WORKSHOP ON INFERRED INDUCTIONS BRUCE BONNETT

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1 WORKSHOP ON INFERRED INDUCTIONS BRUCE BONNETT I. What are inferred inductions? A. Inferred inductions are those designed for the emotional suggestible. B. Why do we care? In essence, suggestibility is a person s hypnotic personality... Kappas, Professional Hypnotism Manual, page 18. John Since 1968, when HMI s College of Hypnotherapy under the direction of Dr. John Kappas, recognized the existence of two distinct types of Hypnotic Suggestibility Emotional and Physical a new Hypnotic world has been revealed. Human behavior has led us to recognize that everyone is hypnotizable and responsive to suggestions. Some are more responsive to physical sensations, others to emotional stimuli, still others to environmental stimuli; and some, to all three. Take HMI's E&P Suggestibility Test to see whether you respond to Direct Literal Suggestions or Inferred Suggestions. The higher your percentage of Emotional Suggestibility the more you respond in Hypnosis to Inferred Suggestions [Bruce s note: such as stories, imagery, suggestions that allow the client to make a choice rather than commanding the client to do something, for example Allow yourself I wonder whether you will notice X first or Y first ] affecting your emotional behavior. ** Note: an induction is really a way of guiding a client or suggesting to a client that he/she go into hypnosis so, to be effective, inductions must be tailored for the emotional suggestible C. Some ways the emotional arm raising induction differs from the physical arm raising induction 1. Do not tell emo s directly what to do; the indirect response works when the subject is led to believe he or she is making his or her own decisions 1

2 2. Useful language to include: allow yourself to experience notice the tendency to while you give your attention to now you notice the feeling now you sense It may remind you of It is interesting for you to notice Perhaps you will feel It is curious to notice You have an understanding that 2. Use more distraction/misdirection as overload (draw the emo s attention to things like the way his/her body is reacting or to sensory input from the environment) II. Demonstration Online (kindle?) HMI Shortcuts - Hypnosis 101 Arm Raising Induction with John Melton (EMOTIONAL) III. Pre-Induction for the Emotional (describing for the emotional what he/she will likely feel while in the state of hypnosis) 2

3 Right now you are concentrating on my voice, but when you enter the hypnotic state, you will not only be aware of my voice, but you will also hear sounds around you that seem to be louder than usual. Many thoughts of the day will pass through your mind, even questions as to whether or not you are actually hypnotized. You will feel physically relaxed and you may feel some lightness, heaviness or tingling in the body, but the important thing is that even though these thoughts enter your mind, you will lose the desire to fight the suggestions that I am giving you because you really won t want to open your eyes or move out of the chair at that time. From: The Professional Hypnotism Manual, by Dr. Kappas, pg. 40 IV. Inferred Arm Raising In 10 Steps --as Described in HMI s 101 Workbook PRACTICE THIS! 1 1. Position client sitting up in the chair with their feet on the floor and arm on the table -Make sure their glasses are off and they have no gum in their mouth -Take client s hand and lift up to touch the face four times and feel the palm for sweat (put paper under if sweaty so does not stick to desk) 1 If Bruce sees you are not using the practice time in this workshop to practice, he will assume you have mastered all of the techniques this handout recommends that you practice. So, do not be surprised if Bruce then calls you up to the front of the class and asks you to demonstrate to the class one of these techniques!!! 3

4 -Have them look directly at you as you ask them questions to test suggestibility 2. Explain that you are going to Test Suggestibility 3. As a series of suggestibility questions Now take a look at your arm, from the elbow down to your finger tips, get a good picture of it and close your eyes. Visualize or imagine your arm and hand in your mind. When you can remember what they look like nod your head yes and let me know. (wait for response) 4. Physiological changes in the body Notice tendency for Now as you begin to enter the hypnotic state, you will notice a series of change taking place in your body. I will notice them before you do and when you become aware of them just nod your head yes and let me know, ok? The first change that place is that your breathing may have a tendency to grow deeper as your body takes in more oxygen. When you begin to notice your breathing getting deeper and deeper, just nod your head yes and let me know. Your lips, throat and mouth will begin to feel dry and you may have an urge to swallow. When you notice this nod your head yes and let me know. Now focus on your eyes and your eyelids. Do you notice that little fluttering sensation of your eyes moving underneath your eyelids? We are now entering the first state of hypnosis. 5. Conversion into hypnosis: Pay attention to how fast or slow arm is moving Now bring your attention down to your elbow the one pressing down on the table. As your elbow presses down, the muscles in the upper arm will begin to tighten and pull and from your elbow down to your finger tips, your lower hand and arm will begin to lift and rise, higher and higher, lighter and lighter, just as light as a feather... lifting and rising, pulling and jerking, moving up off the table, higher and higher, lighter and lighter, light as a feather. We will now tie this into your breathing. With every breath you take in, your arm and hand will lift and rise, going up higher and higher, lighter and lighter, pulling up towards your face. CONTINUE TO SAY POWER WORDS FOR THE HAND AND ARM TO LIFT UP For example: lifting, rising, higher, lighter, pulling, jerking, moving up with every breath now 4

