Hypnosis Methods
When you’re learning about hypnosis or how to hypnotise someone there’s always such a lot to remember. As well as grasping the concept of the practice itself there are certain methods that you can use to make your patient more receptive to a hypnotherapy session and we have illustrated the how’s and why’s of some of the best…
The fundamental tool to use when hypnotising someone is your voice. Stressed tone, fast speed and hesitation will all contribute to a failed hypnosis session, whereas if you learn to talk softly, slowly and confidently, never going back on a sentence to start it again or pause to come up with something to say then your patient will put all their trust in you. Nobody can be hypnotised if they don’t implicitly trust the person who’s doing it. That doesn’t mean to say that you need to know the patient inside out before they’ll let you hypnotise them, but you need to assure them that you know exactly what you’re doing and that there’s no reason why they should hold back.
Secondly you need to use questions and suggestions to make them more receptive to the ideas you will give them during the session. You can do this by firstly stating the obvious and then asking for their agreement with statements such as ‘the weather’s on our side today, isn’t it?’. After this you can move onto more ambiguous statements such as ‘I had a pen a second ago, didn’t I?’. Ask these question with conviction, looking into their eyes if possible and you should get an affirmative response. This is a good sign that the patient is willing to agree with what you say and you can begin some relaxation techniques.
Breathing techniques are a perfect way to get a person to relax into that hypnotic state of mind. Remember that they should still be conscious so it’s not necessary for them to lie down, but just to be comfortable. Ask them to close their eyes and breathe deeply in through their nose and out through their mouth. As they breath in, ask them to tense a certain group of muscles, which upon breathing out are then relaxed. Start with the feet, moving up through the legs and thighs, to the stomach, arms and finally the shoulders and face. Talk to them about how they’re feeling, saying things like ‘your muscles are now all as relaxed as they can be and you feel you want to carry on breathing in through your nose….and out through your mouth’. These statements relate only to the hypnotherapy and are not to do with any of the surroundings or any other situations. Hypnosis is about concentrating on one thing and blocking all others out.
Using these hypnosis techniques you should be able to successfully induce somebody and have a fulfilling session with them. If at first you don’t succeed then keep practising because hypnotism is not necessarily something that comes naturally to everyone. Simply take these techniques and build upon them in a way that you feel comfortable with and you will see results after your first few attempts.