basic_ericksonian_hypnosis_ebook.pdf

Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook

By: Steve G. Jones, Ed.S.

www.HypnosisCertified.com/ericksonian [email protected]

Table of Contents Module 1: Hypnosis in Medicine and Dentistry .................................................. .................................................. 4 Module 2: Hypnotic Rapport Building ......................................................... ................................................................ ....... 9 Module 3: Creating Sessions for People with Special Medical Needs ................ 14 Module 4: Dealing with Medical Treatments Treatments ...................................................... ...................................................... 17 Module 5: Arm Raise Induction ..................................................................... ........................................................................... ...... 23 Module 6: Bucket Lowering Induction ...................................................... ................................................................ .......... 40 Module 7: Balloon Raise Induction ............................................................. ..................................................................... ........ 44 Module 8: Proper Office Design to Enhance Rapport ......................................... ......................................... 47 Module 9: Being Adaptive as a Hypnotist – To Any Client Situation ................. 49 Module 10: How to Tap Into your Genuine Desire to Help People ..................... 53 Module 11: Paying Attention Attention to Client Feedback to Improve your Sessions ...... 56 Module 12: Pacing and Leading ....................................................................... .......................................................................... ... 59 Module 13: Eye-Accessing Cues ...................................................... ......................................................................... ................... 60 Module 14: Anchoring ......................................................... ...................................................................................... ................................ ... 78 Module 15: The Uniqueness of Each Client ........................................................ ........................................................ 81 Module 16: The Meta-Model .......................................................................... ............................................................................... ..... 89 Module 17: Model Limits ......................................................... .................................................................................. ......................... 98 Module 18: Creating Metaphors ........................................................ ........................................................................ ................ 106

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Table of Contents Module 1: Hypnosis in Medicine and Dentistry .................................................. .................................................. 4 Module 2: Hypnotic Rapport Building ......................................................... ................................................................ ....... 9 Module 3: Creating Sessions for People with Special Medical Needs ................ 14 Module 4: Dealing with Medical Treatments Treatments ...................................................... ...................................................... 17 Module 5: Arm Raise Induction ..................................................................... ........................................................................... ...... 23 Module 6: Bucket Lowering Induction ...................................................... ................................................................ .......... 40 Module 7: Balloon Raise Induction ............................................................. ..................................................................... ........ 44 Module 8: Proper Office Design to Enhance Rapport ......................................... ......................................... 47 Module 9: Being Adaptive as a Hypnotist – To Any Client Situation ................. 49 Module 10: How to Tap Into your Genuine Desire to Help People ..................... 53 Module 11: Paying Attention Attention to Client Feedback to Improve your Sessions ...... 56 Module 12: Pacing and Leading ....................................................................... .......................................................................... ... 59 Module 13: Eye-Accessing Cues ...................................................... ......................................................................... ................... 60 Module 14: Anchoring ......................................................... ...................................................................................... ................................ ... 78 Module 15: The Uniqueness of Each Client ........................................................ ........................................................ 81 Module 16: The Meta-Model .......................................................................... ............................................................................... ..... 89 Module 17: Model Limits ......................................................... .................................................................................. ......................... 98 Module 18: Creating Metaphors ........................................................ ........................................................................ ................ 106


Module 19: How to Use Metaphors in a Hypnosis Session .............................. 112 Module 20: The Use of Parallelisms in Metaphor Creation .............................. 118 APPENDIX ........................................................ ..................................................................................... ............................................... .................. 140 Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis Final Exam (Instructions) .................................... 155


Module 1: Hypnosis in Medicine and Dentistry Practitioners of medicine and dentistry have several things in common. The first similarity between professionals in these two fields is that they are primarily concerned with the alleviation of pain. They perform the vital steps needed to ensure that a person who is in pain is receiving adequate mental and physical support through medication, proper guidance and if possible, therapy through one or more methods. The second similarity is that a doctor or a dentist is also concerned with what happens in between visits to the clinic or hospital. The period between visits is vital to resolving issues because problems can arise in between visits. The third similarity is that doctors and dentists both have to make vital decisions that might have a big impact on their patients’ lives. So we are not talking only of the intellectual rigor of the medical professional or dentist we are also talking about the specific routes that the professional takes in order to arrive at a particular outcome. Medicine, dentistry and hypnosis have several things in common as well, if you think about it. Let us talk about the primary features of hypnosis in general so you can see the parallelism yourself. If a hypnotist were to work on a client’s problem through hypnotic processes, then we can say that hypnosis also aims to heal a person.

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Healing is based on the concept of making whole. You heal something because that something has become incomplete or perhaps damaged by external or internal forces. Hypnosis is also concerned with harmony and balance. A hypnotist would not be able to do this work if the other person is not in harmony with him in the first place. A hypnotic trance would not last long if the client feels that the hypnotist is not someone that he could trust with his most private thoughts and emotions. Another important concept in hypnosis is continuity. A person who enters a hypnotic trance under the influence of a skilled hypnotist will continue to recall the subconscious messages that have been implanted by the hypnotist himself. The client might not be completely aware of his ability to recall the specific subconscious suggestions, but the recall process is there and it’s lightly simmering underneath the person’s consciousness. The subconscious suggestions will continue to tickle his imagination until such time that he finds himself and the truths that have been eluding him before. So when a hypnotist decides to use a particular method to help heal a person’s mind and emotions, he’s not just healing the person during the one or two hour hypnosis session. He is setting up the mental mechanisms needed to ensure that the healing will continue long after the client has left the hypnotist’s office. Do you see the similarities between hypnotists and doctors now?

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So far I have given you the impression that hypnosis is primarily used to control pain in its many forms. While this is definitely true it doesn’t mean that hypnosis is limited to the alleviation of pain. The truth of the matter is that hypnosis can be used for a variety of situations, not just situations where in a person is experiencing sudden, acute or chronic, physical pain. Hypnosis can also be used to ease symptoms like bedwetting which just shows how complex and effective it can be when used by a skilled hypnotist. Part of the reason why hypnosis is so effective is that hypnotists tend to ‘dig’ deep into a client’s history before designing a hypnosis session specially crafted for the history and needs of the client. There are some general approaches but if you want to be a really successful hypnotist or hypnotist, you have to learn to integrate what you learn from your clients to ensure that what you will be saying will not only be appropriate but effective as well. Some of you might be thinking: if hypnosis was so effective in the first place then why is it that it still in the fringes of medicine, psychiatric care and dentistry? Why isn’t it being used by more people? The reason for this is quite simple: we now live in a world of quick fixes and there is a general tendency for people to dislike anything that doesn’t provide an instant output or result. I’m not going to say that hypnosis is the golden cure all but by using it you can address a myriad of different issues that would have otherwise overwhelmed any medical professional. If you can still remember, the proponents of hypnosis a few centuries ago were actually doctors.


Hypnosis might have begun as something that is almost unfathomable or mystical but in reality this method has become a profound ally by radical healers who believed in the genuine capacity of the human mind and body to heal itself. This is probably the reason why hypnosis is still being frowned upon by many conventional medical professionals to this day. Hypnosis doesn’t involve the use drug therapy and the results will vary depending on how committed the client is to the hypnotic therapy. We must remember that in the end, a hypnotic client’s progress is still determined by his ability to utilize what has been given to him by the hypnotist. To an extent, this involves normal thinking which is why hypnosis is never really used to address psychiatric cases wherein the patient is already beyond the veil of normal functioning and thinking. Hypnosis also acknowledges that there are also some things that cannot be achieved purely through hypnosis which is why it is called complementary treatment. Hypnosis can be used to enhance the success of an existing

healing regimen.


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Module 1 Suggested Practice Familiarize yourself with the different areas in which hypnosis can help a client. Know which topics you are comfortable with and which topics you will refer out. Begin gathering/writing sample scripts that you can use with your clients.


Module 2: Hypnotic Rapport Building Now that you have a better understanding of the position and function of hypnosis in medicine and dentistry, let’s talk about the various approaches you can use to achieve certain results. These approaches are best suited for individuals who work closely with patients who may, from one time or another, experience chronic pain or even emotional anguish from any health condition that they may have. Let’s talk about the application of hypnotic processes to medicine first. There is a three-phase process that I would like you to keep in mind before attempting to use the hypnotic process on any patients. This vital, threephase process is put in place to ensure that the patient’s needs are addressed directly and you will be providing maximum aid to the hypnotic client when one steps into your office for help. Alright, so the first phase is determining the client’s history and actual needs. This can be done simply by having a pre-hypnosis session with the client. All you are going to do at this point in time is to talk to him about his life and how his condition has affected him. It is very easy to just ask a client “are you in pain?” or “are you sad?”; you need to learn how the condition is deeply affecting the different parts of his life because that information will help you later on in crafting an appropriate hypnosis script for your client. Without this intimate knowledge, which will only be given after you have established rapport with your client, you will not be extremely effective as a Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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therapist because you will only be able to use a general approach to resolving the specific problems that the client is facing.

Now, I don’t want to give the wrong impression here. Hypnotists are not tasked with creating very specific solutions to people’s problems. We are not here to provide financial guidance for people who are heavily in debt. We are not here to provide a step by step program for couples who are generally violent with each other. Our job is to bring back balance and clarity in a person’s life. That is the extent of your job.


We are not deeply involved in the problems themselves; we only stand at a proximate distance so we can recommend what the client can begin doing to solve his problems. We show the way – we don’t walk that path with the client. Another thing that you should remember when you are performing your task during the first phase is to determine what matters the most to your client. Some experienced hypnotists have a pretty good idea what matters to people. Family, friends, health, money… The list of potential drives goes on. However, it would still be better if you really get into the mind of the client and find out what makes him tick. For example, one person might be inspired by the accumulation of wealth. But it might turn out that this person is even more inspired by the idea of rebuilding an old ancestral house because it represents positive memories and forces in his life. Memories and drives like this are pure gold for hypnotists because they are deeply embedded in the client’s psyche and they arouse very strong emotions in people as well. Once you have been able really know your client very well, it’s time to move on to the second phase or step in the process. The second step is extremely important because it deals with personal acceptance. Too often people struggle with medical conditions because they use every bit of their might to oppose the idea that they have a condition that requires medication, surgery, etc. Opposing a condition isn’t necessarily a bad thing.


Of course, we do not want your clients to just say “oh, it’s fine if a have a heart attack one of these days”. This is not what we want to happen. Rather, it would be extremely beneficial to your client if you can change the he views his reality and condition at the present time.


Module 2 Suggested Practice

Create intake forms and a list of questions for your clients that will help you better understand what they need your help with.


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Module 3: Creating Sessions for People with Special Medical Needs There are some things that are beyond human agency. For example, a person who lost an arm or a leg because of an accident or a severe disease may be in constant pain because he still hasn’t accepted the reality that the limb is gone forever. The role of the hypnotist is to ensure that the client transitions from denial and negativity to acceptance and genuine personal healing. This might sound like a tall order for someone who engages in the art & science of hypnosis. And yet, this is a very sound approach when faced with someone who is carrying a lot of burdens because of his health condition. We’re talking about individuals with chronic pain like cancer patients to people who are still navigating that unsteady terrain of transitioning from one kind of life to another. The second phase of the process has a two-fold function. Obviously, the first function is to enlighten the client as to what cannot be altered anymore. The second function is to show what the client can still do to make his life meaningful, gratifying and happy. The third and final phase is to create a special hypnotic session for your client to address his needs. It is important to create sessions that will allow your client to achieve a specific outcome. For example, if someone approaches you with a severe dislike of his new medication the ideal output would be to accept the fact that he has to take medication so that his life would be prolonged and he would still be able to do the things that he loves.


Now, before we dive into the different ways that you can use hypnosis in medicine, I want to take this opportunity to highlight the mind-body connection. Believe it or not, this concept is actually very relevant to the

idea of healing the mind with hypnosis. For several centuries it has been generally believed that the brain is a client of the corpus or the body and the thoughts that it generates have no bearing on the actual condition of the body. We know now that this is not true at all. The mind is actually more powerful than we have already imagined. It is capable not only of rational/creative thoughts it also has a dominant influence on the very tissues and organs of the body. So when a person is experiencing pain, one cannot separate the pain of the body from the pain as it is being experienced by the person through his mind. Are you ready for the special hypnotic approaches? The first technique that I am going to share with you can be used for patients who are distressed because of conditions that prevent them from functioning normally on a daily basis. If your client’s condition is slowly eroding his ability to become active and independent, this technique can definitely be used.


Module 3 Suggested Practice Research chronic pain and understand it’s impact on both the mind and the body. Know how to offer your clients a solution that works for them and is sustainable and can be developed without your presence.


Module 4: Dealing with Medical Treatments The first step is to be familiar with the client’s mental coordinates. What is he is worrying about now? What concerns him the most? What does he fear losing because of his condition? Determine these coordinates so you can chart an effective hypnotic path. The second step is give the client a sense of control by showing him what can and cannot be altered by human agency. Inform the client of the nature of his condition to the best of your knowledge and provide an alternative path that will allow him to live with the condition. The client must see himself surpassing the challenges associated with the said condition and he must also see himself succeeding in life despite the existence of the health condition. It is very important to emphasize the need for acceptance at this point in time especially if the condition is chronic. Next, begin creating a new roadmap to a fruitful and more satisfying life with the condition. Identify the things that may worsen the condition and

focus on the stuff that does help. For example, if the client has severe high blood pressure then it is imperative that he stay away from high cholesterol foods and stressful environments because these can easily trigger a deadly spike in his blood pressure. Propose a solution that is sustainable and can be developed even without your presence. For example, if your client is an amputee who has lost both legs, what kind of mental and physical exercises must be done to become more functional? Visualize the body in its entirety and try to create a


visualization process that will help the person transition from this point to a more satisfying and productive life. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know a lot about medicine. Hypnosis, visualization and self-healing work regardless of the logic and specifics of the hypnotic experience. The body will understand what you are trying to do so just focus on the central messages that you want to convey to the client’s subconscious mind. In addition to creating the perfect mental environment for self-healing, it is also important to empower your client that he becomes an active agent in his journey to healing and acceptance. Many patients feel depressed because they feel that suddenly, control of their life has been taken away from them because of their condition. Well, it is up to you to convince your client that he still has some control of his life and he is not defined at all by his condition. He is however, defined by the choices that he makes during his treatment, etc. The second approach that I would like to discuss with you centers on the idea of quality of life. A person’s quality of life is a big determinant when it comes to his happiness and contentment with his life even if he does have a medical condition. It is easy to say that a person’s personality determines how well he would be able to cope with his condition however there are many instances when a person becomes disoriented and confused because of the big changes taking place in his life. So it is not so much that a person is not capable of dealing with his condition it’s just that he is not capable of adjusting immediately to his changing needs. Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page 18

The first step in this technique is to find out how the condition is affecting the client. If the condition is severe like cancer you have to be aware of what has already been done and what kind of treatments will be involved in the future. The severity of a condition can be used a key indicator in the hypnosis session. You have to firmly anchor the hypnotic treatment around the changing realities of the person. All visualizations and suggestions must help the client accept what has to be done so that he can begin doing other things that will make him happier and stronger. The second step is to deal with the stress and anxiety associated with the treatments and the condition itself. Meditation and other similar activities can definitely help a person achieve a better quality of life. Exercise in its many forms can also help people deal with physical pain and the other discomforts brought about by their condition. The next step is to suggest things that will allow the client to feel the richness of life despite of his condition. Unless your client is bedridden or is advised against going outdoors, there are plenty of things that a sick person can do safely provided that someone is always with him and he is always taking the proper precautions. Travelling is definitely a good idea and if the client is up to it, you can work with him so that he would be conditioned to travel and explore places that he’s never been to before.


There are many documented cases of people being able to vastly improve their lives by pursuing activities that they have always wanted to do but never had the time or need to do. In a way we have to reveal the silver lining to the client. Perhaps the disease was life’s way of saying “slow down and start living before it’s too late”. The next set of guidelines that I am going to share with you can be used in dentistry. You can use the basic templates that I have already discussed in the previous sections (e.g. getting to know your client, establishing mental and emotional coordinates) and just adapting to the client’s situation before adding the various techniques and guidelines that will follow. So here are the guidelines: The dentist’s staffs can help alleviate stress and anxiety. Short chats or interviews can reveal vital clues to the client’s real state of mind that may not be revealed to the dentist himself. Assuming that you are a dentist yourself, you must avoid any kind of communication that will allow your patient to say no. Yes sets are extremely effective in gaining immediate compliance from another person. Fractionated rapport is also essential if the client is a new client. Don’t be too eager to begin the procedure; break the process down into steps. For example, ask the client “would you like to sit down?” after that, you can chat with the client for a little while and ask again “would you like to have a drink of water?”. You will be asking these question to ascertain whether or not the client is ready for the actual procedure. If he is still not ready, then you can just pace him some more until the anxiety reveals itself and you can then address the anxiety directly by talking to the client and enlightening him as to what you would actually be doing. Avoid saying things like “are Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page 20

you ready now?” because these statements will just spur the client’s anxiety to greater heights. It is also important to note that a significant portion of a person’s pain and discomfort during dental procedures is caused by naturally occurring chemicals in the body. The heightened sense of pain is actually caused by stress and stress triggers many automatic responses in the body, included fight or flight. Deal with the stress first and the fight or flight response dissipates. Ignore the stress and you will have to deal with a client who feels more than his fair share of discomfort and physical pain. Of course, there are many drugs that can be used to numb a person’s mouth during a dental procedure. But what if the issue is not the pain itself but the idea of undergoing a dental procedure in the first place? Employ regression techniques. ***You need a medical release form from your client’s medical doctor to conduct a regression for medical-related treatment.


Module 4 Suggested Practice When working with your clients and their medical condition it is important to know, understand and ask questions about the following: 1. How the condition is affecting your client. 2. The severity of the condition. 3. The stress and anxiety your client is experiencing. 4. The positive aspects of their life despite of the condition 5. Activities that they have always wanted to partake in, but never pursued it.