5 ** MISDIRECTION FOR OVERLOAD Now as your arm and hand continue to lift and rise, your body begins to sink deeper down into the chair, your feet press harder into the floor, and the hand on your leg may begin to feel even heavier... all the while your arm and hand continue to lift and rise, higher and higher, lighter and lighter... just lifting and rising, pulling in towards the face. REPEAT THE POWER WORDS UNTIL THE HAND IS HALF-WAY TO THE FACE Now at this point you may begin to notice that your hand starts to twist and turn inward at the wrist. It s almost as if there is a magnetic pull of the hand coming in to your face and your head dropping down to meet your hand. It s now a turning and twisting, lifting and rising, pulling and jerking sensation that goes up higher and higher, lighter and lighter, just as light as a feather. With every inhale, the arm and hand goes up. And, on the exhale, the head begins to drop down now to meet the hand... getting heavier and heavier, heavier with every breath... the hand and the head continue pulling in closer and closer together. REPEAT POWER WORDS UNTIL HAND IS 6 INCHES FROM THE FACE Now when your hand comes all the way up to touch your face... the moment you make skin contact, you will reach your peak of suggestibility and enter the hypnotic sleep. WHEN HAND TOUCHES FACE, SNAP FINGERS AND SAY Deep sleep 6. Post Hypnotic Suggestion for Deep Sleep Each and every time I suggest the words Deep Sleep to you, for the purpose of hypnosis and with your permission, you will enter this state of hypnosis quickly and calmly and deeply, and the physical body will relax. GENTLY TAKE THE HAND AND PUT IT DOWN ON THE TABLE AND COUNT DOWN FROM 5 TO 0. I will now use a count backwards from 5 down to 0. With each and every count, the mind and body allow you to enter the hypnotic sleep more deeply at Zero. Starting with the count of 5, we are beginning to go down now... deeper and deeper into the state of hypnosis. 5

6 4 physically, releasing, relaxing, letting go 3- an emotional calmness 2-you are mentally relaxing now 1-going deeper and deeper and Zero is Deep Sleep (snap fingers) REPEAT POST HYPNOTIC SUGGESTION Each and every time I suggest the words Deep Sleep to you, for the purpose of hypnosis and with your permission, you will enter this state of hypnosis quickly and calmly and deeply, and the physical body will relax. 7. Deepening Techniques 8. Hypnotherapy Suggestions (Indirect) 9. Count out of Hypnosis (0 to 5, eyes open, wide awake) 10. Finger spread conversion to test for re-hypnosis V. Some Other Inductions ( Secondary Inductions ) designed more for emotional s A. 7 plus or minus 2 An effective induction for analytical/intellectual people... Short-term memory (STM) is limited in the number of items it can hold. The small capacity of STM was pointed out by George Miller in a famous paper called "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information". Miller noticed that people could recall only about seven items in tasks that required them to remember unfamiliar material.... When short-term memory is filled to capacity, the insertion of new information often displaces some of the information currently stored in STM. For example, if we are memorizing a ten-item list of basic chemical elements, the eighth, ninth, and tenth items on the list will begin to "bump out" earlier items. 6

