Itching during hypnosis

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Permalink Reply by Taylor Sherman on January 30, 2011 at 1:01pm

Tony,

 

It could be many things, but depending on the way it which it was done and the other history, I've seen that itching is sometimes the subconscious mind bringing up old emotions and impacts. It's kind of saying "pay attention to me, I have something important to say" ... i.e. repressed emotion on her part, that perhaps she isn't dealing with. So it comes out as itching.

 

That's an educated guess. Remember that the mind, in accepting a suggestion, will take into account all of the previous experiences / programming that this person has had. Maybe it was the case that the suggestions you gave to her were in some way incompatible with her experience.

 

If it was me, I'd regress off that feeling. But don't attempt it unless you are highly trained in regression work. Perhaps an alternative could be a technique such as Core Transformation, with the part of her that is producing the itching.

 

Taylor Sherman
Washington DC Hypnosis Center

Tranced Out Hypnosis Training

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Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on January 30, 2011 at 3:51pm

Taylor's suggestion to address the part of her that is managing the itching is the route I would follow. We can hypothesize about the reasons for this reaction, but it's her belief system that will reveal the purpose and ultimately be able to move through it. How you deal with it can change her perception about it being an obstacle or a catalyst for change.

 

Best wishes,

 

Kelley

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Permalink Reply by Tony on January 31, 2011 at 3:07am

Thanks to both. So you're excluding that the reaction was linked to the menstruations? Actually I'm a bit worry to trigger again this reaction. Have you any suggestion or script to use in this case?

Another question: I told to her that she would not had any concern about the menstruations. Maybe the subconscious did't accept this suggestion? Or it could be that she wasn't particularly disposed to be hypnotized (Generally in 5 minutes she accept the suggestion of forgetting things and Yesterday not)?

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on January 31, 2011 at 7:35am

Hi Tony,

 

If the itching first onset in trance, it probably is not related to her menstrual cycle. Did you ask her if she has ever experienced that before? Sometimes the obvious questions hold the answer!

Regardless, as long as she is willing to enjoy hypnosis again, I would let her know that you have full confidence that you can help her eradicate any discomfort and let her experience a wonderful sense of peace and relaxation, etc. And, you can!

Perhaps introduce her to her "control room" where she can play with adjusting physical and emotional settings. I usually begin with having my client change the temperature of a hand, going from cold to hot. From there, I ask if there is some other physical part they would like to experience comfort in...teaching that she can adjust several aspects simultaneously: temperature, relaxation, flexibility, blood/saliva flow, etc.*

From the physical side of the control room, it's fun to hop over and address some emotions. I enjoy showing a client how to increase their level of hilarity, cranking up that "giggle factor" (let her lower it back to a working level) and from there let the client choose any other feelings they would like to adjust, enhance or even extinguish.

 

As you can see, you don't need a script for this, just operate from the frame that you are teaching, you are empowering her to select exactly how she will feel, at any time!! This should be our goal in helping people...ultimately help themselves!

 

Have FUN! Kelley

 

*The caveat about not masking pain that might need medical attention needs to be explained.

 

Tony said:

Thanks to both. So you're excluding that the reaction was linked to the menstruations? Actually I'm a bit worry to trigger again this reaction. Have you any suggestion or script to use in this case?

Another question: I told to her that she would not had any concern about the menstruations. Maybe the subconscious did't accept this suggestion? Or it could be that she wasn't particularly disposed to be hypnotized (Generally in 5 minutes she accept the suggestion of forgetting things and Yesterday not)?

 

 

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Permalink Reply by Christine Hargan on January 31, 2011 at 11:17am

Hi Tony

 

Why did you mention 'pain about the period'?  What period? Are you talking about time?  It just seems and odd choice of words.  

Were you feeling uncomfortable treating a woman for menstruation problems?,,,, and she is a woman no matter what her age ... otherwise mother nature would not allow her to reproduce.  As a rule of thumb if you feel uncomfortable with an issue this will be relayed to the client, therefore the treatment will be problematic, much better to refer to another therapist than to risk failing. reputation is everything.

 

Could you not have asked a more open question about the reason for her discomfort.  She complied with you - she gave up the pain but surely what you are looking for is the source of the discomfort.

 

 

Hope this helps

 

Chris

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Permalink Reply by Tony on January 31, 2011 at 1:15pm

Hi Christine. It seem to me that you make some deductions without knowing the facts. I used the world "period" for menstruation because I'm not english mother tongue and I find the translation on google :-) 

 

Christine Hargan said:

Hi Tony

 

Why did you mention 'pain about the period'?  What period? Are you talking about time?  It just seems and odd choice of words.  

Were you feeling uncomfortable treating a woman for menstruation problems?,,,, and she is a woman no matter what her age ... otherwise mother nature would not allow her to reproduce.  As a rule of thumb if you feel uncomfortable with an issue this will be relayed to the client, therefore the treatment will be problematic, much better to refer to another therapist than to risk failing. reputation is everything.

