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Introduction
How long has it been since you had
an analytical resister in your office?
Virtually all experienced hypnotists
occasionally hear a client say, “I didn’t feel hypnotized; I heard every word
you said…” More often than not, these words come from the lips of an analytical
resister.
If we accept the opportunity, the
analytical resister can help us sharpen our skills in the art of hypnosis from
start to finish. Regardless of the analytical client’s goal, our secondary goal
should be to help him/her believe that trance was obtained…and that starts with
how we explain and employ suggestibility tests.
Utilizing
Suggestibility Tests
Words have
impact subconsciously as well as consciously, even when a person is in a fully
conscious state of awareness. Any experienced professional sales person knows
this, as should every experienced hypnotherapist. If we tell a client that we
are going to test their suggestibility, some clients will equate suggestibility
with gullibility, and be less likely to respond. Others might have test
anxiety, and be afraid of “failing” the test. My words are as follows:
“I’m
going to give you an opportunity to discover the power of your imagination…”
First, some people
fear giving up control…and the above wording eases that fear. Whose power is
it? The client has the power, right inside the imagination. Through effective
use of a suggestibility test, we can help the client find that power and
understand the role it plays in our lives. We are artists, and our job is to
say the right words.
There are
numerous suggestibility tests to choose from, and we need to use as many as it
takes to elicit a client response. The one I use the most is the arm
levitation, with an imaginary bucket in one hand and imaginary helium balloons
in the other one. Once the response becomes evident, I say:
“Hold
your arms where they are, and open your eyes. Your arms did NOT move because I
told them to, but because you imagined the bucket or the balloons. What this
demonstrates is IMAGINATION is the LANGUAGE of the subconscious.”
With an
analytical person, I often have to use two or three suggestibility tests to
elicit a response; but this becomes very important later. Prior to hypnosis, I
refer back to the “demonstration of imagination” and remind the client that
he/she must imagine a peaceful place when asked to do so. Also, if I suggest
imagining the benefits of being a nonsmoker but they imagine lighting up, what
will the subconscious buy? This puts responsibility back on the client to
participate in the process. Additionally, I remind the client that the mind can
think faster than the spoken voice, so it is important to imagine the things I suggest.
When I know in
advance that the client is analytical (or if a previous inducted failed to
work), I employ a mental confusion induction.
Mental
Confusion Induction
Any technique
designed to confuse the conscious mind can induce the hypnotic state once the
critical faculty is bypassed, or the moment of passivity occurs. This type of
induction is called mental confusion. While the conscious mind is trying to
find the logic in what is being said or done, suggestions are given to the
subconscious mind to deepen the state of hypnosis.
Charles
Tebbetts taught two examples of mental confusion.
The first
involved instructing the client to close his/her eyes on even numbers and open
them on odd numbers (or vice versa) as the hypnotist counts either forwards or
backwards. As you start counting, watch for watering or redness in the whites
of the eyes. When either of these begins, start pausing longer when the eyes
are closed, and hastening when the eyes should be open. You may add words such
as:
"It
becomes easy to forget, difficult to remember, whether your eyes should be open
or closed…and as you remember to forget, or forget to remember, open or closed,
odd or even, you just find yourself going deeper into hypnosis...and you can
double the hypnosis or triple the trance."
At the first
sign of hesitation, start skipping some numbers. This helps create more mental
confusion.
The other mental
confusion technique that Charlie taught involved having the client count
out loud backwards from 100, one number per breath. We may then suggest that the
client simply "relax the numbers right out of your mind." The
client's conscious mind gets occupied with saying the numbers verbally while
the subconscious is simultaneously hearing hypnotic suggestions.
“As
the numbers get smaller, they signal your subconscious or your inner mind to
allow you to drift deeper in hypnosis, either gradually or quickly. Soon you
can either forget to remember the next number, or remember to forget the one
that followed before…or the one that came afterward. And any time you forget a
number, or repeat a number, or skip a number, or say two numbers in the same
breath, or take two breaths between numbers, you DOUBLE the hypnosis or TRIPLE the trance…”
etc.
Also, it's
quite probable that the above technique evolved from a similar technique
described by Dr. John Hughes as "John Hartland's Eye‑Fixation with
Distraction Induction" (pages 74‑75 of Hypnosis: the Induction of
Conviction), which incorporates eye‑fixation as well.
Once trance is
achieved, it becomes important to utilize one or more suggestions that help
validate the hypnotic state. Tebbetts called these suggestions “convincers.”
The scientific community referred to them as challenge suggestions.
Employ a
Convincer
If you
hypnotize an analytical resister and fail to give at least one convincer, your
chances are very high that the client will leave your office believing that
hypnosis did not occur. Although I use one convincer on every client’s first
session, I often employ two or three of them with the analytical client. There
are many available. The one I use with almost everyone is eye catalepsy. I say:
“Remember
that in your imagination you can do anything you wish. Just imagine the
sensation of total drowsiness, as though your eyelids are so heavy, droopy, and
drowsy, that they just want to relax. Imagine they are so relaxed that they are
locking shut…and even if you try to open them, you find they just want to stay
shut. Stop trying and go deeper.”
Choose at
least one more convincer with the analytical client. Also, I reserve a third
one for use just before awakening: arm
levitation. I ask the client to imagine one arm is getting lighter, as
though it is floating or being held up by helium balloons…and the other arm is
getting heavier, as though it is made out of lead. I continue with the imagery
for two or three minutes. Then, IMMEDIATELY after the formal awakening, I say:
“Good
stuff…isn’t it? What was easier to imagine: the light arm or the heavy arm?”
Notice the
either/or choice. Even the most analytical of clients will almost always give
me an answer. Regardless of whether it was light, heavy, or both, I continue…
“Was
the difference between your two arms slight, moderate, or very noticeable?”
Regardless of
which choice the client makes, I continue…
“In
a deep state, there is a very noticeable difference, and the light arm might
even feel as though it is floating up all by itself. In a medium state, there
is a moderate difference between the two arms. In a light state of hypnosis,
there is little or no difference…however, ANY difference of feeling is proof
that you were in hypnosis!”
This often
convinces the analytical client who might otherwise try to explain away the
convincers that he/she responded to during trance. Note that any obvious
response to a convincer during trance will often be concluded with a suggestion
such as, “As you feel your arm floating up weightlessly (etc.), you go deeper,
totally convinced that you are experiencing hypnosis!”
Time Distortion
With analytical clients, I like to
use as many tools as possible to validate their trance journeys. I endeavor to
keep them in hypnosis for at least 30 minutes and then give a time distortion
suggestion just before awakening, either before or after the light/heavy arm:
“Now
it doesn’t matter whether your trance time felt like only five or ten minutes,
or more like 15 minutes…you can be pleasantly surprised upon awakening…”
On occasion time distortion
suggestions have been effective with an analytical client who otherwise tried
to explain away all other convincers. We may never know for sure which
convincer will have the best effect with any one analytical client; so why not
use them all?
You may find various induction
techniques in my book, The Art of
Hypnosis (Kendall/Hunt Publishing), available here at my website. This text
also has a chapter devoted to convincers. Also I have a DVD on inductions as
well as a DVD with convincers. Mention this article and receive a free CD with
your order of any DVD.
Good luck!
******************
NOTE: The
above article is based on information covered in
Click
Here to Order your copy now!
******************
Roy Hunter, M.S., FAPHP, practices hypnotherapy near
For more info, visit:
http://www.royhunter.com/consulting.htm
You may
purchase
http://www.royhunter.com/hypnosis_books.htm
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Last
updated: January 8, 2008
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