Module 5: Arm Raise Induction Perform an “arms raised” induction right before the dental procedure. The goal of this induction and the subsequent implementation of a hypnotic script is to simply relax the client and remind him that he can still relax even if he is in a dentist’s office and he is about to have a procedure done to correct his teeth. If the client is showing visible signs of muscular tension because of severe anxiety, perform the following steps. Let the client lie down on dentist’s chair and ask him to relax. Hold the client’s wrist gently and lead his arm upward; make sure that you don’t jerk the arm up – let the client slowly raise his arm with a little help from you. Jerking the arm up might startle your already anxious client. Inform the client that he appears anxious and perhaps even stressed from the procedure. As you are saying this, continue raising the client’s arm until it perpendicular in relation to the client’s body. In the 1950s, the American Medical Association took notice of hypnosis after a patient underwent a thyroidectomy (removal of the thyroid) while in a hypnotic trance induced by a hypnotist. No other painkiller or anesthesia was used. Since then, hypnotists have made powerful strides toward changing public perception about hypnosis. Doctors continue to use hypnosis to calm their patients, and to ease pain during procedures. They regularly tell patients how easy recovery will be. Additionally, doctors tell patients a procedure is Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page 23

common and comes with a high degree of success. Because these phrases are delivered by an authority figure, they act exactly the same as hypnotic suggestions and become reality for the patient. There are also more obvious hypnotic suggestions given to patients by doctors trained in hypnosis. And for over a century, dentists have used hypnosis to ease discomfort during dental procedures. In addition to using hypnotic techniques themselves, doctors and dentists regularly refer patients to hypnotists for help with weight loss, smoking cessation, and overcoming fears about dental and surgical procedures. Before the 1950’s, the medical profession scoffed at hypnosis. Today they are readily embracing it as a complement to long-standing medical procedures. At no other time has the world of hypnosis been as wide open with exciting possibilities as it is now. Because more and more people are exploring and accepting the benefits of hypnosis, a much greater need now exists for qualified hypnotists to open practices. The goal of this course is to give you—a potential or practicing hypnotist—a strong base for building your practice. You will be guided through a basic hypnosis session, and you will be given homework opportunities to use and modify your technique so that you can help others lose weight, find love, and increase their financial success, among other things.


My Background I have over two decades experience in hypnosis. I am a graduate of the University of Florida, a certified clinical hypnotist, a member of both the American Board of Hypnosis and the National Guild of Hypnotists, president of the American Alliance of Hypnotists, and director of the Steve G. Jones School of Hypnosis. I am also on the Board of Directors of the American Lung Association in Los Angeles, CA. I currently live in Savannah, GA, but I see clients and teach classes worldwide. I have a client-base consisting largely of people who need to lose weight or gain confidence. Other clients include sales teams interested in boosting motivation and increasing income, singles searching for love, insomniacs desiring proper sleep, and smokers wanting to change their habits, to name just a few. It is my hope that this course will breed a cadre of hypnotists with a strong commitment toward practicing with integrity, thus altering negative perceptions about hypnosis while allowing people to make positive changes. To this end, I am providing you with the tools to change peoples’ habits and perceptions, and to help them overcome fears. I know that you can help your patients find love, make a fortune, and reach their optimum level of physical fitness through hypnosis.


About Hypnosis I want to address and debunk some of the numerous misconceptions and myths about hypnosis. First of all, hypnosis is not a Zen-like trance in which the client, also referred to as the patient, is in some sort of metaphysical state. From time to time clients will experience this; however, the goal of hypnosis is to get the client into a very light trance, also know as “Alpha.” When in Alpha, a client is up to 200 times more suggestible and is therefore more able to receive messages that influence positive change. Anything deeper than Alpha (Delta or Theta) is helpful, but not necessary. Stages of Consciousness Hypnosis deals with four stages of consciousness: Beta, Alpha, Theta, and Delta. Normal awakening consciousness is called Beta. In Beta, a person’s brain is fully functional and in an alert state. It is paying attention to and processing stimuli from the outside world. In Alpha, a person is slowed down slightly and is therefore more focused and able to dedicate his train of thought to one thing. Equate Alpha to the state you are in when watching TV, or when you have been driving for a lengthy period. When driving, your attention is focused on the elements of driving. Outside stimuli play a lesser role. At first, you may be aware of things around you, such as cars and pedestrians. After prolonged driving,


your attention shifts to what is happening directly in front of you. This is Alpha. Alpha is a “not-really-here, not-really-out-of-it” phase. In Alpha, outside stimuli are no longer distracting the client, who is then able to receive habitaltering messages from a hypnotist. It is important to note that, like driving in a trance, patients in hypnosis still can react as things happen. A common misconception about hypnosis is that clients under hypnosis cannot react, and therefore the hypnotist has ultimate control over the patient. In Alpha, the patient is always in the driver’s seat. The patient is fully capable of reacting and making decisions. Some patients under hypnosis go deeper than Alpha into Theta or Delta, and most patients will transition between Beta, Alpha, Theta and Delta during the hypnosis session. Some patients will never attain Theta or Delta, regardless of what the hypnotist does. However, almost everyone will fall into Alpha on the first session. Techniques for guiding patients to Theta or Delta are more complex, and are beyond the scope of this course. Those techniques are taught in my advanced class.

You should know,

however, that there are tests for ascertaining how deeply a person has fallen. Some methods of hypnosis are more effective in Theta and Delta. (Incidentally, the person whose thyroid was removed while under hypnosis was in Delta.) Because patients generally toggle among the stages of consciousness in any given hypnosis session, most will have the experience of only remembering some of the things the hypnotist says. Patients often believe they remember everything, but actually remember very little. Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page 27

What is Hypnosis? Hypnosis is the most immediate tool for changing beliefs and/or behaviors. Of all the therapies, hypnosis will produce the most immediate results. Hypnosis is a combination of hypnosis and therapy, which is one of the many attributes separating it from stage hypnosis. Traditionally, a hypnotist will spend about half of his or her time talking to the client while the client is in Beta (normal awakening consciousness). The remainder of the time, the client will be in hypnosis (Alpha or lower). Hypnosis works by combining hypnosis with precise, outcome-oriented therapy and targeting the subconscious mind. Hypnosis is quite different than traditional therapy. Instead of spending years with a therapist, clients who undergo hypnosis will have an efficient, fast, and reliable means of altering negative behavior. It is important to note that hypnosis is not for everyone. Some patients want to spend years in traditional therapy getting to know themselves and examining the roots of their behavior. Some patients will even respond better to long-term non-hypnotic therapy.

Hypnosis is just one of the

thousands of ways a person can achieve his goals; however, if your patient wants immediate results, hypnosis is the most effective tool. The beauty of hypnosis is that a person’s body does not know the difference between imagining something and having it happen. As far as the body is


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concerned, the physiological responses are the same regardless of whether the client is imaging something or it is happening. The client therefore has the advantage of intellectually knowing that a situation is happening only in the imagination and physically responding as though it has happened. The client gets the benefit of tackling his fears, losing weight, or becoming motivated without even having left the hypnotist’s chair. The client is still reclined in the chair, yet as far as his body knows, he has conquered his cravings, lost weight, learned how to speak to romantic interests, etc. This means that when it comes time for the client to eat healthy foods, or go on a date, or stop procrastinating, his body will feel as though he has already done this, and he will therefore have the confidence and ability to move forward.

Responsibilities of a Hypnotist To help move hypnosis into the mainstream, hypnotists should adhere to the following guidelines:

1. Do no harm. This course provides powerful tools for tapping into the subconscious mind. In doing so, you must first make a commitment to making only positive changes in your patients’ lives. If you have a client whose idea of a “positive change” differs from yours, you have a responsibility to refuse to perform therapy on that client.

For

example: If a weight loss client wants to lose 15 pounds in one week, you should explain to him that this is unhealthy. Then offer a more Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page 29

reasonable plan, and refuse to treat him if he insists on attempting to lose 15 pounds in one week. 2. If hypnosis is not working on a given patient, stop treatment and refer the patient elsewhere. Do not waste time with clients. If you continue to treat a client who is not getting the results he wants, you will have wasted your client’s time and money, and damaged not only your reputation, but also the reputation of hypnosis in general. Not all patients will respond to hypnosis, and not all patients will respond to your method of hypnosis. Accept this, and move on if goals are not being met.

For example: Let’s say you have a client who is a

mortgage broker and wants to make more money . You should initially have her agree to three to six sessions. At the end of those sessions, you must assess how the treatment is progressing and if it is of any benefit to the client. I always assign homework to patients to get a measure of how invested they are in their own change and to keep them moving toward their goal. For this client, I would have her make a certain number of calls per week. If she has not made calls after the third session, we are obviously wasting each other’s time. I would then terminate the hypnosis. 3. Set reasonable, solid, and productive goals. Set goals that are attainable. Aim high, but give your clients time to respond. Never promise clients that they will, for instance, lose 50 pounds in three weeks. Instead, do research and set a reasonable goal. Do not set your clients up for failure. For instance, with the mortgage client discussed above. I would break up her homework into small steps. In week one, she should make ten calls. In week two, she should make 20 calls, etc. Expect that your client will get off to a slow start. Perhaps she will not do the homework at all the first week. Keep in mind that many people Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page 30

expect you to wave a magic wand that forces them to accomplish their goals. These people are waiting for a zombie-like trance to take over their mind and body and cause them to make those calls uncontrollably. By week three, reality should set in. The patient either understands that she has to work or I explain to the patient that she is wasting her money. Believe it or not, some clients would be happy to undergo hypnosis for years because it makes them feel and appear like they are trying. Never allow this. When hypnosis works, it works quickly. Long-term, wonderful effects may reveal themselves later, but most of the change begins to happen within a few weeks. Take things slowly when you have a client who wants to lose 100 pounds, for example, but make sure he is at least doing his homework and making small steps forward. 4. Follow all state and federal laws. For instance, legislation in early 2003 requires California hypnotists to disclose certain information to their clients. It is YOUR responsibility to know the law in your area concerning hypnosis. Consult an attorney if you have to. Do the right thing in your practice. Unlike many medical professionals, hypnotists are given a lot of leeway. In many states, we are not strictly regulated. In any situation, you have a built-in compass for right and wrong. Use it. Treat people with care and respect. 5. Check with your client’s physician before performing hypnosis to determine whether the client has a medical condition related to his or her hypnosis goals. Perhaps your client wants to lose weight, but has a history of bulimia that he “forgot” to mention. Make sure that you have permission (a signed form or letter authorizing the treatment) from a client’s physician before moving forward when you are treating any medical condition using hypnosis. Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page 31

6. Likewise, if another healthcare professional refers a client to you for treatment of a specific problem, treat only that problem. You have not been handed a blank check. Respect the process of the M.D., hypnotists, or psychotherapist. Do your job, report your findings to the healthcare professional, and end the treatment.


Hypnosis Overview A general hypnosis session begins with a pre-talk. This is where you explain hypnosis to the client and reassure them about the power of their mind. Next is the induction, which is the initial attempt to drop the client into a light trance. After the induction, the hypnotist will conduct a deepening which drops the client into an even deeper trance, as the name suggests. The hypnotist will then use a script, which is the therapy-portion of the session. The script includes suggestion for change. Upon finishing the script, the hypnotist will segue into amnesia, which suggests that the client’s mind will forget the session. Finally, the hypnotist will use trance termination to bring the client out of hypnosis. In this course, each of the above steps will be covered in detail. However, each client is different, so the therapy session might be changed depending on the client’s needs. Hypnotists should be flexible. Always remember to think on your feet. Do research so that you can take alternate paths if you are on a course that does not seem to be working. When conducting a hypnosis session, learn to speak monotonously and slowly. Throughout the session, you will want to lengthen your words. Your tone should be dull and boring. See the chapter titled Inductions for more details. You also will want to use positive words. For instance, when I work with people on procrastination, I do not call it “procrastination.” I call it “motivation” because this is the positive way of looking at things. Learn to


spin things positively. Instead of saying a person is “afraid to fly,” say he wants “freedom to fly.” Experiment with phrasing things positively. Some professionals believe that hypnotists should not use the word “no” or “not” because they believe that the subconscious mind drops these words. In other words, instead of a hearing “You will not eat carbohydrates,” the client will hear, “You will eat carbohydrates.” I often use the words “no” and “not” with positive results. However, to be on the safe side, you may choose to avoid using negative words. Instead, say, “You will be done eating foods with carbohydrates” or, “You will crave foods that have a low amount of carbohydrates.”


Glossary of terms Alpha—The lightest stage of hypnosis, Alpha is just below Beta (normal

awakening consciousness). Amnesia—Brief yet powerful suggestions given to cause the client to

consciously forget the hypnosis experience. Beta—Normal waking consciousness. Client —The subject of the hypnosis session. May also be called “patient.” Deepening—Suggestions given after an induction meant to deepen the state

of hypnosis. Delta—The deepest state of hypnosis. Diagnosis—The patient’s main “problem” (i.e., overweight, unmotivated, or

smoker). Be careful not to share this label with the client. You need to know what you are dealing with, but if the client hears this label, she may identify with it. When talking with the client, it is better to say, “You are a woman who used to smoke.” Avoid saying, “You are a smoker.” Also, keep in mind that hypnotists are not qualified to diagnose. That is the job of a licensed therapist or MD. Induction—The first part of a hypnosis session intended to ease the client

into a trance. Phobia—A fear. Script —In this course, a “script” describes the main part of a hypnosis

session during which the main therapeutic message is delivered. Theta—The state of hypnosis just above Delta. Trance Termination—Ending the hypnosis session either by returning the

client to full awakening consciousness (Beta), or by suggesting that the client go to sleep (Delta or Theta).


Recording your Sessions Because it takes approximately 21 days to form new habits, you should be prepared to tape your hypnosis sessions so that your clients can listen to their sessions each night, thus reinforcing the change. Only record the hypnosis portion of the session. The hypnosis session begins when you begin the induction. Be prepared to begin the CD or mp3. immediately when hypnosis begins, and stop at the conclusion of the session. I sell hypnosis CDs from my Web site and sometimes people buy four or more CDs at once on, for instance, Weight Loss, Unlimited Motivation, Unlimited Confidence, and Better Golf. These clients sometimes have the intention of listening to all four CDs at once. Do not have your clients do this. Tackle one problem at a time, and give your client three weeks to change a habit. Allow the client to ease into the change. If you try to force change, if you tell the client to listen to the tape 21 times in one day, both you and your client will get frustrated. Remember: Set reasonable goals. Do not try to force change because this could be counterproductive.


Controlling the Environment You will want to establish an office space that allows you to control the environment. Cut your clients off from the outside world and demand their complete attention. You must have them relaxed. You must have them in an oasis from the outside world. You must have the client’s complete attention for the hypnosis to be successful. In controlling the environment, first, make sure that the client has gone to the restroom. Dropping your client into Alpha and sustaining hypnosis is difficult if they are squirming with discomfort. So, simply ask them, before you begin the session, “Do you need to use the restroom before we begin?” Likewise, make sure that their cell phones and pagers are turned off. Make sure that they are in an environment where no one and nothing is going to disturb them. There should be no barking dogs, or sounds of traffic. Control the environment. Make sure that the client is not too cold, or too warm. Give the patient the option of being reclined. A comfortable, reclining chair is perfect for this. Get one. I prefer to have my clients reclined in a nearly horizontal position with an eye covering (like the ones which are sold for sleeping or airplane trips) over their eyes to block out any light. The clients listen to my voice through headphones.


I want to completely control the environment (for this reason, I generally avoid going to a person’s house for a hypnosis session). The client is not going to physically see anything because his eyes are going to be covered. He is not going to hear anything except my voice and the gentle ocean waves I play in the background. The client is perhaps going to be covered with one or two blankets, depending on the temperature. Your job as a hypnotist is to make sure that there are no controllable occurrences that will interrupt the session. If there are, handle them before starting the hypnosis session. I learned this lesson the hard way in 1986: I had a patient, a doctor, who wanted to be hypnotized. She was on call during our first session, and she kept getting up during the hypnosis session to respond to her pager. I was young and she was not respecting the session. I immediately formed a strict policy against this disruptive activity. If your patient is on call, tell her to come back another day. Do not allow yourself or your client to be disturbed. Some clients like to multitask; hypnosis is not about that. Think of it like surgery—it would not be acceptable if someone knocked on the door during surgery or if the doctor stopped operating so the patient could take a cell phone call. Show your client how to respect the hypnosis session. Bottom line…Control the environment! It’s YOUR responsibility.


Clients to Refer Out Occasionally you will receive a call from a potential client who is not an appropriate client for a hypnotist. You will know when you are in “over your head.” It is always a good idea to refer out (send to a more appropriate healthcare provider) anyone who tells you they are schizophrenic or psychotic, for example. These are serious mental health cases that you are NOT trained to handle. Also, anyone who wants to uncover past memories of abuse. You are NOT trained to deal with the emotional fallout of such scenarios. As hypnotists, we work with changing behavior in otherwise high functioning clients. This means they are stable individuals who simply need help losing weight, gaining motivation, being more confident, stopping smoking, etc. We enable behavioral changes stemming from changes in their belief systems. We do NOT turn insane clients sane, psychotic clients “normal,” etc. I cannot list all of the types of cases which you should refer out, but use your judgment. Never take a client just for the money. If you feel you are not qualified to handle the case, you are RIGHT. Refer them out.

Module 5 Suggested Practice Practice the arm-raise induction with a friend.


