In general, look for signs of relaxation to indicate that the subject is in hypnosis. Signs of nervousness or tenseness indicate she probably is not in hypnosis or at most only on the edge of hypnosis.
Do not get overly concerned if a subject doesn't appear to be relaxing very much. No two people react exactly the same way to hypnosis. Just continue executing your hypnosis routines; they will work in all but a few cases.
I have had subjects who became as limp as wet dishrags within moments after I've started the induction. Others have fidgeted through most of the first session before relaxing only slightly. A few didn't really start to relax until the second session. I have had only one subject that I was unable to hypnotize. After three sessions, she was still tense and high strung. I gave her a complete refund and sent her to a colleague (who had the same unsatisfactory results).
The best indicator of a subject's responsiveness to hypnosis is to question her about it after you have brought her out of the hypnosis. The subject will tell you whether she was relaxed or not and exactly what she experienced. Of course, final results are the absolute indicator. If you are hypnotizing to stop smoking, and the subject stops, you know you performed your skill correctly and the subject was responsive.
Testing
Some hypnotists perform little tests during the induction to see if the hypnosis is working. For example, they might tell the subject to try to raise her arm just after telling her, "Your arm is like a log, stiff, immovable." If she raises her arm, she isn't under hypnosis yet. If she doesn't raise her arm, the induction has produced some level of hypnosis.
I do not do testing at all. My theory is that testing creates a doubt in the subject's mind. The subject might begin to think "Isn't he sure about what he is doing?" "Maybe I am not a good hypnosis subject?" "Will it work or not?" Besides, what will you do if the test fails and she raises her arm? The only thing you can do is continue the induction, which you were going to do anyway. Have confidence: The induction does work. And lo and behold, it does.
PRE-HYPNOSIS CONSULTATION
The pre-hypnosis consultation usually immediately precedes hypnosis session 1, which is covered in the next chapter. The consultation is extremely important and should not be skipped. (For self-hypnosis, a type of pre-hypnosis consultation is also recommended; see chapter 13.)
The purpose of the consultation is many faceted. It is the time when you explain what hypnosis is to your subject and answer any questions that may arise. It gives you the opportunity to establish a rapport with the subject, gain her confidence, and have the subject perform several simple exercises to put her at ease. There are a number of key questions you need to ask the subject to determine whether or not you wish to proceed with the actual hypnosis.
If the subject is apprehensive about being hypnotized (after you have thoroughly explained the hypnosis program), don't attempt to hypnotize her. Ask her to think about it for a few days. Let her know that you will be happy to answer any questions.
Conversely, if your subject wants to be hypnotized, but you have reservations, don't do it. It is vitally important that you and your subject have a mutual rapport and understanding if you are to have a successful program. Always keep in mind that the goal of hypnosis is to help someone gain more control over his or her life and to improve the quality of that life in some manner. This is difficult to achieve if obstacles (such as lack of trust, poor rapport, and apprehension toward each other) stand between the operator and the subject.
Do not hesitate to refuse hypnosis. A woman came to my office to begin a series of six sessions for diet control. In our pre-hypnosis consultation, my sixth sense told me that something was seriously inharmonious between us. Under gentle questioning, the woman admitted a deep hatred and mistrust of men in general. She quickly said, "I won't allow that to interfere with anything, though." Of course, I realized her good intentions weren't good enough. She needed help more with her hatred than with diet control, and only someone for whom she had complete respect could help her. I refused to take her as a client. Instead, I set up an appointment for her to see a colleague, a female hypnotist, for consultation. The woman had a successful program with my colleague, conquering both her hatred and her eating compulsion, and she phoned to thank me. No doubt she would have gone to the female hypnotist in the first place had she known about her. Again, always do what is best for the subject even if it deprives you of a fee or an interesting experience.
IMPORTANT: If you suspect a mental or health problem, do not attempt to deal with it. Refuse to take the person as a client until he or she has seen a physician and the physician sanctions the hypnosis treatment. Also, do not accept a client whom you know or strongly suspect is on illegal drugs. The grief you can create for yourself can be a lifelong nightmare.
Consultation Scenario
The consultation should go something like this:
First, have the subject fill out and sign a brief fact sheet that includes name, address, phone number, purpose in wanting hypnosis, name he or she prefers to be called, and any other data you may deem pertinent. I usually keep this brief, preferring to elicit the data from the subject during discussion and making my own notes.
Second, ask why the subject wants hypnosis. Take your time exploring this thoroughly. Frequently, the reason given is not the real problem. If the answer is for diet control, find out what she has done in the past for diet. Does she have a health problem? Is she under a doctor's care? Is she taking medication or drugs? If so, what kind? why? Is it under a doctor's care? Do not leave this subject until you are comfortable with the answers.
Third, explain thoroughly what hypnosis is and isn't. Allay all apprehensions. Invite questions. Explain your entire six-session program and your fees. Stress that there are no guarantees; the results depend on her responsiveness. Stress also that she cannot be made to do anything under hypnosis that is contrary to her will. She cannot be made to do anything that she wouldn't be willing to do while not under hypnosis. Also stress that she will always be aware of everything that is happening and will remember everything that happened.
