What is ‘Hypnotic Phenomenon’?

Hypnotic Phenomena are behaviors that you can elicit during hypnosis. They occur naturally to us all the time, but when we produce them in our clients during hypnosis, they can be very powerful convincers. Examples of hypnotic phenomenon are muscle catalepsy, amnesia, analgesia/anesthesia, and positive/negative hallucination, just to name a few.

Whether you’re doing a corporate demo, street/stage hypnosis, or a clinical hypnosis session, hypnotic phenomenon can be the ‘proof’ your subject/client needs to believe that the hypnosis session was successful.

How many times have you gone through an entire hypnosis session with someone, just to have them say to you “I don’t believe I was hypnotized; I could hear everything you said.” If you used a convincer, like locking their eye lids shut, or locking their arm so they could not bend it, then you could refer back to the phenomenon as the proof that something ‘hypnotic’ actually occurred. If you client doesn’t believe that ‘hypnosis’ actually happened, then it could undermine all of the work you accomplished during the session.

Following are two phenomena you can use that are great for demonstrations and street or stage hypnosis, and can even be used with your hypnotherapy clients to demonstrate the ‘power of their subconscious mind’. The first phenomenon is the ‘hand stick’ and the second is ‘name amnesia’.

Both of these techniques can be accomplished with or without a formal induction. The assumption here is that we are all in a state of hypnosis all the time, so with that assumption, then a formal induction isn’t necessary. I know this is possible, because I have accomplished both of these, without an induction, on several subjects and on several occasions.

Before we get into these techniques there are a couple of things you should keep in mind that will increase your success with these techniques or any others that you do.

Keys to successfully producing hypnotic phenomena in your clients:

• Positive intent. A strong desire to have your subject experience hypnosis and for them to gain something positive from the experience. In other words, lots of ‘H+’ 
• Confidence in yourself and your skills and a strong belief that it will work.
• The ‘ABS’ formula – Get their attention, bypass the critical factor, and stimulate the subconscious. 
• The subject should be rewarded for following your suggestions. They should receive a benefit from the experience. 
• Tenacity. If you don’t get the desired response from one technique, then just move on to something else. You might say something like “Perfect. I now have all of the information I need about how your subconscious mind works. Now, let’s do this.”

The Hand Stick:

This technique is actually very easy to do. Here is an outline for the process:

• Get your subjects attention. 
• Have them place their hand on a surface, a wall or table, a hand rail, or their own lap, for example. 
• Have them focus on a spot on the back of their hand (this helps to focus their attention). 
• Have them imagine or better yet, remember a time that they have gotten their hands or fingers stuck with glue or tape or anything sticky. 
• Have them imagine that they are experiencing those ‘sticky’ sensations again between their hand and the surface it’s on. This process engages their imagination and serves as the bypass of the critical factor. 
• Use a double bind to create a pre-supposition that the phenomenon is already at work and to compound the suggestions. Ask them “which feels more stuck your palm or your fingers?” This question gives the perception of choice; however either answer they choose indicates that some part of their hand is already stuck. 
• Then use the Law of Association to associate the stuck part of the hand with the other. For example, if they say that the palm feels more stuck, then you can say something like “As you attempt to move your palm, you fingers begin stick to the table” 
• Use the Law of Reverse Reaction to compound further. For example “The more you attempt to try and lift the hand, the more stuck it becomes. You cannot lift that hand. It is stuck.” 
• Now give the subject a reward or benefit for following your suggestion “It feels weird to find that hand stuck to the table, not in a scary way, but in a funny way, and the more stuck it becomes, the funnier it seems and the better you feel.” 
• Now use the Law of Repetition to compound the suggestion by repeating the suggestions of being stuck, paired with the weak suggestion of ‘trying’ to lift the hand, and the reward of finding it funny and feeling good.

Here’s an example of how this session might go:

You: “Hey there, want to see something cool?”

Subject: “Sure!”

You: “You’ve gotten your hand or fingers stuck with glue before, haven’t you?” (Most people have experienced this in one form or another)

Subject: “Yes”

You: “So you can remember how that felt, am I right?”

Subject: “Yes, that’s correct.”

You: “Place your hand flat on the table.”

