The Transparent Hypnotist

 
Photograph by s0cialanimal(cc)

A slightly familiar melody was playing in the background. Maybe it was Mozart, maybe it was some lesser known composer, but the the notes were in refrain and I was now aware of them. So was my client. He was so aware of the sound that in the middle of our weight cessation session, he actually began to hum along. I continued on as though nothing abnormal was happening. Then the giggles began (his) and that was almost the end of the session. I tried to count him back up to normal consciousness (feeling wonderful) but he was laughing too hard.

This  was one of the first clients, who also was a very good friend of mine. At the time it was a devastating experience for me. My mentor had told me that if a client ever started to giggle during a session, let them laugh for a few minutes then tell them to stop, which I did - and the laughing grew worse. This was awful and it has taken years for him to appreciate the hypnosis experience. 

However, in some ways it was the best thing that ever happened to me. Since it was among my first out-of-the-classroom experiences, in my mind it was an ultimate horror like running a gauntlet. But I survived. I had other clients booked so I could not just fade out of doing hypnotism. I had made a commitment to give it a go. What this session did do was prepare me (well, that and a whole lot of reading) for the notion of the “abreaction.” I had not been ready for the unexpected, but now I was. 

Another friend of ours came to me, one who had been influenced by my giggling friend. She too started laughing, but this time when the laughing began, I just said, “That’s fine. Laughter is helping you to release all your tension and helping you to become more comfortable, more relaxed. Soon you find yourself feeling calm and serene. Allow the laughter to help you feel this way as it fades away into something wonderful and peaceful.” At first the laughter grew (and I thought, “Oh no.”), but then it began to have halting quality to it and very soon burled away into deep breaths. The rest of the session continued on in a more expected way and she has been a non-smoker ever since.

I mention this because as I sat down to write this morning, my partner had the radio on and it was playing that same song I mentioned in the beginning of this post. I had mostly buried that memory into my subconscious as a lesson learned. But then when I heard the familiar refrain, it vividly brought back that moment. It seemed important to share it.

My first time using hypnosis
by Kate Beaven-Marks

Photography by lilivanili

“So… next week you can hypnotise me…a nice induction, deepener, perhaps a useful metaphor and then an awakening…” The suggestion came from my friend, a hypnotherapist. Okay, he had spent weeks chatting about hypnosis, what it is, what it isn’t, how it works, including half a dozen theories, philosophies and concepts. He had demonstrated direct and indirect hypnosis, Ericksonian techniques, various hypnotic phenomena and even what to look for during an induction. I had experienced hypnosis and what it felt like, but whilst I thought I knew a little about it, was I ready for the responsibility?

“You are kidding, right?” I asked, only to receive an enigmatic smile. Whether I was actually ready to try to use hypnosis? He seemed to think so…

Driving home that evening, I started to wonder…What should I write? How would I sound? How do you get that ‘special’ voice? Would it work? Could I remember all he had told me?

Liking a challenge, I dived into my, then, tiny library of books and started to read and read and read. It was a great, but intense, learning experience.

Fortunately I eventually started to settle down and found the classic Hartland’s Handbook of Hypnotic Suggestions and Metaphors useful as it had simple and clear examples and scripts. When I eventually dragged myself away from it (about halfway through the book!) I had a good idea of what I could say and do in my first session.

A list of phrases of what I wanted to say came next and then I worked out what imagery I wanted and started to put it all together, ticking off my list of phrases as I went. This was followed by two days of reading it out loud and editing it… recording it and editing it… and practicing on my favourite teddy bear (you wouldn’t believe how many times he has been zapped now!) and still more editing.

By the time ‘the evening’ came around, I actually felt excited. For the first time I got to sit in “the hypnotist’s chair”, operate the light dimmer and get started…

It seemed to work…. My glorious story loaded with hypnotic language patterns including truisms and multi-modality direct, indirect and even confusional suggestions and double-binds, actually seemed to work!

Luckily I had listened carefully when he talked about his preferences so was able to include many of his favourite experiences….