Fourth, give a mini-demonstration of two prehypnosis training exercises to show how simple hypnosis is. (These two exercises are detailed later in this chapter.)
Fifth, begin with hypnosis session 1.
The preceding five steps are a suggested outline for your consultation. In practice, you will develop your own style and sequence. Three important things to achieve regardless of your structure are: 1) inform the subject completely about you and hypnosis; 2) inform yourself completely about the subject; and 3) establish a comfortable rapport between you and the subject.
Problem Areas
Medical care. If the subject is under medical care, do not do anything to interfere with that. Unless you are a medical doctor (few doctors know or practice hypnosis), do not play doctor; that is not your role and could be detrimental to your subject. In cases where the subject has a medical situation, I always ask permission to consult with the subject's physician. If the subject says no, I do not do the hypnosis. If the subject says yes, I then am guided by the results of my consultation with her physician.
Find the true reason. Frequently the reason given for wanting hypnosis is not really the problem that needs to be dealt with. Here is one of my cases that illustrates the point rather humorously: An attractive, middle-aged woman came to me ostensibly for diet control. She didn't appear to me to have a weight problem, but I nevertheless went through a complete consultation with her, explaining all about hypnosis and about my diet control program. After my explanation, she still was apprehensive about hypnosis. So I continued questioning until she finally admitted that she was concerned that I would take sexual advantage of her while she was hypnotized. I assured her quite firmly, "You will be aware at all times, and I cannot make you do anything under hypnosis that you would not do willingly while not under hypnosis. She smiled weakly and muttered, "That's the problem!"
A few years ago I stop
ped doing hypnosis specifically for diet control, smoking, or phobias. I began dealing only with self-image improvement and handling of stress. I find these two items to be at the root of all problems. Of course, I may put in a suggestion or two about not smoking, or regulating appetite, but my main thrust is self-image improvement and/or stress control. I find that when one's self-image is healthy and balanced, problems go away or are handled satisfactorily.
Keep calm. Occasionally, bizarre things can happen and you must be ready to handle them in a calm, confident, mature manner. You must never let your subject think that you are not absolutely in command. You must never appear to be rattled, upset, or confused, and you must never scold the subject or express disappointment at their response. Whatever the subject does or says is the way it is, so you as the operator must learn to accept that and deal with it.
You must never, I repeat never, be judgmental. If the topic of abortion makes you see red, and you are a staunch anti-abortionist, do not attempt to help the young, unmarried woman who is experiencing deep guilt over having had an abortion. Your own feelings might well cause you to intensify the woman's guilt rather than help her handle it.
Here is the most bizarre situation I've encountered and how I handled it: A middle-aged woman burst into my office in hysteria. She was crying, screaming, and babbling incoherently. Fortunately, I had an hour until my next appointment. My wife, who was my receptionist, and I gently led her to one of my lounge chairs, and I asked her to sit down. I sat across from her and said nothing. I let her cry and babble until she was exhausted. In her babbling, I got enough of her story to know that she was suicidal and en route to killing herself when she came to my office. The details of why she was going to kill herself aren't germane to this example; her life was a colossal mess. When she finally grew tired she said, "I'm sorry I have bothered you. I know there is no way you can hypnotize me or help me while I am in this condition."
"Let's just talk about it," I said. "Your eyes are all red; they must burn." She nodded yes. "Why not just close your eyes and rest them while we talk." She did, and I had her under hypnosis within minutes without her realizing it. My purpose was to get her to commit to herself under hypnosis to live for two more weeks while giving me a chance to help her. The story has a happy ending. After four sessions in two weeks, she had rejected the thought of suicide and started to exercise her option to live. Over the subsequent weeks she very nicely restructured her life.
Forgetting the words. If you forget what you are supposed to say while hypnotizing a subject, don't panic, stammer, or apologize. Just pause briefly and then say something like, "Just go on relaxing, deeper and deeper with each breath." In a moment, you will recall your lines (or find your nearby paper with the words on it). In the meantime, improvise in a soft, slow, confident manner.
Infatuation. The bond between the operator and the subject grows very strong very quickly. Occasionally, the subject interprets that bond as something stronger and more personal.
Be forewarned that your subject may become infatuated with you. This is something you will have to handle in your own way. You must be firm without creating a feeling that you are rejecting the person. It is sound practice to not socialize with your subject, not even a casual luncheon date. When I've had an over-zealous subject try to get too familiar with me, I remind her that my wife is the receptionist. That has always thrown cold water on the situation. I highly recommend that if you are in this business you have your husband or wife as the receptionist. If you are not in business but practice hypnosis as a hobby, try to have a third person present. Otherwise, you are on your own and may find yourself in an uncomfortable situation.
Dependency. Another problem that can grow out of this strong bond is that of dependency. As an operator, you use hypnosis to enable a person to become more independent; and this is nearly always the results. Once in awhile, however, a subject finds it comfortable to lean on the "strong, confident, all-knowing" operator. When this happens, you must wean them quickly for your sake as well as theirs.
