Light Trance Problems

[epson1979]

Hi,
I have recently started to practice hypnosis with my GF but am having a couple of problems. I can only seem to put her into a light trance where she wakes up at the slightest sound. Also she has told me she thinks too much during hypnosis. For example instead of allowing it to happen naturaly she constantly thinks 'am i doing it', 'is it working' etc... Therefore she goes along with the induction not hypnotized but hoping she will be sooner or later.
Therefore i would like some help on a couple of areas:
1) What is the most effective deepening technique/script i could use to take her deep into trance?
2) What tests are there i could do/say so that i know she is hypnotized and not simulating it?
Any other comments are welcome!
Cheers

[Don]

Hi, Epson, and welcome.

I'm glad to see that you have an interest in hypnosis. I hope that you keep up your interest and continue with your studies and practices.

The thing is, hypnosis is best learned in-person. Not only would all of your questions be answered during an in-person training, but you'd also learn how to easily and quickly resolve them. Right now, your questions come from a lack of understanding about hypnosis and it's technique, and even an inexpensive, weekend class would give you all the information and practice you need for success!

However, since you asked, I'm going to try to give you some answers to questions both asked and unasked. I regret that you may not like them.

First, the major problem is that you're working with your GF. In a training, you'd learn that an important aspect of hypnosis is that it is a relationship between the client and the hypnotist. Here, your GF does not think of you as a hypnotist, but as her BF. As a result, she is not as likely to follow your suggestions because she doesn't see you as an expert hypnotist. If you take the training, she'll feel safer with you as a hypnotist and will easily go into a deeper trance.

You also still have the typical Western medical concept of the body and mind as simple machines. This is what I mean: the gears in my car are the same as the gears in your car. Therefore, if a new set of gears works in my car, the same set will work in yours. Machines have interchangeable, replaceable parts. Similarly, if someone has the flu, they get the same treatment as everyone else with the flu (even though the success rate may be relatively low).

This is not the case with hypnosis. Hypnotists honor and respect everyone as being a unique individual. Each person is entitled to unique and specialized care. That means the most effective deepening technique for your GF may be totally different from the most effective deepening technique for you, for me, and for everyone else.

So how do you know what is working for deepening? This relates to your 2nd question. The answer is the observation of physiological feedback. Things as subtle and a change in breathing patterns or the location of the breath, a sigh, a tilt of the head and many more let a trained hypnotist know that a person is slipping deeper into hypnosis and accepting your deepening suggestions. This is easily learned in a training. This feedback allows you to see whether the deepening you are using is working or needs to be altered to fit the needs of the person you are working with.

These observations will let you see whether a person is hypnotized. Another way is to suggest they can't open their eyes and then ask them to try--if their eyes pop open, they're probably not hypnotized. That's the theory behind this test. The actual practice of the test is a bit more complicated--you need to learn what to say, when to say it, the pace at which to say it, the tonality with which to say it, etc. Again, all of this is taught in a basic, in-person training.

As I wrote, these may not be the answers you sought, but they are accurate answers. We don't have room to give you training here--it wouldn't be effective, we couldn't observe you to give feedback, it would be unfair to imply you were being trained, and it would, in my estimation, be unethical.

There are lots of books that will give you answers to your questions, too--but even though they have more room to give answers, they can't observe you to see if you are "getting" what they're talking about.

Good luck. I hope you'll take a training and become an excellent hypnotist, even if it's just for fun.

[Poodle]

Would you read Merlin's FAQ's. They answer many and about all of your questions. This is done by finding Merlin's name, clicking on it and then clicking on FAQ.

Pood

[Merlin]

trance and hypnosis are different things.
try doing hypnosis and don't bother with the trance.