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| Photo courtesy of Microsoft/Bing |
The first time I
make a house-call to work with one of my hypnotherapy clients in his or her
house, I always ask whether the individual has a dog or a cat in the home. The
reason why I want to know this has nothing to do with my love for (which I do)
or fear of (which I generally don’t) animals. Rather, I want to know this
because most pets react in some way when their human goes into a trance state.
Even the most
minute alteration in our breathing rhythm, speech pattern and/or movement or
any number of minute physiological “tells” that are invisible to us immediately
alert our animals when we are no longer in our usual alert and aware state. I have worked
with many people whose dogs started to bark or whine as soon as they went into
hypnosis. While these sounds don’t necessarily distract me from the hypnotherapy
work I am doing, clients often get distracted and even distressed by their pet’s
obvious confusion about their subtly altered state of conscious awareness. To
avoid this, I usually suggest that the animal be secured in another room or
outside during the hypnotherapy session; an even better solution is for another
resident in the house to take the dog for a walk or to the park. That way, the
client can enjoy the calm and relaxation that hypnosis provides while the pet
does not have to sound the alarm about its human’s unusual behavior.
Over time and
repeated home visits, pets typically get used to having me around and their owner’s unusual, uber-mellow
demeanor during the hour or so that I am there. Sometimes the animals even hang
out as if they are observing the session, themselves. Many even settle down for
a long morning or afternoon nap beside the client. I don’t know that these pets
actually become hypnotized along with their human, but they generally seem more
relaxed and mellow by the time I leave.
© 2015