Here is one situation I encountered: Ms. X was a model who was fearful of virtually everything. She was the ex-mistress of a local mobster who was slain just minutes after she had left his house, so she feared for her life also. Her parents had been domineering while she was a youth and never allowed her to make even the simplest decisions. Her parents told her what to do. Her agent told her what to do. Her mobster boyfriend had told her what to do. She had never lived for herself.
Then she came to me, and through hypnosis she learned how to be free. Free to live. Free to have courage. It was a great experience for her, and she didn't want to let go. After our six sessions were completed, she phoned me at the office during the day and at home at night. The first few times I was tolerant. Then I politely told her to stop calling. After about two weeks of futile attempts, I coldly told her to never call me again; if she did I would hang up and not talk. She cried, of course, but she mended quickly and went on to pursue a successful life on her own. She knew how, but didn't want to give up her security blanket. Sometimes you must take a firm stance for your subject's sake as well as yours. Another rule: Never allow your subject to get the upper hand or tell you what to do.
Unplanned responses. Do not allow unplanned responses to sidetrack you. Once I was hypnotizing a woman for the first time. At a point in the procedure I said, "Your arms are now like logs. Stiff. Numb. Simply immovable." She immediately broke into an ear-toear grin and began giggling. Her eyes remained closed, but she chuckled for a minute or so. I was curious as to why this was happening, but I ignored it. I just continued to monotonously speak the words to take her into deeper relaxation. Later, when the session was over she explained that her intent was to wave both arms vigorously in the air when I said they were immovable and loudly proclaim, "See, it's not working!" But she was unable to lift her arms. It struck her as silly that she could be aware of who she was, sitting unrestrained in the chair, and yet not be able to move her arms simply because I had said she couldn't move them. That explained her grin and giggling.
Pre-Hypnosis Exercises
Following are two pre-hypnosis exercises. Use them during your consultation period to familiarize your subject with hypnosis and put her at ease. The italicized words are the ones you say. (You'll find selfhypnosis exercises in chapter 13.)
Exercise 1: I want you to close your eyes now for a brief exercise. I want you to picture a chalkboard in your mind. Create the chalkboard. It can be black or green or whatever color you wish. Create it. It has a chalk tray with chalk and an eraser in it. Do you have it? (Wait for a response. When you get a yes response, proceed.)
Fine. Now take a piece of chalk and draw a circle on your board. Do you have the circle?
(Wait for yes, then proceed).
Good. Now print the letter A inside the circle. Do you have A in the circle?
(Wait for yes, then proceed).
Now erase the A from inside the circle, but don't erase the circle. Say okay when you have done that. (Wait for okay).
Very good. Now erase the circle and open your eyes. At this point you may have a brief dialog with the subject about her experience with the chalkboard. Assure her that whatever her experience was, it was fine. Each person responds differently. Some actually see the board. Others sense it. Others know intellectually that it is there. All responses are correct. There are no wrong experiences in hypnosis; whatever you experience is the way it is for you, and it is all right. Make a point of telling the subject that this sort of response happens frequently in hypnosis.
Exercise 2: Close your eyes again for one more training exercise. This time I want you to focus your attention on the tip of your nose. Are you doing this?
Wait for yes, then proceed.
Good. Keep your attention focused gently and casually on the tip of your nose and go on listening to the sound of my voice. In some of the hypnosis techniques we will be doing together, I will ask you to focus your attention on the tip of
your nose in order to intensify your concentration and deepen your state of relaxation. If at any time during hypnosis you find your mind wandering, all you need to do is focus your attention on the tip of your nose as you are doing now and your mind will stop wandering and will once again follow my voice. Now you may open your eyes. You may have a brief dialog about this exercise, then you are ready to begin hypnosis session 1 as detailed in the next chapter.
This session is an excellent sequence of routines for testing a subject's responsiveness to the operator (you) and getting the subject acclimated to the hypnosis procedures.
SESSION 1 consists of 12 routines in the following sequence: A, 1A, B, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, IF, 1G, 1H, 1I, 1J.
Just before starting session 1, give the following brief instruction to the subject:
In a few moments I am going to ask you to close your eyes and follow my instructions. Shortly after we begin the session, I will ask you on three separate occasions to open your eyes. When I do ask, I really do not want you to open your eyes. I want you to pretend to try to open your eyes by stretching the eyelids, but I do not want you to open them. Then I will say something like, "Now relax your eyes," at which time you may stop pretending to try to open them and just relax. Here is what I mean.
(I demonstrate what I mean.)
Now you try it.
(I wait for a few moments to allow the subject to do with his eyelids what I just demonstrated.)
That was fine. Of course, at the very end of this session I will really want you to open your eyes when I say something like `In a few moments I will count from one to five and you will open your eyes and be wide awake." Do you understand? In the beginning we will have three brief tests where I do not want you to open your eyes, but at the very end of the session I really do want you to open them.
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