Emotional and Physical Suggestibility

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

 

“Would you please tell me your name?”

The way you respond to this question says a lot about you—your “suggestibility” and how you communicate and learn. John G. Kappas, Ph.D.’s discovery that not everyone receives suggestions the same way revolutionized the field of hypnotherapy.

In Kappasinian hypnotherapy, there are two kinds of suggestibility.

·         Physical    Literal and direct. “Yes”/ “No” (I will tell you my name.)

·         Emotional Inference and metaphor (looking for the meaning behind the words). “My name is…”

Suggestibility runs along a spectrum. It is not determined by gender or sexuality. While you may possess more “physical” than “emotional” suggestibility traits, you will still retain some characteristics of the subdominant suggestibility types. When I create hypnotic scripts for my clients, I always use their words to describe their goals, motivations for achieving that goal, emotions surrounding it, etc. However, your suggestibility will determine which words/phrases I use during your hypnotherapy session. For example, if you are a Physical Suggestible, and you are working with me to help you relax I will tailor the hypnotic script to include direct and literal suggestions/imagery: “relaxing.” If you are an Emotional Suggestible, I will use the metaphors and inferential imagery that represents relaxation to you: e.g., “calm, comfort” or even a nature scene that represents relaxation to you.

  Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy®, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.