 

Could you not have asked a more open question about the reason for her discomfort.  She complied with you - she gave up the pain but surely what you are looking for is the source of the discomfort.

 

 

Hope this helps

 

Chris

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Permalink Reply by Hollis Bostick on February 1, 2011 at 1:34am

Hi Tony,

Itching can be a normal physiological reaction to hypnosis.  I have clients that I gauge when they enter hypnosis by small itching that occurs in their body.  They fidget and scratch for several seconds before going deep into trance.  This occurs as the skin capillaries relax and open creating an itching sensation.  Did your client exhibit itching during the onset of trance ir during awakening?  Remember that it takes up to three minutes after we awaken clients for them to be safely out of trance so itching in that time frame could be a normal physiological reaction of the client.

Hope this helps,

 

Hollis

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Permalink Reply by Tony on February 1, 2011 at 4:38am

The itching started during the trance when I suggest to her to open her eyes and sing a song of his choice. She opened her eyes and started to scratch in all body and said to me "what did you do"? Then I put her again in trance, and suggest that her body was relaxed (it wasn't easy because she continued for a bit to scratch), and also her skin was feeling good. After that it seemed she was fine, since she stopped to scratch, but when I awake her fully she started again to scratch and only after 15 minutes (and a shower) it stopped.. You spoke about small itching, but in her case, she cannot stop to scratch, and in all body, head included.

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Permalink Reply by Christine Hargan on February 2, 2011 at 9:58am

Hi Tony yes you are right I made some deductions using the 'facts' that you provided,   I simply think that your client may be more comfortable with a female practitioner because if the problem is with a very intimate one, another female can offer words of wisdom and emotional support that a man cannot. 

A lot of women feel less emarrassed speaking to a female therapist, who has more understanding of women's problems and the cause of the itching may be emotional discomfort.  Similarly men sometimes prefer to speak to a male therapist about their personal problems.

 

 It is important to choose your words carefully during hypnosis to avoid unexpected problems, the subconscious mind often follows instructions literally, you have found that she stopped the pain, but continued to feel discomfort and I think this is what the itching is,  The discomfort may be due to anything, including embarrassment. Your last reply that her itching stopped after a shower, suggests that she may feel uncomfortable/unclean/dirty/sticky/smelly during her period - many women do, but she is quite normal and it's important to reassure her.. 

 

And also  I didn't know that you are not a native English speaker.  You are doing really well.

 

As far as scripts are concerned I think most people create their own for each client and without knowing the client it is difficult to provide one.

 

Best wishes

 

Chris
Tony said:

Hi Christine. It seem to me that you make some deductions without knowing the facts. I used the world "period" for menstruation because I'm not english mother tongue and I find the translation on google :-) 

 

Christine Hargan said:

Hi Tony

 

Why did you mention 'pain about the period'?  What period? Are you talking about time?  It just seems and odd choice of words.  

Were you feeling uncomfortable treating a woman for menstruation problems?,,,, and she is a woman no matter what her age ... otherwise mother nature would not allow her to reproduce.  As a rule of thumb if you feel uncomfortable with an issue this will be relayed to the client, therefore the treatment will be problematic, much better to refer to another therapist than to risk failing. reputation is everything.

 

Could you not have asked a more open question about the reason for her discomfort.  She complied with you - she gave up the pain but surely what you are looking for is the source of the discomfort.

 

 

Hope this helps

 

Chris

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Permalink Reply by Tony on February 3, 2011 at 6:09am

Thanks Christine. For adding other clues, I'm not a professional hypnoterapist, but a newbye in this field that have studyed, watched videos and attended 2 live courses (one of ericksonian and another of stage). She isn't a client but simply a narrow friend of mine that offers herself (and it wasn't the first time I hypnotize her)  to be hypnotized and improve my abilities. I think she's a particular kind of somnambulist since there were another time when after the suggestion of feeling warmer she feels her hands litterally burning (without effect luckily as I suggested that she wouldn't feel any disconfort).

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Permalink Reply by Christine Hargan on February 9, 2011 at 12:17pm

Hi Tony

 

I suspect that your friend is very suggestible, that means that she responds strongly to any suggestions that you give her.  If you've had no formal training, or a thorough understanding of psychology I would not recommend treating her for a problem.  You really need to learn about how the unconscious mind works and responds under hypnosis.  If you need to do this online I'm sure there are some good informative sites in your mother tongue.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Best wishes

 

Chris

Tony said:

Thanks Christine. For adding other clues, I'm not a professional hypnoterapist, but a newbye in this field that have studyed, watched videos and attended 2 live courses (one of ericksonian and another of stage). She isn't a client but simply a narrow friend of mine that offers herself (and it wasn't the first time I hypnotize her)  to be hypnotized and improve my abilities. I think she's a particular kind of somnambulist since there were another time when after the suggestion of feeling warmer she feels her hands litterally burning (without effect luckily as I suggested that she wouldn't feel any disconfort).

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