by Mark Stein
It has been said that the average American walking around today will be exposed to more information in a 24 hour period than the average New Yorker would be exposed to in a lifetime while living in the city less than 100 years ago. In the field of hypnosis we call this over exposure to information or “message units” as the phenomenon to explain the process by which all human beings naturally go in and out of hypnosis on a daily basis. It is little wonder why we have increasingly found ourselves in a position of being confused, isolated, and powerless due to this over exposure to information. Interestingly enough we work in a field wherein we use this confusing state of message overload and turn it into a state of greater concentration and effectiveness for the purposes of change.
While the understanding of this simple and universal process is essential, our process and structure of change work with a client has to be razor sharp to cut through to be effective. Everywhere we turn there are options and choices all leading to an increasing level of uncertainty, lack of focus, and ultimately confidence. In this day and age people are without a doubt looking for a much greater level of clarity, balance, focus, and confidence and if you can be in a position to be able to serve it to them you have created the greatest win-win of all that no doubt serves to establish an endless stream of referrals for you and your practice.
If one was looking to learn how to ride a bike their options would be turning to an advisor, teacher, or coach to make the change. An advisor would discuss which bike to buy and the pros and cons between the choices. A teacher would describe the process of learning how to ride the bike. A coach would help the person get the bike, put the individual on the bike, and walk them through the process of going from being consciously incompetent to unconsciously competent in learning how to ride the bike. It should leave little argument which individual would be able to get the best results predictably and repeatedly.
Coaching can be described as the process of facilitation change and growth in one’s life. Hypnosis, NLP, and related fields are increasingly more and more powerful tools by which change can be achieved wherein more mainstream and traditional practices have failed. Using these powerful tools with mastery with the goal of walking the client from conscious incompetence to unconscious competence should be the main focus of today’s change practitioner. In using the coaching metaphor this article will evaluate the four essential keys in which the change facilitator can operate more effectively with their clients.
1) Establish Understanding on Both Sides
In addition to establishing rapport it is imperative to ask thorough questions to understand the sometimes hidden nature of where the client is really coming from. In NLP we call this chunking down for the purposes of uncovering the deep structure of the client’s experience. Within the use of the Meta Model which was arrived at through Richard Bandler and John Grinder’s book The Structure of Magic based on the work of Virginia Satir we would ask questions such as how do you know in reference to the presenting problem. The answers that we find could uncover triggers or anchors that drive the unwanted behavior or response. As well the answers could uncover the actual hidden problem that the client may not be fully aware of or may even bring to the light that the problem is greatly exaggerated in its entirety within a client’s subjective experience. Finally, the pre-talk and explanation of what you and the different tools you use do for your clients is absolutely essential to bring the client over in the direction of trance and change work. If you don’t already have a pre-talk that you use I recommend you add one like Gerry Kein’s.
2) Bring Total Congruence
It is critical that if a desired outcome is to be achieved that total confidence in getting there is projected before, during, and after each and very session. Congruence transcends past just confidence within the session in as much as the change practitioner must know where he or she is going and where he is taking the client. While hypnosis and NLP is an art and should be adjusted to meet the varied reactions good, bad, and indifferent within the individual client, conversely the practitioner should have a very basic format that is followed based on what is going to happen when and how it will happen during the session. The practitioner should have a very clear set of conditions and outcomes of where he or she is taking the client and what specifically will be accomplished. Finally, as Bandler says the hypnotist goes into trance first. This is to say that the practitioner goes into trance and then leads and brings the client through the journey. If you don’t already have an anchor for trance that can be accessed at any time prior to inducing trance in a client I recommend that you develop one or visit a qualified Hypnotist or NLP practitioner to help you build one.
3) Calibrate and Make Adjustments
Many practitioners can only induce trance using a single induction method or need to rely on a script or simply use the same deepener. It is absolutely critical that the client’s experience is calibrated so that the session can be adjusted accordingly to deliver the best results for the client. Personally, I like to use the Elman induction for a new client as I feel it is the most universally useful and I can make adjustments as needed from there. I can induce trance in seconds using the handshake interrupt or any of the shock inductions and you should too. Likewise, while using a script can be an acceptable framework for a new practitioner to use just to get started it does not allow the hypnotist who follows it completely and blindly to calibrate or be tuned into the client to make sure that the session is going the right way. This is to say that there is a multitude of ways to induce trance, deepen, and give suggestions to create change in a client’s life. In NLP, we use the law of requisite variety to explain that the individual that maintains the highest level of flexibility will generate the highest and best of desired outcomes. If you are not extremely familiar with at least the very basic instant and rapid inductions I recommend that you take a course such as Ken Dubner’s to freshen up on your inductions.
4) Deepen, Deepen, Deepen
If the client does not experience in a very clear way that trance has occurred it is very likely that change will similarly not follow and that you will not see the client again. With analytical clients one or more convincers should be used. C. Roy Hunter teaches a very solid convincer with the heavy light question. One of my very favorite deepeners is to use the disappearing numbers on a visualized or imagined clock as illustrated in Dr. Frank Caprio’s original classic Healing Yourself with Self Hypnosis. Another great deepener is the elevator descent as illustrated in Charles Tebbetts’ classic work Self Hypnosis and Other Mind Altering Techniques. For the highly kinesthetic individual especially one high on olfactory and gustatory senses, the guided imagery nature walk through a forest, field, or water scene is incredibly powerful especially within the context of the ability to deliver all five sensory descriptions and overload the client with a powerful full trance inducing sensory experience. For the analytical type mental confusion techniques can not only serve as inductions but deepeners as well. While there is much conjecture about whether light trance is effective or not, I feel establishing deep trance in the first session gives you the best odds. If you struggle with getting your clients into the correct level of trance I recommend that you regard all clients as analytical to ensure that the highest number of your clients experience deep trance.
A good coach always knows where he will lead the client and what the desired outcome will be from the effort. Combining the art and science of hypnosis, NLP, and related fields in a way that maximizes on the above four categories will greatly increase a client’s chances of realizing their greater sense of hope and possibility of a vision of a bigger future.
