Empathic listening during hypnotherapy
I sometimes say "I take you seriously, but I don't take your problem seriously," and that scares some people. This is because it makes it seem like I have no empathy for your problem, but I do.
The approach to dealing with the problem is simply different from what people expect.
Empathetic listening is especially important during hypnotherapy. For example, during the initial consultation, it’s important to build rapport with your client.
Empathic listening for a connection
A bond of trust must be established between the therapist and the client so that the client can be receptive to hypnosis and therapy. One way to build this rapport is through empathetic listening.
This ensures that the client feels heard and understood, which makes them feel more confident that analyzing and solving the problem with the help of the empathetic listening therapist is in safe hands[1].
Because hypnotherapy is often used as a last resort to solve problems, it is even more important because people have previously felt abandoned by healthcare. Misunderstood and unheard, this is a feeling you really don't want to give someone when they see hypnotherapy as a "last chance."
Empathic listening for good follow-through
For hypnosis, and other therapists and coaches, docility is important. After all, you then want your clients to follow advice you give.
Empathetic listening is also important for this reason. In fact, research shows that therapists who are good at empathetic listening have clients who are more compliant.
They come to the sessions, and do the homework required of them.
This applies to more care situations than just mental health therapy. For example, if you have to see a physical therapist, or go to any other setting where a certain level of commitment is expected of you, it helps when the professional listens empathetically. This increases the likelihood that you’ll adhere more closely to instructions and appointments[2].
Get better results
In the end, everything is very nice and all, but it's also about results. You don't want someone to get up after a therapeutic session feeling "Mwoa, it's ok." You want someone to get up feeling like "I feel great and I can do anything!".
For many people, therapy is an emotional rollercoaster . After all, you’ll be working on issues that evoke a lot of negative emotions in people. They’re hopeful that you can help them.
While talking about the problem, they often experience the negative emotions associated with it. Once they start working through it, they can already feel much better. Or they may feel frustrated because they feel it’s taking too long (even though you can see they’re making progress).
Being able to properly interpret and deal with those fluctuating emotions is important to the outcome of therapy. After all, if you are not good at recognizing your clients' emotions, and therefore less good at empathic listening, this can actually cause symptoms to be worse by the next session[3]!
How to listen empathically.
For empathetic listening, empathy is important, as well as being able to keep your composure. A poker face can sometimes actually be reassuring, rather than putting on a difficult face when discussing a difficult problem.
In addition, you can use techniques such as:
Repeat what your client has told you in your own words. This acts as a kind of double check that you understood the client correctly.
If you can empathize well, you can also clarify your client's story, by indicating how you see it or what emotions are going on with your client if he/she cannot name them themselves.
You can also ask additional questions to get something completely clear.
And remember and name details later in the conversation. That way you show that you are paying attention.
Empathic listening for deeper hypnosis
Furthermore, the hypnotic state is one that can only be achieved when two people have a good relationship (at that moment). Trust is, in fact, incredibly important for deep hypnosis and for thoroughly exploring the subconscious.
Research also shows that the emergence of hypnosis requires a relationship with something else. For example, auto-hypnosis often arises along with driving, when you are watching television or reading a good book. So you are still interacting with your environment then.
In hypnotherapy, the therapist provides the hypnotic state, but this requires involved interaction from the client.
Once the hypnotic state is achieved—through empathic listening, among other methods—hypnosis can be used as a tool to facilitate transformations. This requires a deep form of hypnosis.
This is often done through regression and other interactions that require a certain type of relationship (the therapeutic relationship).
This includes:
- Gaining greater self-insight.
- Structural maturity.
- Regulating emotions.
- Take control of your ego.
This also requires the therapist himself to be aware of the interaction he has with the client and to be aware that his or her own subjective experiences are part of the process[4].
Empathic listening example
Suppose someone visits a hypnotherapist with stress-related symptoms ( which happens more often than you might think). In that case, empathetic listening plays a role not only during the initial consultation but also throughout the hypnotherapy process.
As a therapist, the tone with which you enter the conversation is important, because the very purpose is for that person to experience peace with you in the chair. You give the client space to tell their story about the stress and the impact it is having on their life.
It is then important to listen patiently and not immediately come up with all kinds of solutions. The main goal here is to make the client feel heard, and of course that won't happen if you interrupt him with "just wait, I already know what the problem is." You may know that as a therapist, but that is not going to help the therapy.
Next, you can summarize in your own words what the client has said and ask about the client’s goals . For example, how does the client want to feel? How would the client like to respond during stressful situations?
Then, when the client answers, it is good to also pay attention to body language and small cues that say something about the hypnosis and underlying feelings.
You can also ask clients to notice things they actually have control over. For example, stress has physical effects, such as faster breathing and muscle tension, but you can consciously do something about that. This alone can provide a lot of relief.
By helping the client relax , you can deepen the hypnosis, allowing you to then apply hypnosis techniques that help eliminate the causes of stress or transform the client’s understanding of them. Top of form
As the client tells you their story, you can start thinking about which technique might be most helpful in resolving the issue. Regression and a conversation with the inner child, for example, are very popular, and people with some knowledge of hypnosis sometimes ask for these, but that isn’t always the technique that’s needed.
Sometimes the stress is based on a traumatic event, and then the fast phobia technique can also do a lot.
Empathic listening and learning hypnosis
How to choose and how these techniques work will all be learned in the Hypnosis Institute Netherlands training program.
Empathic listening is a basic component of hypnotherapy and very important to support the therapeutic process. It is one of the building blocks on which good hypnotherapy is based.
Would you like to learn hypnosis to help yourself or others? Then come to the free masterclass for an introduction.
Or register directly for one of our events or the training. You can take the training both in class and live online. Ideal if you are not able to attend class because you are on vacation, or if you want to take the course when you are not living in the Netherlands.
Click here for more information about their training programs.
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