7 Similarly, if we are reciting the phone number of a pizza parlor we're about to call when someone asks, "How much is this pizza going to cost?" our retrieval of the cost information into STM may knock part of the phone number from our STM.... The hypnotist can use this knowledge by creating an overload i.e. by offering a person more pieces of information than the person can process consciously, or by engaging a person in more tasks than the person can process consciously. As this state creates a tension and/or confusion, the person is open to follow suggestions offering a way out of the situation. Thus, the hypnotist can lead a person easily into a trance. One way of creating an overload is by engaging the person in activities that utilize all representational systems at once while at the same time using each system in an activity unrelated to the others. Another way of creating an overload is by having two people communicate different messages into each ear of the person. There will be more on this method of induction "Double Induction" another time if the panel has interest. SEVEN PLUS OR MINUS TWO - by Terence Watts Use this induction with analytical or intellectually orientated clients. It contains elements of confusion and since it is almost impossible to resist, it works particularly well with those who tend to find 'normal' relaxation inductions uncomfortable.... The Induction Script PRACTICE THIS! All right, just allow yourself to be as lazy as you want to be... listening quietly to the sound of my voice... and while you're listening quietly to the sound of my voice concentrating for a few moments on your breathing... breathing slowly and steadily, just as though you were sound asleep, or pretending to be sound asleep... and imagining, perhaps, just how comfortable you might look while you're relaxing there in the chair... using the power of your mind to see yourself in your mind's eye... and then using the power of your mind to do whatever has to happen to make you look even more relaxed... 7

8 and still thinking about your breathing, making quite sure that each breath in lasts the same length of time as the last breath in... and each breath outwards lasts the same length of time as the last breath out... even though each breath in will probably be slightly shorter than each breath out... and while you're thinking about your breathing, noticing, perhaps, the weight of your head against the back of the chair... and still listening quietly to the sound of my voice... And while you're listening quietly to the sound of my voice, it maybe that you'll become aware that you've forgotten to think about your breathing... but that's all right, you can just simply start thinking about your breathing again while you're listening quietly to the sound of my voice and what I'm saying to you here... and in psychology, there's a rule called... seven plus or minus two... and that means that most people can think of seven things all at once... plus or minus two... so you should be able to think of at least five things all at the same time... the sound of my voice... the steadiness of your breathing... the weight of your head against the back of the chair... and how you might look from the outside... and that's four things... so you can think of those four things while you're listening to the sound of the music I'm playing in the background... so that's five things, now... and I wonder if you can think about those five things and then at the same time notice the way your feet feel on the footrest of the chair... and perhaps how your arms feel... and that's seven things now... the sound of my voice... the weight of your head against the back of the chair... the music playing in the background... they way you look while you're relaxing... and your breathing... and your arms... and your feet on the footrest... and I wonder if you can now add an eighth thing into all of that... I wonder if your mind is powerful enough to think of seven plus one things... adding in, perhaps, an awareness of the temperature of the room... and then just testing to see whether you can add yet another input to your senses... so that you're thinking of NINE things all at once... that's seven plus two... thinking about all those eight inputs to your senses and then maybe adding an awareness of the way your eyes feel while you're thinking about all those other things... the weight of your head... your breathing... the music in the background... how you look from the outside... the temperature of the room... your feet on the footrest... your arms... the sound of my voice... and how your eyes feel... The weight of your head... your breathing... the music in the background... how you look from the outside... the temperature of the room... your feet on the footrest... your arms... the sound of my voice... and how your eyes feel... and of course, when anybody thinks of all these things, what they are really doing is scanning round them one after 8

9 the other... very quickly... so quickly, it feels as if you're thinking of them all at once... and in the world of computers, that would be called timesharing... sharing your available resources between the different tasks you are attempting to perform all at once... and that's why some people can think of only five things... because it's the limit of their memory... while others can actually think of nine things... and I wonder how well your memory is working as you struggle to remember those nine things... the weight of your head... your breathing... the music in the background... how you look from the outside... the temperature of the room... your feet on the footrest... your arms... the sound of my voice... and how your eyes feel... And now you can think how good it will feel...when you simply allow yourself to think of only the most important thing of all... concentrating all your energies onto that one most important thing of all...which is going to be so easy to think of, now that you are going to allow yourself to think of only one thing instead of nine... and that one thing is how good it feels to think of only one thing... thinking how relaxed you can be now... that you're only thinking of how relaxed you might like to be... relaxing in your mind... and in your body... no need to think anything at all, really... no need to do anything... nobody wanting anything and nobody expecting anything... and absolutely nothing whatsoever for you to do except to... relax. End of induction... [NOTE:] Important to have a "cheat sheet" list of 9 things you want them to remember otherwise you can lose track yourself because, as you point out, you are monitoring many things at the same time. n_effective_induction_for/ B. Ericksonian-Style Confusion with Levitation Richard Nongard. (2012) Richard Nongard's Big Book of Hypnosis Scripts: How to Create Lasting Change Using Contextual Hypnotherapy, Mindfulness Meditation and Hypnotic Phenomena) (pg. 147) 9

