The Transparent Hypnotist

Location: Wellington, New Zealand

Cyber location: www.hypknowsis.com

1. Are you a full time hypnotist, part-time or hobbyist?

I am a professional part time. I work Weds and Sundays a therapist, and as a university lecturer and researcher the rest of the time.

2. Do you specialize in any type of hypnosis?

Yes, Active Metaphor Therapy. This comprises Metaphor modeling, cognitive modeling and various eclectic forms of visualization. But I also use a lot of directed direct suggestion.

3. Is there any type of hypnosis you do not do? Why?

Regression. Because it is a sham. The ‘memories’ people tell you are not memories, they are metaphors for how the client perceives their problem.

Hypoanalysis. Ditto, a sham. The whole Freudian view of ego, id etc, is nonsense, along with wanting to kill your father and all the rest of that bizarre menagerie of weirdness.
Relaxotherapy. Telling people to imagine being in a field full of lovely flowers does not do anything for the client. I am yet to understand how this will help people stop smoking or forget their mother.

4. Do you use self-hypnosis regularly in your life? If so, how?

Constantly. I particularly reserve some time on Saturdays to go into trance and let my mind roam free. Sometimes I do a bit of mental modelling, a bit like lucid dreaming, to see what comes up. This is a source of many of my original therapeutic metaphors. My trancing consists of lying in an armchair and doing a breathing induction until I dissociate. I them work on whatever image or body feeling comes into awareness.

5. Describe your hypnosis office or work setting.

I have a large detached house. I live in the upper part and have a suite of rooms on the ground floor. One is the consulting room, one is my office and one is a waiting room. There is also a separate bathroom just for clients. The consulting room has one large comfortable leather recliner armchair, and an upright chair for me. There is no desk. The chairs are along the corner of a coffee table. There is box of tissues and a glass of water.

I record all sessions. The room is very simple, with some small tables and a potted plant. My university qualifications are framed on the wall behind the client, and there are two large maritime prints on the wall behind me. The room is very small to give a sense of intimacy and personal attention. The room is fairly dark. I use natural light during the day and a 40w lamp at night.

6. Describe a typical day in your life.

I normally do not have more than five clients per day. Each client is scheduled for one and a half hours. I find I cannot get anything useful done in less time than that. Even then, I often run over time. I normally see a client only once. Although some have returned as many as seven times as they repair their original problems and allow other issues to emerge. I do not take any kind of intake information. The first thing I do is to ask the client to write down their name and address on my clipboard. I use this time to examine the client as they write. I note their fingernails, their clothes, their hair and assess their general demeanor. Then throughout the session I watch their body language, both when speaking and when in trance. I do not start induction until their body language tells me they are relaxed and comfortable with me.

My first question is always “And what do you want to have happen?” I listen intently to everything the client says, especially in the first 90 seconds. I also listen to how they say it and note any metaphors they use. (I believe the whole NLP preferred modalities VKA idea is nonsense, by the way). If you listen, really listen, and do not interrupt or try to diagnose, people will tell you exactly what is wrong with them, and usually what the origin is, even if they are not aware of it themselves. If they tell me they want to lose weight, win the Daytona 500, get it on with their spouse, unalienate their children and improve their book keeping I ask then “If this session could fix only one thing, what would that one thing be?” Frequently the answer is not any of things they put on their list. If the client has come for some poorly defined thing, like ‘a fear of traveling’ I ask about how they experience it, what their upbringing was like, and keep on asking and listening until I have got a clear idea of what their problem really is, and what I am going to use to tackle it. Occasionally this can take the whole session.

I am a big fan of Rogerian empathy. Whatever the client brings is fine with me. I just keep asking, ‘Why?’ until the client gives it up. Nobody knows the problem better than the client does, and so I do not offer solutions or diagnoses or theories or anything else. The client will tell me what is wrong and how he wants it fixed. Once I am clear what the problem is, I select one of the therapy tools in the toolbox. I have no preconceived ideas of what works for what. I have used metaphor modeling, cognitive exercises, direct suggestion, behavior modification and free style visualization and combinations of all of them all for smoking, depending on how and why and where and when the client smokes. You cannot use the same tool for everybody. They experience their problem in their own unique way, and deserve a unique solution. If the client comes for a well-defined problem like smoking or nail biting, I have a set of questions for each problem that I refer to to make sure I have covered everything. I aim to identify the client’s beliefs about themselves, about their problem, and the resources they have. I always quietly fish for evidence of depression or other common problems that may be underlying their behavior and emotions. I always ask for examples of success in their life, and weave that into the hypnotic wording. Once I have identified the actual problem, the solution is fairly easy. I then apply the right tool and create an individualized therapy plan and start.

