The Transparent Hypnotist

photo by Immanuel Giel, Wikipedia Commons

Her name is Bojana, which she tells me is as common in her homeland of Serbia as Mary or Jennifer would be in the US. Her English is quite good but she apologizes for it anyway with a nervous laugh.

We talk for a little bit to help settle her down. I keep an eye on the Skype window, though, to remind myself that while it may only be early evening for me it’s well after midnight in Serbia. Soon enough Bojana seems to be relaxing a bit. It’s time to begin.

The induction goes well.  I can hear her breathing slow and deepen and her verbal responses take on that dreamy tone that confirms she’s making good progress.  We transition into a brief deepener, a countdown disguised as a walk down a corrider inside her mind (an image I shamelessly borrow from Terence Watts).  And then, because Bojana had asked for this session because she was having difficulty reaching beyond a moderate trance depth on her own, I move on to my favorite deepening exercise, which I learned from Brian David Phillips.  The method involves having the client imagine a control panel with three large knobs or dials, each of which is set to zero now and has 10 positions.  The client turns the first knob him/herself, going twice as deep with each click; I turn the second, sending the client three times deeper with each click; and we turn the last one together, going five times deeper with each click.

We get as far as the sixth click on the first dial, then suddenly Bojana stops me.  “I’m sorry,” she says.  “I hit the wall again and came out.”  She sounds frustrated and apologetic at the same time.

“It’s perfectly okay,” I tell her, staying in voice, and before she can pull herself out completely I talk her back into trance.  She wants it, so it’s not very hard to get her heading back down, but obviously a change in tactics is in order.

Erickson teaches us to use what the client brings to us.  Bojana had brought a wall; okay, why not?  I tell her to gently allow herself to approach the wall, close enough to touch it, and describe it to me in detail.  It’s old, she says.  Huge.  Made of big, rough stones, like the wall of a castle.  Which gives me an idea.

Every castle, I explain to her, is equipped with secret exits so that the ruler can escape in an emergency or sneak soldiers in to recapture a fallen stronghold.  I suggest that she feel around the wall, looking for that faint seam or loose stone that, when pressed, causes the secret door to open.  We’ve already established that this is her wall, her castle, so she has every right to enter.  Bojana feels around for a minute, poking and prodding the wall, and sure enough she discovers a small hole concealing a button.  Pressing the button causes part of the wall to open.

Bojana steps inside.  Today’s goal has been achieved.

<MR>

When I was little, I used to stay with my Nan. Every afternoon around 3 pm, she would plop me on her couch (with all sort of comfy pillows and a quilt) and then she would tuck me in for a nap while she had a quiet cup of tea all to herself. Not one for appreciating naps at those early ages, I knew well enough to keep still. It would allow me to be with people again much sooner. So, I would watch the old grandfather clock that stood by the doorway, its gold pendulums going back and forth and forth and back. I would wait in anticipation of the chimes (loud bongs) and sure enough I would fall asleep. I still can fall asleep with the ticking of a clock.

So after dealing with a few children clients, I have begun to wonder if doing an eye fixation induction utilizing a grandfather clock might be helpful. Sure it is like the pocket watch and pendulum inductions, but why not? It is subtle part of the decor, so it becomes more friendly. Would relaxation start to happen on its own, if you, as the hypnotist were to let these clients get comfortable, alone in your office, where the focal point is the grandfather clock, standing there majestically?

My other idea is that the interval chimes could act as a deepener. That might depend on the chime. So, I have been looking up chimes at and found a blog entry on it at clocksblog.com. From there I was referred to 1-800-4clocks.com. They apparently carry all sorts of Howard Miller grandfather clocks, of which some of these have sound files attached. I have to admit, I was a little thrilled to see that there are some clocks that are still cable driven. I had expected them to be long out of date. The clock that I am most attracted too is one such type, the Howard Miller Newell Grandfather Clock. It is simple, clean and would not look to “homey,” yet would catch the eye. But, that is aesthetics, and I am concerned with the sound. The only sounds I could find were of Westminster Chimes. They are fairly classic. The clock I like mentions it has “bim bam chimes,” so I cannot tell if that is the sound it makes or if it is Westminster. This is the one thing that I wish was a little different about the site, but maybe they are in the process of adding more sounds?

Maybe I am getting too hung up in the details, but I think such a clock would be a nice touch for an office and a great induction (and maybe deepning tool, too). Have any of you out there tried this?

We have discussed inductions and deepeners and I suspect we will continue to discuss these as we go along. And as you may know, I have taken to posting concepts from my recent trip that relate to hypnosis, meditation and consciousness. Just getting out of the office provided me with a sense of being able to think even more outside the box.

And most of you know I am somewhat of a sucker for tech toys, and the digital camera has not escaped my notice. I have two. One is a Canon DC210 DVD Camcorder, which I use exclusively in the office. It serves as a record of the session experience (I tend not to give these to clients unless they really want it), a way to see what I am doing and to make self-improvements, and also for security (I hate to think in those terms, but it is good to be safe). The important thing about recording sessions from a security standpoint is to make sure your date and time are accurate and are imprinted on the footage (so it accounts for time).

My other is a Samsung S630 Digital Camera. This is my fun, throw-it-in-my-bag-and-just- go camera, which of course went with me on my travels. I find myself often taking close up pictures of, well, just about everything. And though it may sound cheesy, I have a whole memory card full of close up of flowers. Keep reading, this does pertain to hypnosis.

What I have tried out on a couple of clients this week was using those flower pictures in my inductions and have been pretty happy with the results.

Using digital picture frames, one specifically, I pop in an edited memory card (of the similar flower pictures), and I turn it on. It is above eye level to where the clients sit. This is the eye fixation idea. The frame slowly shows each picture in a revolving cycle (set on the slowest speed possible). I have the flower pictures go from light colors to darker colors in a progression. And while the client is watching this, I give suggestions for deepening the sense of relaxation and to go deeper and deeper down with each image change until the eyes are too heavy and tired to keep open.

This adds a bit of creativity to the session and can constantly change.