Failed hypnosis attempt today

[massagefeverr]

I have been seeing a psychologist for a couple of months now and we finally got to the point of getting ready for hypnosis. And while I did relax a lot, I didn't go under if that makes sense. I was still so very aware of the here and now. This is very much something I want and it is something I believe will help me change my life. What can I do to make the next try more successful. Today just ended up making me feel worse even though the goal was to take me back to a happy time in my life. It just made me feel worse about where I am today. Any advice is welcome.:(

[tdiamond]

Hi there,

Dont be discouraged. Hypnosis doesnt feel any different sometimes than juts being relaxed. You are still very aware of everything and hearing what's going on. What did your hypnotherapist explain about the process and what you would feel?

Tanja

[Poodle]

Welcome! Please know YOU did NOT FAIL! The only failures in this business are on the part of the hypnotist. We do NOT practice relax-o-therapy. Even being in a light trance you should have noticed the world was somewhat different, more than just relaxed. Many medical professionals do not practice professional hypnotism. They don't know inductions so they try to bore your conscious mind into retreating with relax, relax, relax. Relax has NOTHING to do with hypnosis although it is often a wonderful by product of it. Ask your psychologist if s/he knows any other inductions and if so, please use something else on you. If not, please refer you to a hypnotist to work WITH your psychologist.

If you had to pay extra for the hypnosis, DEMAND YOUR MONEY BACK FOR WHAT YOU DID NOT RECEIVE. Also, next time ask for a "convincer". That could be any number of things as hand stuck to face, arm stiff and rigid and cannot bend it, etc.

And, as far as semantics - didn't go "UNDER"? uhh uhh -- that implies the hypnotist has control over you. You go "into" trance. The client is in control at all times. Hypnosis is not a truth serum and you will never do anything or say anything that is against your morals and ethics. Wishing you much better luck next time. Pood ;)

[senin.ss]

Very interesting, Poodle. I have dappled in hypnosis (been professionally hypnotised on occassion) and I don't know if I could really tell the difference between extremely relaxed and "into trance".

I like the "bored to death" comment. I often feel then when I listen to the hypnosis of "relax left leg, right leg, body, left arm, right arm". Often I feel like, get on with it!!! I thought it was just me. You mean I am not the only one being impatient?!

Wow, you can ask for a convincer?! I never knew that. I like that.

[massagefeverr]

Well the going under comment was me. I couldn't for the life of me remember the proper term. Mommy brain, what can I say. I feel like it should feel different somehow too. Yesterday, I felt as though I was laying on the couch with my eyes closed, breathing deeply, nothing more. I don't feel like I can go back to another time and remember things that I have blocked just laying on the couch with my eyes closed. He asked me to remember a time when I was actually happy, consciously, I remember that so I told him. Then he asked for a specific instance and I couldn't give him one. To me, if I had been hypnotized, I would have been able to give him that information.

I am such a stressed, tense person that I worry I won't be able to be put into a trance, b/c as you said, you can't be made to do anything.

I am seeing him for therapy so I didn't pay any extra than I would normally pay but I feel better knowing that I actually was no getting to where I need to be. I'll have to be sure and let him know next time that I am not there somehow.

[tdiamond]

So poodle,

That seems a bit harsh saying that the therapist failed and that the client had no process. What expectation do you set up for your clients?


I believe that it was as perfect a session as it could be at that point and perhaps the client has an expectation of going into trance that might be keeping them from realizing that going into trance can be a subtle event and that the more times they allow themselves the belief that it worked the more it does.
Of course having convincers are appropriate for both the knowledge of the therapist and the inductee. Just ask your therapist if they will do some convincers next time.

I want to offer the client a suggestion.

Trance can be as unobtrusive as a drive down the road, as light as a daydream on a summer day, as subtle as a whisper in your ear. When you look at your child and nothing else exsists... you are tranced and usually pretty deeply. Let go of expectation and enjoy the journey, don't judge yourself, allow your perfect unconcious mind to gather the healing you desire. Just allow it to happen, you know what you need and how to recieve it.

Tanja

[Connie]

I am such a stressed, tense person that I worry I won't be able to be put into a trance, b/c as you said, you can't be made to do anything.

You don't have to be those things. Hypnosis will help you with that. Easily.

[Merlin]

Trance can be as unobtrusive as a drive down the road, as light as a daydream on a summer day, as subtle as a whisper in your ear. When you look at your child and nothing else exsists... you are tranced and usually pretty deeply.
That's true of trance.
That's not necessarily hypnosis though.

