Hypnosis for the Arts

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Permalink Reply by Nathan Welch on February 7, 2012 at 10:15am

I throw in my hat with some creative story telling and imagination expansion, mixed up with performance and drama aspects as well as the use painting and drawing especially with feet and hands!!!!! , kind of a hypnosis mash up!!!!

Rock on and great art work by Sakari, thats some impressive imagination smiles Nath

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Permalink Reply by Roger Moore on February 7, 2012 at 10:25am

Art is a form of hypnosis! I'm so excited for you Kelley!

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Permalink Reply by Giselle Felicia Vivian on February 7, 2012 at 11:36am

How exciting Kelley.  What age range is your student body?  Not sure from your post.

I specialize in working with creative expression, music being my biggest passion and expertise.  As part of my program which is geared towards high school and up, I have an assessment tool that invites the clients to break down the elements of practice and expression and gives them first the opportunity to become self-aware of how they perceive their success level of those elements.  What needs attention?  What is important for them to acheive? 

For musicians it's effective practicing, which has general elements of focus, memorization and committment for success and specialized priorities based on the instrument.  There are the technical elements of execution and the interpretive aspect of artistry that take the notes and make it into music that a performer shares publically with style and appeal to the audience, not to mention confidently.  For professional success, it's also how you prepare for confident career management.  Those with better self-confidence and the ability to negotiate comfortably and network will be a step ahead.

What would be the equivalent practices for those you will work with?  What limiting thoughts and expectations do they have about their abilities? What are their objectives and challenges in attaining "Success"? Is there a famous artist know for having used hypnosis who can serve as an inspiration?  Imagery being the language of the subconscious mind would be a wonderful tool for exploring their inner landscape.  What master teacher can they connect with through this?  I'd be curious to see how they would express the relationship of the conscious mind and the unconscious mind in their artform.  I know that different schools of hypnotherapy have models for this and the iceberg being a common metaphor.

 

I have also found that just like a weight management client's issues are not really about the food for some, it's the person's life that intrudes on their ability to express their creative gifts.  Unresolved and conflicted feelings about the parent  or respected authority figures that encouraged them to do something practical vs their art is one area to explore.  This lack of approval and seeming denial of unconditional acceptance for a person being who they are can stifle creative abilities and create a soul stirring suffering.  Hope this gets you thinking...

 

This may be beyond the scope of age and what the school is expecting.  Just know your audience well.  I am sure you will find all the inspiration necessary to create an inspiring program for them.  Chapter 14 in the book, Hypnosis for Change by Josie Hadley and Carol Staudacher is all about Enhancing Creativity.  Also check out the big red book, Handbook of Hypnotic Suggestions and Metaphors.  This is edited by D. Corydon Hammond, Ph.D.

 

Blessings,

Giselle Felicia Vivian, BM CHT

Trance-formed Consciousness

 

Did you know that composer Sergei Rachmaninoff used hypnosis to deal with depression that was blocking his creative flow?  After his work with this modality under the care of a psychiatrist,  he went on to compose the wonderfully sublime and beloved, Piano Concerto No. 2 and more. 

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Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on February 7, 2012 at 11:55am

Thank you, Nath! I'm with you on the power of play and plan to incorporate a lot of it...

Giselle, thank you for the wonderful suggestions and input. The students are high school age and up, and I won't know yet how they will be organized. (Since I work a lot with teens I can't wait to stir their creative pots and agree with you that outside deterrents need to be acknowledged and dealt with!) This school is located in a art-enthused community and I expect the age range will be all over the map.

Your point about self-assessment is wonderful; if you would care to share how you facilitate that I would really appreciate it!

I'm already getting some insights about certain artists' fears relating to extroverted endeavors and plan to provide approaches to ease troubles like performance anxiety, lack of confidence, motivation, etc.

Thank you for the info about Rachmaninoff; I did not know that! I will continue to collect similar examples.

And, Roger...yes, I'm excited, too!

Thanks for the replies, Kelley

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Permalink Reply by David R J Brown on February 7, 2012 at 12:21pm

Magical Journeys. A lovely way to draw out the clients own metaphors

"If you were going on a magical journey, what would your purpose be and where would you begin? What is the world around you like?

You come across a significant barrier, and on the other side the landscape is very different. What sort of barrier is it? How do you get past? (This may be thought of as a metaphor for the juncture between the conscious and the unconscious mind. 

