(This blog was originally posted on September 14, 2016)
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| Photo by Rick Hustead |
Earlier this year, I posted an essay about one of my favorite cognitive,
non-hypnosis techniques, the Paris
Window, which helps get to the cause or foundation of a client’s
therapeutic issue. Here, the individual is asked to describe his or her
feelings about this goal or issue in the context of personal feelings and
beliefs about how other people feel about it. Corrective Therapy is a second cognitive technique that helps to
identify the subconscious cause or root of the therapeutic goal by having the
client write five or six sentences about what he or she wants to accomplish
through hypnotherapy and replace each word (or group of words) with a relevant
synonym (subconscious symbolism).
The intention of this technique is to get to and identify the true goal
of the therapy as it exists in the client’s subconscious mind. The process or
format of each of these sentences will depend on his or her suggestibility
(Emotional versus Physical). To start, the person writes the sentence with each
word the head of its own “column.” As the client writes each new sentence, the Physical
Suggestible client will provide synonyms to replace each word in the original
sentence; the Emotional Suggestible client will provide a synonym or metaphor/association
for the each word in the previous sentence.
Consider the following example for a client who comes in for
hypnotherapy with the following stated goal: I want to lose weight. A Physical Suggestible client might
choose the following synonyms to replace the original word or phrase for
this goal in follow-up sentences:
|
I
|
Want
|
to
lose
|
weight
|
|
Me (I)
↑
|
desire (want)
|
to drop (to lose)
|
pounds (weight)
|
|
(client’s) name (I)
|
need (want)
|
to take off (to lose)
|
inches (weight)
|
|
Man/Woman (I)
|
have to (want)
|
release (to lose)
|
body mass (weight)
|
|
Person (I)
|
must
(want)
|
let go of (to lose)
|
size (weight)
|
When an Emotional Suggestible client chooses replacement words to
express the goal, this individual will be replacing the word from the previous
sentence with a new synonym/association. The word or phrase in parentheses
indicates the term that has been replaced.
|
I
|
Want
|
to
lose
|
weight
|
|
Woman/man (I)
|
need (want)
|
relinquish (to lose)
|
pounds (weight)
|
|
Sister/Brother (woman/man)
|
want (need)
|
missing (to lose)
|
obesity (pounds)
|
|
Daughter/son (sister/brother)
|
rejection (want)
|
lacking (missing)
|
ugly (obesity)
|
|
Husband/Wife (daughter/son)
|
isolation (rejection)
|
deficit (lacking)
|
lonely (ugly)
|
I employ Corrective Therapy during the cognitive (alert) portion of the hypnotherapy to
discover any underlying, subconscious motivation(s) behind the person’s
unwanted behaviors that may be preventing the desired behavior change. One
benefit of this technique is that it is very visceral: the person can literally
read the story about how the origins or basis of this subconscious resistance
evolve while writing the responses to each question (ideomotor
response). Once the issue is revealed, I will discuss it with the client in
terms of his or her beliefs and feelings about the problem/conflict and create strategies
to change unwanted behaviors and accomplish this goal. When the person is in
hypnosis, I incorporate specific suggestions in his or her hypnotic
script to help the person implement these new beliefs or behaviors to help
actualize this self-improvement goal.
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/.
© 2017
