Somnambulism

Just a few things we all know, and maybe organized a bit differently….

How is it that some of us think that all and any effects we get are voluntary and that our subject can remove his response to the suggestion at will , yet others seem to feel that once a suggestion has been accepted then we can create a situation where the subject has no choice but to follow?

How is it that many times our subjects say “yeah I was playing along”, when we fully know that not the the case?

The key here is somnambulism. If you don’t have it, then your subjects might get control over their responses. They might feel that their responses are voluntary. If you do have it, unless you suggest something that is a really bad idea, your subject will go along and have no conscious control over their actions. You can create a bulletproof PHS and have it work regardless of the subjects willingness.

If you aren’t getting somnambulism you’re missing the boat.

What is somnambulism?
I understand it to be full bypass of the critical factor. So a light or medium state of hypnosis would be where the subject has reduced his critical thinking and analysis of your suggestions. Somnambulism is where there is zero critical factor and analytical interference.

How do we get it?
Some people (20%) will go there by themselves on the first go around. Those are the times we get some new dude who tries hypnosis and come back reporting that they got immediate invisibility and freeze effects. The lucky guy got one of those magic 20%.
For the other 80% we have to TRAIN them how to get to that state. It’s not a state that many of us are used to hanging out in, although it is extremely useful for learning new things. When you learn a new skill from an expert it is very helpful to put that analysis on hold completely until you have the skill down well.
How do we train them? Ah! This is the key question. The Elman induction is a great tool for this. The disappearing numbers are a state of blank non critical analysis. When we get them to the point where the #’s are gone they are by definition in somnambulism.

Remember to always go for somnambulism and you’ll find that it’s rather simple and well well worth the effort.

Utilization and resistance

In the past we have spoken extensively on being The Hypnotist. That entails making sure to keep an attitude of success. Whatever the subject throws at you is greeted with an attitude that it was expected.

Today we will explore a response that is even more powerful. Not only will we sidestep efforts at derailing our induction, we will actually use whatever is being thrown at us to facilitate trance.

For example, you’re inducing trance using a relaxation induction and the subject says “I can’t relax my body”. The hypnotist that has the wrong attitude will say “try harder to relax”. The hypnotist who has the proper THE HYPNOTIST attitude will say “wonderful, many people find that in the beginning they relax at a slower pace”.

The hypnotist who utilizes resistance will go one step further….. he will say “good…… and I wonder just how soon…. that interesting feeling of being unable to relax….. will completely capture your focus….. as you find that feeling impossible to ignore….. as you hear the sound of my voice”.

What has the hypnotist done here? He has taken resistance and used it in a powerful way to facilitate the trance state. The state of being absorbed in a feeling and unable to ignore a feeling is a profound state of trance. The hypnotist has also tied this to the sound of his voice, thereby creating a greater response potential from the subject.

Of course the subject can resist this suggestion, what that will do is make him not focus on that feeling of being unable to relax, and he will relax right into trance.

This is a fine example of a double bind being used along with a few other techniques, to neatly and simply use resistance in our favor.

Remember, any response, even resistance, is a good response. So long as we can create a response we can produce trance. It is only when there is no communication at all that we can’t induce trance.

If you have a particular resistance that you bump into and would like to find a solution for, simply leave me a comment in the comment section and I’ll think you up an answer!

Happy trancing!

Hypnotherapy

When I first began looking into hypnosis I was very attracted to NLP and Ericksonian hypnosis.

Its all so elegant and and theoretically beautiful. NLP even says that it needs not be true because it’s useful!

When I opened my practice I was in for quite the surprise. My clients need to change on a deep powerful level, and NLP didn’t seem to do the trick. It works really well for phobias and other minor issues, but for the fellow sitting in my chair with anxiety disorder it simply didn’t do the job.

I turned to hypnoanalysis to find what I was looking for. I got Cal Banyans 5 Path DVD set and found it to be eye opening. I now use Cal’s methods in my sessions as my basic guide.

Of course my experience with NLP and Ericksonian hypnosis was useful, I still feel that you don’t need to prove something thats useful. It’s simply that hypnoanalysis works for me in my practice.

This leads me to my new method of brief therapy. It mirrors the process of age regression, yet needs no formal induction of trance and still gets the same results. I will be writing about my method extensively over the next few months.

The first step in my method is to illustrate to the client how our logic is affected by what we feel. We accomplish this by explaining to the client that many mothers see their children as very cute even though it might not be the objective truth. The mothers aren’t lying… they really truly see that their children are cuter then other kids!

This is a prime example of how our emotions color our logical thinking. The emotion that the mother feels for her child colors her thinking to the point that she actually sees her child as cuter.

Once our client understands this we are well on our way to establishing a neutral point of view for that client. This is a significant therapeutic achievement in its own right, and it helps us greatly in our work as we proceed.

New therapy method

I have recently designed a new method of brief therapy. It does not need a formal trance induction and is quite powerful and life changing.

I have started writing a book on my method and I will post some of my thoughts from the book on here from time to time.