Contents
Defining Hypnotic Suggestions
So what are hypnotic suggestions? Simply; they are the words and phrases that form the therapeutic content of the hypnosis session. For example if you are listening to a hypnosis download to help you to overcome a phobia you may hear suggestions in the hypnosis along the lines of:
- You are overcoming this fear
- You now feel calm and in control
- You let go of those old habits and reactions and ways of thinking
What are Hypnotic Suggestions Used For?
Hypnotherapy can be used for many things such as overcoming an addiction, curing a phobia or changing habits or thoughts. Whether you are listening to a hypnosis download or having a hypnosis session in person, the process is the same. The objective is firstly, to get the person into a hypnotic trance and secondly to work on the subject at hand. The hypnotic suggestions are used to try to influence the subconscious mind to change its automatic reactions. It is important that a hypnotic trance is established before attempting to heavily influence with suggestion work.
Establishing a Hypnotic Trance
As a hypnotherapist you do not put someone in a hypnotic trance, they let themselves go into a hypnotic trance with your guidance. This is usually done through a relaxation process that helps the person focus on their feelings of calm, peacefulness and physical relaxation. The voice of the therapist ideally helps to reduce inner chatter and thoughts and gets the person focused on their comfortable feelings and the sound of the therapists voice.
This is the beginning of the process of going into a trance. As you go inward even more, you mentally disconnect from ordinary life, your responsibilities, worries and even the passing of time. There are different levels of trance but it generally does not affect the outcome unless the hypnosis is being used in place of anesthesia, in which case a deep trance is essential. It is perfectly possible for most people to learn to get into a deep trance simply through practicing.
How and When to Use Hypnotic Suggestions
To get a good result from hypnosis (Hypnotherapy), ideally a trance is established and then the suggestion work begins. However, whether it is an in person hypnotherapy session or a downloaded audio or CD, there may often be occasions where the trance is very light as the suggestions begin. This can happen for many reasons, partly because while the process of hypnosis is sequential, it is rarely linear.
The trance state sometimes goes up and down. You may go deep initially and then be very alert and possibly even come out of trance during the hypnosis suggestions. Sometimes this occurs if you are particularly enthusiastic, as the conscious mind ‘wakes up’ to listen. Fortunately this is not a concern as it does not matter if you come in and out of trance during a hypnosis session.
Why it Does Not Matter if You Keep Going in and out of a Hypnotic Trance?
Because you decide yourself what you want to use hypnosis for, you are consciously on-board with the changes you are making. Consequently the conscious mind wants to be involved, as this part of the mind is usually in charge in wakeful daily life. It actually does not matter at all if the conscious mind listens in on the hypnosis processes, in fact it can help to make you comfortable enough to relax even more next time because you are aware of the content and hopefully comfortable with it all.
The more you practice with hypnosis the easier you will go into a trance and go deep. An important thing to remember is that if the conscious mind is listening and you feel like you are “awake” the subconscious can still be influenced and affected in ways that can bring about the desired changes.
Other Types of Hypnotic Suggestions
These are general hypnotic suggestions but many can be categorized in different ways such as:
- Direct and indirect suggestions
- Post hypnosis suggestions
- Metaphorical suggestions
- Embedded suggestions
- Compound suggestions (or compounding)
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