Module 6: Bucket Lowering Induction Tell the client to just relax his arm and hands even if they are raised in the air. Do not let go of the client’s wrist as the arm might suddenly fall to his face or chest when he decides to relax his tense muscles. There is no need to hold the arm very firmly; when the client’s arm has been raised up you only need to lightly support the wrist with the tips of your fingers. Your fingers will act as the guideposts that will remind the client to keep his arm raised. Distract the client by telling him something about muscle relaxation. You can tell him to observe his hand or fingers as these have a tendency to move about a little as muscular relaxation sets in. If the client is still not completely relaxed what you can do is to simply tap the tips of the client’s fingers so that they would lightly contract. The tendency is for a muscle to relax after it has contracted. Continue lightly tapping the tips of the client’s fingers until there is visible evidence that he is completely relaxed. It is actually hard to relax an arm that has been raised up so you can be sure that other parts of his body are relaxed as well. It takes immense concentration to relax your arm while keeping your whole body tense. The body doesn’t respond this way at all. When a person chooses to relax, he will relax completely because that is how the body responds to conscious commands. The body tenses and relaxes as a unit not as separate parts. Keep talking about relaxation and just give any plausible explanation of what’s happening. Asking your client to focus on some visual aspect of his


surroundings will also prevent over-analysis, which really isn’t good for hypnosis. When the client is completely relaxed, ask the client to feel a warmth that is beginning to spread from his hand, down to his arm and throughout his whole body. The source of the warmth would actually be your own fingers but the client won’t be too aware of this. Guided visualization takes time so just let the client experience it on his own pace. But don’t worry, many patients have very vivid imaginations and this type of induction only take three to four minutes to complete. When the client is showing signs of being in a deep trance, you can begin giving hypnotic suggestions related to relaxation and being pain-free. Time the suggestions so that they are received by the client whenever he breathes out. Encourage full, belly breathing as this also helps dissipate stress. This next technique can be used to quickly insert hypnotic suggestions if you are pressed for time. Alright so just ask the client to lie comfortably on the dentist’s chair. Ask him to close his eyes and to relax. Hold the client’s wrist gently and raise his arm gently, taking care not to jerk it up as this can startle your client. When the client’s arm is up in the air, begin the visualization process. Let the client imagine that he is holding a small bucket and you are going slowly fill this container with sand. At first you are going to add very small amounts of sand but as time progresses you will be adding more and more sand to the bucket. You can easily create an immediate impact on the client by saying things like “I am now using a giant scoop to put more sand in your Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page 

bucket and your hand is becoming strained as the bucket becomes heavier and heavier”. After a time your client’s arm will gradually lower because of the imagined weight of the bucket. Pay attention to the gradual downward movement of the client’s arm. When his arm moves down, insert your hypnotic suggestions until finally, his arm is finally level again with the rest of his body.

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Module 6 Suggested Practice Practice the bucket and sand induction with a friend.

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Module 7: Balloon Raise Induction Okay let’s move on to another technique that you can use if you just want to relax your client. This technique again, makes use of arm levitation so if you are getting used to the general idea of hypnosis-induced catalepsy, this technique shouldn’t be too difficult at all. So the first thing you are going to do is make the client relax on a reclined dentist’s chair. When the client is fully relaxed, ask him to close his eyes. Now lightly touch both sides of his right wrist and say this: “I am tying a special balloon right now to your wrist. This is a special balloon because you are the only one who can see its color. What I can tell you about it is its size as it slowly fills with helium.” Begin leading the client by informing him that the balloon that is tied around his wrist is becoming bigger and bigger. It’s not enough to say that the balloon is getting bigger though; you also have to say that the balloon is pulling up his arm slowly. Repeat the hypnotic suggestion until the client is responding quickly to each suggestion that the balloon is getting bigger. When the client’s arm is completely in the air and appears cataleptic, you can begin ‘deflating’ the balloon. Each time the balloon gets a little smaller because there is a small hole in it, add suggestions of relaxation and comfort until the client’s hand is finally back on his lap.

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Now normally hypnotists just say, “Your whole body is becoming relaxed.” In the case of a patient who is having a lot of trouble opening his mouth, you must isolate the relaxation to the mouth area. You can do this by saying, “You are so relaxed right now that your jaw muscles are unable to keep your mouth closed”. You can also say that there are small weights attached to the corners of the client’s jaws and these weights are pulling down the mouth easily. Think of other creative ways to encourage a person to just let go and open his mouth during a dental procedure. The next scenario is: what if the client has a challenge with too much gagging? When a mouth restraint is placed inside the mouth, the normal mechanism responsible for taking away excess saliva is disrupted just a little bit. Even adult patients who are not anxious at all may feel like gagging because of the dental mouthpiece used during procedures. So what can you do to help a patient who is gagging so much? The trick is in the breathing. Sometimes patients take shallow breaths simply because their mouths are open. They forget that they can still breathe easily through their nostrils. So what you are going to do is you are going to encourage your patient to simply breathe deeply and with each breath say that he is going to be increasingly relaxed. Watch the client’s chest for any changes in the breathing rhythm or breathing pattern. When the client is able to stabilize his breathing, the gagging reflex will disappear or at least it will be greatly reduced.

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Module 7 Suggested Practice Practice the balloon raise induction with a friend.

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Module 8: Proper Office Design to Enhance Rapport Seasoned hypnotists will tell you the same thing: it’s actually easy to create a stunning hypnotic script… The hardest part about meeting new clients and clients is establishing rapport. Rapport simply means harmony between two or more people. If there is no rapport between you and your client, your power to influence and persuade the client is significantly lower. So in the end, whether you like it or not, you need to learn how to establish rapport if you want to succeed as a hypnotist or hypnotist. Rapport might sound like a simple concept but since you are in hypnosis you need techniques with measurable results. You can’t rely on common rapport methods because you don’t really have the luxury of time in many instances. This is the main reason why I have devoted several modules to this topic – to ensure that every person who goes through this course will have the ability to establish trust and rapport wherever they go. Don’t worry; the rapport-building skills that I am going to share with you today can easily be used in day-to-day social interactions. So if you’re thinking that these skills will only be useful when you are interacting with a hypnotic client, think again: all good communicators need to know how to establish rapport with their clients or audiences. Without rapport, people won’t trust you and there would be no real reason for people to listen and believe in what you are saying. That is how important rapport is so do not underestimate its value in any setting that involves social interaction. Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page 

The number one reason why you should be concerned with rapport is that you won’t get a lot of good results with your client if he doesn’t perceive you as someone that he could trust and confide in. Some people think that hypnotists have a natural talent for getting people to trust them; little do people know that hypnotists actually have to work hard to master the various ways that they could gain compliance from other people. In the context of professional hypnosis, what do clients actually expect from the person who is conducting the hypnosis session in the first place? First, clients generally feel that the hypnotist should be competent in what he is supposed to know from ground up. So rapport is really established the moment the client walks into your office. Your office’s design must be conducive to a hypnosis session and long conversations; the physical space within your office is an extension of who you are and what you represent as a hypnotist. The second thing that clients expect is that you are there to help them overcome their problems.

Module 8 Suggested Practice Practice establishing rapport with people you interact with as you go about your daily routine. Whether it’s the cashier who takes your coffee order, a co-worker you speak with on the phone, a janitor you pass by at your office, etc.

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Module 9: Being Adaptive as a Hypnotist – To Any Client Situation Another thing that people expect is that hypnotists are powerful individuals who have the ability to communicate what needs to be said even in the toughest of situations. People who reach out to hypnotists do so because there is a general belief that hypnotists have a better understanding of how the human mind works. Now, there are countless other minor expectations about hypnotists that we are not going to discuss anymore because they are not really that relevant to your practice of hypnosis. What is relevant is that you learn the various ways that you can establish rapport with any person regardless of the person’s age, sex, background or experience with hypnosis. I know that many beginning hypnotists wish that every client were an ideal client who ‘knows the drill’ and knows enough about hypnosis to be an easy

hypnotic client. Unfortunately this will not be the case. Hypnotists meet all sorts of people from extremely hypnotizable ones to extremely resistant ones. You must be prepared to deal with all of them if you want to be successful and if you want to learn more about the art and science of hypnosis in the real world. If you are ready to master new rapport-building skills, then I am going to share with you a list of specific techniques and guidelines that you can use any time when interacting with a client.

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Now, it is important to be adaptive as a hypnotist because not everyone will be opening an office to establish their hypnosis career. Some people are reading this because they want to use hypnosis in their daily life. That is perfectly fine and might I say a worthy investment in oneself. The guidelines that I am about to share with you are geared generally for people who introduce themselves as hypnotists to other people. The context is that people will be coming to you and paying you for your expertise and for your time. The very first thing that you should be aware of is that whenever you interact with another person, you are transmitting messages not only verbally but also vocally and non-verbally. So there are three channels of communication involved whenever you talk to someone: verbal channel, vocal channel and non-verbal channel. You may have already come across the concept of nonverbal language in your other readings so I am just going to refresh your memory so you can tie up this concept with rapport and hypnosis. Okay so when you talk to someone, the receiver of the message is ‘reading’ three distinct channels of communication. In an ideal world, a person would be able to effortlessly communicate the same idea through three different channels. Unfortunately this is often

harder than expected especially if the speaker is not completely interested in communicating with his client in the first place. So a person might be saying “please feel free to share anything with me” but his body language (nonverbal channel) and his vocal language (tonality, Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page 

speech rate, etc.) might not be communicating the same thing. When this happens, cognitive dissonance occurs and the client will find it more difficult to trust you because you are not sending a congruent signal to the client. This might sound a little extreme but in the event that the client is someone that you cannot possibly have any good rapport with, it would be better to just refer him to another hypnotist. This would be an excellent option if you two aren’t getting along and his level of resistance is insurmountable. In such a situation it would be better to turn him over to another hypnotist who might know some other method that will allow the client to receive help through the hypnotic process. Such instances are very rare and 98% of the time, hypnotic clients just need a little nudge in the right direction to become ideal hypnotic clients.

But in the event that you do find someone that is hard to get along with, much less hypnotize in your own office, then it is time to refer that person to another hypnotist who might be able to provide better service. Always remember that in the end, you are still providing a form of specialized service and the client will be expecting some good outcomes from approaching you. If you cannot create these outcomes by working closely with the client and by learning as much as you can from him by interviewing him, then you won’t be able to effectively render the service that you promised the client in the first place.

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Module 9 Suggested Practice When communicating with people, we aware of your three channels of communication (verbal, vocal and non-verbal). Try to align all three to convey the message accurately.

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Module 10: How to Tap Into your Genuine Desire to Help People When you are working with a client make sure that you give your one hundred percent attention to him and to him alone during the entire hypnosis session. Turn off your phone or set it to silent and don’t use it while talking to your client. Avoid answering phone calls in the middle of an induction or a hypnosis session and never accept strange people into your office when your client is in a deep trance state. A person who is in a deep trance state would feel vulnerable for the most part and if you accommodate other people while you are performing hypnosis, the client will definitely feel very uncomfortable. Treat your client with high regard and respect his privacy at all times. Every person has personal preferences and specific values; it’s fine to have them but make sure that they don’t shine through when you are speaking with your client. Imposing any value system on a client is extremely bad in the context of hypnosis because you are mainly a guide, not a teacher. People don’t come to hypnotists to learn about morality and religion. If they did, then hypnotists would probably be segregated and fragmented into hundreds of different subgroups and this would make hypnosis arcane and to put it lightly, irrelevant to people seeking help.

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Now, in the previous discussion we talked about the three-phase process needed in every hypnotic intervention geared towards medical cases. If you can remember, the first phase is determining what matters to your client . Once you have established these vital coordinates you must be careful not to talk about certain things with your client because he/she finds it offensive/immoral or just downright frightening. In the event that the client begins talking about things that you don’t want to talk about, you have two choices – just weather the storm and let it pass or you can stop the conversation and inform the client that you can’t talk about those things. More often than not, clients follow the hypnotist’s lead and they stop. In the event that the issue at hand is vital to the client’s recovery, then it might be a good time to refer the client to another hypnotist if you are unable to perform your duties as a hypnotist yourself. Another important factor that should never be missing when you interact with clients is your genuine desire to help them. If you develop an unquenchable desire and drive to help others through hypnosis or hypnosis, then this genuine desire will shine through your words and actions. Your state of mind will reflect in the way you interact with people and in the way you devise various ways to heal troubled minds and spirits. Inversely, if you do not like what you are doing and you find clients tedious and stressful to deal with, all of the negative thoughts and emotions will also find a way to express themselves in your words and actions. Unless you Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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have extreme self-control, these natural manifestations of your thoughts and feelings will be felt and seen by your clients.

Module 10 Suggested Practice When meeting with a client, put yourself in their shoes for a moment to feel what it would be like to be in their position. Let this fuel your desire to help them.

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Module 11: Paying Attention to Client Feedback to Improve your Sessions In the history of Ericksonian hypnosis, there are countless stories of successes attributed to the most radical of approaches. One of these approaches was the word salad wherein a hypnotist would record and analyze strings of unrelated words in order to determine the problem of a psychiatric ward. Sometimes this technique worked, sometimes it didn’t. But there was one thing that was proven time and time again – the best type of communication is the kind that can be appreciated and understood by both parties. We are not just talking about lexical meanings and such; what I am really trying to emphasize is discovering how the client would like to talk and adapting to his own mode of communication so you can create and convey meaning more effectively. Too often people force others to think and speak in a particular manner. If you were a teacher and you were in a classroom full of students waiting for academic instruction then this form of communication would indeed be beneficial. But if you are sitting in an office with a troubled person who is about to give up all hope in life because of things that he cannot even express properly, what one must do? The first step is to discover how the person speaks and

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understands the world at large. This can be done through careful study of

the client’s language-in-use. It is fairly easy to ascertain that a person was speaking English or French. But the real challenge is determining how the client likes to express himself. Does the client prefer metaphors over direct statements? Does the client usually break off a line of thoughts before he reveals something that might help the hypnotist? Does the client remain silent but for the right reasons when he is asked something? Is the client waiting for a different line of questioning so he can finally reveal what is bothering him? These are just some of the tangential lines that can be explored when you are working with clients. Note that not all clients are resistant and not every client will give you a run for your money during a pre-hypnosis interview. But it pays to be aware of the various lines of thinking that you can utilize to penetrate the mental veil that hides the vital details that a hypnotist must see in order to devise an effective intervention. The next issue that I would like to discuss with you is the importance of client feedback during an interview or during a hypnosis session. Now, there is a common perception that meaning is generated by a person when he talks. Naturally, a person has intent when he speaks and of course, no one would want to send the wrong message when one interacts with others. However, intent is not sufficient when it comes to determining the meaning of words, phrases and sentences when they are uttered. The final determinant Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page 

of meaning in the context of hypnotic intervention is how the client responds to what you are saying. This might sound strange and even contradictory,

but it is completely and undeniably true. In hypnosis, it doesn’t matter if you had the best of intentions. If you uttered something and the client misunderstands your words and provides a response that is not congruent with your primary input that means you have not been a good communicator at all. There is a general tendency for people to become frustrated when they are misunderstood and the blame is usually aimed at the receiver of the message. But let’s try to flip the common conception. What if the real problem is the communicator himself? What if the non-ideal feedback given by the client is actually the appropriate response for whatever has been communicated by the hypnotist? Now that we are done discussing the finer principles of conveying and decoding meaning in conversations, let’s talk about representational systems.

Module 11 Suggested Practice P ractice Analyze how your client responds to what you are saying. Ask questions and read non-verbal cues during every session to determine how to better care for your client

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Module 12: Pacing and Leading The next topic that I’d like to discuss with you is pacing and leading. Now in the context of establishing rapport the most important aspect of pacing and leading is the concept of rhythm. Rhythm is defined as “a movement, fluctuation or variation marked by regular recurrence or natural flow of related elements”. If we were to look at how people interact with each other you would see the recurring elements used by both speaker and listener to keep the interaction going. As the hypnotist, it is your job to ensure that the rhythm of the interaction will benefit the client primarily. It doesn’t matter if you have a tough time in the beginning; what is important is you are aware of the current rhythm in the interaction and you are able to perform the steps needed to create the perfect rhythm to suit the session’s goal.

Module 12 Suggested Practice Practice pacing with friends. When you feel as though you have gained rapport through pacing, trying leading.

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Module 13: Eye-Accessing Cues It wasn’t until the late 1970s when Richard Bandler and John Grinder started talking about the eye accessing cues. There had been some talk about it prior to that, but no one actually linked eye-accessing cues or eye movements to what you are feeling internally and then gave it a systematic approach. What I am talking about is that you can look at someone’s face and look at their eyes, which is something that you cannot do over text or email, only face to face. You can watch how their eyes are moving with each thing that they are saying or thinking. They do no have to be saying anything in this conversation that you are having, they can just react to what you say. When you watch someone’s eyes and they say the eyes are a window to the soul, it is interesting that, until the late 1970s, we did not have access to those windows. It was foggy, as if the curtains were on it. Now, the curtains are gone and the window is perfectly clear. We can see into people’s souls through their eyes. How, in the world, can we look at someone’s eyes and tell what they are thinking? Take a look at the diagram below:


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We are going to look at each of these in detail and take a closer look to see what they can tell us about people. Remember, these little lines represent the way someone’s eyes are moving. My eyes, in the world of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) can move six ways. In the world of NLP, created by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in the 1970s, you are only going to look one of six ways, which means that you can narrow that down to one of six ways. Someone could look only straight and give you a poker face, you have got your work cut out for you as it will be very difficult to use this system and determine what they are thinking. The good news is that most people do not do that and use ey- accessing cues. One thing to keep in mind, just as with everything, is the fact that there are people who are trained in this. You could very well be dealing with someone who knows what you are up to and knows how to deal with this. For example, in law enforcement agencies, their agents are trained with this technology. This is true in the USA and probably other countries. The Federal Agents are trained at FLETC. There are numerous locations around Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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the world where you might find the FLETC building or group of buildings. One is in Georgia, however, there are several. That should be good news to you – The fact that the US government pays money to have their Federal Agents trained in this technology is good news. Believe it or not, the US Federal Government is not interested in wasting money when it comes to training law enforcement officers. They want to give them the basics, something that works, quickly and efficiently. The fact that this information is used in Federal Law Enforcement training is good news. It means that the government has seen value in it. In the United States, a lot of people do not know this; there are over 90 different Federal Agencies: FBI, CIA, Inspector General’s office and many more. When most people think of a Federal Agent, FBI or CIA come to mind, however, there are over 90 different agencies. There are also many people in each agency, all of whom are trained in this technology. That is good news. The odds are, when you are dealing with someone and using this, it is not going to be a Federal Agent. It will be an average person or a citizen who is unaware of this. Do keep in mind that this information is out there. If you have someone staring right at you, it may be someone who has access to this technology. Chances are you will be dealing with a date, someone to whom you may be selling something, a child or a parent, husband or wife, boyfriend or girlfriend or someone who is your boss or employee.