10 PRACTICE THIS! I think you will find the next couple of minutes very enjoyable. That is my hope. I m not going to ask you to do anything that would make you do anything that would make you uncomfortable or anything that is difficult. This is really a learning process. In learning hypnosis, one of the things that you are able to do is learn the difference between the conscious mind and the subconscious mind. In learning and experiencing hypnosis, a lot of people experience not only a tremendous amount of relaxation or peace, but they also find that sometimes they can access parts of the mind that they didn t know existed before they learned hypnosis. What I am going to ask you to do is really pretty simple. I want you to follow the directions that I give and simply allow yourself to learn from this experience.... In this process, the conscious mind will hear the words and the subconscious mind will be able to make the choices. Our goal here is to integrate our conscious and our subconscious thinking. It really doesn t matter if you hear all of the words that I use or if you only hear some of the words. What really matters most is that you allow yourself to learn from this experience in any way that would be beneficial for your mind. Start by simply taking a deep breath and making the decision to relax. Many people find that it is easier to relax if they simply rest their hands on their legs. You can look at your two hands. As you look at those two hands, you may see some similarities or perhaps you may begin to notice some differences between them. In a moment, I am going to ask you to make a choice. Your conscious mind may hear the words that I am using but the subconscious mind will actually make a choice between the two hands. You may choose the left hand. Perhaps you will find that is actually the right choice for your. Or you might choose the right hand. The other hand will be the only one, of course, that is left. You may or may not understand why you made the choices that you made from the conscious mind, but the subconscious mind will understand the differences between those two hands. With a part of your mind, whether it is your conscious mind that can hear the words that I m using or the subconscious mind with memories and feelings that you experienced, make a choice. Ask yourself which of these two hands will become the hand that is light as a feather and which hand will be heavier 10

11 than the other? There really isn t a right or wrong answer here. It s really dependent on your own experiences, you own choices, and the feelings you have. As you look at those two hands, your subconscious mind knows which of those two hands is lighter than the other. Your conscious mind may be aware of the choices that your subconscious mind has made. Or perhaps it is not. That is fine too. You can begin, at this point, to feel the lightness in one of those hands. That lightness can extend to the fingertips and even into the nails of the hand that your subconscious mind has selected. Perhaps that lightness extends all the way through the forearm and even into the elbow. If you find your eyes getting tired while you stare at that hand, you can allow your eyes to close. If you do, you will find that the relaxation you experience is twice as deep. The hand that your subconscious mind has identified as being the hand that is lighter than the other hand knows how to experience that feeling of lightness. (Pause) The feeling of lightness in that hand may start out as a simple physical awareness of the difference between those hands. You may even feel a twitch in the finger or a tingling under the skin. Your breath becomes shallower. You heart rate slows. (Pause) The subconscious mind is being spoken to; it understands the feeling of lightness. It s almost as if a balloon has been tied around the wrist. As the hand begins to move gently, that balloon causes the hand to rise. The conscious mind may wonder how this occurs, but the subconscious mind is able to create its own reality and its own experiences. As that balloon begins to lift the hand slowly higher towards your face and into the air, you experience the feeling of lightness. That hand can simply rest right here, lighter than the heavy hand and feeling lighter than the other hand. The experiences that we create with the subconscious mind are experiences that we are able to learn from and use in any way we would like to. That hand can come back to rest on the leg or it can rise higher in the air. Your subconscious mind is able to make the choice of where you would like to place that hand at any given time. The hand can rise or the hand can fall, just as the subconscious mind is able to note the difference between the left and the right hand. In a moment, I am going to ask you to allow yourself to completely and freely experience a moment of tranquility, a moment perhaps more peaceful than any other experience you have ever identified. Your subconscious mind is able to do this because your subconscious mind and the conscious mind can work together. In your mind, take a moment to simply create a feeling of wonder and a feeling of peace. At any time throughout the day, if you 11