I took him on a lovely journey from a dining room in a country house, through a formal garden, past a sunken marble garden, through a woody glade, along a path through wild flowers and down some steps to a stream and then a waterfall…. From there in through a door in a tree to a special room, a room of wishes and dreams and then all the way back along the route, back to the dining room… All along I was watching keenly… a sigh… a swallow… a twitch, then several more (oops….did the books mention that?)

It is so seared into my memory that even now, years later, I have no need to look up the ‘script’ to write about it.

So what did I see? Using what I had learned from him and from my reading… He looked hypnotised…. He acted hypnotised… Having hypnotised him many times since then I know now that he was actually hypnotised on the day.

I went home feeling so inspired and motivated… I couldn’t wait to start with some formal training. I haven’t stopped learning and now I am fortunate to be researching how hypnotists and hypnotherapists are taught, so I still get to go on lots of courses!

I have hypnotised many hundreds of people since that first time, but it is still crystal clear in my memory. I remember the pictures on the walls, the smell of furniture polish and even how loud the clock ticked…. It was a great first experience, even more so because I had the opportunity to write the script myself and had to research and learn first. Thinking back to how little I knew then and what could have gone wrong, my friend displayed great trust to give me such a free hand as he didn’t even check what I was going to do first… My first clinical hypnosis course and indeed even the second, both relied heavily on scripts to direct the actions of the students. My friend supported me through my initial learning and very soon scripts were history as I developed the ability to think as I worked.

So a huge thank you to my friend for being my first… and to all my fellow students with whom I have grown from working with them.

My first introduction to hypnosis
by Kate Beaven-Marks

Photograph by net_efekt

How a work colleague brought hypnosis into the conversation, I cannot remember, but, at some point, whilst chatting and drinking coffee, he said he “did hypnotherapy” and that it was good for relaxation…

Relaxation sounded ideal, as I was facing some oral surgery (bone graft) and was a little ‘concerned’ (okay, getting really nervous!) in the days leading up to it.

So, two days later, at 8pm on a cold rainy Thursday night, I arrived at his consulting room. I don’t know quite what I was expecting. All I knew about hypnosis was what I had seen on TV, which was Paul McKenna (stage hypnotist in the UK in the 1990’s) and I SO was not the type of person to be doing silly things (think ‘tense, reserved and highly analytical’ and that was me). I was beginning to wonder what on earth I was doing there.

Well, the consulting room was about 10ft x 10ft, cream painted walls, with an oak bookcase, filled with odds and ends, photos and a couple of candles, three chairs (one a recliner), a blue rug and a pine cupboard (containing case files – I found out later). There were several hypnotherapy qualification certificates and a couple of pictures, one of a candle (yes, great for eye fixation inductions) and one of a beach scene (good for ‘seeding the imagination’). It has changed since, but I can still picture it as clearly today as I saw it then. I guess that was my first example that images laid down at times of great stress are often very vivid to recall!

A detailed case history took about 40 minutes, and then he started to talk about hypnosis, and talk, and talk…I think by the time he finished I had a great overview from the history of hypnosis to the techniques of the current day. Looking back, I think he was waiting for me to relax, but my right hand was still firmly gripping my left wrist and I was just as tense as when I had walked in. I still didn’t know exactly what to expect…..

Anyway, he gave me the option of ending the session or ‘doing some work’. Surprising myself, I said we would carry on. So, I was asked to recline back in the chair, uncross my ankles and rest my hands on my legs… and then he said I could keep my hands crossed if I wanted (so I did) and then close my eyes….

About forty minutes, one classic permissive induction and staircase deepener down marble stairs into a sunken garden and two metaphorical stories later, I opened my eyes when I was told to and proceeded to indignantly argue that he wrong about one of his stories. About three minutes later than that, I paid my money and was ushered out of the door.

I can still remember driving home feeling ‘spaced out’. I know now that if I go into deep hypnosis I tend not to wake up fully unless there is lots of energy in the awakening.

As to the finger marks on my arm the next day… well the rest of me may have relaxed beautifully, but that death-grip hold on my wrist had stayed throughout and left me with some clear finger marks on my wrist and forearm… The spaced out feeling also stayed with me, all of the next day and gradually disappearing over the weekend.

