What I love about doing sessions with people is how you go into those sessions. Let me explain that. You can go into a session very seriously and then see what happens. Or you can start a session in such a way that it immediately puts the client on a track of change.
If you read serious books on therapy you will be hypnotized into thinking that that is the way to treat. Textbooks make you a student who knows a lot about it, but not necessarily a therapist who can do it.
If you read other books, such as those by Bandler and Grinder for example, you get a very different idea of doing therapy.
It's also a matter of what you believe about the client sitting across from you.
Do you believe that the client has something they need to learn to deal with and you need to help them do so or do you believe that the client can get rid of it and is self-reliant enough to do so.
Those two starting points are very different. I used to scour forums where people gathered with anxiety disorders. They had a therapist for years and then when summer came around they were upset because the therapist was going on vacation.
"What Now?
This was so strange to me, because I had been taught that an anxiety can go away in one or two sessions, and these people had been seeing a therapist for months. I always wondered what they were doing then so I started attending one of those sessions.
And then I got it.
The starting point was very different. First came the hypnosis that I would never be able to get rid of it and then that I would have to take pills....
Yes, you do keep your clients that way. Look I won't argue that those people who walk for months with a therapist could get rid of it in one or two sessions, but in three you could. Why? The starting point is different. The therapist's belief is so important. If I already don't believe in you that you can do it and get rid of it, who will believe it?
And that belief makes things happen much faster. It's that simple.
Ways to change your mindset as a therapist
As you know, the premise at the Hypnosis Institute Netherlands is that everyone has everything within them to be able to make a change, and the therapists are only there to bring this out in the client, to make that clear.
This is what hypnosis will do to clients, bring out their unconscious potential.
When you are just starting out as a hypnotist, you may still be somewhat unsure of your abilities. In that case, self-hypnosis with affirmations that build your self-confidence in your hypnotism can help you have the mindset that you are there to help people and that in order to do so you sometimes need to be patient.
These can include affirmations such as:
"I am the best hypnotist."
"I can hypnotize people."
"I help people help themselves."
"I influence my client."
These are just examples. The training focuses on standing strong as a therapist and you will be given affirmations that will help you and are more focused on your individual needs as a beginning hypnotherapist.
Set an intention for the session
Setting an intention also helps you get the right focus during the session and this even affects the results of therapy[1]. For example, research shows that when therapists set intentions in advance it ensures that the focus of therapy will go more toward focusing for your client and feelings rather than gathering information and supporting your client.
The way you look at yourself as a therapist also has an impact. For example, research shows that when therapists see themselves as someone who is compassionate these are often less effective therapists[2].
I can only explain this because when a therapist starts to empathize with the client, he goes along with the client's hypnosis about his problem. Instead of the therapist breaking through that hypnosis and instead giving a hypnosis that really helps the client. So sometimes compassion just doesn't help, get your client out of the victim role and don't go along with it.
Letting go of preconceptions
Like your clients, you as a therapist naturally have beliefs about how life works and how you function in that world. The world is full of people and about those people you may have created stereotypes for convenience, or in other words you have unconscious biases about people.
Everyone has those biases so that's not a bad thing.
Therefore, before you start helping someone, it is important to let go of those preconceptions. The preliminary consultation is useful for this purpose for you and not just for your client. In the pre-interview you get to know your client better, so you can quickly get rid of your own prejudices, and you use the pre-interview to determine which induction is most appropriate for your client and which techniques, which you have learned with us, will help you to help your client solve his/her problems.
During training at Hypnosis Institute Netherlands, you will find that everyone has their unique life story, and very unexpected things can emerge there.
This is also important for building a good rapport with your client, which in turn is more helpful for the outcome of your therapy. For example, research on people with drug addiction shows that when they feel more connected to the therapist it helps them stick to therapy and successfully stay off drugs[3].
Patience during induction
A few things are important for this, the first being that you let go of your own schedule for a while. You can also do those errands later or order them online. This ensures that you yourself are completely focused on your client during the induction.
Not everyone goes into hypnosis at the same speed, and as a hypnotist you are aware of this.
Therefore, it is important to take time for hypnosis induction and deepening before the real therapeutic work begins. Also use sounds from your surroundings to deepen the hypnosis. This way it becomes a deepener of hypnosis rather than something so distracting that it takes people out of hypnosis, especially the people who have difficulty getting into hypnosis.
During the training at Hypnosis Institute Netherlands, you will first learn and practice all kinds of inductions for hypnosis. Then you will immediately find out how much patience you need and where to find that patience in yourself.
You may have a hypnotherapist (or a coach) as a hypnotherapist
In training, we often find that participants sometimes have blocking beliefs of their own. This is not a problem at all, because we practice with each other and thus one (future) hypnotherapist can help the other.
Just because you're a hypnotherapist doesn't mean you have to be perfect in your own life.
But it does mean that when you find that something is bothering you, you may use a coach or other hypnotherapist to help you get back on track.
Always keep learning
Maybe you were 1 of those people that you finished school and studying and then thought, now I know everything. Now I will never have to go to school and only work.
Well, and then came real life and found out that sometimes you still had to take a course here and there. What a bummer, except when you're doing what you love.
It is also important for hypnotherapists to continue to learn about hypnotherapy. Therefore, we also have multiple training courses, namely Hypnosis training 1.0 and Hypnosis training 2.0. In addition, you can check your knowledge after following the training at the Hypnosis Institute Netherlands on 1 day every year.
If you want to learn more about hypnosis and whether you have what it takes to become a hypnotherapist (yes you do), come to a Hypnosis playshop. These are given in Zwolle and Wormerveer.
Instead, do you want to get started directly with techniques to help other people and yourself? Then sign up for one of our trainings. The trainings are given in Zwolle, Wormerveer and online.
[1] https://psycnet.apa.org/buy/1985-15615-001
[2] https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1989-27431-001
[3] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10503300500288951
