It’s a simple concept with a lot of power. The basic concept, create a hypnotic context and then systematically and repeatedly shift the clients awareness from where it is, to where it’s not, while the whole time inferring that what is being experienced is trance related.

You take what people do, whether they are not consciously aware of what they are doing, or they are not consciously aware of ‘why’ they are doing it, and capitalize on this non-awareness as being signs of an altered state.

A very simple form of this is the following patter:

“Pay attention to your breathing and notice how your breathing shifts and becomes deeper and more rhythmic. You may begin to notice some dryness in your lips and throat and a tendency to swallow….”

Notice in this patter that we first shift the subject’s awareness to their breathing and suggest it will change, and of course it does, because anytime you focus on your breathing it will change. Then you shift their awareness to their lips and throat and indicate that their ‘natural’ tendency to swallow is somehow trance related. Basically, you are indirectly creating a “Yes Set” and associating that to the creation of a trance. This can easily be converted into a formal trance at anytime.

A conversational approach is through the use of an interview process, where you point out something the client is doing unconsciously and draw attention to it, for example:

Hypnotist: I noticed that your finger just twitched.

Subject: Really?

Hypnotist: Does your finger always twitch that way?

Subject: Not that I’m aware of?

Hypnotist: I wonder what that means?

Subject: I don’t know.

Hypnotist: Isn’t that amazing that your subconscious can do things, that you are completely unaware of and don’t even know what it means?

Subject: Yes, that’s weird.

Hypnotist: I wonder what else your subconscious can do for you, without you even being aware of it.

You can see how this can then be converted to a more overt and conversational induction.

Play around with this concept on your own and we can discuss it in more detail during the meetings. Give it a go and share your experiences with the group, I’m sure you will find it an amazingly effective technique.

That’s all I have for now.

Michael C. White, C.Ht.