12 experience difficulty, tension, or stress, you can bring yourself back to this point where you are right now. C Auto- Dual John Kappas The Professional Hypnotism Manual The auto-dual method is an approach that has been designed for the analytical or intellectually suggestible subject. When a subject arranges to see a hypnotist, pays for a session, and then tries to analyze himself out of hypnosis, we can assume that he has a fear of being controlled by the operator. The auto-dual method prevents this type of individual from analyzing what the operator is saying or doing, and thereby causes him to enter the hypnotic state through a form of misdirection. It allows him to believe that he is hypnotizing himself instead of being hypnotized by the operator. Although this is not actually the case, this method does break down resistance, allowing the operator to reach the subject more easily. PRACTICE THIS! The mechanics of the auto-dual method are as follows: Place your subject in a straight-backed chair. Tell him to put his feet flat on the floor, To place his right index finger on the pulse of his left wrist, And to stare directly at the fingernail of his right index finger. He has now accepted three suggestions consciously, which prepares him to accept what follows. Now, have him repeat after you the following: 12

13 I will now enter the state of hypnosis for the reasons of deep relaxation and self-control. I will count from five down to zero and with each count I will become more deeply relaxed. When I reach zero, I will go deep asleep. Five... I begin to feel my breathing growing deep, gentle and rhythmic. Suggest this just as his breathing pattern begins to vary. The subject himself is usually not aware of the natural change in his breathing as he prepares to enter the hypnotic state. The tendency of his head to drop forward should also be utilized. The instant you see his head jerking forward, suggest that his head is growing heavy and is beginning to drop forward. Four... I begin to feel heaviness in my eyelids, as I become drowsier and sleepier. [His eyelids will naturally tire from staring at his fingernail.] Three... I begin to feel every muscle, nerve and fiber in my body relaxing, deeply relaxing. Two... My arms, my legs, my entire body are now deeply relaxed. One... My eyelids grow even heavier, breathing becoming more rhythmic, I am deeply relaxed. Zero... deep asleep! The fact that the subject is talking and repeating after you prevents him from simultaneously analyzing what is being said, so when you reach zero he is psychologically and physically prepared to follow the final suggestion of deep hypnotic sleep in order to defend himself against his own fears of being controlled. To awaken him, simply reverse the count and say Wide awake. (pages 57-59) VI. Bruce s Cheat Sheet Generally To Help With Arm-Raising Language ARM RAISING CHEAT SHEET BRUCE BONNETT PRACTICE THIS! ** Remember for emo s: 1. Do not tell emo s directly what to do; the indirect 13

14 Arm Raising Language Notes **At each phase of the arm raising (separated in yellow), use and much or little additional language as you need depending on when the client is ready to move to the next phase response works when the subject is led to believe he or she is making his or her own decisions 2. allow self to experience notice tendency to while you give your attention to now you notice the feeling now you sense It may remind you of It is interesting for you to notice Perhaps you will feel It is curious to notice You have an understanding that 3. more distraction/misdirection as overload Close your eyes, visualize or imagine your (left/right) hand In a moment you will begin to feel a series of changes take place you can shake your head when you begin to feel any of them In a moment you will begin to feel your body Look down at your hand, close your eyes, visualize your hand. Shake your head when you have an image of your hand in your mind, ok just hold that image OK now what I want you to do is just imagine what I m saying Your eyes are beginning to develop rapid eye movement Visualize your hand, shake your head when you can; just hold that image 14

15 needing a little more oxygen Your breathing will grow a little deeper You will begin to feel a little movement beneath the eyes and eyelids You will feel a dryness in the lips You begin to feel the pressure of the elbow pushing down You begin to feel your breathing beginning to change You will begin to develop a sort of dryness of this lips, the throat and an urge to swallow Your arm will have a tendency to grow very light until it starts lifting at the wrist You will continuously feel the elbow pushing down as the hand starts to go up upwards and then inwards towards your face Imagine I am taking hold of your wrist and I am pulling it up Every breath that you take in, your hand and your arm --from your fingertip to your elbow --grow very light and begin to lift and rise Feel the pressure of your elbow pushing down Your breathing will grow deeper and the hand will have a tendency to lift and rise going higher and higher with every breath you take With every breath, the hand and the arm will start to move up in sort of a lifting rising motion The hand continually going up higher and higher, very very light, light as a feather As the hand starts to move up, you ll feel little jerking motions Once the hand begins to leave the table, your hand and your arm will go into another direction towards your face The arm and the hand from fingertip to your wrist and into your forearm will start to go up in this lifting rising motion Now from your fingertips into your elbow, your arm, it will begin to lift and rise and continually go up always feeling the pressure of your elbow pressing down The hand the arm continually keeps going up, just as if it was moving up and attempting to reach towards your face You are going to imagine that I m taking hold of your wrist and I m going to be pulling it up 15

