(This blog was originally posted on March 7, 2015
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| Photo courtesy of Microsoft/Bing |
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, 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.
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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