The Auto-Dual Induction

(This blog was originally posted on January 6, 2016)

Photo by Rick Hustead

Everybody can be hypnotized. It is actually very easy to achieve this state. Have you have ever driven past your freeway exit because you were thinking about something else? Have you ever been so involved in a video game you were playing that you lost track of time? If so, you were in a natural state of hypnosis. 

However, it can sometimes be more challenging to enter they hypnotic state in a clinical setting, during hypnotherapy. If this is the first time the person is being hypnotized this way, it is common for the client to (subconsciously) resist the process. That is why it is imperative for me (or any hypnotherapist) to establish a strong rapport and trust with the client to facilitate the first and subsequent hypnotic induction. 

As I have described in my previous blog titled Creating Your Hypnotic Script, I consider the client’s suggestibility when I talk to the person’s subconscious mind in hypnosis. For some people, a suggestion that is given as a direct or literal statement is more effective, such as, “Your eyes are closed and you are entering the state of hypnosis.” Others respond better to a metaphor or inference, like, “Your eyelids are feeling very heavy and you are becoming more completely relaxed.” Sometimes (high-emotional suggestible) clients must do the induction, themselves, to go into hypnosis for the first time.

When that happens, I employ the Auto-Dual Induction technique when a client is very resistant to hypnosis for fear of losing control. Created by Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D., this technique essentially has the person do the hypnotic induction by repeating after me a very specific script that describes the physiological process of hypnosis. Since I will direct the pace and rhythm of this patter, the person is quickly overloaded with stimuli—listening to the words and repeating them—to  be able to over-analyze these changes as they occur. This overload prepares the person to feel physically and psychologically more prepared to drift more comfortably into the hypnotic state. Once the client’s eyes are closed, I complete the induction by touching the individual’s forehead and saying, “deep sleep” to deepen the hypnotic state further. I also give the post-hypnotic suggestion to re-hypnosis to facilitate future hypnotherapy sessions in which I provide the hypnotic induction.

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® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2016