Practical points on deepening hypnosis?

I have been using focus and concentration foor years as a martial arts instructor and corporate trainer and the last few years as a Licensed Professional Counselor but I still seem to be having difficulty with deepening hypnosis clients to a level where they fully respond to the suggestions. I have had some successes with test taking, weight loss and smoking cessation clients but even these do not enter the deeper levells of hypnosis which is where I would like to take them and which would make me feel more competent and confident in expanding my practice. Any suggesstions? Oh BTW I am a graduate of Richard Nongard's Basic Class and was completely satisfied with the knowledge and skills I gained in the class but this is the next level and I would like to do street or corporate hypnosis and need the deeper skills. Please any help is appreciated. I'm from Oklahoma (read speaks slowly) and I have a young sounding voice if that matters.

Favorite

0 members favorited this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on August 4, 2010 at 5:52am

Hello Ethan,

What leads you to believe it is insufficient "depth" of trance that limits the effectiveness of your suggestions?

Are the suggestions devised from your client's wishes, or are they from pre-written scripts? The most powerful ideas are those provided from our clients. I use ideomotor signaling to check their worth.

Are you using appropriate language? It is much easier to help a person move toward positive ideas than away from negative ones.

Suggestion is just one component to our work, but often needs to have the mind "groomed" for acceptance. This can mean laying the groundwork during the pre-talk, using techniques to "de-hypnotize" and remove obstacles, emotional tensions, etc... This is especially true with weight loss issues.

Are your clients experiencing any success? Listen carefully and note any positive changes...allow these to create a snowball effect, building belief that will grow, not just for them, but for yourself!

Hope this helps.

Best wishes,

Kelley

PS ~ I doubt your youthful OK voice is a detriment to your work; I find when you help clients feel better that they soon anchor your voice tones to those feelings and become enamoured!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Alexx D on August 4, 2010 at 6:33am

"Learn the form
But seek the formless
Hear the soundless
Learn it all then forget it all
Learn the way
Then find your own way"

I had some nifty stuff typed out about drawing a sense of competence and confidence from your successes with test taking, weight loss and smoking cessation.. then I thought of the quote above.. ;)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by James Hazlerig - HypnosisAustin on August 4, 2010 at 11:00am

Ethan,

The quest for "depth" is really a distraction. If you are getting the results you want in terms of your clients losing weight, stopping smoking, and scoring better on tests, then what does it matter how "deep" they are?

For doing "corporate" work, you probably don't want your clients too deep. Corporate types will probably be more comfortable with a lighter state of trance anyway.

As for street hypnosis, that's largely a matter of selecting your volunteers carefully, just like stage hypnosis. One thing to realize about all the videos of street hypnosis on YouTube is that you only see the great instances; nobody posts the so-so volunteers or the utter failures.

Check out James Tripp's blog, Hypnosis without Trance. While I argue that his volunteers are going into light trance states when he claims they aren't trancing at all, it's worth noting than none of them appear to be in deep trances--yet they are experiencing catalepsy, amnesia, even hallucination.

If you're still concerned about depth--fractionate, fractionate, fractionate.

James

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Alfredo Velasquez CHt. on August 5, 2010 at 5:20am

Hi there Ethan.
In my humble opinion, therapy is therapy, fun is fun.
I used to have clients that after an hour of therapy says: "well I feel more relax, can't understand why I coudn't bend my arm, but I don't really felt hypnotized.
What I'm doing now is: instead of the "long" induction, I trow some shock induction, then continue with deepeners and every time I pyramid into the challenges: your eyes are shut, you can't open them; your arm is stiff; then, can't stop laughing, forget a number etc... Try to put yourself in some freaky situation: you know how to hypnotize, get a group of people and prepare a routine (with more suggestions that you think you'll need), they don't know hypnosis, they may make jokes, but they are in a anxiety state, you must capitalize that. From 20 people you'll find 2 or 3 that are sonambulist, don't rush, use this people for make a nice impact in the others, don't stuck in the ones that are not sonambulistics. Record short video clips from that and post it on youtube or some other media, this will make your promotion, people who have watch the video will be more convince of your "powers" and will overload them.
My small grain,
Take care Ethan

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ethan Hale on August 5, 2010 at 7:52pm

Thanks good info from you and all the others!

Alfredo Velasquez CHt. said:

Hi there Ethan.
In my humble opinion, therapy is therapy, fun is fun.
I used to have clients that after an hour of therapy says: "well I feel more relax, can't understand why I coudn't bend my arm, but I don't really felt hypnotized.
What I'm doing now is: instead of the "long" induction, I trow some shock induction, then continue with deepeners and every time I pyramid into the challenges: your eyes are shut, you can't open them; your arm is stiff; then, can't stop laughing, forget a number etc... Try to put yourself in some freaky situation: you know how to hypnotize, get a group of people and prepare a routine (with more suggestions that you think you'll need), they don't know hypnosis, they may make jokes, but they are in a anxiety state, you must capitalize that. From 20 people you'll find 2 or 3 that are sonambulist, don't rush, use this people for make a nice impact in the others, don't stuck in the ones that are not sonambulistics. Record short video clips from that and post it on youtube or some other media, this will make your promotion, people who have watch the video will be more convince of your "powers" and will overload them.
My small grain,
Take care Ethan

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Richard Nongard - NLPBoard.com on August 5, 2010 at 9:21pm

Time to learn radpid and instant inductions.... and the depeners that go along with them. Cerbone and I have a Speedtrance video, brian David Phillps and Anthony Jaquin offer products and so does Sean Michael anthony. Any and all of these will work.
Come to the part 2 class in Denton/Lewisville later this month, many of these things will be taught.
If not, keep reading. Get your hands on an old copy of Harry Arrons books.
Many people get hung up on 'depth: of trance. Unless Im doing pre surgical prep, I really dont care if they are deep or not.
And WELCOME ICBCH grad to hypnothoughts!!!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ethan Hale on September 5, 2010 at 3:40am

Thanks Richard! I missed last months 2nd part but have been reading and studying. I also have been doing some more hypnosis and am feeling much more comfortable. Still want to be better but that may just be the perfectionist in me.

Ethan

Thanks for the classes!

Richard Nongard - NLPBoard.com said:

Time to learn radpid and instant inductions.... and the depeners that go along with them. Cerbone and I have a Speedtrance video, brian David Phillps and Anthony Jaquin offer products and so does Sean Michael anthony. Any and all of these will work.
Come to the part 2 class in Denton/Lewisville later this month, many of these things will be taught.
If not, keep reading. Get your hands on an old copy of Harry Arrons books.
Many people get hung up on 'depth: of trance. Unless Im doing pre surgical prep, I really dont care if they are deep or not.
And WELCOME ICBCH grad to hypnothoughts!!!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Graham Old on September 5, 2010 at 3:53am

Why do you want these so-called deeper levels?

Here's something I wrote on another forum:

I'd forget the idea of depth and only return to that at a late date, if you find it helpful.

I think a more useful concept is that of helping your subjects (I say "subjects" because you're talking about stage stuff) know what it is you want them to do.

So, it's not so much about getting them to go down deeper for each progressive phenomena. It's more about having them climb one rung up the ladder with each thing they learn. If they can do eye-lock, they can do arm catalepsy. If they can do catalepsy, they can do levitation, analgesia... etc.