Fortunately, the relaxation also stayed with me. On the Monday my blood pressure and pulse were the best they had ever been. Amazing really as it was the morning of my surgery!

The surgery went well and I spent my recovery time reading all about hypnosis. That first session and every subsequent session I have experienced, have been great learning experiences. All the good and useful techniques and tips enhance my own practice. Anything that doesn’t work as well is also worth experiencing to know how to avoid potential pitfalls with my clients.

From the very first session, I can reflect and know:

1. If your client has a body position going into hypnosis then it can stay like that throughout. So the classic feet uncrossed, flat on the floor (if not reclined), hands relaxed and apart all have a sensible basis.
2. Make sure your clients know what to expect if they have never experienced hypnosis before.
3. ALWAYS make sure they are fully, fully wide awake if they are going to drive home.

What still surprises me, having been hypnotized hundreds of times during classes when training and later when ‘playing’, is that I never got that ‘spaced out feeling’ for three days again and no two hypnotic experiences have ever been exactly the same, even with the same hypnotist and pretty much the same words.

That first session was the start of a fascinating journey which has not only improved my health and well-being and changed the way I think and act, but has given me the ability to help others every day.

Today’s tale takes place a few months after yesterday’s.  In that time I had begun to make my own recordings for reinforcement of my work with Marcia.  Being new, I had her listen to them first to make sure I wasn’t doing anything stupid.  Marcia told me I had a talent for coming up with good suggestions, and that I should consider getting training.

Like a kid with a new toy, I was excited about the possibility of learning to become a hypnotist.  While I waited for the beginning of the semester to begin that training, I eagerly bought books and read them and practiced on myself.  And I talked hypnosis with my friends, coworkers, anyone who seemed interested.  What I hadn’t done yet, though, was actually try to induce a trance in anyone else.

Then one evening a coworker, her teenage daughter, and I took in an improv show in Arlington.  After the show we sat around, waiting for the crowd to clear, and my friend mentioned to her daughter that I was learning to be a hypnotist.  “Oooh!” was her response.  “Would you hypnotize me?”

My first instinctive reaction was panic, of course.  Here?  With all this noise and all these people around?  But then I remembered a rapid induction I’d seen Marcia demonstrate, and it seemed foolproof.  The trick, I realized, would be to project confidence — act as if I’d done it a hundred times before.

So I stood the teen in front of a chair, feet together, stood a little bit too close, and had her look into my eyes.  I took my thumbs and traced the upper outline of her forehead, starting in the middle and working out and down past her temples.  Sure enough, as my thumbs crossed the temples her eyelids fluttered — I pulled her sharply toward me and gave the command to “Sleep!”

Sure enough, her eyes closed and she fell into me.  I caught her, still pouring suggestions into her ear to relax, let go, etc. — they may have been as much for my benefit as for hers — and guided her into the chair.

It was a short trance, basically just a down and back up with a few suggestions for energy and alertness for the drive home (Marcia taught me even before my training started to always give suggestions for a positive experience).  She came up on cue, grinning broadly and feeling great.  Her mom, my coworker, was impressed.  So was I, of course.

That adventurous nature, the willingness to play and experience new and cool things, is one of the reasons I love working with teens.  My first time introduced me to that.

<MR>

It was a dreary, gray, miserable Saturday morning … or maybe it just seemed that way to me as I drove down the highway to the home office of Marcia Proctor, a lady I’d corresponded with over email but not yet met.  A virtual stranger.  A hypnotist.

She met me at the door, led me to her consulting room, and listened while I told her a rambling tale about a dying marriage and various related crises.  I remember telling Marcia that what I hoped she could do was give me a way to draw the emotional poison, so I could deal with things without going (further) off the deep end.

We talked about hypnosis:  what it is, how it works, what it can and can’t do.  I actually knew a fair amount because I’d had an interest for a long time, but hearing her confirm what I knew and add to it was comforting.  And then came the induction … a short, gentle, permissive induction that is one of my favorites to this day.  Marcia has a great voice; in just a minute or two I was drifting on it, hearing but not quite following the stream of soothing words.  I nodded repeatedly, though I wasn’t quite sure sometimes what I was nodding about.  Something about a ring gesture with my finger and thumb, and letting tension and frustration and anger drain through it.  Yeah, right.