[Merlin]

If you're unsure about the hypnosis being successful, ask for a convincer.
Something simple.
Have him glue your hand to a desk or wall, or your lap.
Have him suggest that he is invisible from the waste down,
Have him suggest his ears are as big as his whole head.
Something simple, yet obvious.

>I am such a stressed, tense person that I worry I won't be able to be put into a trance, b/c as you said, you can't be made to do anything.

Doesn't matter when hypnosis is employed.

[Poodle]

That relax, relax, relax just wasn't for you, was it? Not only wondering if you were doing it correctly, you may still have been on neck and hypnotist was already on legs! HELP! What am I doing wrong? NOTHING!! You can be hypnotized into a very deep trance very, very easily. You just need a different induction. This is one on the reasons that the mass produced hypnosis CD's often don't work. An induction needs to be client specific.

Your psychologist is probably very skilled in psychology but seems to lack in depth training in hypnosis.

We, as professional hypnotists, are very skilled and we are always looking for more and better ways. There is all the difference in the world in "naturally" occurring trance and a hypnotic trance. Just knowing that you go into a natural trance every morning and every night and every 90-120 minutes of the waking day, you know you CAN and WILL go into a wonderfully deep hypnotic trance.

Last summer Don and I were at a training together. One of the things we were asked to do required relaxation. When we broke into groups to practice I had to tell the people in my group to please don't use relaxation. They asked what worked for ME and I replied Confusion. It worked perfectly. Like you, don't tell me to relax because it just ain't gonna happen!

Ericksonian seems to work on everyone. We just let you put yourself into trance.

Cal Banyon, owner of Banyon Hypnosis whatever has put a video of him doing "instant" inductions on Google. Just watch it and see how easy it is in the hands of a skilled professional hypnotist.

You may also want to check out the "history" of hypnosis. Talk therapy only came about as Freud was unable to hypnotize people so he went home to dream up an idea to make him lots and lots of money - yep - talk therapy was born.

Thank you for coming here to professional hypnotists and getting your questions answered.

YES senin - you pay your money and you can ask. If we don't have happy clients, we don't stay in business. It's that simple. Pood

[Poodle]

Thanks! While I was chatting on the phone you came in and gave correct answers in very little space. Well done lady!!

[Nigel H]

Another point to remember is that going in to trance is about learning to go in to trance - the fact that you perhaps only achieved a light trance in your first session is a start.

It is very common for people to state that they didn't 'feel' hypnotised afterwards and hence why those suggestions above for a convincer built in to the session is very worthwhile. So when you do say 'I wasn't under' the question about the arm being stiff & rigid, or stuck to your face etc begs the question as to whether you did it consciously of your own volition - and the answer will be NO - so you then realise you actually were in a state of trance, else you would not have done it!

Many think that hypnotic trance is wildly different state to the everyday waking state and that simply is not the case. You should expect to feel relaxed yes and even have heightened awareness of your surroundings, rather than feeling zoned through the floor and in a sleeping state (which hypnosis generally is not). I would have expected your therapist to explain such things to you and run through what to expect - and also to have the flexibility to use different methods/induction styles to suit you, to help overcome any apprehensions you have about it - so feel able to let yourself follow the suggestions and achieve the relevant depth of trance.

If you have not already, then discuss all your issues with them and have them work through it with you to achieve the outcome you are after. This feedback will help them serve you better and so help you get more from the session(s).

All the best - keep us posted!

Nig

[Poodle]

I know the theory of "learning how to go into trance" and I don't buy into it for one second. One of two things will happen: Client will go into a hypnotic trance or NOT. It's our job to make sure we don't have "or NOT". It's a good thing that poster asked here. People do not understand hypnosis. Where better to get real live answers from real live hypnotists.

Poster had no fear of trance and was greatly looking forward to it. Poster seems to be of average or above intelligence and poster understands English. There are no bad clients but there are bad hypnotists and that is not good for us. We really don't want people saying: I tried hypnosis and it didn't work for me. One does not need to lie down for hypnosis. Erickson did it every time with his patient just sitting in a chair. It works wonderfully! If you are going to say that Erickson only worked in a light trance, not necessarily true. He could take a patient into somnambulism in 30 seconds flat. Now poster has gained some knowledge about hypnosis and can converse somewhat intelligently about it with the psychologist.

[massagefeverr]

Well I have gained some wonderful knowledge here. I can however say for certain that I was not in a trance, light or otherwise. My mind was racing as always and I remember all that he said and couldn't get to where he asked me to be.

