Most people suffer to varying degrees from the urge to be in control. Some people let go easier than others, and others may have a closet full of skeletons that they really just want to keep shut. Yet even that person may think hypnosis is a good idea. So how do you make sure that person is good to hypnotize
Explaining what hypnosis is
Before you start hypnotizing someone, it is important to know how that person views hypnosis and whether it is accurate. Therefore, it is always a good idea to explain what hypnosis is anyway .
That hypnosis is a different state than when you are just going about your daily business. That sometimes people enter a hypnotic state themselves, such as while driving and you suddenly "wake up" and think how did I survive those last few miles?
You didn't have any accidents, so it's not like you literally slept.
In doing so, however, it is important not to primp your client in the wrong way either. Hypnosis looks like relaxation, but it's more than just relaxing. So that wrong priming while explaining hypnosis is important to avoid in order for the hypnosis session to go well.
Explaining that you are always in control
Especially if someone is afraid of losing control during hypnosis, it is important to point out that when you are under hypnosis, you will never do anything you don't want to.
Yes, sometimes emotions come up. You can also see this as the signal from your subconscious that it's time to do something with it. Time to explore where that emotion is coming from and address this possible problem.
Above all, indicate that what happens is often something you want right. After all, you go under hypnosis to solve problems. This you ultimately do yourself, and is under your own control, the hypnotist mainly has a guiding and directing hand so that everything is directed in the right direction.
Pre-interview
During the preliminary interview, it is important to find out what induction would work best to bypass, for example, the critical thinking of the person who likes to be in control.
Again, this is important to maximize therapy and improve docility.
Making induction of hypnosis fun
You can also first put the person who wants to keep control under hypnosis, and then you make sure that the person who is under hypnosis actually starts to like it as much as possible. You then do not engage in the therapy yet, but let the person notice that they are "with it" while under hypnosis.
You show that an arm-levitation, for example, is not the total loss of control, but just fun. That a person even feels better and better the better the levitation goes.
Then the person can be confident enough in hypnosis that you can apply the techniques to help them with their problem.
Finding out where the control freak comes from
Perhaps the whole having control thing is a problem for the person who finds it exciting to go into hypnosis. In that case, you can use regression to find out where the belief came from.
After you put the person under hypnosis you give the suggestion:
"Go back to the first moment when you thought you needed to control the situation," says Dr. K. K., a professor of hypnosis.
With this, you send the person's subconscious into the moment when the belief that control is important was created. Because the person under hypnosis is sensitive to suggestions, he will also be able to recall the memory quickly.
These are sometimes very different moments in someone's life than they expected beforehand.
Generally, it is a moment in your childhood, during the time before or during elementary school. In fact, until about age eight, you are a sponge of hypnosis. You live and absorb everything and, in doing so, determine the rules of life. You then determine your beliefs about how the world works and how you are supposed to function in it.
You then help that person live that experience in a different way. In the training at Hypnosis Institute Netherlands, much attention is paid to regression and how to perform it and guide it in the best possible way.
Other hypnotic techniques
Other techniques can also help the person who likes to maintain control change their focus. After all, ultimately you only have control over yourself and not the situation or people around you.
This shifting of the focus of control can also be done with several other techniques, such as having a Socratic conversation.
For example, you ask why the person is afraid of losing control. Then you can expand on that answer with another why question.
That way you can get to the fear that ultimately causes the desire for control.
You can perform this technique while the person is under hypnosis.
Hypnotic suggestions for control
In addition, you can also give hypnotic suggestions for the person to repeat in order to change the urge for control over the environment. These can be suggestions such as:
"I feel calm about everything I can't control."
"What is beyond my control is beyond my mind."
"I have control over how I feel."
"I have control over my reaction."
"I get to take the time to determine my response."
These are just examples. Depending on the control issues, source of the urge for control, you can provide other suggestions that better suit the person who would like to maintain control during hypnosis.
In addition, you can also help the person with self-hypnosis so that the suggestions can be performed at home.
Wanting control is not always a problem
Wanting control also really doesn't have to be the problem the person comes in with who wants to change something under hypnosis. It could be someone who is addicted to smoking and wants to use hypnosis to solve their addiction problem despite the desire for control.
After all, everyone wants to have a sense of control over his/her life. Having control over something often also means feeling like you understand the situation. Because hypnosis is often seen as something floaty, the feeling of floating can also give the feeling of something elusive and something incomprehensible. In that case, experiencing hypnosis is enough to give back the feeling of control.
In the process, control often means being able to predict what will happen. Because hypnosis is best known for show hypnosis,[1] people often expect to lose control.
This prediction, of course, is not reassuring.
Hence the move to explain hypnosis and possibly let them experience it first[2] even before you start using therapeutic techniques.
All of this is to change opinions about hypnosis and control so that the actual problem can be addressed.
Want to know what hypnosis feels like and if you can bring someone under hypnosis? Then come to the hypnosis playshop where you will learn about this. The playshops are given in Wormerveer and in Zwolle.
Want to learn more about hypnosis right away and how you can help people with problems, or even yourself? Then sign up right away for a seminar or for one of our trainings. The trainings are given in Wormerveer, Zwolle or online.
[1] https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Begona_Espejo/publication/259583119_Change_of_attitudes_toward_hypnosis_Effects_of_cognitive-behavioural_and_trance_explanations_in_a_setting_of_hetero-hypnosis/links/0deec52cc4fb05cb2b000000.pdf#page=23
[2] https://web.b.ebscohost.com/abstract?direct=true&profile=ehost&scope=site&authtype=crawler&jrnl=19312091&asa=Y&AN=18015983&h=CZ88%2fXHrJMkjxe6L%2bSiiu0%2bWdnEbcx08%2fwl0uk00ZtSJn0moiwXrzhwStUtA3u%2fZX92RTTSAmdNF2JoqdGjYFg%3d%3d&crl=c&resultNs=AdminWebAuth&resultLocal=ErrCrlNotAuth&crlhashurl=login.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26profile%3dehost%26scope%3dsite%26authtype%3dcrawler%26jrnl%3d19312091%26asa%3dY%26AN%3d18015983
