by Shaun Brookhouse
For this addition, I would like to introduce the Ericksonian Early Learning Set, one of the most commonly used Ericksonian Technique. Modern hypnosis is quite different from the popular conception of hypnosis as a mysterious drama. Hypnotists are not showmen. They are, however, highly skilled in observation and can recognise even minute variations in behaviour that provide important clues to the client’s interests and abilities. These clues are then utilised to help guide the client into altered states of awareness known as trance. Hypnosis then proceeds by taking the learnings that the person already has an applying them in other ways. Milton Erickson, M.D. was wary about suggesting or adding anything new to the client: he would rather facilitate the client’s ability to creatively utilise and develop what he/she already has. The following is Erickson’s Early Learning Set Induction.
Get Client to Close His/Her Eyes Then:
When you first went to nursery school, this matter of learning letters and numbers seemed to be a big insurmountable task. To recognise the letter A, to tell a Q from an O was very, very difficult. And then too, joined up writing and print were so different. But you learned to form a mental image of some kind. You didn’t know it at the time, but it was a permanent mental image.
And later on in primary school, you formed other mental images of words or pictures of sentences. You developed more and more mental images without knowing you were developing mental images. And you can recall all those images.
Now you can go anywhere you wish, and transport yourself to any situation. You can feel water, you may swim in it, you can do anything you want.
You do not even have to listen to my voice, because your unconscious will hear it. Your unconscious can try anything it wishes. But your unconscious mind isn’t going to do anything of importance.
You will notice that your conscious mind is somewhat concerned since it keeps fluttering your eyelids. You have altered your breathing rate, you have altered your pulse, you have altered your blood pressure, and without knowing it, you’re demonstrating the immobility that a hypnotic subject can show.
There is nothing really important except the activity of your unconscious mind, and that can be whatever your unconscious mind desires.
Now physical comfort exists, but you do not even need to pay attention to your relaxation and comfort. I can tell your unconscious mind that you are an excellent hypnotic subject, and whenever you need to or want to, your unconscious mind will allow you to use it.
And it can take time, its own time letting you go into trance helping you to understand anything reasonable. When I speak to you it is necessary for you to listen.
I want you to concentrate on all of the wonderful things that makes you unique, that makes you the very special unique person that you are know. And you might take this opportunity to focus on how you can improve on the things in your life that you would like to improve.
(Pause for 5 minutes)
Revive: Notice the body reorientation when you open your eyes and return to full consciousness. Notice how marvellous you feel, and perhaps you might even feel a bit more enlightened about yourself and how you behave.
The beauty of this technique is a way of inducing for regression without directly making the suggestions for the actual regression.
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