the healing that can be achieved with PTSD flashbacks due to abuse, combat experiences or traumatic life events. Two other favorites are “Addiction: It Begins with a Thought” & “How to Unblock Addictive Thought Patterns”. I have been noticing due to my studies and coaching that thought addiction is real. It can consume and devastate one’s mental and emotional life, and all addictions of every form start with a thought. Thoughts generated by rooted core beliefs do surface from our subconscious and motivate us or block our success. I have found that my work on this subject is innovative and has helped many to become successful. Remember, “We are what we think and how we think determines who we are, how we feel and how we behave in life”. My last favorite Hub is my article on “Open Your Mind Heal Your Body and Expand Your Spirit”. I think the title says it all. The article is my ground breaking concept and work on “rooted core beliefs”: how they form, the relationship with our memories (traumatic and non-traumatic) and how to discover how they are affecting our lives.
7. Your book, Separated from the Light offers common-sense principles and theory explaining what a human being does in reaction to trauma and suggests a path to recovery. Has HubPages been a good place to showcase your book and what advice would you give other hubbers who’ve written books?
I think HubPages is an excellent place to show case any products that one has to offer to the public. I would suggest which I have not done yet, to write a Hub on the book itself to showcase it and get the reader interested in the book. Your question has made me think of other avenues, thanks.
8. You have a blog and your HubPages account and your blog posts and Hubs seem to complement each other. Is this intentional? Does one help increase the traffic on the other? Can you tell readers how to access your blog?
Yes my blog complements my Hubs. I take more time with my Hubs because of the importance of HubPages as a great platform for publishing. Generally my blog posts are the start of my thinking and creative process for future articles. Also both chronicle my development of concepts to teach the clients I coach. Both my Hubs and blog posts are required homework for my clients.
William Tollefson Values focuses on my PTSD work. Dr Bill Life Coach focuses on my Life Coaching concepts.
9. You also have two websites. Can you tell readers how to access them and what information they’ll find there? Do your websites link back to your hubs or vice versa?
Since we have talked, I have combined the two sites into http://www.drbilltollefson.com. Having both sites was not beneficial and was confusing. I feel that consolidating them will enhance my connection on the web. All information, contact and products will be in one address. My HubPages account is linked on the Resources Tab at the top of my website homepage and I have links on each Hub article to my website.
10. Do you have any final comments or advice for fellow Hubbers?
I have been Hubbing since July of 2010. It has been an awesome experience and I have benefited much from my relationship with this wonderful platform. I have grown as a writer and my writing skills have improved. I have made connections with some fabulous people. Writing on HubPages has offered me the ability to reach thousands and thousands of people who I might not have otherwise. To all those people out there who want to convey their ideas on HubPages, I say “risk to be creative, write from your heart and transform others through your ideas”.
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