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There are people who know this other than Federal Agents. With anything that you learn, be aware that someone else could know it too. The trick is to make sure that you are highly skilled in what you do. According to NLP, you will look in one of the six directions as long as you are not looking straight. Let’s look at the first one, which is the Visual Created. If you are facing someone and they are looking up to their right, that means they are visually creating something. What does that mean? If you imagine your room, for example your bedroom and your bed. with purple and pink polka dots on it. You may not have the purple polka dots, which is entirely your choice, but let’s just assume that you don’t. You will have to create that visually and come up with that in your mind. According to NLP, this will require to look up to your right in order to create that. Even the people who are most trained in this; there is a natural propensity and a natural urge to look up and to the right. You will see even trained people start to do it but catch themselves. You will have to catch them do it and be observant. You have to watch for cues which will tell you about their internal world and you will do that by getting those cues. As you can imagine, if someone is creating something visually and you are asking them a question about something that is a fact, they could be lying. We will talk later about how to use conversational hypnosis to be able to determine if someone is telling the truth or not. The next one that I want to talk about from the diagram is the little horizontal line to the left. This line says AC – Auditory Created. AC could Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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be how your mother would sound as Mickey Mouse. Again, I assume that your mother does not sound like Mickey Mouse and that you have to create that in your mind. If you are looking at someone and they are looking to their right, that is because they are having to create something auditory. For example, how your mother sounds as Mickey Mouse would be how a normally oriented person would create auditory - Horizontally to the right. Your brain is putting together the sounds. Looking at the diagram, the diagonal line on the lower left, which is their right, we see kinesthetic or a K. This would be something like if I asked you what it feels like to walk on the beach or across a grassy field barefoot. It is motion and feeling. It can also be emotion. For example, what does it feel like to win a million dollars, what does it feel like to graduate from college? It can be a happy, sad or a plain ordinary feeling. It can also be feeling something like the grass or sand. Therefore, if you are facing a normally oriented person as they look down and to their right, we know that they are feeling something. If you look at the diagram at the upper right part of it, you will see VR (Visually Remembered). As you are facing the person perhaps asking about their first car, up and to their left, they are going to simply remember it. The next one down in the diagram is AR (Auditory Remembered). If you are looking at the person and they are looking to their left, as you are facing them, this would be something like asking them to remember their mother’s voice (Auditory Remembered). Assuming they remember their mother’s voice, it would be something that they actually remember and they are simply accessing that information. Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page 

As we look at the diagram, you will see a line on a diagonal lower right. It says ID (Internal Dialogue). Internal Dialogue means saying something over and over in your mind. For example, if you make a mistake about something you would say, “Oh, I blew it.” If you know something, you would say it over and over, “I knew it, I knew it, I knew it.” If you are looking at the person and they are looking down to their left, which, on the diagram is the right side since you are facing them, you will know that they are saying something over and over in their mind. In my experience, that one isn’t very helpful because I am not really concerned if they are saying something over and over in their minds. I don’t know what it is they are saying over and over in their minds unless they are saying it out loud and that is not very helpful for me to know. If they are saying something out loud, I do not need their eyes to tell me. Of all these, I find it the least helpful whereas the others are extremely helpful, which is the reason why we will focus on them. Before you can use any of this technology we must determine which way the person is oriented, referring to whether they use the accessing cues or the opposite or, unfortunately the third choice, which is the combination of the two. You do not need to worry about that, as I will teach you a system for determining where they look and for certain key information. You want to ask them questions or you can just engage them in a normal conversation. As you can imagine, if you want to see if someone is normally oriented, you would talk to them about something that they have not seen. For example, Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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you might mention the Statue of Liberty or a new cowboy hat, which is something that would require them to create something visual as they would have seen in a cartoon. They would have to create it in their minds. You will then see which way they look when they create something visual. If they look up to their right, you know that they are normally oriented for that. If they look up to their left, you know that they are oppositely oriented. This is a simple test that allows you to determine which way they are oriented just mentioning anything that you are sure they have not seen before; they will have to create it in their minds. This will give you an indication of which way they are oriented. Use that simple test to determine the way they are oriented, however, in my view, the test is not valid unless you can replicate it. Part of that is based on the research that I do for my doctorate, however, part of that is also common sense. I could have gotten lucky that one time. Maybe something was distracting them, perhaps an airplane going by, which is what distracted them. I will replicate the test and ask them additional questions around subjects, which they must create visually. For example, I know what kind of a car they drive and I can say, “Can you imagine your car with a racing stripe on the side?” If their car does not have a racing stripe, they will have to create that visually. I can also do other tests and have them imagine one of their friends sounding like Mickey Mouse, again, something that would have to be created. In the last case, that would be auditory created. If they are normally oriented, they are looking straight over horizontally to their right. If they are oppositely oriented they will look to their left. Let’s say that we’ve done our test with someone, have engaged them in the normal conversation and we have found which way they look. We know Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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whether they are normally or opposite oriented which gives us something to go by. At this point, we can find out through this system how they represent their world internally. Are they primarily visual, auditory or kinesthetic? If they are primarily visual, through the conversation, they will be looking up to the right or up to the left a lot. If they are primarily auditory, they will probably be looking horizontally a lot – Straight over to the left or straight over to the right. If they are primarily kinesthetic, they will be looking down to the right a lot and if they are oppositely oriented, they will be looking down and to the left a lot. It stems from this that you need to pay attention to find out what kind of a person you are dealing with. If you can determine which way they are oriented, visually, auditory or kinesthetically, simply by looking into their eyes, you are going to have a powerful tool to begin speaking in their language. Remember, everyone is going to use all of these at some point. You must identify which they use the most and how do they mostly relate to their universe? Now, let’s change gears a little bit and talk about lie detection. This can be very helpful because, if someone is lying to you, you are probably not making the progress that you think you might be making with a client. Something else is going on. If you are talking to someone who says to be interested, however their eyes say otherwise, their eyes are correct. You have to believe that what you see in their eyes in reality and what they are saying is not. Eye accessing cues are very helpful in this regard. I want to caution you, just like a pilot is warned at night – If you are flying at night, you cannot see anything, watch the instruments and they will tell you if you are flying level or if you are off course. Your instruments will tell you where Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page 

you are going and how you are oriented. I encourage you to watch their eyes, as eyes don’t lie. Keep your eyes on their eyes and you will know what they are doing. You will notice the professional poker players sometime wear sunglasses. Why is that? Do you think that they want to look cool or that it is attractive? Perhaps it is true, but one of the main reasons why poker players wear sunglasses when they are inside and do not need them is because they do not want people reading their eyes. People who are trained in professional conversational hypnosis will be able to pick apart what is going on and tell if that person is bluffing.

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This technique works very well when you are dealing with the car sales people or sales people in general. This can work very well for police officers or Federal Law Enforcement Officers trying to get information. There are numerous applications for this. Find the applications that suit your life and begin to use eye-accessing cues with every chance that you get. They are your barometer with what is going on and your instrument panel, so keep your eyes on the instruments. How can we tell if someone is lying by using this technology? Here is how. Once you have determined which way someone is oriented and you know how their eye-accessing cues work, you can simply ask them a series of questions. Once they have passed the test, in other words, you know that they are creating something visual by looking up to the right and you know that they are remembering something visual by looking up to their left, you know they are feeling something by looking to their lower right – You can ask them, for example, “How do you feel about being here? If they are normally oriented, they should be looking down and to the right. If they are not and are looking straight over to the right, they are creating something auditory and coming up with something to say. They are not feeling it, they are just saying it. I know that, if they are looking to the right, they are not telling me a feeling. They are making up something to say and creating something auditory to deliver to me. I can then conclude that they are hiding their feelings and are not sharing their feelings with me. This example is probably a little too cliché, but what if a husband comes home at night and says that he was working late in the office. He was supposed to be home at 8 o’clock, comes home at 11 and did call for the last few hours. When the wife asks him, “Where have you been?” That is Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page 69

probably not the best question. She can say something that requires an auditory memory of the office. If he was in the office for the last three hours, then he remembers something auditory from there, assuming there are sounds. There are also sights in the office and while she probably would not want to get this precise, depending on the level of rapport, she could say, “Okay, you were there from 8 to 11, tell me what the office looked like at 10 o’clock tonight.” If he was in the office at 10 o’clock, he knows that the office looked like at 10 o’clock and he would look up and to his left. If he was normally oriented, he would be remembering something visual. If he was looking up to his right, he is creating something visual. Now, that question was too trial-lawyer-ish, as if you were on a stand, and you may not want to be that obvious about it. Let’s say that he was meeting someone at the office. He had to stay there until about 10:30 since he was meeting someone at 10 o’clock. It was Joe, his business partner. That is interesting. How did Joe look when he walked into the office? Did he look tired or did he look happy? If the husband was at the office and saw Joe walk in at 10:30 or whenever the business meeting occurred, if he was normally oriented, he would look up and to his left and remember how Joe looked when he walked into his office. Joe looked great because he has been working out or Joe looked sad because of the mergers and acquisitions. He will be remembering how Joe looked and remembering his face overall. If he is creating it and he is normally oriented, he is looking up and to the right. That, unfortunately, means that he was lying ladies. He is not telling you what actually happened and is instead creating what Joe looked like. He did not see Joe at 10:30 and Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page 70

was probably elsewhere where he should not have been. If he was oppositely oriented, please remember to reverse this. The lie detector test thus works really well. You cannot, however, start firing off questions without determining which way the person is oriented. Also, keep in mind that some people do very subtle eye movements. There is probably not going to be a quick shift to the right for the audio created and sustained shift to the left for audio remembered. Maybe it’s a slight little glance in that direction. You need to get used to that person and how they talk with their eyes. People talk and communicate with their eyes. This technology can be very helpful in a number of ways. First, you can determine which way the person is oriented, auditory, visually or kinesthetically, based on where they tend to look the most. Second, you can use it for the lie detector test and of course, to get into their world. You can find out how they like to represent their world and begin to use the same words. Interestingly enough, people will often use a series of these eye-accessing cues in a row. For example, if you ask someone about their day, they might look up to their right first and say, “I wish I was sitting in the boss’ office,” as they create a picture of themselves visually in the boss’ office. “I wish I was in my boss’ office, sitting at his desk because life would be a lot easier, but I am sitting at my desk,” – At which moment they look up and to their left remembering what their desk looks like. As they then look down to their right, they might continue by saying that the morning was really rough. They are feeling it. Then, they might look up and to their left and say, “Then the phone rang and it was a sale. I landed the so and so account!” – As they look up and straight to their left since they remember something auditory. Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page 71

People will look all around. To say that someone is shifty-eyed does not mean that they are lying. All it means is that they are using all these different eye accessing cues and using them in a number of ways. Part of this program that can advance your point out is sequencing. If someone has a normal pattern of sequencing, you want to mimic that pattern. For example, if they tend to be visual, auditory and then kinesthetic, you want to mimic that pattern. How do we know what their pattern is? If they look to their left, up to the left then right, then they look straight across to the left or right which is the auditory area, then, depending on the way they are oriented, they move down to the right or left which is the kinesthetic area, we know that their sequence tends to be visual, auditory, kinesthetic. This is going to require some fancy footwork on your part. So far we have been two steps of a dance. Now, it is time to do something like a Brazilian Tango – Something more difficult and something more interesting. If you can follow patterns with people and then repeat the pattern yourself back to them, they are going to feel extreme rapport with you. For example, if someone is talking about their day and they look up and to their right, then across to the right, then down to their right – This is an easy one VAK (Visual, Auditory & Kinesthetic). If you see it once, it does not matter. If you see it repeated over and over again, that is their sequence. Their sequence could be anything, AVK, KVA. Whatever they are doing, if they are doing it consistently, that is a sequencing pattern for them. You have got a map to their heart.


What do you do with this map once you realize their sequencing pattern? You follow it. You determine if they are visual, auditory and then kinesthetic in terms of their normal sequencing pattern and you begin talking in those ways. Talk about something that can be seen, then talk about something that can be heard and then talk about your feelings. “Hey, I’d like you to come with me to this concert because I’d like you to see the light display they do. It’s amazing, the lights just light up the stage and the way it sounds is amazing. They play this one song, you know the song, it’s awesome. I feel so in tune with the band when they play. Would you like to come on a date with me tonight?” Do you see what I’ve done? I have determined that they are visual, auditory and then kinesthetic and I’ve described the date that I would like them to come on with me in terms of visual, auditory and something you can feel – kinesthetic. Let’s look at the five questions in the quiz. For each of the questions, I want you to assume that the person is normally oriented. They look the ways that you see in the diagram and they are not oppositely oriented. To make it simple, just assume that they are normally oriented. Question #1: If you are looking at someone and while they are talking to you, they look up and to their right, what is going on in their mind? Question #2: If you remember your mother’s voice, the assumption being that you have heard your mother’s voice and could have a clear memory it, which way are you looking? Question #3: If you are talking about feelings, which way are you looking? Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page 73

Question #4: I want you to describe the process of catching a liar, catching someone in a lie. It could be any lie at all and you can make up the process. I want you to describe the process of catching a liar. Again, you can write this down, say it out loud or see it happening, depending on the type of a learner that you are. It is up to you how you take each quiz and how you answer each question. Question #5: It has to do with sequencing. If you are talking to someone and notice that they are looking up, left or right, then straight across, left or right and then down and to the right, assuming that we have a normally oriented person. If we have a pattern for somebody which they continue to repeat over and over again, what pattern is this? Tell me the pattern they are following. Question #6: What will you do with this information? Answer #1: If a normally oriented client is looking up to their right, they are creating something visual. Answer #2: If someone is remembering their mother’s voice, they are looking horizontally to their left. That is auditory remembered. Answer #3: If someone talks about their feelings, they are looking down to the right. That is kinesthetic – Feelings. Remember that feelings can be emotional feelings or the feeling of sand on your bare feet. It can be something pleasant or it can be sand paper on your skin. Feelings can be emotional or physical in your skin or in your body. For example, it can be Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page 74

cold or the wind. Feelings, therefore, for normally oriented person, you are looking down at your right. Answer #4: To catch a liar, as you remember, first you must determine which way they are oriented. With these questions, we assumed that they are normally oriented but we know that, when remembering something visual they are looking at their left. In the case of auditory, they are looking horizontally to the left. We can then simply ask them questions. “You say that you were in place ABC at XYZ time. Tell me, during that time, something about what you saw. If you were in a meeting with someone, what were they wearing?” That is the type of question that you ask. IT is something that they saw and you would watch their eyes. If they are looking up and to their left, that is where they should be looking to remember something visual. If they are looking up to their right, they are making it up. They are lying. If they were at the concert and you asked about something that they heard, you may ask how did the band sound? If they actually heard it, they will simply remember the sound and look horizontally to their left. It is auditory remembered. If they are making it up, they will look horizontally to the right – Auditory Created and you yo u have yourself a liar. When they are looking to their right either up or horizontally across that is when you know that they are lying. The fact that their eyes may be darting around does not mean that they are lying. What matters is where their eyes are going when they are darting around. A shifty eyed person is not necessarily a liar; it could simply be someone who is processing a lot of information. What matters is where those eyes are shifting and when.


Answer #5: The sequence of their access is Visual (for up to the left and the right), Auditory (for horizontally for left and the right) and then Kinesthetic for normally oriented person (down and to the right) - VAK in the NLP lingo. Answer #6: If we see this sequence repeating over and over again, we know that we have a person who likes to go through this particular sequence. We can then start presenting the information to them using this sequence, something to see, something to hear and something to feel. You would talk about seeing the band or having to see the pyro-technics. “The sound of their new speaker system will just blow you away. You know I really love this band. They are near and dear to my heart.” As you can see, I am using the sequence of that person, visual, auditory and kinesthetic, which is something to which they relate. How did you do on this quiz? If you missed two or more of the questions out of the six, I strongly recommend that you review the material before moving on. If, however, you did not, if you did better than that, that is great!


Module 13 Suggested Practice When having normal conversations with people, take notice of their eye movement. Learn their representational system.


Module 14: Anchoring The next topic in our list of effective rapport-building tools is anchoring. Anchoring is actually a group of principles that originated not from hypnosis per se but NLP or neuro-linguistic programming. What is anchoring? Anchoring in a nutshell is simply process of encouraging a specific reaction from another person when a pre-associated stimulus is manifested. So before an anchor can be called as such, association has to be performed first. A good example of an anchor is knocking on someone’s door. In Western culture, it is customary for someone to approach the door when someone is knocking. The anchoring is done when a person is young and the anchor forever embedded in the person’s behavior. The beautiful thing about anchoring is that you can achieve almost anything with it. For example, if a person lacked self-confidence you can create subconscious anchors that will allow the person to feel good about himself when he is tasked with interacting with other people outside his comfort zone. Why is anchoring so important to hypnosis and rapport? Well, you can actually condition a person to respond in a particular way by creating anchors as you interact with your client. For example, you can condition a person to feel relaxed and happy whenever you light touch his hand with your fingertips. Anchoring does not require vast amounts of knowledge or years of hypnotic experience. In fact, it is one of the key skills taught to NLP practitioners and Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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hypnotists alike. It is considered a keystone skill because it allows a person to control the responses of the client in a way that doesn’t elicit resistance (in most cases). When you want to establish anchors for the first time, it would be best to stick to the sense of touch (kinesthetic). It appears that among all the other senses, the sense of touch is the most powerful when utilized in hypnotic anchors. It is easy to see why; touch is not only speedy but the body pays close attention to whatever we perceive through the sense of touch. A person who is used to watching horror movies may not even flinch when a crazy madman with an axe appears onscreen. But the same person might react in horror if something wet and slimy touched his foot while he was watching a horror movie. Humor aside, the sense of touch is very close to our sense of self and the body and mind are both designed to react quickly to tactile stimuli.


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Module 14 Suggested Practice Install an anchor on yourself. For example, install the feeling of confidence for a time when you need to be extra-confident.


