Hypnotizing someone who wants to be in control

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 hypnotize someone, it’s important to know how that person views hypnosis and whether their understanding is accurate. That’s why it’s always a good idea to explain what hypnosis is.

Hypnosis is a different state of mind than when you’re simply going about your daily activities. People sometimes enter a hypnotic state on their own, such as while driving, when you suddenly “wake up” and wonder, “How did I survive those last few kilometers?”

You didn't have any accidents, so it's not like you literally slept.

It’s important, however, not to prime your client in the wrong way. Hypnosis is similar to relaxation, but it’s more than just relaxing. So, it’s important to avoid that incorrect priming when explaining hypnosis to ensure the hypnosis session goes smoothly.

Explaining that you are always in control

Especially if someone is afraid of losing control during hypnosis, it’s important to point out that when you’re under hypnosis, you’ll never do anything you don’t want to do.

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 very idea of being in control is a problem for someone who finds the idea of going into hypnosis unsettling. In that case, you can use regression to determine where that belief originated.

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.

This allows you to guide the person’s subconscious back to the moment when the belief that control is important first arose. Because the person under hypnosis is receptive to suggestions, they will also be able to quickly recall that memory.

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.

Would you like to know what hypnosis feels like and whether you can put someone under hypnosis? Then come to the hypnosis workshop where you’ll learn how. The workshops are held in Wormerveer and Zwolle.

Would you like to learn more right away about hypnosis and how you can help people with their problems—or even help yourself? Then sign up today for a seminar or one of our training courses. The courses are held 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