16 Your hand will continue to grow lighter and lighter Lifting rising up higher and higher Should you feel a tightening effect of the upper muscles in the arm, you shake your head immediately, and the hand and the arm continually now begin to move in little jerking motions And, the breathing continually begins to get very deep, very gentle, very rhythmic, and the hand and arm keep going up higher and higher, lighter and lighter, very very light In a few minutes, you will begin to feel the pressure of the elbow pushing down and the wrist becoming very, very light as light as a feather, and it will begin to lift and rise going up higher and higher, lighter and lighter, as light as a feather The more you try to put the hand or the arm down, the tighter it becomes now Very very light as light as a feather As the one hand begins to go up, the other hand will feel as if it is pushing down on your leg Now every breath, the hand starts to go up; it s tied directly into your breathing and it s going to start moving up slowly, lifting, rising, higher and higher, lighter and lighter, very very light The instant you feel the first jerk, you will shake your head yes The hand will continue to go up, lifting and rising, higher an higher, lighter and lighter, very very light, light as a feather Sort of a lifting rising jerking motion, the hand and the arm keep going up and up higher and higher, lighter and lighter Now, just don t pay any attention to the sounds around you, they re not important now Now feeling the pressure of your feet on the floor and your hand on your leg pushing down, while the other hand and arm continue to get lighter and lighter 16

17 As the hand starts to go up, it will begin to lift and rise, pulling upward and inward towards your face Pulling upward and inward towards your face Now the hand continually goes up towards your face, and you will begin to feel the heaviness in your head The arm and hand lifting, rising, pulling, jerking, upward, inward up towards your face Also, in a few minutes you will begin to feel a twisting, turning motion as the wrist and palm of the hand prepare to turn inward when you feel that shake your head yes Now the hand keeps pushing towards your head pushing tighter and tighter towards your head feel the pressure of the head pushing towards the hand Your breathing will grow deeper You will begin to feel also a twisting turning motion at the wrist and the hand will have a tendency to turn inward Your hand, your arm continue to move upward inward towards your face As if I was taking hold of wrist and pushing it towards your face Right about now, you will begin to feel the twisting turning effects at the wrist where the palm tries to turn inward The hand and the arm continue to pull towards your face and will continue to move towards your face There is the possibility of the muscles tightening in the forearm You begin to feel the tendency of the head to drop slightly in little jerky motions Every breath now pulling closer and closer; I am not sure if the hand is coming up towards the head more or if the head is coming down towards the hand more Begin to feel the tendency of the head to drop slightly Every breath now pulling closer and closer Head begins to drop in little jerking motions Head dropping down heavier and heavier Every time you exhale, the head begins to drop down Now just concentrating only on the sound of my voice, ignore the sounds around you, they are not important. When I push your shoulder down, your hand will push more towards your face, very light so light that when you try to put your 17

18 You ll feel little jerking motions in your head -- and your hand and head will start drawing together, just as if I was pushing the hand towards your face and your face towards your hand Now as it continually goes up, you ll also begin to feel a twisting turning motion at the wrist hand down, the more you try, the lighter it feels and you will feel your breathing growing even deeper And, as the hand begins to move up, it begins to lift the forearm, and it begins to move upward and inward towards your face When the hand touches your head, you will reach the peak of your suggestibility Your hand and your face draw closer and closer together, and in a few moments they are going to touch. When they touch, do you know what happens at that moment? You enter the hypnotic sleep. You will feel the arm tightening, shake your head when you feel it; your left arm will grow tighter and tighter; you ll feel the bicep muscle tightening, the muscles growing tighter as the hand keeps pushing towards your face Now, when you feel the skin contact between the hand and the face, at that exact moment, we re going to reach the peak of your suggestibility and enter the hypnotic sleep at that particular moment You will enter the hypnotic sleep; DEEP SLEEP Now each time hypnotic sleep is suggested to you, you will sleep quickly sounds and deeply. 18