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Module 15: The Uniqueness of Each Client Now, one of the most important features of Ericksonian hypnosis is the idea of maximal utilization. This might sound like something that came out of a classic economics text but it isn’t. The main reason why Erickson comes across as somewhat unstable or even illogical at times is that man himself hates the idea of creating a logical corpus of theories that could be called “Ericksonian hypnotic theory.” He did not like the idea of creating a system not because he is anti-intellectual or anti-logic but because he dislikes the consequences of creating a fixed body of theories. Theories, no matter how intellectual they may be, have limitations. Theories are also essential exclusionary because in order to champion a particular method, you have to exclude or at least dismiss other methods in favor your own. Since Erickson dealt with people and not numbers or wealth, he knew that a fixed theory will probably jeopardize the ability of younger hypnotists to adequately support their clients through the ‘talking cure’. If there was one Ericksonian theory that was constant throughout the man’s career, it would be: people are unique and therefore, treat them as such. Erickson was not only making a broad, descriptive statement about people.


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He was actually saying that peopled deserved to be dealt with the way they want to be dealt with.

In this light, the hypnotist is seen as someone that needs to be very adaptive and flexible because he has to make full use of what is already there. Milton Erickson never really endeavored to change someone before he could be treated. His approach was to simply understand how the person thinks and experiences the world and use that to create a powerful and effective intervention. Interestingly enough, Erickson’s take was right. He was right because hypnotists who utilize Erickson’s model of hypnotic intervention are able to work with a very broad spectrum of clients from all walks of life. This becomes possible because they use what is already there and they build interventions based on what they learn and what the hypnotic client is experiencing at the moment. Language is vital human life; we cannot accomplish anything at all if we didn’t have a way to signify what we want and what we are thinking. If you don’t believe me, I invite you to think of anything that doesn’t have a direct or indirect meaning; something that eludes human language entirely. There isn’t anything that cannot be expressed through the conventions of language because language itself is the collective product of cultural and societal forces. Conventions exist because people agreed to use these conventions in the first place. I am a firm believer that in the beginning, there was no light if there wasn’t a word to define it.


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In this part of the course I would like to focus intently on the important principles of language in use. Milton Erickson was very aware of the importance of language, so much so that he often admonished others to be truly aware of what they were communicating to people as opposed to being just aware of what they think they are saying to others.

As you may have already learned in the previous discussions, there is a big difference between what you think you said and what has actually been communicated to another person. The person’s feedback is actually a good measure of the speaker’s ability to communicate. If the client is responding poorly to the speaker then this might mean that the speaker is not very effective in conveying what he really wants to say in the first place.


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As a hypnotist it is imperative that you have mastery not only of the language itself but the language that you will use when you are speaking with your clients. Hypnosis is considered an effective talking cure. It doesn’t require drugs or any herbal hallucinogens in order to work. It doesn’t require crazy contraptions or special exercises in order to work.

The only thing that a hypnotist needs in order to succeed is language. Words are sufficient to cure many maladies and symptoms especially if the symptoms stem from negative experiences and trauma. One of the best traits of hypnosis is that it can be used on anyone and from time to time, expert hypnotists have even been able to use it on clients who do not have 100% normal cognition because of psychiatric problems. I am not saying that I or anyone else would have the ability to suddenly resolve the psychoses of any mental patient that walks in to my office. But what I am trying to emphasize is that you can have the ability to reach deep into a person’s psyche and influence him in such a way that he will benefit from your hypnotic sessions for years to come. Milton Erickson always made it a point to remind hypnotists and in general, people who dabbled in hypnosis, to be very careful about what they say and how they say it because hypnotic suggestions can definitely have a long term impact on people. When a hypnotist plants suggestions in another person’s subconscious mind, he is not only doing something to affect the client’s present state of mind. His hypnotic suggestions would have a profound impact on the person’s way of thinking for years to come. And whether the hypnotist is aware of this or Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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not, the impact of hypnosis is so far-reaching that a hypnotic client will actually adapt all or some specific suggestions and perceptions as his own even if he has already forgotten that these came from another person in the form of hypnotic suggestions. Now that you are more aware of the impact of a hypnotist’s language on his clients, let’s talk about the idea of developing your own communication method for hypnosis sessions. We all know that each individual has his own way of doing things. Our worldviews are unique in a sense even if we are faced with the same undeniable realities. Why are we bringing this up? Well, if we have unique worldviews and ways of understanding and expressing ourselves, it logically follows that we also have specific ways of healing others through hypnosis. Each person would have his own methods of presenting the talking cure to his clients. The challenge is to discover these linguistic methods within ourselves and to formalize them (give them structure and organization) so that they may become truly usable for the purpose of hypnosis. If one wanted to master strategic use of language, one would have to make a slight turn to NLP or neuro linguistic programming. We will be talking about several concepts from NLP to enrich your knowledge of language and meaning. These concepts can be appropriated for different situations depending on what is needed by the client. The first concept that I would like to share with you is the meta model.


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The meta model, which was championed by NLP pioneers R. Bandler and J. Grinder, represents an approach that allows a hypnotist to create essential changes in the way a person perceived the world. In a nutshell, meta model represents the possibility of change which is often the solution to many emotional and mental maladies. When a hypnotist uses the NLP meta model to devise a roadmap for his client, five essential factors are considered. The first essential factor is what exactly is taking place in the person’s life at the present time.

Module 15 Suggested Practice When working with a client for the first time, ask questions and understand how they experience their world. Use this information that you gather to create a powerful and effective intervention.


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Module 16: The Meta-Model Developed by John Grinder and Richard Bandler, the Meta Model, which bears a close resemblance to the list of ten “cognitive distortions” found in Cognitive- Behavioral Therapy, identifies common language patterns and hampers first-class communication. Meta opens the channels, demonstrates how to tackle the problems and paves the way for simpler, more effective communication. The Meta Model covers a variety of misleading language patterns such as: Unspecified nouns, unspecified verbs, unqualified comparisons, missing referential indices, unqualified absolutes, and unquestioned rules. Each are described in the glossary under relevant headings: Deletions, Distortions, Generalizations, Nouns, unspecified, Verbs, and so on. (For a detailed discussion of the meta model, please see Appendix A). The Key Questions 1) What do you desire? a) Put it in positive terms b) The client should start, be in command. c) Precise-Sensory Based - See - Hear - Feel d) Little bits – small portions 2) What will that particularly provide for you?


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3) When will you be aware you’ve got it? 4) Decide with whom you want it – Where, as well as, when? a) Make it sensory based and environmentally friendly b) What about the affects on you and the other people in your life? 5) What keeps you from getting what you want --- now? 6) Are there assets you own that might help you reach the final result? 7) What else do you need to reach that goal? 8) What’s the route you need to take to get there? a) Start with goals that you can achieve - be specific. b) Try every possible path to realize your dream.


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Meta Model Chart

DELETIONS Nominalizations: Use process words: verbs that become nouns Unspecified Verbs: “He eliminated me.” Simple Deletions: (a) Simple Deletions: Ex: “I am embarrassed.” (b) Lack of Referential Index: Ex: “They pay no attention to me.” Unsuccessfully specifies a specific person or thing. Comparative Deletions: Ex: “She’s a healthier person.” Decent, superior, best, extra, fewest, inferior, worst DISTORTIONS Mind Reading: Understand Someone’s Internal State - “Why don’t you like me.” Lost Performative: Value Judgments – The Person who does the Judging is omitted: Inconsistency is a no-no.


Cause – Effect: (A>B) How is cause incorrectly placed outside oneself? i.e.: You make me sad. Complex Equivalence: (A=B) Presuppositions: “If my wife knew how hard I tried to surprise her, she would stop asking questions.” 3 Presuppositions: 1. I try 2. My wife reacts strongly 3. My wife husband doesn’t know I try to make her happy. GENERALIZATIONS Universal Quantifiers: All, every, never, everyone, no one, and so on... Ex: “She never pays attention to me.” Modal Operators (a) Required Modal Operators of necessity: should, shouldn’t, must, must not, have to, need to, it is necessary


Ex: “I must take care of her.” (b) Modal Operators of Possible or impossible: can/can’t, will/won’t, may/may not, possible/impossible i.e.: “How can I tell her the truth?”

Nominalization This is the process of turning a verb into a noun - “to educate” becomes “education.” The verb form is clear-cut. The noun form is not. A common NLP expression: “You can’t put a nominalization in a wheelbarrow.” Politicians love nominalizations. Why? They talk without saying anything at all. As you may already know, it is impossible for a hypnotist to craft any effective hypnotic regime if he didn’t know the first thing about his own client or hypnotic client. The second essential factor is specific outcome. Neuro linguistic programming is highly concerned with the idea of working towards a goal. You can’t function properly as a hypnotist if you are not working toward any goal. And your goal is to make sure that the client’s desire or goal is actually manifested after he undergoes hypnotic intervention. The third essential factor is understanding what exactly is stopping the client from getting what he wants in the first place. In order to create a worthy solution to a problem, the hypnotist must first be aware of what the client is


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experiencing at the present time that is blocking his ability to get satisfaction from his life. The fourth essential factor is to identify the various elements that must be added to the present equation to create a more favorable condition for the client. In a way, NLP utilizes a very pragmatic method of studying a person’s life condition. In the process of analyzing a person’s life condition, the hypnotist would be able to devise a sound goal and solution at the same time. One cannot give a talking cure without producing a measurable outcome. And without an outcome, the hypnotic intervention would be simply pointless. Each person has his own model or map of physical reality. As hypnotists we are not really concerned with the morality or rightness or wrongness (in the ethical sense) of people’s models of reality. Our job as hypnotists is to perform an objective study of the existing roadmap of the client to identify the hidden codes and meanings behind these codes. This is done primarily to understand the problem itself and to devise a good solution. In an ideal world, everyone would be aware that their perspective of reality is their own and this perspective or roadmap is essentially imperfect. Also, in an ideal world people would never mistake their perception of reality as indefatigable truth or Absolute Truth. Unfortunately, we don’t live in an ideal world and so the opposite is true: people are unaware of their own models of reality and they are almost usually unaware that they map the reality itself.


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When you tell a person something like this for the first time, that person would probably feel a little insecure knowing that what he believes and what perceives might be potentially wrong and might have been the root cause of his problems in the first place. This is another opportunity for a hypnotist to practice one of his most important functions: challenging a person’s version of reality to create essential change. This job might difficult at times

because people tend to resist change as much as they could but in the end, with the right tools and the right approach it becomes easier and more achievable even if you are just starting out with professional hypnosis. To be able to fruitfully analyze a person’s life condition when you are gathering information and just talking to the client, it is important to remember the three common mistakes that people make when they try to understand reality itself. The first mistake is they generalize the world. The word generalize has several meanings that are perfect for our discussion: 1) to give a general form, 2) to derive or induce a general conception or principle from specifics or particulars and 3) to give general applicability and finally, 4) to make vague or indefinite statements. I would like to highlight second and fourth definitions of generalization. The second one hits the mark squarely: when a person tries to ‘explain away’ something by making a generalization, he is simply taking a small part of something and he uses it to rationalize something about the whole. So from an objective point of view, this is fallacious because the client is not describing the whole but he is simply describing a part of it which he thinks is representative of the whole. A good example of this would be a statement like “I hate all women because they’re all like my mother, mean and spiteful”. If we break apart this Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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statement, you would see quite easily how the speaker (who in this case is a man who dislikes romantic relations with women) is associating all women with a single woman (his mother) who has had a tremendous, negative impact on his life.

As you can plainly see, generalizations tend to distort reality because you can’t really comprehend the value of something if you base your belief on just a small percentage of the client itself. The second common mistake is deletions. The third common mistake is distortions.


Alright so let’s talk about the various ways that you can use NLP concepts to understand your clients better. Here are some guidelines. When your client says general or vague things like “I hate it when this happens” or “I’ve been hurt too many times”, it is often ideal to identify the key concepts (e.g. ‘hurt’ and ‘this’) and dig deeper. The more specific the answers, the better off you would be. General answers are generally surface structures; there are deeper structures to be discovered or uncovered, depending on the type of linguistic orientation being used by the client. The deeper structures are important to the hypnotist because that is where the client’s true emotions and feelings lie. You have to access this resource if you want to determine the truth behind what has happened to the client in the first place. When your client uses words like “this”, “these”, “those and “that”, you are dealing with an inadequate referential index. Often, clients would talk about something (e.g. that) as if the hypnotist already knew what the client was talking about in the first place. If you encounter this type of situation then it’s important to be more vigilant about uncovering the specifics. Extra effort has to be given to ensure that the client will expand the information he has already given the hypnotist. The expansion is necessary to ensure that the hypnotist will receive all of the relevant information needed to create a plausible hypnotic intervention for the client. Pay attention to verbs that are dropped out of nowhere. For example, if your client says he was hurt, ask the client “how were you hurt by this person, Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page 95

exactly?” Some clients may not be comfortable sharing the specifics of their life to you in the beginning, so just keep asking. As you establish better rapport with your client, he will soon become more trusting and he will begin revealing details to you that he has hidden from view for a long time. Some people create severe limitations for themselves by boxing themselves into categories. For example, a person who has had a bad experience in the past with romantic relations may brand himself as unattractive and ugly. Any kind of thinking that limits one’s growth and normal functioning as a person should be dealt with swiftly. The trick is to challenge the current mindset by asking very specific questions about the current belief. For example, if a person believes that he has incurable panic, then you can ask questions like “can you prove to me that you have incurable panic?” or “what are the traits of a person who has incurable panic?”. These very specific questions will allow the client to become more reflective and once the conscious mind gets involved, subconscious drives that are forcing that person to maintain a particular kind of behavior become more vulnerable to being shorted out. Of course, change will require more time. However, a single intervention may be all that is needed to begin the process of shifting from the current state to a more favorable state.


Module 16 Suggested Practice Practice the meta-model when speaking with friends. Listen for deletions, distortions, generalizations and nominalizations.


Module 17: Model Limits The next set of topics that I would like to share with you is model limits. Model limits are simply ways that a person constrains himself as a functioning member of society. Each person has his own model limits; when a client approaches a hypnotist for help it is possible that one or more model limits are preventing the client from living a happy and satisfying life. Again, the role of the hypnotist is to detect the surface structure that will then allow the latter to uncover the deeper structures where the truth lies in wait. So the first type of limitation can be seen when a person says statements like these:

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All men are pigs.

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Each day is a painful experience.

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Everyone hates me.

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Any attempt to succeed will fail.

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Nobody cares about what I feel.

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Anyone can just walk in and take my job.

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I am always being humiliated!

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I will never amount to anything in this life.

Can you identify the absolutisms in each of the statements that I just gave you? If you are having trouble identifying the suspect elements, let me reveal them to you: never, always, anyone, nobody, any, etc.


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Any word that creates a sense of being permanent and absolute should be challenged immediately by the hypnotist. Now, I would like to point out that you don’t have to be confrontational at all when you challenge another person’s viewpoint. That is not how it works at all. When I say ‘challenge’ you are going to attempt to reframe the other person’s perspective by asking the right questions and by gently pacing and leading the client. In order to accomplish this, you would of course have to establish good rapport with the client and you have to make sure that you communicate with your client using his own language structure. Do not attempt to force your client to speak your language. Do the opposite – find out what kind of linguistic code is being used by the client and use this code to facilitate the exchange. The focal point of the interaction is still

the client. You can then measure your success by taking into account what kind of feedback you are getting from your client. If you are getting favorable feedback from your client then that means you were able to communicate well. Inversely, if your client’s feedback is less than helpful then it is likely that you have to change your approach. The next model limit that I would like to shine a light on is exemplified by statements like “I can’t possibly do that” and “I have to do this”.


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If your client’s statements imply that he has no control over his life and he can’t modify the factors that affect his life at the present time, then it’s time to reframe the situation to give the client a more useful perspective of things. For example, if your client says “I can never be satisfied with my job”, you can ask him “But what would it be like if you were satisfied with your job?”. The trick here is to allow the client to move beyond the bounds of his current reality. Too often, we are constrained by our current life experiences; little do people know that many problems can be resolved if we chose to think outside of the current reality.

People are often constrained by emotions (this is the number one factor) and an irrational sense of ‘logic’ (e.g. “I can’t do this because I’m not smart enough/not wealthy enough/not handsome enough”).


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The dogmatic formulas used by people on themselves are often the worst poisons and the only way that these poisons can be counteracted is if the person chose to rethink his relationship with his own reality. The next model limit is exemplified by statements such as “my mother has never loved me” and “my wife has forgotten how much I cared for her”. When someone presupposes something and uses this pseudo-information as a reason to be unhappy, unsatisfied or depressed, then it has to be dealt with by the hypnotist. In this case, you have to fight fire with ice.

Fire represents the covert knowledge of the client (e.g. “I know my husband doesn’t care for me anymore, I just know”). Ice is your ability to transform the client’s own statements into tools of reflection. If someone says, “My husband has never shown me that he really loved me” you can say something like, “Does that mean that your husband has never shown you any form of affection or care after all of these years?” Of course, the client will feel a little anxious that you are asking all of these questions. They will feel anxious because they know deep inside that the all of the generalizations, presuppositions and absolutisms that they have espoused all these years are questionable; they just didn’t know how to deal with them properly. You will act as the catalyst that will speed up the process of shifting from one state to another.


