PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

Q:  Carrie, thanks for agreeing to chat with me.  I’m so excited to hear your story!

A:  So glad we could connect and exchange ideas.

Q:  We “met” because you were in attendance at a Veritext complimentary CEU, and when I threw a question out to the audience asking if anyone had any tips on sleeping better, you were kind enough to provide me with a very interesting response.

But first things first!  I note that you have achieved the elite designation of Registered Diplomate Reporter.  Tell us how and when you got into the profession and a little about your journey to get where you are today.

A:  I was introduced to a court reporter shortly before graduating from high school.  I was amazed to see her sitting there, looking very impartial and unaffected while she seemed to just type away.  I had taken typing in high school and had reached levels of 80 wpm and then topped out at 125 wpm.  So I knew my fingers could move fast, but I didn’t know what I didn’t know … that this was more like playing chords on a piano.  But as I watched, I knew I could do that.  And when I heard how much she made for getting to sit there and hear everyone’s stories, I was hooked.  “Where do I sign up?”  “How long will it take?”  All the usual student questions.

School finished me a few times before I finished it, but life on the other side of the certification is nothing like school.  We learn the craft, the high-speed skill, how to make a verbatim transcript, and then we enter the real world of being a working reporter.  And I’ve done it all – most of it in a journey of finding out what my strengths and weaknesses are, what I liked and, more importantly, what I didn’t like.  I love this profession because it is so flexible, and we are able to create the ideal working situation.

So when I say I’ve done it all, I have.  I started out doing freelance, which was ideal.  It let me try a bit of everything- depos, court, hearings.  After a few years I had the opportunity to work with a team of reporters on a capital punishment murder trial.  After that 18 months of daily copies, I opened up my own office.  From there I did a bit of CART, and it was great, but I realized it didn’t totally fit into who I was and what I was looking for.  I did some closed-captioning, but for me I wanted those transcript pages.  I have been an official in court, but for me it wasn’t a good fit. I love being independent, making my own schedule, being booked as much or as little as possible.

I got my RPR in 1978, qualifying me to take the California CSR, which I passed in 1979.  In 1980 I passed the RMR, and somewhere around 1996 I got my RDR.  About 2003 I moved to Nevada, and I took the NV CCR and passed in 2004.  Things in my life changed and I decided to travel a bit, and so I passed the Arizona certification, then got my New Mexico license.  During COVID I actually moved to New Mexico and did local New Mexico jobs as well as continued reporting remotely in California.  I’ve since received my certifications in Oregon and Washington, and I’ve recently applied for the Texas CSR.  I guess I like having my options.

Q:  And you sure have a lot of them! That’s really smart, Carrie.  What’s the thing you have enjoyed most about being a court reporter?

A:  I absolutely love being able to work when I want to work, where I want to work, being able to travel and work in different environments.  Mostly this profession affords me the ability to produce a quality product within the parameters of what I want out of life.  Making great money is great, and being able to use it to really try new and different things in life is even better.  As a Board Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and International Trainer, I also do a lot of speaking engagements, and it’s been amazing how I can do both and travel when and where life takes me.

Q:  I can’t wait to dive into that journey, and it’s so cool that that has led you to public speaking.  But back to reporting for just a moment.  I always like to throw this question in because it has a lot of snap-crackle-pop:  Tell us your favorite assignment story, whether that be reporting a famous witness, a high-profile case, or just something really bizarre.

A:  I remember entering the San Francisco Law Library Conference Room and setting up for a deposition, when in walked someone who was famous to me.  I looked up and asked, “Aren’t you Robert ‘The Bullet’ Shapiro?”  His face just lit up.  He was on the American Team with Lance Armstrong, and I knew of him from the hundreds of painful hours I endured with my husband watching the Tour de France.  And there he was.  He was “The Bullet” on the team because when they needed to give Lance Armstrong a break or to pull the team ahead, he was the one with the strength and the speed to do it.  “Kind of like court reporting ” … we laughed.

Q:  How cool… for both of you, actually! You just never know who you might be swearing in in this profession on any given day.  It’s one of the many exciting things about it!  Okay, how about your most bizarre reporting story?

A:  In that first murder trial, we had to do hours of reporting a videotaped medical procedure which involved the defendant undergoing interrogation while under phenobarbital.  Thank goodness it was slow enough to be reportable.  This was back in the 1980s, and at the behest of the judge (and after having previewed the videos) we agreed to do it live in front of the jury.  All this while doing daily copy.  

Q: Oh my… You were brave to agree to that!

A: It was wild

Q:  I bet it was. Now, Carrie, you are also a Board Certified Clinical Hypnotist.  Tell us about that.  How did you first get interested in hypnosis?

A:  Back in court reporting school there was a student who underwent hypnosis to overcome test anxiety.  We all felt so sorry for her, assuming it was a lack of confidence on her part.  Seven of us flew to Los Angeles to take the California CSR.  She was the only one who passed.  I learned a big lesson.

Years later I had some personal issues going on and I tried hypnosis.  It was nothing like I expected, and it worked.  And having that compulsive all-or-nothing personality, if the process works, then I want to learn how to do it!  So I researched and studied under Marisa Peer, the #1 Psychologist/Hypnotherapist in the United Kingdom.  It was 250 hours of study, 14 days in Los Angeles studying with her personally, and then practical tests before becoming certified as a hypnotist, and also a hypnotherapist (they are different), and then what Marisa Peer is famous for, which is her own therapy procedure called Rapid Transformational Hypnotherapy.

After two years of practice I was eligible to become a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, but it would take 450 practicum hours before my application would be considered.  I decided not to.  Where was I going to find that many people to work with while I’m reporting full time?