19 VII. REASONS INDUCTIONS MAY FAIL FROM: Top 3 Reasons Inductions Fail... An induction isn t something you do to someone. It s something you do with someone. What are the top reasons hypnotists fail with inductions? Here s reason # 3 #3: A Lack Of Confidence Shown By The Hypnotist... Now, imagine you re defusing a bomb and the person talking you through it says, I think you re supposed to cut the green wire. Maybe. I don t know. I guess. How likely are you to follow instructions?.... But if you re not confident, it can be a good idea to at least sound and act calm and confident even when things don t go the way you expect them to. How do you do that? Here are three tips.... Practice and get comfortable with a few inductions. Deliberately fail a few times (or at least try to). Visualize the result you want. #2: Lack Of Flexibility (by the hypnotist) If you re a one-trick pony, you d better be hypnotizing a pony that likes that trick. But people are like dancers. Each dancer has their own strengths and abilities. Each responds uniquely. If you re good, you ll be able to take that in stride. It s doesn t really take knowing many inductions to cover most of the bases. And if you know ericksonian-style inductions, you don t really have to memorize anything. You can just start talking erickson-like and reinforce whatever is leading to trance.... If you make a mistake, that s fine. You can make all kinds of mistakes and still have a successful induction. Responding to a person rather than dictating to them gives you lots of flexibility as to how to proceed. 19

20 #1: A Poor Pre-Induction Talk The set up is often the more important than what induction you use..... VII. Example from Bruce of Part of a Pre-induction Talk: In your explanation of hypnosis, set things up so you cannot fail. As an example: PRACTICE THIS! Some clients are good at the kind of hypnosis stage hypnotists do. It is pretty amazing. I could give them the suggestion that laughing gas was coming into the room and they would laugh like crazy. I once had a client who had to drink a nasty chalky horrible tasting barium drink prior to an MRI or CT Scan. In hypnosis, I just gave her the suggestion that it would taste like her favorite milkshake. When she went in for the procedure, she gulped down the barium drink and asked if they had any refills! For other clients like attorneys who tend to be stuck in their heads -- hypnosis is more of an analytical thought process. It works just as well but is more subtle. Many clients are pretty alert and listen to everything I say during the first session. That makes sense because they are curious about hypnosis and what I am saying. Others may let their minds drift off to relaxing thoughts or think about their to do lists or other things going on in their lives. No matter what, the subconscious part of the mind is still absorbing the beneficial suggestions. It is a little like at night when you are asleep but part of your mind is still listening in the background for an emergency or the alarm clock. No matter whether you are concentrating consciously on what I am saying or your mind is drifting somewhere else, your subconscious is still paying attention to me. If I do want to make sure you are consciously paying attention at any point, I may ask you to nod or say something. 20

21 There is no need to take notes. No test. If I want to remind you of some tool or tip, I will tell you after I count you out of hypnosis at the end of the session or text or e- mail you later. I actually find it sort of amusing and enjoy it slightly when some clients tell me at the end of the session that they don t think it worked or they that did not feel anything. Because inevitably they start noticing changes after the session anyway. For some clients, the changes come quickly --- sort of like we flipped all the right switches in one or two sessions. For other clients, it may take a few sessions to start to turn around long held beliefs, habits, and reactions. Some clients see me once or twice and that is all they need --- and they tell everyone about me and how great hypnosis is. Other clients see me a number of times until we get things going in the right direction. Some clients will come back for a booster session when they need it or when some new issue or stress presents itself in their lives. And, I have a number of really lucky clients who can afford to see me once or twice a week because they see how much it transforms their lives and lets them constantly keep improving and achieving whatever they want. It is probably easiest for you to imagine, make believe, visualize, or pretend you are experiencing the things I describe. But, it also works for you to imagine you are watching it all on a big TV screen. Or, it works too for you just to think about what I am saying. It s really up to you. In addition to the hypnotic suggestions I will be giving your mind today, I will also e- mail you a list of some tips and tools you can use including self-hypnosis instructions in between our sessions. 21

22 KEEP PRACTICING! 22