And then I was back, not really sure how much time had passed, not really sure anything significant had happened — after all, I more or less remembered everything Marcia had said.  Surely I wasn’t all that hypnotized, right?

“Go ahead,” she told me.  “Make your finger ring.”

Right, the finger ring.  I remembered that.  So I touched my thumb and forefinger together in a circle, and gently rubbed the tips together.  And I felt it — that sensation of stress and tension draining away, and at the same time calm and peace and contentment flooding in to take their place.  I did it again, and again, while Marcia watched my face and grinned.  Six tons of emotional weight dropped away in a few moments, just like that.

I left Marcia’s office with my shoulders up, my head high, and my spirits soaring.  For the first time in weeks I felt as if I had a say in how my life would unfold.  I was thinking clearly and in command of my feelings instead of the other way around.  That proved to me the amazing power in every person’s mind and showed how a good hypnotist can teach someone to focus that power and use it for good.

It was an awakening.

<MR>

By John Weir

I will always remember the first time I ever hypnotized somebody. It was
during the summer of 2000 and I was 18 years old. After attending a
seminar on personal development, I received a video titled “How To
Hypnotize Someone.” The video taught the hand clench rapid induction and
included a script. After watching the video several times and reading
through the script, I called my friend Nicole and persuaded her to let me
try it. She bravely agreed after some coaxing and met me at my apartment.

I didn’t know anything about hypnosis but I did what the tape said and
acted confidently. She sat down and I told her: “In a moment I’m going to
hypnotize you, it will take less than a second. In a moment I want you to
extend your arms straight out in front of you, fingers spread, then close
your eyes. The moment you close your eyes, it will feel like magnets in
your palms and they will begin pulling and tugging together. The moment
they touch, your fingers interlock and clench down tight together, so much
so that no matter how hard you try you will be unable to pull them apart.”

The entire time I am starring directly into her eyes just like the video
said and as I starred it already looked like she was hypnotized. I asked
if she was ready to be hypnotized and she said yes. I told her to extend
her arms and close her eyes. As soon as she did, I quickly pulled out the
script and gave suggestions like the ones I described. To my amazement,
she responded right away and her hands were pulling closer together. When
they touched her hands locked together and she truly couldn’t pull them
apart. I couldn’t believe it! Following the script I suggested: “In a
moment I’m going to touch your hands and say the word SLEEP. The moment I
do your hands instantly come apart and your entire body goes loose and
limp as a rag doll.” I was full anticipation and on the edge of my seat.
I leaned over, smacked her hands down and powerfully said SLEEP. She
immediately went as loose as a rag doll and fell straight off the chair
and onto the floor! When she hit the floor she didn’t ever react! I
couldn’t believe what just happened and was filled with both amazement and
fear because the script didn’t say what to do next! So I quickly thought
of the video, counted to 3 and told her to open her eyes. She opened her
eyes and she told me she felt amazing all over. After that experience, I
caught the “hypno-fever” and the rest is history.

I remember well the first time I hypnotized another person. It was in the evening and my wife and I had been invited to a party. We had driven to the party in my ‘62 Buick Skylark. The party was being given for a friend’s birthday celebration.

It must have been winter, because it was dark. I don’t remember the year, or month, but I do remember the situation.

We were sitting next to each other in the front seat when we pulled up to the house. Al, Jimmy and their friends were inside waiting. They always had good parties, and we were looking forward to this one.

I had sent away for a book on hypnosis a few weeks earlier, and I’d gotten it in the mail just in time for the party. It was Harry Arons “Master Course on Hypnosis”, and I’d read a few chapters. So I thought what the heck, I’d try it out on my wife. That’s right, right here in the car in front of Al and Jimmy’s place, in the dark, before we go in. So I asked her if it she’d like to try it, and of course she said “Oh. I suppose so”.

