Dehypnotizing the
Hypnotized Client
Every
now and then, someone seeking hypnotherapy comes in for the appointment already hypnotized. Hypnosis is a
completely natural state which every one of us experiences for approximately 30
minutes, at least twice a day—just before drifting to sleep at night and right
after waking up in the morning. As I have explained in previous blogs, we are
also susceptible to experiencing a natural, environmentally-induced trance at
other times of the day. (For more information about this topic, see: “Natural
States of Hypnosis,” 12/26/14; “Environmental Hypnosis,” 1/23/14; and “Hypnotized
by the Grocery Store,” 7/6/14.) And then there are instances in which we hypnotize
ourselves. This is the state (and
kind) of hypnosis I will address in this essay.
Psychologist John
Kappas, Ph.D. observed that hypnosis occurs when an overload of message units
disorganizes the inhibitory process, which triggers the fight/flight response
to result in this hyper-suggestible state. Since we are more suggestible to
ourselves than any other stimuli in our environment, we can get caught in a
pattern of carrying beliefs or behaving in ways that do not work for us, but we
continue to act that way because that is what we have always done. For example,
someone who continues to accept work that is considerably below the individual’s
skill and desired pay-grade may do this because the individual follows a mental
script that says this is the best he or she can do. Now, despite expressing a
desire to pursue a more lucrative career and possessing obvious skill to do that
work, the person doesn’t even try to pursue a different career because he or
she believes that original mental script.
To help an
already-hypnotized client exit this state, Dr. Kappas advised deepening the
person’s state even further and blocking his or her subconscious mind from
accepting negative suggestions or influences from the environment. This must be
done before proceeding with the
regular hypnotherapy session to address the self-improvement goals that the
client wants to actualize, the Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder said. If
the client knows when, where and why these negative mental-scripts evolved, I
will systematically desensitize the person to the environmental stimuli that
trigger the undesired responses/behaviors.
However, if the
client does not know how these negative mental scripts evolved, I do not employ age-regression therapy to
explore and desensitize the origins of those negative beliefs. (For more information
about this topic, see my January 28, 2014 blog titled “Age Regression…and why I
Don’t Use This Technique.”) Rather, I use a technique called “rejection-proofing,”
wherein I provide hypnotic suggestions to help increase the client’s overall
self-acceptance, self-appreciation and self-approval. This process enables the
individual to dismiss the negative self-talk (“chatter”) in the person’s subconscious
mind and re-write a new mental script to reinforce the positive beliefs about his
or her abilities to pursue those goals.
Finally, to
increase the person’s ability to control entering the hypnotic state, I target
the logical (left-brain) side of the client’s subconscious mind during this
and subsequent hypnotherapy sessions. I also teach the person how to count out
of hypnosis whenever the individual notices that he or she is naturally
entering this state at home, work, driving or any other time.
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/.
