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.