Now I’m not saying these were ideal conditions, but who ever said they had to be. I reached up and turned on the overhead light, found a good chapter on induction and started to read, aloud. Presto. I was amazed. So was she, but like I was.

It’s just a good thing I’d read enough of the book before we got there to know what to do next. It was great. The induction went smoothly, and the part about how to awake a subject was just like the book said it should be. Of course, there was no deep trances achieved, but even a light state was more then I had hoped for.

After she awoke, we headed on in and we enjoyed ourselves to the fullest.

Gary Noble

For a moment, I thought it was going to take me using some self hypnosis to recall my first time, hypnotizing another that is. It was not particularly spectacular, at least not in the sense that Josh Houghton told about. No blood, no guts, no glory? Well, not exactly. My first classes were informational only. We (the class) experienced hypnosis with the instructor and were given scripts along with information to study before our next class.

I guess, like so many novices, I was impatient. I wanted to put someone under; I wanted to be a pro, yesterday! So, I went home armed with all my information and what I had observed the instructor had done with other students and I was ready to begin.

My youngest son is an easy going type and he was willing to try it. So, we holed up in his room, out of range of the rest of the family and decided to see if Mom could help him relax. He lay down on his bed and I played soft music. Then I began to read from the script. As I proceeded, my son started to giggle. This was not the mother he knew. I was speaking a different language, using words that didn’t sound like me at all. The more I read, the funnier it became to him. Soon, my husband was calling from another room, “what is so funny in there you two?”

I knew this was not going to work. If was destined to become a hypnotist, I was going to have to find a way around this. So, I decided right then and there to chuck the scripts and begin talking to him in my own voice, with my words. It worked, he quieted down. Slowly, he began to listen and relax. It was as if I was telling him a bedtime story, he nestled right down into the bed and closed his eyes, smiling. I asked him to imagine feeling better than he could recall feeling in a very long time. As I finished, I encouraged him to believe that he was stronger and healthier than he had ever felt. He would emerge feeling as though he had a wonderful, peaceful nap that allowed his body to heal.

These instructions were significant because my son has Spherocytosis. At times, without enough oxygen getting through his blood system, he tended to feel aches and fatigue. This particular day was one of those. Well, when we were finished, he told me he heard everything I said. He said it felt so comfortable and kind of dreamy, but he heard me the whole time. What I noticed though was his renewed energy. He seemed so much more vibrant afterwards than he had earlier in the day.

We have used hypnosis together many times since. He uses it himself for studying and test preparation. He had major surgery about 3 years ago and I prepared audios for him to listen to before, during and afterwards. He said it helped just having Mom’s voice there to reassure him. That is more than I could ever ask for.

By Josh Houghton

I have always enjoyed hypnosis and magic since I was a kid. I had seen a few stage shows on television and thought it was pretty cool. It was as if everyone was under some magic spell that the hypnotist placed on them. The hypnotist would walk up to each person and as soon as he shouted the word “SLEEP” they all appeared to go to sleep. As we know now they aren’t asleep, but as a kid I didn’t know any better. So as I got older my love for hypnosis continued. Okay, maybe love is a little strong of a word, maybe interest is a better word. Yet, over the years my interest in hypnosis would fade out and fade back in.

It wasn’t until high school that I had decided to attempt to hypnotize someone for the first time. I had no knowledge other then what I had seen on TV or during the stage shows I went too. I didn’t know the principals behind the techniques and I still thought the people we’re asleep. During the time I never knew you could actually get books on hypnosis from the library. Still I felt to some degree I was ready to give it a try. Technically as a teenager I was ready to give anything a try. I mean, how hard could this hypnosis thing be? I had seen tons of hypnotists put people to sleep on stage.

I had convinced a good friend of mine to be my first subject. He was pretty scared because he didn’t want to be under my power. Even though he had some fear he thought it could be fun as did I. We we’re both teenagers looking to have a little fun and what’s better than having your best friend be your hypnoslave for a few. I’m joking of course, but I may have been serious back in the days. Still kidding.