On the other side something catches your attention, Tell me about it. Draw me a picture if you like"

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Permalink Reply by George Guarino on February 7, 2012 at 12:34pm

Kelley this is wonderful.  I will be excited to learn how this all evolves for you.  As we've discussed in the past (I believe) I'm very interested in combining hypnosis with art.  Hypnosis as art.  Art as Hypnosis.  I'm most interested in presenting to audiences that are observing art pieces in museums. Using the art piece as a focal point to hypnosis. 

I've had work shown in galleries which incorporates hypnosis (suggestablity) on various levels.  I've put a link to one of my installations below.  During this piece I only talk about 'going inside'.  I do not mention the word hypnosis.  It's all a work in progress.  If you're interested check out the video.  It's short.  It shows one of my works and a gallery-attendee experiencing it. There's a short interview at the end. Any comments would be welcome.  George

http://crcngh.com/Hypnosis_member_special_projects.html

http://www.arthypnosis.com

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Permalink Reply by Michelle Braun on February 7, 2012 at 1:33pm

Sweet! What fun for you and fortune for them. I just know you will anchor them to trance as they prepare their media, tools, get into position, etc. Wonder if automatic painting is a bit much... ; D

Namaste

Michelle

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Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on February 7, 2012 at 5:07pm

George! I totally forgot about your passion in this area and I enjoyed your links...I love the idea of using hypnosis to affect the viewer's experience of looking at art. I imagine that your display/audio could have many applications for experiential learning. Totally cool! You've added another dimension to the possibilities...

George Guarino said:

Kelley this is wonderful.  I will be excited to learn how this all evolves for you.  As we've discussed in the past (I believe) I'm very interested in combining hypnosis with art.  Hypnosis as art.  Art as Hypnosis.  I'm most interested in presenting to audiences that are observing art pieces in museums. Using the art piece as a focal point to hypnosis. 

I've had work shown in galleries which incorporates hypnosis (suggestablity) on various levels.  I've put a link to one of my installations below.  During this piece I only talk about 'going inside'.  I do not mention the word hypnosis.  It's all a work in progress.  If you're interested check out the video.  It's short.  It shows one of my works and a gallery-attendee experiencing it. There's a short interview at the end. Any comments would be welcome.  George

http://crcngh.com/Hypnosis_member_special_projects.html

http://www.arthypnosis.com

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Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on February 7, 2012 at 5:08pm

Thanks, Michelle. What if I get a bunch of body painting artists! Wheee!

Michelle Braun said:

Sweet! What fun for you and fortune for them. I just know you will anchor them to trance as they prepare their media, tools, get into position, etc. Wonder if automatic painting is a bit much... ; D

Namaste

Michelle

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Permalink Reply by Roy Hunter on February 7, 2012 at 6:13pm

Over the years I've had the pleasure of working with several artists, including singers and dancers. The success rate is quite high.

Hypnosis and guided imagery are great for the motivated artist, and I anchor a performance trigger they can use just before rehearsal or performance.

If there is a confidence or self-esteem issue inhibiting their ability, that can be explored with advanced techniques.

Best wishes,
Roy Hunter

 

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Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on February 8, 2012 at 5:47am

Thank you, Roy. I agree: hypnosis is marvelous for performance artists! I especially love teaching mental rehearsal for success and it will be a pleasure to go there in this aspect.

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Permalink Reply by Elayne Fletcher on February 8, 2012 at 6:01am

This is a funny coincidence because I had an artist in my office yesterday and his session made me wonder if any hypnotists use art as therapy. This particular artist wasn’t looking for therapy though, he had a long list of memories that he wanted to remember while in hypnosis. He made a drawing for each memory as he remembered them while in hypnosis and then he wanted to forget both the drawing and the memory. This was for a conceptual art piece to be displayed in an exhibit and there’s more to it but that was the part that involved hypnosis.

It was interesting to see the drawings he came up with for each memory and for the more troubling memories the act of drawing almost seemed cathartic for him. I know some regular therapists use art as part of their therapy and it made me wonder if there was any way to use it as part of hypnosis therapy. Certainly the act of drawing helps deepen the trance if nothing else.

Anyway, drawing memories while in hypnosis might be a fun exercise for the students though I suppose you’d have to be careful not to drag up memories that are likely to be painful unless they were o.k. with it ahead of time.

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