Dominant Laws of Suggestibility: The Law of Reverse Action

(This blog was originally posted on March 7, 2015

 

Photo by Rick Hustead

During a typical hypnotherapy session, I reinforce hypnotic suggestions in various ways during the hour or so I spend working with a client. An effective way to strengthen the message of the suggestion is to employ the Law of Reverse Action or misdirection. 

You might already recognize a common, colloquial example of this law: someone tells you not to think about pink elephants anymore, at which point you can’t help yourself but think about that subject. This occurs because “pink elephants” is the stronger part of the command than “not to think about.” (How can you not think about a pink elephant when that image is suggested to the mind?) 

In a therapeutic context, the hypnotherapist might suggest that someone who suffers from a fear of public speaking imagines being in a situation in which he or she must make a speech and try bring up that fear. Meanwhile, the hypnotherapist would repeat the suggestion that the harder the person tries to actually bring up that fear response, the more relaxed he or she actually feels. In this case, becoming relaxed is the more powerful suggestion than “trying to” bring up the negative response.

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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/.

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