We had decided to do it after school on the old baseball field. We had invited a few friends to check it out and see the performance. So we arrived at the field and decided to get right into hypnotizing my friend. I had my friend stand in front of me and I went into this long talk. It was pretty much stolen from a hypnotist I had seen on TV a few months earlier. After the talk, which was pretty much a paragraph telling the person how powerful I was and how he will not be able to fight against my will. Looking back at this makes me want to laugh. I told him to then stare into my eyes. So my friend began to stare into my eyes. I kept repeating the phase to him over and over. I swear I must have said it at least 10 times. Eventually I saw his eyes beginning to close and then he would try to open them.

I continued to repeat the phase over and over and each time I said it he appeared to become very tired. I then started to say “As you stare at me your legs are getting very tired and you just want to go to sleep”. Remember all I was doing was repeating some stuff I saw on TV. I waited a moment and as I saw my friend’s eye close I yelled “Sleep” as loud as I could and pulled him toward me. I didn’t realize how heavy he would be in hypnosis. He became very relaxed and fell right into my chest. As he hit me I wasn’t prepared to catch him. I thought at the time he would just move toward me. I never suspected his legs would give out. As he fell into me he knocked me straight over. Since he caught me off guard I wasn’t able to catch my balance. I fell straight to the ground and when I hit the ground my head hit a pretty big rock with a sharp edge to it.
The rock cracked me in the head and that’s all I remember. My next memory was waking up in the hospital. After spending a few moments getting my focus back I could see my parents and my friends who we’re with me at the field. My mom told me my friends called them when I fell and hit my head on the rock. They told her my friend, after being hypnotized fell into me, which caused me to fall and hit my head. My friend who was my subject ended up being fine because I broke his fall. One of my friends thought I was dead so most of them we’re pretty scared. A special thanks to my friends who I’m still friends with today for thinking fast. Who knows what could have happened if they didn’t call 911 and then call my parents.

They said I kept waking up and drifting off during the ride to the hospital, but I don’t remember any of that at all. I was able to leave the hospital that night, but I left with a pretty bad scar which I still have to this day. Luckily my hair covers the scar up pretty well. Looking back on these events now with the knowledge I process I can say I did everything wrong. I put myself in danger and my friend in danger. I decided to mess with something I had no real knowledge of and never ever thought about any dangers to him or me. Looking back on these events the first thing I would have done was learn hypnosis.

I should have spent time studying and practicing with pillows or something before I made my first attempt. I should have tried to hypnotize him in a place I could control rather then a rock filled field. I’m lucky my friend fell on me instead of the rock. My parents and I could have been facing some serious lawsuits. So the lesson of this story is to take the time to learn something before you attempt it. Yes, you may see all the hypnosis videos on youtube. You may want to try what they did in a video. It may look easy, but understand these people are trained the majority of the time. So before trying what you see do a little research.

The final piece of advice is to always make sure your subject or client is safe. They are your responsible and they are trusting you to keep them out of harms way. So don’t break that trust and do what you can to make sure everything goes smooth. This is a true story and yes a little sad, but I felt someone reading this could learn something from my mistake or at least take away a bit of wisdom that they can relate too. Hypnosis by it’s self isn’t harmful, but in the hands of someone untrained accidents can happen. So take the time, study, ask questions and you will have a much better start and experience then I did all those years ago.

Yes, it is true, I am off to see the world yet again. So, I am about to depart, but as always, I am leaving you, dear reader, with wonderful posts to read each day. No, I am not ringing my own bell, but those of other hypnotists who have been kind enough to write for the Transparent Hypnotist. I am starting a new segment that will run when I am not available on days when my regular features aren’t scheduled (10 Question Fridays, Esoteric Saturdays, and The Sunday Question). I call this new feature posting - The First Time. It will be the words of the hypnotists you may have already have come to know here and it will be all about their first experiences hypnotizing someone.

We will begin this tomorrow with Josh Houghton.

On Thursday, we will hear Debbie Lane’s version.

Then its back to 10 Questions for Hypnotists and this week the interview is with Susan Wallace.

Terry O’brien will handle Esoteric Saturday and Michael Raugh will be back with the Sunday Question.

So stay tuned…