I do very simple inductions, using just breathing. I always do an eye catalepsy to test for trance, and use that to convince the client they have a special power to change. I always finish with a barrage of direct suggestions based on what they told me at the start. Then I usually do a convincer where I get the client to clench their fists hard, and then ‘let go’ of their problem. I am the type of hypnotist who goes into trance with the client so I get quite emotionally affected with some clients as I create the metaphors they need to hear. I feel quite drained at the end of some days.

After the session I enter the client details in my database of sessions, and note the main points from the interview, the targets of the therapy, and what it was I did. If the session was particularly memorable I will transcribe the session and type it up. I often revisit old cases and think through what else I might have done. After every session I write up a section ion the database that asks ‘What could I have done better with this client?’, ‘what did I learn from this client?’ and a section that asks ‘What did I do differently that I could use for other clients?’. This is my way of ensuring continuous quality control. Often at the end of a session that I thought was innovative I ask the client what they thought worked or had a particular resonance for them.

I then contact the clients in a few weeks to see how they are doing and use that feedback to improve my sessions.

7. Where did you get your training in hypnosis and are you certified?

I trained with a small training agency in NZ. It was probably the best available in the country, but looking back with what I know now, it was pretty superficial. I am not certified. I am an academic and I apply the rules of academia to everything I do. I question, dispute and ask for proof. When you do that, most of hypnotherapy falls apart. 95% of what is taught and believed in hypnotherapy is rubbish. Most of the certifying agencies are run by a bunch of unqualified amateurs masquerading as ‘experts’ to people who know even less than them. Most of the certifying agencies are scams to either promote and market a particular school, or are there for people desperate to put letters after their name. I am not a member of any of them. Which is not to say I do not believe in qualifications, I do. After I did the hypno course I went back to university and took a bachelors degree in psychology at a real university with real exams and real professors, not the ’send now for your PhD’ type that the hyno-industry is infested with. I am current writing my thesis on ‘The use of metaphor in therapy’ for a research Masters degree. I aim to have it finished in about two months. After that I want to do a second PhD, in hypnosis this time. I have to say that having been in this business for many years now, I am deeply unimpressed by people whose only ‘qualification’ is a CH or diploma in ‘clinical’ hypnosis or other such nonsense. I have every sympathy with professionals who denigrate us.

8. Most fabulous hypnosis technique you use?

Dragon slaying and the principles underlying it.

9. Worse moment ever in a hypnosis setting that ended up being a valuable learning experience.

When I was starting out I had a woman who had a fear of flying. Her husband was totally fed up because they could not go on holiday ever (NZ is an island 3000km from the nearest land). She was afraid of losing her marriage. At that time I was a believer in NLP and tried to elicit the client’s way of representing. To find out if the client was primarily auditory I would usually ask ‘what was the last thing your mother said to you?’ and watch their eyes. This woman was late middle age so I reckoned her mother might be dead and I didn’t want to open up anything. She was from the Philippines, so I thought she is likely a catholic and comes from a big family and would have lots of brothers and sisters.

So I asked ‘And what was the last thing your sister said to you?’

And the woman collapsed and wailed…. ‘How did you know? Oh God, I am cursed, aren’t I? This is God’s punishment, isn’t it? I knew it! But how can you tell?’ and kneeled down and held onto both my hands like I was priest or something. It turned out the last thing her sister said, was on her deathbed, when she begged my client to look after her daughter when she was gone. And my client hadn’t. She emigrated and left her back in the old country. The client was in total awe of me, that I could read her mind and got the reason with my first question. After that, as far as she was concerned I could walk on water.

So I did a quick Gestalt session and got her sister to forgive her, and I then hypnotized her and gave her a lovely visualization of flying in God’s pure skies with her husband, clean and safe. I got a postcard several weeks later.

And I don’t ask that question any more.

10. Any words of advice to potential clients or other hypnotist.

Practice, reflect. Practice, reflect. Try something different, reflect. Practice reflect. Go back to start.

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