Ericksonian Handshake.

[Earnshaw24]

Ok, I've been looking into this for a while and it seems really interesting and i'm keen to try.

I understand how to break the pattern and such however, I don't really have any ideas on what to do with the subject after that?

Has anyone got any suggestions or previous experiences of using this technique and can give me some suggestions :rolleyes:

This my first post by the way so pleash dont be too harsh ;)

Thanks,

Gareth.

[seravitae]

Hi there. The handshake induction works on the principal that humans 'chunk' particular repetative actions and functions. When a person shakes a hand, the entire handshake, from reaching the hand out, to placing it back by thier side, is 'interpreted' as a single function by the brain - even though it is made up by lots of actions. Probably due to the repetative nature of the actions. As the action becomes subconcious, when you interrupt a handshake, it confuses the concious mind, and places the subconcious mind in a sort of " error: enter command> " kind of state, for a brief period of time. if within this time you direct a person in such a way to formalize hypnosis, they will formally induce themself into it.

anyway that's what I think it is. might be wrong.

please use this ethically!

-seb.

[Earnshaw24]

Thanks Seb for the response,

I believe your correct in what you are saying, The one thing I wish to understand is what you are actually expected/ or what you can potentially do once they are then this quick trance state.

Do you just enter any command?

Naturally I intend to use any hypnosis techniques ethically.

[seravitae]

Well, the 'enter command' context was more conceptual, in practice, remember you cannot make a person do anything they feel incorrect morally. also, the state is very brief, so you really don't have much time to do 'anything useful' *except* formalize the state. Such that, the best thing to do is simply interrupt the shake and suggest that they look at thier hand, and as it comes closer, thier eyes will get heavy. if you say that in a convincing, fluid, calm and directed manner, as you move thier hand to thier face, raise thier hand slightly so that the palm covers the eyes, and as thier eyes start to close let go of their hand and the arm will fall down, right over the eyes, causing it to shut - deepening thier state and confirming that indeed thier eyes did get heavy.

All of this should be a fluid motion, i suggest practicing on a person with thier consent (not actually hypnotising them, just using thier body as a 'dummy') because the fluidity and timing of the actions are fairly important, it is akin to a 'dance'.

Also, as soon as you formalize the state the *immediate* comment thereafter should be something along the lines of "...and in this state you'll feel relaxed and your legs will be strong, supporting the full weight of your body and you'll be able to balance perfectly" otherwise you may end up with some very relaxed, and very angry people who wake up on the floor with bruises!

(to reiterate that, please also look into some instant induction techniques and learn how to balance your body weight and your foot positions such that you can catch, rotate and lower the person with no damage to you or them, otherwise you could be in for some issues, even some people will get so relaxed they will just crumple in relaxation even after you've told them they'll be able to stand perfectly - they just enjoy it too much, danm hypno-junkies. :))

[seravitae]

oops! I said "and very angry people who wake up on the floor with bruises!"

I should strongly, strongly stress this is an error, people in hypnosis are not 'under' anything, nor are they asleep. They are sideways if anything :)

[Earnshaw24]

Thanks for the great reply :)

I found a video of what you apparently described.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcF5REftJJs

When you bring their hand up to their face am I to say 'your eyes are getting heavy' ?

Thanks,
Gareth.

[Poodle]

Go to in person trainings with practice on other students. One does not "catch" what you refer to as a subject. Dammmmmm*****!! Pood

[firegold]

You can use whatever verbiage you want. The way I learned the handshake induction was to use nonverbal suggestions for catalepsy or movement toward the face on the arm. As the hand gets closer to the face, you continue to do deepening suggestions, saying that when their hand touches their face, their eyes will close and they'll go into the deepest state of hypnosis they've ever been in and stuff like that.

Another way I learned was to just do the "Look right here" part, then just say, "Close your eyes" while passing your hand in front of their eyes.

Whatever you're most comfortable with is what will likely work best for you. Some people do the handshake induction in a way that almost seems violent; just quickly taking their hand and pressing it to their forehead. Win (I think that's his name; I don't know the last name) does it this way in his "hypno sculpture" videos on YouTube. Other people do it more gently, like the first two ways I described.

Personally, I prefer not potentially getting into a battle over eye closure and just tell them to close their eyes. Also, since this is a rapid/instant induction, doing a "Your eyes are getting heavy, heavy, sooo heavy ... " thing seems to be contradictory. That's a slower process. ;)

But that's me.

Joshua

[Merlin]

For the most part, hypnosis is not about hypnotising a person, that's easy.
It's what you do afterwards that counts.
Be sure the subject knows what you intend, unless you like broken noes, black eye, etc.

[Connie]

"Sleep Now!!!" :D

[Merlin]

And hope they don't fall and break their neck.

[Earnshaw24]

For the most part, hypnosis is not about hypnotising a person, that's easy.
It's what you do afterwards that counts.
Be sure the subject knows what you intend, unless you like broken noes, black eye, etc.

So this can be done with the person actually knowing what is to happen? :eek:

[Merlin]

Often, yes
but if you take someone by surprise, They may later feel violated and seek re venge

[Connie]

And hope they don't fall and break their neck.

Good point! I've only used this (teach called it "the handshake interrupt"--he also had some ambiguous touching thrown in) in class. I wouldn't try it on "the man in the street." :p

[Merlin]

*sleep* implies relaxation to many.
If you want to use 'sleep'
tell them what you mean for them to do.

[Poodle]

I've read everything here except what Erickson did in his handshake induction. Think for a minute please. What do we know about Dr. Erickson? The master of what???

[BlueTengu]

You can always go to YouTube and do a search for "Handshake Induction" and see what comes up. That might help.

[Poodle]

Probably not. There are waaay tooo many variations of that Induction. The question was specifically Erickson's. I know. Skip knows. Don knows. Any more takers??

If it were on YouTube you would not see anything except a hand shake.

[Merlin]

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
If they know how to respond, then it doesn't work.

[Blackwolf]

The Milton Erickson handshake induction (called the hypnotic handshake) is quite different than the one seravitae was talking about, the handshake induction seravitae describes is more along the lines of Bandlers version.
Erickson's is more complicated but here is a link that explaines it quite well:

...

I also found a video of Erickson himself doing the arm levitation induction!
here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL1ZDxM-yn8

Blackwolf

[Poodle]

Another found it and knows it is quite complicated. Good going!! :D