I assume it's a good business strategy for a hypnotherapist to try to convince many customers. Getting in a tabloid with high circulation is a good start, getting on television is better.
I think you overrate the effect of being on TV. I was involved with a few Quantified Self TV productions in Germany and in general they didn't brought more than a few new people to the QS meetups. Personal referrals do much more than mainstream media.
I also know a hypnotherapist who was on TV in a session where he cured a women of a phobia of taking pictures. It was nice for him but it didn't bring him hundreds of new clients.
For pain beyond the ability of ordinary people to tolerate which won't produce lasting injury, I'd go for challenges involving capsaicin or an Active Denial System.
Capsaicin sounds nice in principle. The problem is that most people don't know what a specific amount of capsaicin would do to a person. What kind of dose would you propose? Both that the dose isn't so high to deal real damage but at the same time that skeptics are convinced that the dose is high enough?
Finding skeptics willing to challenge your ability to do this under rigorous conditions would be a good way to get publicity, and if you're willing to place bets on it, a lot of money.
Do you really think that a skeptic would be willing to bet a lot of money on this? It's not like you are demonstrating telekinesis.
Capsaicin sounds nice in principle. The problem is that most people don't know what a specific amount of capsaicin would do to a person. What kind of dose would you propose? Both that the dose isn't so high to deal real damage but at the same time that skeptics are convinced that the dose is high enough?
Well, it takes a hell of a lot more capsaicin to do lasting damage to someone than it does to cause fairly intolerable pain. If I wanted to demonstrate that I was impervious to pain, I would probably get some Sixteen Million Reserve, and dissolve it in f...
I started going out with a fantastic girl a couple of weeks ago. Everything is great, except that whenever I've sent her a text message or email requesting something and haven't received a response yet, I experience significant dysphoric anxiety, fearing that her response will be not just "no" but "no and I don't want to date you any more". This is due to brain chemistry or personal history, take your pick—either seems like a possible explanation to me. But there's certainly no evidence supporting the idea that this is likely to happen, nor is the anxiety helping me prevent it or helping me in any other way.
Does anyone have evidence-based advice, or pointers to same, on dealing with this kind of issue? It is the only splotch on what have otherwise been the best two weeks of my life.