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 Elijah N. “Kirk” Kirkpatrick was born in 1937 in Abbeville, Louisiana. He was the youngest of four children, with three older sisters who helped raise him after his father, who was a World War I veteran, died when Kirk was seven-years-old.
After surviving snake hunts and BB gun wars as a child in rural Louisiana, Kirk moved to Baton Rouge in 1954 to attend Louisiana State University. It was during his first year as an LSU student that Kirk Kirkpatrick hypnotized his first client; a hobby that would evolve into his true life passion. Kirk was studying the Russian Language and was a semester away from graduation when he turned 21 years-old, automatically ending his government assistance for tuition costs. Instead of allowing his mother to pay for him to complete his degree, Kirk enlisted in the Army and attended the Army Language School in Monterey, California, before being stationed in Germany. As he puts it, “I was there when the U2 went down and the Berlin Wall went up.” After completing his military service, Kirk returned to Baton Rouge and received his degree from LSU in January, 1964.
Over the next three decades, Kirk worked all across the southeast United States selling products ranging from dental supplies to computerized cash registers. He even spent an eight year stint in York, Pennsylvania, as a tech writer for a manufacturing company before returning to Abbeville as an apartment and hotel developer. In the mid-80s, Kirk returned to Baton Rouge to work for the Louisiana Office if Student Financial Assistance before joining the Department of Health and Hospitals in 1990. It was while working for the state in Baton Rouge than Kirk met his wife, Susan.
Throughout his professional career, Kirk continued practicing his hypnotherapy hobby. It was not until 2005, however, that Kirk’s hobby became his life. After nearly going into a diabetic coma and being forced to retire from his job to reduce his stress levels, Kirk began taking hypnosis courses in Baton Rouge and became a certified hypnotherapist. He used self-hypnosis to assist his healing process and was able to remove himself from diabetic medications only months after his nearly fatal diabetic coma incident.
Over the years, Kirk has helped hundreds of people as a certified hypnotherapist to overcome physical pain and mental limitations, deal with stress, improve in athletic arenas, recover quickly from injuries and surgeries and allow students to reach their full potential in the classroom. Kirk has combined his years of practice and study into a specialized form of hypnotherapy that he has named Focused Guided Imagery. In this form he is able to guide large groups through the imagery process effectively and safely.
Kirk Kirkpatrick is a Master of Guided Imagery certified by both the International Association of Counselors and Therapists and the International Association of Medical and Dental Hypnotherapists. He also holds specialty certifications in Hypnoanesthesia, Pain and Stress Management and Focused Guided Imagery.
Kirk and his wife, Susan, reside in Baton Rouge.
Click here to read Kirk’s inspiring story of his personal triumph over diabetes
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 Matthew Moscona is a versatile media professional whose ability to relate to audiences of all ages makes him a valuable part of the Focused Guided Imagery team. As a radio talk show host, radio and television producer and radio disc jockey, Matt has communicated with audiences from the ages of seven-years-old to 70-years-old. While anchoring radio news coverage in Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Matt also served as a correspondent for the BBC in London.
Although his professional career is still young, Matt is very well accomplished. He worked as the Executive Producer for the Ed Buggs Radio Show in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for four years. It was also during that time that Matt teamed with Ed to produce the Ed Buggs Show: Real Talk. Real People which is still running in syndication in more than 70 cities across America. Matt has also hosted a sports talk radio show, anchored live radio newscasts, written for a nationally-distributed sports publication and a national news wire service. Recently, Matt has also accepted an offer to join the LSU football radio broadcast team as a co-host of the pre-game show.
As a part of the FGI team, Matt is on board to ensure production value and to serve as a credibility bridge from the audience to Kirk Kirkpatrick. An All-District high school football player and a 2004 graduate of Louisiana State University, Matt is uniquely familiar with the challenges facing students and athletes today in both the college and high school setting. Because of his personal and professional relationship with Kirk, Matt is the perfect person to fill this role.
Through Focused Guided Imagery, Kirk was able to bring Matt to a mental state where the pain from his back injury no longer bothered him. Since working with Kirk, Matt has immersed himself in the physically demanding sport of distance running and has remained pain-free. Among his most cherished accomplishments are completing the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC and the New York City Marathon.
Matt also takes great pride in serving his community. Working with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training Program, Matt was able to raise more than $4,000 for cancer research as he trained for the Marine Corps Marathon. Matt has also spent time as a member of Kiwanis and Knights of Columbus.
Matt resides in Baton Rouge where he continues to work as a sports radio talk show host as well as a radio news anchor.
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