Subject: <places hand on the table>

You: “Now focus on a spot on the back of your hand, and using that powerful imagination of yours I want you to image that I’m putting glue in-between your fingers and palm, and the table.” (Move your finger around their hand as if injecting glue. This helps to guide and fuel their imagination. By engaging the imagination, we achieve critical factor bypass)

You: “Now tell me, which feels more stuck to you, your palm or your fingers?” (This is the double bind question. It provides the illusion of choice, but either answer indicates that some part of their hand is getting stuck)

Subject: “My palm.”

You: “And as that palm continues to stick, you find those fingers are also beginning to stick. As you attempt to try and move that palm, you find that the palm and fingers are sticking more and more; so stuck now, that you cannot lift your hand. It feels weird, but not in a scary way, it’s kind of funny, and the more that hands sticks the funnier it gets, and the better you feel inside.” (Here we are doing several things. First we are using dissociative language “That hand” not “Your hand”, “Those fingers” not “Your fingers”. Then the Law of Reverse Affect, with the weaker suggestion of “attempt to try” followed by the stronger suggestion of “the palm and fingers are sticking more and more.” By this time the subjects hand will usually be completely stuck. At this point, you can continue on with other phenomena or use this as a ‘magic moment’ to do some quick change work.)

You: “As I snap my fingers you hand will relax and release from the table…Now! <snap fingers>”

You: “Your hand wasn’t really stuck, but your mind created the reality for you, just as you can find yourself stuck in other areas of your life. And just as quickly as your hand released, you can also release yourself from those things that have you stuck in life, so that you can now relax freely into more options and opportunities that are available to you now.”

So that’s the ‘hand stick’, give it a go and have fun.

Name Amnesia:

The outline for this technique is very similar to the ‘hand stick’. It’s all about getting their focused attention, engaging the subconscious imagination and then utilizing language and natural laws to create the desired effect.

Here’s how the session might go:

You: “When you think about your name, where do you store it, in your head or in your mind?” (This is a double bind question. Whatever answer they give, what we are trying to do is convert their name from a concept of identity into an object, because we store objects, not concepts)

Subject: “My mind”

You: “Your mind. So where in your mind do you store your name? Is it in the front or back, or on the side?” (It doesn’t matter if they said ‘head’ or ‘mind’ the rest of the patter works the same way. If we can get them to conceptualize the name as an object, and an object that can be stored in a specific place, then the rest becomes very easy)

Subject: “In the front”

You: “That’s right, in the front. So when I move that name to the back, notice how it feels different, not as clear.” (First we are echoing back what they said, then we use dissociative language and re-framing to begin to cause confusion and to slowly disconnect them from ‘that’ name)

Subject: “Yeah, it feels different” (or they may just shake their head in agreement)

You: “Now observe what happens when I take that name and I move it way out in the distance, past the walls and ceiling way out there, until that name is gone. You try to think of that name and it’s gone.” (More dissociation, and now we are using spatial language patterns to create distance between them and ‘that’ name along with the presupposition that it is ‘gone’. The whole time we are using our hands in gestures, like we are grabbing the name out of their head and sending it away)

You: “What was that name? You try to think about it and it’s gone. What was it? You try to think about it and it’s gone. What was that name? You can’t remember.” (More dissociation ‘that name’ followed by a weak suggestion ‘try to think about it’ and the commands ‘it’s gone’ and ‘you can’t remember’. Most of the time, the subject will not be able to remember their name at this point. Each time you see them try to say their name, quickly interrupt them by repeating the question and commands again, and again, thereby compounding the suggestions)

You: “It might help if you sing the birthday song, so that when you reach the part “happy birthday dear …” you will remember, but it only works when you sing the song out loud and you will immediately forget your name again. Give it a try.” (Now you can have a little fun with them)

Subject: “…happy birthday dear <subjects name>…happy birthday…”

You: “You try to think about that name and it’s gone, what was that name?” (Subject will forget again. Now you can continue, or have them remember their name and then move on to something else. Sometimes you will find a subject that has so much of their identity tied to their name that they won’t let it go, no problem, instead of forgetting their name, you can suggest they get tongue tied when they try to say it, or its right at the tip of their tongue and it just won’t come out. Many variations can be used to make this a fun demonstration)

Well, that’s all I have for now. Keep practicing and remember to have fun.

Michael C. White, C.Ht.