Specificity in Imagery

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Chris Witherspoon on January 22, 2012 at 8:37am

I think what is intended is that the hypnotist should not be specific about the imagery but let the client pick the image.  Example....Just imaging a place where you can completely relax....perhaps it is a beautiful beach or a comfortable cabin in the woods....perhaps it is a place you have visited in the past or desire to visit....or perhaps it is a place of your own making....a safe....secure....comfortable place....what ever you imaging is just fine....now make this place as real as you possibly can...use all your senses....feel the air....is it warm or cool....make it just as you like....hear the sounds around you...is it still....can you hear sounds....make it just as you desire...................ect...

When you dictate what the image is to be you may run up against a resistance to that image.  When you let the client construct the image they own it and are more comfortable in that image and therefore engage their imagination.  Imagination and visualization are two key components to hypnosis.

Permalink Reply by Tom Grethen on January 22, 2012 at 11:47am

I think it is helpful to appeal to all the senses by giving suggestion along the lines of "and i wonder what else you can see... and if there are any sounds... " etc etc and do that with every sense... perhaps, if it's an interactive session (a verbally responsive client), get feedback from them and feed that back to them etc... adding things like "and I wonder what it is about that that givs such great comfort" ...

Permalink Reply by Debra Formo on January 24, 2012 at 10:15am

Hi Hypno Mom- The strength is in the details and I second what the others are saying - that we need to let the client fill in those details with our encouragement and skillful questioning. 

Personally I have a tough time with visualization and I am  "rule follower" so I find when I am working with a therapist or a recording that gives too much detail it distracts me.  What happens for me is- I will follow the initial instruction to visualize myself somewhere and I get a vague picture or feeling then the therapist adds some extra detail and that doesn't match with "my experience" so then I find I am constantly trying to reconfigure "my experience" to what the therapist "wants" me to see.  It often gets so distracting that I can't stay with the script (the same with recordings that tell you to breathe in not taking into account how long a breathe takes then they talk so long that you have to let it out before they tell you).  I know that many would say that the confusion only serves to open up the Critical Faculty more, but in my experience I have found that this has interfered with the process for me. 

Personally I have had more success with adjusting a script to more encourage the client to fill out the "picture" or "impression" themself with statements such as "what do you see?", "where are you?" then if there is sunshine or heat for example tell them to "feel" the heat on their skin or "taste the salty air".  If you have the client tell you what they see/feel then you can help them fill in the details through the use of questions like these.  The more of the five senses you can involve the better and the more intense you can make each of those the better still. I really think it is important to let the client do the work and have it be as much their creation as possible.  It is then something they can recreate- they could then make that their "happy or safe place" and the more they use that creation the more it becomes a trigger for them to go into trance and trigger the relaxation response when they need it.

Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on January 24, 2012 at 6:05pm

An "artfully vague" script might sound something like this: I wonder if you've ever experienced a time in your life when you felt so relaxed...so wonderful...that you forgot all about your troubles, worries and cares...that you were able to just let yourself experience a comfortable sense of letting go...perhaps it was a time when everything just seemed right and you were carefree, relaxed and easy...and when you think about how that felt you realize that you can bring that sensation right back into your body and your mind...even as you breathe this feeling in...and give yourself permission to begin to let go...even further...inviting that dynamic and powerful part of your creative imagination to take over and give you the most wonderful, the most delightful experience possible....