Now that we’re done discussing the foundational principles of NLP, let’s move on to hypnotic language forms. Hypnotic language forms are linguistic patterns that are specially designed for the express purpose of implanting subconscious messages into the client’s mind. These linguistic patterns are not extraordinary in form but they can definitely produce extraordinary results when used in hypnosis. If you are ready to improve your overall ability to convey messages to your client’s subconscious mind, here are the specific skills and techniques that you will need to improve your linguistic skills as a hypnotist: The first technique that I would like to share with you is verbal emphasis. The fastest and most effective way to emphasize something is really to slow down your speech rate. The goal is not to stretch the words (although this can be done at certain situations if the need arises) but to create micro pauses in between words when you want the client to pay attention to your words. This technique is effective because people can detect slight variances when they are listening to someone talk. So when a person suddenly changes his speech rate even for a short period of time, this sudden variance can be detected and the listener/client will pay closer attention to what the speaker is saying because of the variances. Another reason why micro-pauses are so effective in hypnosis is because the subconscious mind would have sufficient time to reflect and cross-reference the actual words that are being emphasized. Since there is notable variance, the client will attempt to decode the micropauses by searching its trove of memories and life-experiences. Often, Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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solutions to the most complex of personal problems can be resolved through self-reflection so seasoned hypnotists would naturally want their clients to be more reflective of their existing thoughts, beliefs and emotions. Many people ask me: are there other methods of emphasizing meaning in words without being very overt? Fortunately – yes, there are some ways that you can do it without appearing to do so. The second method of emphasizing meaning is by modifying the volume of your speech. If you normally talk loudly, you can emphasize something suddenly lowering your voice a few notches. Inversely, if your voice is naturally soft or low, you can get your client’s attention by raising your voice just a little to create that variance that will capture your client’s attention. Whenever you create variance, the client’s subconscious mind becomes more alert and it records your message more efficiently. This can be extremely effective if your client is not very focused during a hypnotic session. There are some instances when the client is not giving the right feedback during the hypnosis session; in such a situation, modifying your tonality or speech rate might help. Let’s talk about intonation. There are three general classes of verbal intonation – steady, upward and downward. Steady intonation represents your normal intonation when you are talking to someone. This will be your marker; when you need to modify your intonation, you can either go up or down depending on what you want to achieve. Downward Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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intonation is often perceived as commanding while upward intonation is perceived as questioning. Being creative with your speech doesn’t mean you have to make your speech strange at all. As a hypnotist you only have to practice adding different elements to your speech to ensure that client is getting all of the vital messages that you have carefully integrated into the client’s hypnotic session. In addition to verbal cues and changes in one’s vocal qualities, you can also use visual cues and tactile cues to emphasize what you are saying. For example, if you want your client to really pay attention to what you are saying, you can say something like “as I hold your wrist up, your body will become increasingly relaxed, as if a huge weight has been taken off it”. The combination of vocal quality, verbal content and tactile cues will set off a wildfire of signals inside the client’s mind which will in turn ensure that you will get optimal feedback from the client. As you can easily see, you can get the best possible outcome by using the simplest of techniques. These techniques are not difficult to use and they are very easy to remember as well. The next technique that I am about to share with you can be very effective if you want to say something to someone indirectly. This is done in order to avoid arousing the client’s resistance to the message. By using indirect messages, you will be able to convince the other person to take action or to think in a particular way without having to deal with any direct resistance. For example, if your client is prone to angry outbursts, you can say something like “I met this woman once and she was so angry all the time. Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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She shouted at people and her patience was so short… And because of this her friends started distancing themselves from her because she was always mad. It’s not nice to be always angry, don’t you think?” Of course, it would be up to you to make sure that your dialog would be convincing and that the details included in your quotations and anecdotes will not be so obvious that the client will think that you are talking about her own situation. In the end, it is important to always think about the final feedback of the client because this will be the biggest determinant of your success as a hypnotist.

Module 17 Suggested Practice Have a conversation with a friend and listen for their model limits.


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Module 18: Creating Metaphors If you think of the possible feedback first before you drop a hypnotic anchor or before you elicit any kind of emotional reaction from your client, you would be able to avoid the common mistakes of beginning hypnotists when they start out in the field. Of course, no one can ever become a perfect hypnotist. There will always be small gaps in one’s knowledge. However, these gaps are not really that important as long as you are practicing and learning as often as possible and you know how to adapt to your client’s specific needs. Now, strategic attribution is also an essential skill when you are actively practicing hypnosis. What you are going to do is you are going to utilize different characters (real or imagined) and you are going to integrate these characters while you are interacting with the client so you can easily convey important messages to the client. This type of linguistic technique can also be used when performing inductions. To use this technique, all you have to do is to attribute something to another person. For example, you can say “I have a friend and his name is George and whenever George felt lonely, he had a secret sign that no one else understood. Whenever he made tis secret sign that only he could comprehend, he instantly felt braver and more confident with himself. Would you like to have the same signal so that whenever you felt that you don’t have what it takes to accomplish something, you would have something to remind yourself that you do have what it takes?” As you can plainly see, it doesn’t really matter who you integrate into your hypnotic Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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script. Gender preferences and names aside, the more important thing in your attributions is the actual content; what do you really want to tell your client? Once you have identified the exact message that you want to convey, you will be able to craft a plausible ‘dummy character’ which will then be used for the attribution. Again, attribution is effective because your client doesn’t have to deal with the information as it applies to himself. The message is still able to penetrate the veil of the conscious mind and the hypnotic suggestions still reach their intended destination which is really just the client’s subconscious mind. Never underestimate the power of surprises when creating your hypnotic sessions for your clients. Avoid surprises when you are performing inductions (when the client is just entering a hypnotic trance) but once the client is deep in trance, you are free to tweak your hypnotic routine to revitalize the client’s mind. Because let’s face it; sometimes, people don’t like the monotony that is characteristic of many hypnosis sessions. If you think the monotony is causing your client’s mind to stray during a session, adding elements of surprise might just be what the doctor ordered. Humor can also add another dimension to your hypnosis sessions; just make sure that the humor is appropriate and you are utilizing humor to achieve a particular end (not just to get the attention of your client). If you are having trouble with clients that are not very focused at what you are saying, you may want to revise your induction techniques.


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The induction and deepening phases of the hypnotic process were meant to heighten the focus of hypnotic clients to ensure that they will pay close attention to what you are saying and what you want them to think and do. If the inductions are somewhat ineffective then it’s time to try something else. Inversely, if your repertoire of induction techniques is innovative and creates steady results whenever you use them, keep them and improve upon them as you learn more about hypnosis. In the context of hypnosis, metaphors are considered effective tools in conveying valuable insight and messages to hypnotic clients. As you may already know, the main goal of hypnosis is to create change within a person or change within a group of people (systemic) so that problems are resolved and so that people become happier and more satisfied with their lives. So far we have discussed a large variety of issues and topics surrounding the use of hypnosis; we have even discussed how hypnosis can be used in medicine and in dentistry to ease physical pain and to reduce the occurrence of excessive anxiety. What we are going to explore in this part of the Advanced Level of the course is the hypnotic metaphor. The term has several definitions; all of them usable for the purpose of improving a person’s hypnotic experience. The first definition is that a metaphor is “a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between the two”. The second definition of metaphor is “an object, activity, or idea treated as being similar to another object, activity or idea.” So as a hypnotist you really have a wide variety of options when you want to use metaphor in your Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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hypnosis sessions. A metaphor can be a single word or concept inserted into your hypnosis script. For example, the images of waves and sand may signify relaxation and letting go. That’s one kind of metaphor. A hypnotic metaphor can also be expanded so that it becomes a whole story given within the hypnosis session. I endeavour hypnotists to be more flexible with what they consider metaphors because in the context of hypnosis, even short story is considered a ‘metaphor’ because the characters and events inside the story itself signify other things for the recipient. There is a slight difference in the way hypnotists utilize stories. Outside of hypnosis, stories are just stories; they are primarily related to other people to inform and entertain. But within the bounds of hypnosis and especially hypnosis and psychotherapy via hypnosis, stories are more than just entertainment pieces. Stories are transformed into vehicles of conscious, inward reflection and personal change. You might be wondering at this point in time – why are preoccupied with the idea of change when we are working with clients? Well, if you think about it the number one reason why people go to hypnotists is that there are some things in one’s life that must change in order for a person to move from the present state to a better state. The primary requirement when you want to solve something in many cases is also personal change so there is really no way to avoid it especially when you are working as a hypnotist. The easiest way to integrate metaphors in your hypnotic script is by telling stories. Before I reveal to you the various techniques associated with the Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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hypnotic metaphor, let’s discuss the various traits of stories and why they are so effective. The first reason why stories are so effective is that our culture is actually built upon oral and written narratives. Without stories and without the concept of narratives, there wouldn’t be culture and history as we know it. We understand the world better when we hear stories and we understand ourselves even more when we hear the histories of our own families. In short – our need for stories is unavoidable because without them, there wouldn’t be any way for a person to create a fixed and stable identity and identity is something that we hold dear even if we don’t really pay attention to it on a daily basis. The second reason why metaphors or stories are effective is that people have a natural love for stories. As children we often approach adults so that they could tell us stories. In school, we are fed stories of adventure, learning and bravery. We are taught to be steadfast and honest but during those times that we reading and listening to stories, those things don’t really cross our minds. We consume stories for their beauty and we just benefit from the messages that are integrated into the stories. The love for stories does not dissipate when a person ages; in fact, as we age, our need to hear stories increases because we find that the world is easier to deal with if we have the transplanted experience of other people which can only be conveyed, again, by narratives, metaphors and stories.


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So if you are thinking that stories are only for children, think again: stories are even more effective in adults because adults have a natural tendency to reflect on what they have heard and seen. So when you use a story to illustrate something to a hypnotic client, you can be sure that when that person leaves your office, his mind will be dissecting and absorbing the various messages contained within your story. The dissection for meaning may not take place immediately but you can be sure that in the long term, your work will have a huge influence on your client’s way of thinking and consequently, his way of life. The third reason why stories should be integrated into hypnotic scripts is that narratives, long and short, have long been used to convey different modes of thinking. So if you want your client to think in a particular way, don’t give him a step by step guide on how to achieve the change. Instead, show him how to do it by giving him a story that he can think about. Stories stick to a person’s mind far longer than monotonous hypnotic scripts so if you really want to achieve long term gains and permanent change, you need to use the right tools.

Module 18 Suggested Practice Practice writing a metaphor for a hypothetical client who wants to overcome her fear of heights.


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Module 19: How to Use Metaphors in a Hypnosis Session Another reason why stories are so vital in hypnosis is that people tend to look for inner meanings when they hear stories. People are often encouraged to look past the literal meanings of the dialogs and events in a story so they can understand the finer lessons in life embedded in the prose. This tendency to look for ‘hidden meanings’ and lessons may be due to the fact that for quite some time, oral and written literature in Western culture was didactic or moralistic. So part of our culture will always be looking for some form of life lesson from a story simply because we used to consume stories that were meant to taught morality to children and adults. Stories like Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White all come from a literary milieu where literature was seen as a vital tool in spreading the dominant ideological norms of the day. In the context of psychotherapy, stories are considered valuable tools in the quest for healing. Here are the reasons why many therapists and hypnotists use stories themselves when they need to deliver important hypnotic messages during hypnosis sessions. The first reason is that stories are not generally perceived as harmful by people. So when a person hears a story, he knows for a fact that he cannot be hurt by just listening to something. There is also the idea that you can always forget and reject everything you have heard if you choose to do so. We know for a fact that this is not Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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completely true because a person might forget that he had heard a story but that doesn’t mean that the story hasn’t been stored in his mind for recollection later. The second reason is that people find it easier to relate to the hypnotist if the latter uses stories. The client would have something to react to, at least in his mind, and if the story is well crafted and interesting, then the client will have no trouble at all listening and absorbing the details of the story. Now, some of you might be thinking – does it matter that the client is really paying attention to the story if the subconscious mind can recall details that the conscious mind cannot recall? The answer is yes. You still need to get the client’s attention if you really want to make some headway in terms of influencing him. Remember, hypnosis is really an ‘attention game’ if you think about it. We use induction and deepening techniques to refocus the client’s attention to what we want to say. If the client’s attention is elsewhere then you won’t be able to give the client any hypnotic input because he isn’t focused completely. The third reason is that when stories are used in hypnotic sessions, the client is forced to think for himself. Often, people forget that they have this amazing ability to reflect and create new ideas using their critical and imaginative faculties. When a person steps into a hypnotist’s office, he’s not just there to receive hypnosis; he’s actually there to re-learn how to think about certain things in Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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his life. Since hypnosis is a talking cure, we rely heavily on the mind’s own ability to reorient itself and make itself whole again. We are not saying that people are ‘damaged’ and that is why they are seeking help. No – usually the main reason why people end up seeking hypnotic intervention is that the problems that they are facing cannot be resolved by anyone else. The next reason is that stories are capable of sidestepping the critical factor of the human mind. As you may already know, the human mind is actually composed of two halves. The conscious mind is responsible for accepting and rejecting ideas that come in. It is very careful with what it lets in because the subconscious mind is capable of accepting any idea and once an idea has taken root in the subconscious mind, it may become part of the client’s dominant way of thinking if it is reinforced from time to time. Hypnotists are well aware of the high level of resistance that can stem from the conscious mind.


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When a client undergoes hypnosis he also undergoes an induction process. The induction process has many functions but one of its most important functions is to put lower the alertness level of the conscious mind. This is the main reason why people are encouraged to relax and sleep during hypnosis. When a person is asleep or is almost asleep, the conscious mind is also partially turned off. You cannot completely turn off the conscious mind because it was designed to protect the person and to ensure the survival of the person.


So even when a person is asleep, the conscious mind is just there waiting for the right time to spring into action once again. Have you ever wondered why people who hear strange sounds at night suddenly grab their flashlights to investigate the strange sounds? Even if they are still foggy from sleep, the conscious mind is already guiding the person to ensure his survival. It doesn’t matter if you are still foggy, the conscious mind will be there to help you the best it can. Unfortunately, the conscious mind is not a welcome guest in hypnosis. It has a tendency to reject novel things and so when a person undergoes hypnosis for the first time, the conscious mind can be very alert and suspicious. This can make the hypnotist’s task doubly hard because he has to ensure that all his hypnotic suggestions are actually reaching their intended destination – the subconscious mind. There is a wide variety of techniques that can be used to sidestep the conscious mind but the most effective one is storytelling. Let’s look at this phenomenon a little more closely to understand what exactly happens when a person hears a story. When a person decides to sit down and listen to another person telling a story, the conscious mind soon becomes overloaded with all of the details. The conscious mind can only hand a maximum of 9 bits of information at a time. Nine is actually a high estimate; this only happens when the client is really engrossed in what the speaker is saying. If the person is disinterested or bored, the number dips to 5 or 3 bits of information only.


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When the brain feels like its conscious faculty is being overloaded with details, the task of following the story itself is passed on to the subconscious mind. So at this point in time, the conscious mind no longer has to remember details of the story anymore. When a new bit of information is received, the conscious mind just receives the information and sends it to the subconscious mind immediately for processing. The subconscious mind, unlike the conscious mind, was designed to process and retain an incredible amount of data. It is estimated that the average human being only uses about 9% to 10% of his total brain capacity at any one time. Imagine if we were able to use 100% of our brain capacity! That’s how powerful the human mind is. And the wonderful thing here is that hypnosis has the ability to unlock the parts of the brain that enable a person to create his own effective solutions to his life’s problems. Hypnosis isn’t really a cure itself – it just facilitates the creation of the cure within the client’s mind.

Module 19 Suggested Practice Practice writing an induction and deepening that goes with the metaphor you wrote in the previous module.


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Module 20: The Use of Parallelisms in Metaphor Creation Now that you are very familiar with the intricacies behind the use of metaphors and narratives within the context of hypnosis, let’s talk about the methods that will enable you to effectively use stories when you are performing hypnosis on another person. The process of creating the perfect metaphor for hypnotic clients involves four distinct steps. The first step is to obtain vital background information from the client. As you may have already noticed, this is really the ideal first step for any situation that requires hypnosis. While there are many hypnotists out there who perform hypnosis even if they don’t really know their clients, as a hypnotist who wishes to help people through the talking cure it is important to establish accurate coordinates before constructing your hypnotic scripts. Why? Because the hypnotic script that you will be creating will not be for you or for anyone that you are very familiar with. It will be used to help a client who has very specific needs and desires. You need to understand how your client ticks before creating possible hypnotic interventions. So when you are interviewing your client for the first time, the first thing that should concern you is why he came to your office in the first place. What’s bothering your client? What is his problem? What is causing his distress? Often, clients are not very willing to share these private details with Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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hypnotists so feel free to perform a hypnotic induction and deepening first before talking to your client. Science shows that people who are hypnotized can be likened to someone who is slightly inebriated. I’m not saying that you become drunk or dumb when you are hypnotized, not at all. What research has shown is that when a person hypnotized he becomes more honest. He becomes more open to suggestion. He becomes more willing to share his story with everyone because when a person is slightly inebriated, the conscious faculty of the mind is suspended partially so the subconscious mind becomes more capable of expressing itself freely regardless of the audience. The second step is creating the metaphor or story for your client. Here are some guidelines to help you create a powerful and effective metaphor for your client or client: First, take stock of what you already know of your client. If you haven’t interviewed him yet, you have to interview him and establish what his problems are in the first place. Do not base your metaphor on information derived from a few minutes of conversation. The client needs to sit down and really share what is going on in his life if you want to create a good metaphor. Remember – the success of a hypnotist lies in his ability to create permanent and long lasting change. This will only be possible if you hit all your marks when you create the hypnosis script.


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The second step is to determine what kind of intervention would be appropriate for the client. There are six areas that a hypnotist can explore when he’s trying to help a client: personal relationships with other people (romantic or otherwise), improving a person’s confidence and selfperception, attitude reformation, changing a person’s perceived roles and functions, changing the existing system within the family and finally, changing how a person lives his life (e.g. does he find contentment in the things that he does in life). Identify the major overarching themes in your client’s personal narrative. For example, if your client is suffering from severe depression because of the death of loved ones, then it makes sense that you explore the idea of continuing with one’s life and rebirth to facilitate the transition of the client from his current depressed state to a more a positive and productive state. The themes that you will be identifying will be act as the cornerstones to your metaphor. Before creating the actual stories, identify the outcomes that you want to manifest in your client’s life first. Without any definite goals or outcomes it would be extremely difficult for a hypnotist to create the perfect metaphor. All hypnotic metaphors should be constructed with the outcome at the very center of the metaphor. The next step is to make the metaphor more engaging and memorable by adding elements of humor or even suspense to your story. Remember – you need to capture your client’s attention with your metaphor. If your metaphor has been poorly constructed and it is not engaging at all, then don’t be surprised if the feedback you will be getting from the client is less than ideal. Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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Now, some of you might be arguing that storytelling doesn’t have to be this structured at all because cultural narratives, history and even beautiful oral literature were all created without a grand, logical structure. Well, I can’t argue with the fact that most of the extant oral literatures from any culture were created without much attention to structure. However, we must keep in mind that we are not creating these stories to entertain people; we are creating these metaphors to help heal a troubled person’s mind and spirit. In this light, metaphors become more than just stories. They are the paths to healing and if you are not careful and strategic when you are creating the healing metaphors, then you are not being completely responsible as a hypnotist. You have to be responsible for your actions and choices as a hypnotist and the best techniques in my experience are the ones that really require hard work. But don’t worry – as you apply these structured methods and techniques you will soon see why there has to be a lot of preliminary work before you can employ a new technique. The preliminary work is not meant to be a burden to the hypnotist. Preliminary work, believe it or not, is done to make the hypnotist’s job easier. Because with the right information, the whole process of creating the stories and the entire script that will help convey the story will be that much easier.