Then the lightbulb went on and I remembered that student back in school and how it helped her pass the test.  How many court reporting students are out there struggling not just with speed, with all the studying, with anxiety, with self-doubt and fighting with their own minds to stay calm, to focus and to believe in what is possible for them.  Within that year I worked with 14 students, and 12 of them passed the next California CSR.

I’ve created the Facebook group “Magic for Court Reporters,” a place I can share what I’ve learned about neuroscience, how our “steno” minds work in processing the judicial proceedings we encounter, and I also do what I call Strategy Calls with students to help us assess where they are in their journey, what is working, and what isn’t working. We’ve had some great success stories with students.  You see, there really isn’t “test anxiety.”  It’s all just anxiety.  Finding out where it started and helping students to see how their thoughts are triggering the anxious reaction in their body, that’s the biggest key to passing.

Q:   Carrie, that is both fascinating and amazing!  All court reporters know how real that anxiety is (that most of us have labeled “test anxiety”), and the results you speak of are incredible!  I hope all our friends reading this will check out your FaceBook page and spread the news, especially to the reporting students out there.

I noted that you are Board Certified, Carrie.  Most court reporters know and respect what that means from taking expert testimony.  What was involved in your becoming Board Certified?

A: As I mentioned, it was two years before I became a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist.  Then I had to do another 450 hours of practicum, along with taking several specialized courses in neuroscience,  stress reduction, somatic therapy.  There are numerous in-person (some virtual) tests of situational scenarios which you must access and execute in front of a group of your peers and Fellows of the organization you certify before.  I went through that process twice–once with the International Association of Counselors & Therapists, and again with the International Medical and Dental Hypnotherapists Association.  Actually, becoming a Certified International Master Trainer was much more difficult than the Board Certification.  But I’ve loved every challenge along the way.  I’d been nerding over this stuff anyway, so I might as well get certified.  You never know where life’s going to take you.

Q:  My gosh…  I’m just a little gobsmacked here.  Wow!  Good for you, Carrie, on so many levels.  I’m super-impressed with your journey and where it has taken you, and it probably goes without saying that I’ve joined your Facebook page.

Changing gears for a second; going back to how we met, I had asked for sleep tips, and you responded with self-hypnosis information as a way to relax and fall asleep.   What other ways can self-hypnosis help people?

A:  Before working with someone, we need to get rid of the myths and misconceptions of what hypnosis is and what it is not.  All hypnosis is self-hypnosis.  I teach all my clients how to do self-hypnosis.  This works great for sleep issues, nervousness, being able to relax, and especially how to decompress during the day when you only have a very few minutes.  The difference is that if someone has something holding them back, that feeling that they are sabotaging themselves, that takes direction from a skilled professional.  In sessions, the client is always leading.  My job as the therapist is to keep the client on track to get the best results.  We ask the conscious mind in the room to float to the side for a bit so we can see what programs and limiting beliefs are operating from the subconscious.  In self-hypnosis, you can get to a hypnotic state in order to relax, but if there’s no conscious mind directing things, not much happens.  I’ve also developed court-reporter-focused hypnosis recordings to help students put everything into perspective, to be able to relax, to see what’s available to them, and mostly to let them know that if they believe in themselves and trust in the process of the journey, anything is possible.

Q:  That’s spot-on advice, Carrie. You mentioned that you do public speaking in this regard, and now I know why!   Tell us a little more about that.

A: I’m a regular speaker at the IACT (International Association of Counselors & Therapists) Convention.  I’ve also spoken at the biggest hypnosis convention in the world, HypnoThoughts Live in Las Vegas.  But it’s always the biggest delight to speak at court reporting events where I can bring all the knowledge together.  I’ve done events for the Federal Court Reporters Association using hypnosis (we called it meditation) for 60 participants to experience the relaxation of an 8-hour sleep to reinvigorate their day.   I’ve been a speaker at the NCRA convention, as well as more local associations.  My dream is to be able to work with rooms full of students to take them to the next level.

Q:  I hope we all spread the word on that, Carrie, to help make that possible.  What an industry win that would be! P.S. I need to know about that 8-hour reinvigorating exercise!

To close us out, what else would you like to share with your court reporting colleagues with regard to stress relief and how to manage those damaging thoughts we all fight with from time to time and to one degree or another?

A: Almost everything we do and experience is a result of thought patterns and habits we’ve picked up along the way.  What we think and what we believe is what’s driving the show.  Becoming aware of what those thoughts and beliefs are is the first step to making significant changes.  You can’t fix the hole in the wall until you see that it’s there.  Don’t be afraid to ask yourself powerful questions. Instead of fighting that chattery part of our mind that never hushes, get to know it.  Try to hear what it’s saying.  You’ll realize you’re being bombarded with conflicting thoughts.  You have the right and the ability to create your own inner narrative, to calm the fears and to learn to create the life you’ve always wanted.  Some of us think that wonderful things are available to other people but just not available to us.  We are creating our own experiences minute by minute.  What do you believe is possible for you?  How would your life change if you changed what you believed was possible?

“But I can’t …”

But what if you could…?

Q:  Carrie, this has been so incredibly fascinating and fun!  I’m spellbound, truly, because I’ve always believed the adage, “Whether you think you can or you think you can… you’re right.”  The mind is such a powerful thing.  We all should try to learn everything we can to help leverage that power for good and positive things!

Thank you again so much for your time and for sharing your story with us, Carrie.  I hope you would consider joining me and my colleague Rosalie Kramm on an episode of Depo Talk, or maybe doing a Veritext CEU on this fascinating topic.  Let’s keep spreading the word!

A:  Of course!  That would be fun.  It’s been great being able to share, Jan!  Thank you for the opportunity.