What is "Implanting Selective Thinking"

[Conca]

In Elman's book he says "Too many doctors are anxiousto get to work before they have implanted the selective thinking. That is the reason for their many failures. They don't realize that without the implanting of selective thinking they don't have anything but deep relaxation do work with: they don't have hypnosis. Make it a rule to implant selective thinking, and at the termination of the hypnosis to leave the suggestion of a feeling of well-being."

What is implanting selective thinking?

[Merlin]

in other words
get hypnosis
not just relaxation

[Conca]

yh i get that but how do you get selective thinking?

[Poodle]

Somnam. is "selective thinking". You will read in many books ,,,and selective thinking is maintained. Selective means somnambulism. Put in the correct suggestions carefully so they are not rejected -- got it?

[Conca]

yep i have now

[Poodle]

or "selective thinking" also go inside from authority figures, as in Doctors. The conscious mind allows that in usually unless one gets really used to hypnosis and they say something stupid like you are going to die in six months and we say: Go to the bathroom!! What? The Doctor is God and knows exactly when we are going to die. Not in my life. Some people will take this as a suggestion and the mind will comply. :confused:

Language is crucial!!!!!

[Conca]

so is selective thinking something you fully believe?

[Vin]

or "selective thinking" also go inside from authority figures, as in Doctors. The conscious mind allows that in usually unless one gets really used to hypnosis and they say something stupid like you are going to die in six months and we say: Go to the bathroom!! What? The Doctor is God and knows exactly when we are going to die. Not in my life. Some people will take this as a suggestion and the mind will comply. :confused:

Language is crucial!!!!!


In the wonderful book "The will to live" there are many cases. Careful use of words is strongly suggested, especially for authorities!
Conca, you seem to have the same passion I had (and still have) for the book "Hypnotherapy" when I first started my hypnotic journey. While some of the content is outdated, Elman provided among the best explanations of hypnosis. The tapes are also very good "just relax...just relax, heavy like a wet dish rag"

Vin

[Conca]

the thing is that book answers all of your questions when you're a beginner doesn't it

[Jacquin]

Conca,

There are two parts to Elmans definition of hypnosis. For some reason many pay more attention to the beginning of his definition than the end of it. In other words they concentrate a great deal on 'bypassing the critical faculty' and less on 'establishing selective thinking'. Bypassing the critical faculty (not that it exists) is not hypnosis. Establishing selective thinking is.

Elman defines the latter part of the definition as being wholeheartedly believing something. Hypnotists prior to him and since equate this with the mind locking around a single idea.

That does not mean that it is the only idea in your head. It just means that with regard to the suggestion given by the hypnotist your mind wholeheartedly believes what has been said. So with amnesia for your name you can reflect that you know you really should know your name but you wholeheartedly believe that you just cannot remember it right now.

Anthony Jacquin

[Don]

Anthony, I agree that the idea of a critical faculty is a valuable metaphor (as is the concept of conscious vs. unconscious mind). I would also agree that "wholeheartedly believing something can be defined as the hypnotic state. Even Braid wanted to change the use of his then neologism "hypnosis" (actually Neurypnology, neuro-hypnotism or nervous hypnosis) to monoideism, which is the same thing as Elman was stating.

However, coming from a hypnotherapeutic view, the idea of selective thinking or "wholeheartedly believing something" is nothing more than the use of positive affirmations which are of debatable value. If you "wholeheartedly believe" you're going to stop smoking, but part of you goes, "I don't think so.....," all of that wholehearted belief isn't very valuable.

In short, I would respectfully agree that establishing selective thinking or wholeheartedly believing something is vital for the hypnotic state, to have value in hypnotherapy bypassing the critical faculty is, well, critical.

I could certainly see that someone might say, "In order to wholeheartedly believe something you have to bypass the critical faculty," in which case this entire discussion moves out of the realm of practice and into that or linguistics, and may not be very enlightening. However, I would respectfully agree with Elman that both aspects are required for hypnotherapeutic benefits. For stage work merely getting actors to wholeheartedly believe something may be enough.