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Parallelisms are of utmost importance to creating metaphors. In order for a metaphor to be truly relevant to the client, all of its elements and subnarratives must ‘fit the glove’. To ensure that the parallelisms are spot on, you need to distill the information that you have accumulated and you have to identify the individual elements that are usable for the purpose of creating the perfect story. For example, if your client has had a traumatic childhood and bits of those childhood memories are affecting the way he relates to people at the present time, you can take those disturbing memories and transform them to characters and places which can then be conquered by the hero of the story. As you relate the story to the client, you must be aware that the client is looking for answers and solutions and these solutions must be plausible and the client has to realize later on that these are the steps that he hast to take conquer his own limitations in life. These general principles are applicable for every kind of problem; they are especially effective if the problem is with the client’s personality or behavior towards other people. When creating stories, try to limit the use of overly-strange elements so the client doesn’t get distracted. Focus on conveying a particular experience to your client through your story. You can be ornate with your words but at the same time there has to be hard focus on the goal or outcome that you want to happen to the client. Do not forget the process of reframing when you are creating metaphors. To refresh your memory, reframing is the process of gradually transforming a


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client’s perspective of reality. Each person has his own frame, lens or state of mind with regard to physical reality. What looks like an apple to me might be an object of incomprehensible horror to a phobic individual. What looks normal to you might remind me of sad memories when I was younger. Our lenses allow us to see the world in a unique manner. There is nothing wrong with our lenses; it’s just that there are some particular lenses or frames that are not very useful for daily life and may serve as obstacles to a person’s happiness. As a hypnotist, it is your task to find the specific frames that may be blocking your client’s ability to lead a happy and content life. Once you have identified these frames during the pre-hypnosis interview/conversation, you can then proceed to transforming these frames or lenses. The change cannot be abrupt; there has to be a period of adjustment so be sure to incorporate that period of adjustment to your story as well. If you are having trouble with this concept, let me put it this way: when you begin telling your story you are essentially revealing to the client the exact frames of reference that he used in his life. Since you will be using parallelisms, the client’s subconscious mind will be able to identify and recognize these frames. Essentially, your story will serve as a mirror image of the client’s life experiences. The actual reframing will take place after you have introduced the conflict in your story and once the


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hero or main character begins changing his viewpoint or actions to resolve the problem. When the character in story begins taking action, you can be sure that the client is taking full stock of the events and that the vital messages integrated with the metaphor are being received and analyzed by the client’s subconscious mind. It’s not always easy to create the perfect parallelisms, but it’s not impossible either. The best piece of advice that I can give to you with regards to metaphors is to simply practice and practice until you discover your own personal techniques that will make the whole metaphor-making process easier. When you are done telling your story it is important to encourage amnesia or forgetting. Before you react to this seemingly crazy idea, let me remind you that once the trance state is off, the conscious mind comes to the fore once again. And what does the conscious mind do? It specializes in taking apart information and rejecting ideas. To keep the story or metaphor in the client’s subconscious mind and in his memory, you have to trigger amnesia at the end of the story while the client is still in trance. Do not tell the client to forget the story after you have reoriented him. That won’t work because of the law of reversed effort. The more the client tries to forget the story, the more he will remember it because the forgetting requires conscious action and that means the conscious mind has to continually recall what has to be forgotten in the first place. Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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Introducing the Hypnotic Metaphor A university professor went to visit a famous Zen master. While the master quietly served tea, the professor talked about Zen. The master poured the visitor's cup to the brim, and then kept pouring. The professor watched the overflowing cup until he could no longer restrain himself. "It's overfull! No more will go in!" the professor blurted. "You are like this cup," the master replied, "How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?" The term “metaphor” comes from the Greek word metapherein, meaning “to carry over or transfer” (meta = ”beyond, between, or over” + pherein = ”to bring or to bear”). In Greek, a “metaphor” is something that moves other Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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things between places. A moving van or baggage cart, for example, would literally be a “metaphor” in Greece. When applied to deeper levels of experience, what becomes “transferred” or “carried over” by a metaphor are relationships, placement of attention, feelings, beliefs, thoughts, limiting values, wrong presuppositions, etc. According to Webster’s Dictionary, a metaphor is “a figure of speech in which a word or phrase denoting one kind of object or action is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them” and involves “the transference of the relation between one set of objects to another set for the purpose of brief explanation”. In the innovative and mind-expanding book, Metaphors We Live By, linguist George Lakoff and philosopher Mark Johnson say, “The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another” and "We understand experience metaphorically when we use a gestalt from one domain of experience to structure experience in another domain." A symbol is the smallest unit of metaphor, consisting of a single object, image, or word representing the essence of the quality or an attribute it stands for. The following is Carl Jung's definition of a symbol. "A word or an image image is symbolic when it implies something more than its obvious and immediate meaning. It has a wider 'unconscious' aspect that is never precisely defined or fully explained. Nor can one hope to define or explain it. As the mind explores the symbol, it is led to ideas that lie beyond the grasp of reason."


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The following quotes about hypnotic metaphors illustrates their importance: "Brain scientists have, in fact, repeatedly and fruitfully used metaphors, analogies, and models in their attempts to understand their data. The theme of this essay is that only by the proper use of analogical reasoning can current limits of understanding be transcended. Furthermore, the major metaphors used in the brain sciences during this century have been provided by inventions that, in turn, were produced by brains. Thus, the proper use of analogical reasoning sets in motion a self-reflective process by which, metaphorically speaking, brains come to understand themselves." (Pribram, 1990). "Analogy and metaphor are central to scientific thought. They figure in discovery, as in Rutherford's analogy of the solar system for the atom or Faraday's use of lines of magnetized iron filings to reason about electric fields. They are also used in teaching: novices are told to think of electricity as analogous to water flowing through pipes or of a chemical process as analogous to a ball rolling down a hill. Yet for all its usefulness, analogical thinking is never formally taught to us. We seem to think of it as a natural human skill, and of its use in science as a straightforward extension of its use in commonsense reasoning. For example, William James believed that 'men, taken historically, reason by analogy long before they have learned to reason by abstract characters'. All this points to an appealing intuition: that a faculty for analogical reasoning is an innate part of human cognition.” (Gentner and Jeziorski, 1983). Hypnotic metaphor is one of the most elegant tools available for assisting people in the process of personal transformation, healing, and growth. The major purpose of hypnotic metaphor is to pace and lead an individual’s Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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experience through the telling of a story, which helps that individual access resources necessary for change. In a therapeutic context, metaphors are used as tools for transformation, facilitating new patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behavior. If constructed properly, they are very successful and powerful in fostering the change because they communicate directly with the subconscious mind, bypassing the critical faculty of the conscious mind. Metaphors and stories, in a hypnosis context, may be useful:

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To provide a key mechanism for changing our modes of representing the world.

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To cause something to be remembered.

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To make, demonstrate, explain or illustrate a point.

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To create generative realities.

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To open up possibilities and strategies.

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To normalize or otherwise re-contextualize a particular position or content.

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To carry multiple levels of information.

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To facilitate new patterns of thoughts, behaviors, and feelings.

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To stimulate lateral thinking and creativity.

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To reframe or redefine a challenge or situation.

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To introduce doubt into a position that holds that there is only "one" way.

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To provide or guide associations and thinking along certain lines.

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To allow the client to form a choice or find his own direction.

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To bypass normal ego defenses.


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To allow the client to process directly at a subconscious level (indirect suggestions).

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To shift the subject or redirect the discussion.

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To suggest solutions and new options.

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To provide a gateway between the conscious and the unconscious.

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To pass suggestions to the subconscious mind.

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To increase rapport and communication.

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To facilitate retrieval of resource experiences.

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To lighten up the mood.

Metaphors (imaginative, but not literal, descriptions of objects, events, processes etc.) can enrich and accelerate the emergence and sharing of ideas and models. If the process is used properly, it greatly reduces the likelihood that people are operating on assumption or misinterpretation and all the problems that this can cause. A metaphorical story in a hypnosis context consists of elements that symbolically represent the client's problem and offers a solution to the client's problem in an indirect manner. According to Robert Dilts, a developer, author, trainer and consultant in the field of NLP, a metaphor is essentially a fantasy, which places the “reality” of the listener at some level. The meaning of a story or metaphor is typically not in the specific events that make up its content (its ‘surface structure’), but rather in the underlying patterns or principles it conveys (its ‘deep structure’). The value of metaphor is that it can bypass conscious resistances, and serves to stimulate creativity and lateral thinking in relation to a problem. Metaphorical thinking provides a gateway between the conscious and the unconscious and between ‘left brain’ and ‘right brain’ processing. Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page 129

Hypnotherapeutic metaphors encourage people to focus on the deeper structure relationships between their reality and that of the story. The therapeutic value of the metaphor lies in the similarity of its deep structure to the deep structure of the problem (formal properties), even though the surface level characters and details (the content) are very different. The fact that stories and metaphors are non-literal also makes it possible for them to provide a way of thinking that is different from the way of thinking that is creating the problem. One of the main characteristics of therapeutic metaphors is that they are open-ended, thereby allowing listeners to draw on their own resources for a solution. Like all other forms of communication, a great deal of the influence of a therapeutic metaphor comes from the non-verbal ‘meta messages’ that accompany the oral presentation. Voice inflection, gestures and facial expression are used to convey a large portion of the metaphor’s meaning. Key words and phrases may be marked out by shifts in voice tone and tempo. Embedded messages, analogical markings (discussed in a later chapter) and other linguistic and non-linguistic techniques may also be employed within the context of a metaphor to enhance and increase the effectiveness of its outcome.


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Symbolism and Isomorphism There are two major components in creating a hypnotherapeutic metaphor: symbolism and isomorphism. Symbolism involves the substitution of one ‘referential index’ for another. Metaphor is defined as “a figure of speech in which something is spoken of as if it were another”. In the case of hypnotherapeutic metaphors, the client and her circumstances are spoken of ‘as if’ they were the characters in a story. A symbol is a character, situation or object that stands for some aspect of the client’s reality. Isomorphism involves establishing similarities between the behaviors, relationships and situations of different individuals (e.g. the client and the symbolic character). In general, symbols will identify the structural aspects of the metaphors, while isomorphism will deal with the relational or syntactic components. The use of analogies or metaphors in hypnosis is common and important. It involves relating the new to something already known, so that the new may be understood by analogy with the known. Metaphors are used widely in hypnosis to pass suggestions to the subconscious mind while bypassing or occupying critical faculties. Typically a short phrase or story that has more than one meaning and at least one of the inherent meanings carries a hypnotic suggestion. A hypnotic metaphor is like a Trojan horse.


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Ericksonian Metaphors Dr. Milton Erickson's work was the inspiration for using metaphors in a therapeutic context. Milton H. Erickson has done more than any other individual to change the way in which hypnosis is practiced. Many of Erickson's methods for communicating with the subconscious mind, using sophisticated language patterns and metaphors, are recognized now as desirable and essential for effective change. Unorthodox psychiatrist, congenial family doctor, ingenious strategic psychotherapist and master hypnotist, Milton Erickson’s influence has revolutionized Western psychotherapy. Thanks largely to Erickson, the subject of hypnosis has shed its shackles of superstition and is now widely recognized as one of the most powerful tools for change. Erickson emphasized indirect communications to the so-called unconscious, the use of anecdotes and metaphors to shift the frame of experiential reference, embedded (unconsciously marked-out) language phrasings, the trance experience as a generalized metaphor to re-shape consciousness, and what might be called a meta-level regression psychology, in which one pointed not to the content of past experiences (to expose repressed traumatic material, for example)...but to the structure of certain typical childhood (or life-stage) experiences of growing up (what Ernest Rossi called "Early Learning Sets"), in order to utilize those structures as re-usable metaphors to re-shape one's current (problematic) experiences. Naturalistic and conversational hypnosis as well as strategic interaction, metaphors, tasks, and his personal and creative qualities were Erickson’s major therapeutic tools.


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The major elements of constructing a hypnotherapeutic metaphor, according to Robert Dilts, include: Transferring focus from the individual to some character in the story. Pacing the individual’s problem by establishing an isomorphism with respect to the behaviors, events, and characters in the story that are parallel to those in the individual’s situation.

Accessing resources for the individual within the context of the story. Finishing the story such that a sequence of events occurs in which the characters resolve the conflict and achieve the desired outcome. Erickson told many stories and told them to a variety of clients. As he said of his treatment for a young, anorexic girl, "My treatment for Barbie was to tell her short stories, metaphors, suspenseful stories, intriguing stories, boring stories. I told her all kinds of stories, little stories" (Zeig, 1980). He illustrated the experiences he wanted his clients to retrieve as they fixated their attention upon the dramatic aspects of an unfolding story line about someone else. Clients were free to create their own meaning from the stimulus offered and even have learnings too painful for the conscious mind to tolerate. After all, it was "only a story." As such, metaphor can be considered an altered framework through which a client is free to entertain novel experiences. Any of the therapeutic goals illustrated with metaphor will be interpreted differently by each unique person who filters them through perceptions and Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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experiences unique to his or her personal history. But still, the stories are constructed and delivered (emphasizing and detailing particular experiences with indirect suggestions) based on specific therapy goals. These stories stimulate clients to do a good bit of focused thinking which facilitates retrieval of resource experiences not commonly available or associated to in particular problem contexts. Milton H. Erikson has been called the most influential hypnotist of our time. Closely related to his therapy was his use of "teaching tales." Calling upon shock, surprise, confusion - with generous use of questions, puns, and playful humor - he seeded suggestions indirectly and positively with therapeutic metaphors. The truth is that metaphor is an incredibly powerful and rich way to communicate ideas. Metaphors engage the conscious mind and the unconscious mind at the same time. They get a logical message across while at the same time activating your imagination and emotions. Engaging the mind at all levels allows you to transmit ultra-compelling communications deep into the mind to make them permanently powerful.


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Sample Motivation Metaphor #1 Picture yourself on a hike in the woods. You are hiking up a large hill. Along the way, you lightly trip on a root that is sticking out of the ground. You look back at it and realize that it’s more obvious when you look back at it than when you were approaching it. It was a tricky spot and you now feel that you can continue on without tripping on another root. Now you know what to look for. So you continue on your hike up this hill. You come upon an area that is more steep than lower down on the hill. You take a look at this area and analyze the best path to take. To the right of you, you see a steep and rocky slope. This looks challenging. To the left of you, you see a path that traverses back and forth along the side of the hill. It’s longer and may take you more time than the other path. Either path is fine to take, you know that both of them will lead you to the same place you want to be. You know that just beyond these paths is a beautiful waterfall. This is your goal, to get to the spot where abundant water flows freely toward you. You choose the path that is best for you. Picture yourself taking that path. Visualize what the ground looks like and the trees around you. Notice how this path makes you feel. At certain times, perhaps you feel challenged and out of breath. At other times, perhaps you feel a sense of accomplishment. You continue on your journey and you feel content hiking up this hill. Now, listen for the water. You can hear it. You know it is just up ahead of you. You see a few obstacles in your way, but you gracefully get past them and now you have arrived at the beautiful and abundant waterfall. The water is flowing swiftly and steadily toward you. This is what you have been hiking toward all this time. It was worth the effort. You feel fulfilled by the sight of this waterfall. You know that you can stay here as long as you would like and this makes you feel good. (End).


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Do you see how this metaphor relates to motivation? The tree stump represents an obstacle. The paths represent different choices you make. The entire time you are focused on the end result, to get to the waterfall, which is a metaphor for your goals.


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Sample Wealth Metaphor #2 I want you to picture a person. This person is someone unknown to you. Her name is Megan. She owns a bakery. She opened her bakery years ago and it has changed and grown over the years. At one point, there was a mediumsized electrical fire, which badly damaged one of the walls in Megan’s bakery. It set her back shortly, but she was able to upgrade her equipment and since then she has been able to bake more goods in the same amount of time as before. This came at a good time because she began getting more and more customers. She keeps a positive attitude because making bread satisfies her. Now, watch Megan in her bakery and see how effortlessly she is able to make bread from very few ingredients. She is able to create bread whenever she wants. She can add a different ingredient to make a different kind of bread. Now watch Megan as she assembles cake batter. Some of the ingredients are similar to the ingredients in bread, but they are different quantities. She is able to create an entirely different baked good using slightly different ingredients. Megan is resourceful, always looking for new ideas for baked goods. She knows she is capable of creating any kind of baked good. These various baked goods provide a wonderful life for her and her family. (End). In the second wealth metaphor, the fire is a setback, but you learn that it allows Megan to expand her output. You see that a negative event can have positive outcomes. You picture her creating bread out of seemingly very few ingredients. The baked goods, as a whole, represent wealth. The various types of baked goods represent revenue streams.