A little more background while I am getting such good info. One of my concerns is that I fear I was molested by my grandfather. I remember once instance and have no memories my relationship of him before that time. However, I was always his favorite and slept with him until that time, I am told anyway. All of my panic attacks and health problems (fibro type problems) started after his death and when I was in massage school. I basically am miserable and have been since that point.

I need to know for sure what happened with him and why I am having the problems I am now.

[tdiamond]

All hypnosis is self hypnosis.... Don't you agree?

Tanja

[tdiamond]

I do know that regression therapy and retriving "lost" memories must be done by someone very knowledgable and very ethical because it can be easy to inadvertantly feed suggestions to the client. There is a lot of skill involved.

Have you tried working with someone that does NLP and Time Empowerment techniques? Those work without the need for content, and are quite lovely and very very efffective, as well as quick.

I still would not be so quick to say you weren't where you should be for that time, as I have in a very deep state and was still very aware of things going on. The unconsciuos minds prime directive is to preserve the body, so you had better believe you know what's going on around you.

Being hypnotised is all about following direction and being game to go along with what's happening. Certianly if you don't have confidence in your practitioner than you might be reluctant to follow direction and could distract yourself along the way. Ask your practitioner to really talk with you about the process, so you know what to expect and then ask for convincers. It is pretty amazing to think you are just hanging out only to find that you really can't lift your leg, even if you try...

Have fun and be amazing

Tanja

[Poodle]

Please talk it over with your psychologist. You are under his/her care now. You can explain that you have consulted experts in the field of hypnosis and are quite convinced that you were in no type of trance. Ask this person to work with you with different inductions or to call in one of us. Yes, we do work with these people and are a great help to them.

You are very correct again. When the root cause is uncovered and let go, the "fibro stuff" will disappear along with it. Tanja has suggested a type of Time Line Therapy which works very well but I seriously doubt if your practitioner knows it. It would be wonderful if your hypnotist were good at it as you would not have to go through all those horrible feelings again. Once is quite enough.

1. Trance is not feeling Zonked Out
2. your secrets are safe. You will never say anything in trance that you would not say otherwise. We find out much more from your conscious mind.
3. You cannot get stuck in trance
4. You will probably be more aware - totally focused and maybe more relaxed
5. YOU are always in CONTROL. We cannot make you do or say anything you don't want to.
6. Your subconscious mind totally LOVES you and does it's very best to keep you healthy and heal you. It never quits. It's on duty 24/7/365 for all of your life
7. Can YOU be hypnotized - YES!!
8. Everyone experiences trance differently as we are all different human beings with different minds.

I just received a brochure last week offering 50 inductions. Old dawgs can always learn new tricks!

It did you no good at all to play games with this person in the last session. You were giving made up answers from your conscious mind instead of saying: Hey, something is not quite right here. I don't know anything about hypnosis but I really don't think I'm even close to being there even though I don't know what there is. I know something should be different and it just isn't.

I had never been in a light trance before a training last summer. It was lovely. Just enough so that I knew the world was "slightly" different. In my practice I work in somnambulism (deep). I have all kinds of things built in to that work so I know what is going on with my client at all times and I know how my suggestions are being received. I throw in a couple of convincers just for fun so my client can understand just how powerful that subconscious mind is.

I have always been an advocate of "all hypnosis is self-hypnosis and we are your highly trained guides". Good luck and let us know how the next session goes. Pood

[massagefeverr]

Wow, I am getting so much good information. I had consulted a certified hypnotherapist before this psychologist and he told me the past memories with my grandfather didn't matter. It was in the past and I had to focus on the present and the future. Needless to say that was the end of that relationship. I live in such a small town where alternative therapies and treatments are not available or accepted.:( I have considered training myself to be able to offer others the option. I have even have to do distance sessions to get a decent reiki session.

You have all inspired me to start some research on the TLP and other techniques. I will get the answers and help I need.

[Nigel H]

If you have any questions on Time Line work I would be happy to help. A good place to start may be Tad James' book - Time Line Therapy and the basis of personality.

You mentioned that you spoke with a local hypnotherapist and they said not to worry about the past - but to focus on the present/future - whilst you appeared unhappy by such comment, in reality it can be a good viewpoint - in that you can create new coping mechanisms in the 'now' to enable you to handle the past emotions etc and re-code how you feel in the present as a result. This may, or may not, have been what they meant....?!?!!??

Time Line Therapy is a fantastic way to deal with past negative emotions and Limiting Beliefs - you can get some good info through the website at

www.timelinetherapy.net (http://www.timelinetherapy.net) [there is also a section in this forum for it]

good luck with your research!

Nig