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Sample Weight Loss Metaphor #3 Picture Tim in his car. He drives a fast sports car. Visualize him on a winding road. He can drive fast, but he has less control over his car when he does this. He can drive slow, but it takes him longer to get somewhere. Notice that just by changing pressure on two pedals (brake and gas) that he can control the speed of his car. His car gets him from point A to point B whenever he wants. Tim can go wherever he wants in his car. By simply pressing on his gas pedal more, he can go faster. He can turn in any direction he wants. He follows the signs and the lights, but it is his choice to stay straight or to turn. Tim can even look into his rearview mirror and see where he’s been. Sometimes he does this. However, most of the time he looks forward into the windshield to see where he is going to go. He is content driving in his car. (End). Now, in metaphor #3, driving the car represents the path to weight loss. Each turn involves a choice and a decision. The speed of his car represents time and how long it takes to get to your ideal weight. Each drive is different, just as each goal is different. The rear view mirror represents the past and the windshield represents the future.


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Module 20 Suggested Practice Your suggested practice is to write one metaphor for the following person: Ryan is an entrepreneur. His business has steadily grown in the past few years, but he wants to take it to the next level. He has control over every aspect of the business and it is becoming too much for him to handle. He doesn’t know how he will have time to hire and train someone. He is concerned that he might lose clients in the process. He is questioning if it is worth it to expand his company. Write a metaphor that will help Ryan.


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APPENDIX Appendix A: The Meta-Model The meta-model, a concise set of linguistic information gathering tools has been designed to reconnect a person’s language to the experience that is represented by their language. Essential to the useful application of this material is the concept that language is not experience, but rather a representation of experience. And, this idea is a healthy way of looking at the people who support and aide people in altering, not completely changing their lives. It’s the interaction between internal and external experience. Since we construct buildings with blueprints of what came before, we build upon life changes with the same sort of knowledge --- tools provided by the meta-model is priceless. The meta- model connects or crosses lines or intersects language and experience. Three Universal Modeling Processes Our world and how we gauge the overwhelming information highway bearing down on us, comes through our five senses. Combined with our brains, they sculpt the models we use to guide our behavior. We need them to make sense of what came before, so we can move ahead with the now, in a better and healthier fashion. Nothing is judged as good, bad, healthy, sick, or crazy – only possibilities to cope effectively and respond imaginatively to our environment. In order to be a valuable therapist, it’s imperative to comprehend the patient/client’s sense of the world. Each patient’s behavior, no matter how complex or strange is only seen in the context of the choices, or lack of choices they design or sculpt out for themselves. It’s not that they’re choices Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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are wrong. Perhaps, they don’t have enough choices available to successfully confront a problem. We all try to make the best choices we can with the information available at any given moment. So many of us have adopted models lacking in useful choices, proven by the difficult and endless conflicts handed down from generation to generation. “It is not the world that lacks choices but the individual’s model of the world,” say Grinder and Bandler. Our models come through three universal processes: generalization, deletion, and distortion. Through them we discover how to survive, grow, learn, understand, and experience the richness the world has to offer. If we mistake our subjective reality for reality, these same processes limit us, smother any chance we have of flexibility. Generalization: Method we use or develop during our original, and often forgotten, experiences. Our roles work for us because we’ve learned to generalize. If a youngster learns to open a door by turning the knob, the child transfers this experience to other types of activities that closely resemble the same process. If you walk into a pitch-black room your first instinct is to feel around for the light switch. Once you’ve learned how to operate the system, create light, you do it. This can also be limiting. If a man fails sexually in a way that he believes successful, then generalizes that moment and resolves that sex isn’t his thing, he woefully denies himself pleasure, love and intimacy. If a woman stubbornly comes to a decision that all men are insensitive based on very limited and selective experiences, like the man whose given up sex, she misses out on some of life’s greatest joys. We all make too many generalizations based on what works or doesn’t work Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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in any given situation. If a child understands, from a very early age, that crying and whining gets him whatever he wants, the child will manipulate his family and friends, until someone gets wise and refuses him. It feels like abuse, when it’s really just no. If the child generalizes only the former behavior and not the latter, he may not be able to generate more appropriate and useful behavior in the company of his peers. If a young man generalizes only those behaviors that are useful among fellow males, he may experience great difficulty in obtaining respect and interest from women. Whether or not a generalization is useful must be evaluated in the particular context. Deletion: Another method that helps us cope in a healthy and successful manner, and provides limits we must maintain. Like the delete button on a computer, which helps us quickly lose what we don’t want, deletions work only when we selectively pay attention to certain aspects of our experience and exclude others. We can zero in on certain portions or experiences above all others. Some people can read a book while people chat and fuss all around them. They can delete that noise as easily as blaring TV or stereo. Tuning out helps us cope with too much external stimuli. Even though, it’s limiting, we need to delete portions of our experiences so we can obtain what seems important and necessary in our lives. Teenagers who play the pity card, carrying on that they are the only ones picked on, or that whatever the issue it’s only happening to them, has yet to develop a useful model of the world. If a therapist drops out for a moment or two during a session, he or she foregoes all sensory information and limits his or her own experience as well as that of his client. Distortion: The third process permits us to shift sensory information. It gives us license to make plans for the future or turn dreams into reality. Fiction, art, and even science give us a wide berth to interpret or misinterpret Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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what we see or perceive. Authors, painters and scientists craft their own reality, while reconstructing or distorting established world-views, which can be changed through a brush stroke or a word. There are countless ways we limit ourselves through distortion. When someone distorts all criticism with, "I'm unlovable,” any and all value in the criticism is lost – along with the chance to grow and change. If the process of relating is disassociated from “relationship,” the parties involved suffer a loss. The relationship becomes amorphous, out there, out of control. It’s no longer unique. Since these three universal modeling processes are expressed in language patterns, we utilize a set of linguistic tools known as the meta-model to challenge them when they limit rather than expand a person's behavioral choices. The meta-model teaches the listener how to hear and respond to another person who wants to communicate with them. Content can fluctuate substantially, but the form of the information gives the listener the chance to respond and obtain the fullest meaning from the communication. The metamodel provides us with the tools to quickly discern the richness and the limits of the information given, in addition to the human modeling processes used by the speaker. If we listen and respond with meta-model distinctions, we create infinite ways of understanding and learning from any specific communication. The meta-model distinctions fall into three natural groupings: .

Gathering Information

.

Limits of the Speaker's Model


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.

Semantic Ill-formedness Gathering information: We gain an accurate and full description of the content through appropriate questions and responses. The process aids in re-establishing the speaker's language with his or her experience. There are four subdistinctions in this category. "

Deletion (About Whom or What?)

"

Lack of Referential Index (Who or What?)

"

Unspecified Verbs (How?)

"

Nominalizations (Thing or Event rephrased as a Process)

Deletion: The ability to recognize when a deletion occurs and, then, recovering the deleted information aids in restoring a fuller representation of the experience. When recovering missing material, the meta-modeler questions: ABOUT WHOM? ABOUT WHA T? “I don't get it.” (Response) “You don't get what?” (Or) “What don’t you get?” “I'm frightened.”(Response) “What or whom are you frightened of?” “I don't like the book.” (Response) “What about the book, don't you like?” “He's incredible.” (Response) “Why is he incredible?” “He’s an incredible friend.” (Response) “He’s an incredible amongst whom?” (Or) “Between whom?” With deletions, ask, “How, specifically?” will elicit information concerning the representational system used by the client.


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“I don't get it.” (Response) “How, specifically, do you know you don’t get it?” “It's just not that simple to me.” (i.e., visual representation) Lack of Referential Index: A type of generalization, which limits a person's model of the world by omitting the detail and richness necessary to have a variety of options for coping. We can take an experience and generalize it so that it's totally out of perspective or proportion. Challenge a lack of referential index and question: WHO SPECIFICALLY? WHAT SPECIFICALLY? “No one’s interested in me.” (Response) “Who, specifically, isn’t interested in you?” “They are pigheaded.” (Response) "Who, specifically, is pigheaded?” "This is difficult.” (Response) “What, specifically, about this is difficult for you?” Unspecified Verbs leave us in the dark when it comes to description. Verbs are relatively vague. "Kiss" is much more specific than “touch.” When someone’s hurt, it can be physical - a gunshot wound, or emotional - a nasty look or callous word from a loved one. Verb specification reunites the person more fully to their experience. To challenge unspecified verbs, ask: HOW SPECIFICALLY? “He doesn’t want me.” (response) “How, specifically, doesn’t want you?” “They overlooked me.”(response) "How, specifically, did they overlook you?' “The children push me to discipline them.” (response) "How, specifically, do the children push you to discipline them?"


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Nominalizations: Words transformed from verbs, or process words, into nouns – which turns an ongoing process into a thing or an event. When this happens, choices disappear and must be hooked up with the ongoing, dynamic process of life. Reversing nominalizations help a person see that what they had considered an event – over and beyond their control – is, in fact, a continuing process that can be changed. Nominalizations are distinguished from regular nouns in several ways. Visualization: picture a wheelbarrow. Fill it up with a chair, cat and last but not least, your mother. What would happen if you tried to put failure, virtue, projections, and confusion into that same wheelbarrow? Nominalizations are not persons, places, or things tossed into that wheelbarrow. Another way to test for nominalizations is to check whether the event word fits into a syntactic frame. If yes, it’s a nominalization. an ongoing problem (nominalization)an ongoing elephant an ongoing chairan ongoing relationship (nominalization)

To transform a nominalization back into a process word, use it as a verb in the response: “I don't get any acknowledgment.” (Response) “How would you like to be acknowledged?” “Concentrate.”(Response) “What do you want me to concentrate on?” “I regret my choice.”(Response) “Does anything stop you from choosing again?” “I want assistance.” (Response) “How do you want to be assisted?” Another group of meta-model distinctions are called limits of the speaker's


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model. They identify unsupported generalizations or restrictions in a

person’s thinking and you can sustain a person and enrich their model of the world by expanding it. Two distinctions in this category: Universal Quantifiers (All or nothing thinking) Modal Operators (Must and can’t thinking) Universal Quantifiers: Words like ALL, EVERY, ALWAYS, NEVER and NOBODY fall into this category. Highlight the generalization described by the speaker's universal quantifiers, exaggerate it – through voice quality or insert additional universal quantifiers, which serves to challenge them, assists in finding the exception to their generalization and helps the quantifiers identify more choices. You can also ask whether the speaker has had an experience that contradicts his or her own generalization. “I never get anything right.”(Response) “You absolutely never ever get anything right?” (Or) “Have you ever gotten anything right?” “You're always yelling at

me." (Response) “I'm always yelling at you?” “It's impossible to do what’s necessary.” (Response) “Have you ever done what’s necessary?” Modal Operators of Necessity indicates a lack of choice: HAVE TO, MUST, CAN’T, IT’S NECESSARY. Challenging these modal operators pushes a person beyond the limits they’ve accepted. Two superb answers that challenge the limits are: WHAT STOPS YOU? WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF YOU DID? The reply, “What stops you?” takes the person back to the past where they discover the experience from which this generalization was formed. “What would happen if you did?” demands that the client head to the future and imagine possible consequences. These responses help someone Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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achieve a richer and fuller model of the world. “I can’t work that out.” (Response) “What stops you?”

“You have to find the answers today by Tuesday.” (Response) “What would happen if I don’t?” “I have to bake six dozen cookies.” (Response) “What will happen if you don’t?” “I can’t say I’m sorry one more time.” (Response) “What will happen if you do?”(Or) “What stops you from trying one more time?” The third group of distinctions: semantic ill-formedness. The significance of recognizing sentences based on unsubstantiated responsibility, assumptions or judgments allows you to help the person in identifying the portions of their model that are distorted in some way. Once the speaker is responsive to those portions of their model based on unsubstantiated beliefs rather than fact, it gives them greater choice and freedom. These ill-formed portions frequently stop the person from acting in ways they would otherwise choose to act. The three classes of semantic ill-formedness are: Cause and Effect (Perceived responsibility) Mind Reading (Assumptions) Lost Performative (Judgements) Cause and Effect: An action on the part of one person causes another person to behave in a particular way or to experience some emotion or inner state. When a person believes there are no choices on how to respond to the challenge, it permits them to explore and question their cause-effect connection. And they can speculate on other possible


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responses to choose from. The challenge: HOW DOES X CAUSE Y? “Your drawings make me uncomfortable.” (Response) "How do my drawings make you uncomfortable?” (Or) "...make you feel uneasy?” “You annoy me.” (Response) “How do I annoy you? How is it possible that I annoy you?” (Or) “ ... make you feel aggravated?”

“I'm angry because you're never on time.” (Response) “How does my being late make you angry?” Mind Reading: The speaker’s belief that one person knows what another person thinks or feels without direct communication from the second person. If the speaker acts on assumptions rather than information mind reading can do much to inhibit the usefulness of a person's model of the world. The challenge to mind reading: HOW SPECIFICALLY, DO YOU KNOW X? The challenge helps the speaker become aware of, and even to question, those assumptions he or she may have previously taken for granted. “Most people believe I’m much too slow.” (Response) “How, specifically, do you believe that most people think you’re

too slow?” “I bet you understand what I’m going through.” (Response) “How, specifically, do you know I understand what you’re going

through?” “I get what his day is like.” (Response) “How, specifically, do you get what his day is like?” “In no way does he think about the cost of what he’s doing.” Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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(Response) “How, specifically, do you know he doesn’t think about the cost of what he’?” Lost Performative refers to statements made in the form of a generalization about the world rather than recognized as part of the speaker’s model of the world. Usually, they are judgments. The speaker uses a lost performative when applying “rules” from his model of the world on others. Called laying your trip on somebody else, the purpose of this challenge enables the speaker

to have his own rules and opinions, while content to let others own theirs. Sometimes with the use of the lost performative, the speaker may not be aware of other options or possibilities. To challenge it, ask FOR WHOM? “It’s wrong to jaywalk.” (Response) “It’s wrong for whom to jaywalk?” “This is the best route to take.” (Response) “This is the best route to take for whom?” “That’s a ridiculous thing to do.” (Response) “Ridiculous for whom?” The meta-model is simply a set of tools that establishes better communication, which helps and expects your client to communicate more clearly: Asking what, how, and who in response to the specific form of the client’s language. Your skills as a meta-modeler depend on your willingness and ability to implement the questions and the responses provided by the meta-model. When you implement the meta-model, pay careful attention to your internal processes. A formalization of intuitive behavior, you can turn to meta-model responses rather than refer to your own internally generated experience to understand a client’s communication. When a client declares, "My father hurt me," you must ask, “How?” if you want to fully comprehend what the surprising statement means. Should the client have suffered physical or Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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verbal attacks, or was just plain invisible, you must probe to find out the meaning behind the word “hurt.” However, if you understand what is meant by the word "hurt" by simply calling on your own experience, then you are, in fact, meeting the client at your model for the world, not his. The meta-model permits you to remain attuned to your client’s perception of the world instead of slipping into your own subjective experience for understanding. You can easily insert the appropriate meta-model responses at those points where you previously would have had to refer to your own internal experience to understand or attempt to understand your client's meaning. Suppose a client says, “I'm afraid of crowds.” If you go with, “Oh yeah, afraid of crowds, yes, I know about that,” then you’ve bypassed an important opportunity to further connect the client on his level. If you use the responses provided by the meta- model – “How do you know you are afraid of crowds? What frightens you about crowds? “What keeps you from being comfortable in crowds?” – you’ll be able to keep up with your client’s experience and help them generate answers and new possibilities for growth from his or her own resources. These resources might be ones you have yet to develop. Once you discover these points you’ll experience and understand a given communication. The meta-model questions will definitely boost your value as a therapist and facilitate the integration of the meta-model internally as part of your automatic unconscious behavior. Get a friend to produce sentences that contain a meta-model violation. With each one, determine how your intuitions express themselves. If someone says, "My feelings were hurt," form a mental picture and you’ll figure out how they were hurt, how and by whom? If you remember Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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visually, kinesthetically or auditorally a time when your own feelings were hurt, than you "understand" the experience from your point of view, not the client’s. Once you’re aware of your own internal processes, you’ll learn to hold onto the signals that push you inside yourself instead of staying in the present. Once you’ve identified your own signal, you’ll automatically insert the meta-model responses instead of your own internalizations. Each time an internal bell goes off, alerting you that something is missing or doesn't make sense, you’ll know that a meta-model response is both constructive and suitable. Practically speaking, the meta-model is rooted in human intuition. If you learn, and trust, those intuitions, the meta-model is a speedy and straightforward process. Expressed in any representational system, the intuitions are – visual, auditory, kinesthetic. If someone says, “The King himself,” your intuition tells you something was left out. The picture needs more color. If you represent kinesthetically, you don't know what the king did. Neither of these representations is complete until you know the answer to "the King did what?" No matter how your intuitions express themselves, insert the meta-model question now and you’ll extract the fullest possible meaning from the communication. To utilize these intuitions in teaching the meta-model distinctions: (1) generate sentences that contain one pattern of meta-model violation; (2) ask the learner what his experience is; (3) once you’ve determined how the learner’s intuitions express themselves concerning this pattern, reverse the process and make them ask the appropriate meta-model question – make it an integral portion of the expression of those same intuitions. If the learner has an incomplete picture, he’ll ask for more information. If he’s puzzled, slip in the best possible question which will help him put the piece in place. If it’s odd or out of tune, insert question that will harmonize the chords and Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

strip away the dissonant ones. Alter the statements and the content with the meta-model violation and the repetition necessary to integrate the metamodel question with the intuition should remain stimulating. Intuitions will vary within a person for the various patterns. A feeling for universal quantifier might be present as well as a picture for nominalizations and a sound for cause and effect. Each person has a unique set, yet each person falls into consistent patterns. Once the patterns are established, these exercises can help further integrate them into everyday behavior. Make sure to learn or teach the three meta-model categories outlined in the appendix: Gathering Information, Limits of the Speaker’s Model and Semantic Ill- formedness. You, or the student, will appropriately organize the meta-model for easy and full integration and conscious and unconscious processes. Meta-Model Outline Summary: A. Gathering Information 1.

Deletion

2.

Lack of Referential Index

3.

Unspecified Verbs

4.

Nominalizations

B. Limits of the speaker’s model 1.

Universal Quantifiers

2.

Modal Operators Basic Ericksonian Hypnosis eBook – Page

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C. Semantic Ill-formedness 1.

Cause and Effect

2.

Mind Reading

3.

Lost Perfomative


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basic_ericksonian_hypnosis_ebook.pdf

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