Creating Your Hypnotic Script

(This blog was originally posted on March 26, 2014)

Photo by Rick Hustead

It goes without saying that each hypnotic script that I create for my clients is unique. It has to be: since each person is idiosyncratic and individual, even similar issues such as the desire to stop smoking, lose weight or increase self-confidence to speak in public will be as unique as the person who is wants to replace or discard an unwanted behavior. Furthermore, the origins of that unwanted behavior or habit will vary as much as each person’s reasons and motivations to change it and the degree of their suggestibility (how they learn). While I have and know many basic hypnotherapeutic “ingredients” to help my clients achieve their specific vocational and avocational self-improvement goal, it is up to me to create the specific “recipe” that will achieve this objective.

I create and tailor hypnotic scripts in a three-part process:

• First, I actively listen to what the person is telling me/explaining about his or her situation and goals to change a behavior. I will ask questions and even re-state or reframe what the person has said to make sure I understand what is going on.

• Meanwhile, I will be processing/integrating this information into a basic hypnotic script that I already know is or will be useful to address this issue. Literally hundreds of generic hypnotic scripts exist to address various topics, but each one is not necessarily appropriate for or applicable to every situation.

• Next, I construct the actual script using the client’s own words (descriptions) about why, how, when, etc., he or she wants to change the unwanted behavior based on his or her suggestibility. If the person is a physical suggestible, I know that the person’s subconscious will understand and process direct and literal suggestions such as, “Your eyes are closing.”) An emotional suggestible client’s subconscious will respond to indirect or metaphoric suggestions, such as “Your eyelids feel heavy.”

Once I choose a working framework for the hypnotic script I will use, I can be somewhat creative with how/when/where I include the client’s specific words or phrases in the suggestions. I may incorporate an imagery exercise or specific elements from a different (albeit related) script to support the hypnotherapy work I am doing with a particular client. For example, I like to include imagery around the color red to reinforce the idea of “stopping” the unwanted behavior (e.g., eating sweets, smoking, nail-biting, etc.) whenever the person sees this color. I can also decide—even at the last second—to not do a particular technique with a client, such as Inner Child work, if I see that the individual is abreacting (negative physical response) to some suggestions, which could indicate that his or her subconscious mind is not ready to accept or process this information.

Basically, during this process I am following jeet kune do creator and martial arts legend Bruce Lee’s advice: “Absorb what is useful. Discard what is not. Add what is uniquely your own.” I take the basic framework of a hypnotherapy process and subtly tailor the script to make it specific and relevant for the client I am working with, based on the fast decisions I must make about which material to use and how and when to use it during the session.

Limited Special Offer!

Save an additional 10 percent on the 10-week weight-loss package.

This discount only applies to the 10-week weight-loss program and may not be combined with any other offer. It is valid through February 15, 2019 

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/.

© 2019

Why Quitting Is So Hard to Do

(This blog was originally posted on June 11, 2014)

Photo by Rick Hustead

Your teenage daughter promises to stop procrastinating in completing her homework assignments, but “forgets” to turn in a final project on the last day of school. A colleague at work announces that he is on a new diet to lose a few more pounds while he nibbles a piece of pizza during a social at work. You sneak a quick drag on your friend’s cigarette even though you officially quit smoking eight months ago. You wonder what these behaviors are all about while that famous line from Brokeback Mountain reverberates in your mind: “I can’t quit you!”

Recently I shared a link on my Facebook account that illustrates the benefits of quitting smoking. Several people indicated that “liked” the post. Seeing this response made me think about how much hard work and dedication it takes for a person to permanently change a behavior or give up a longtime habit. Nicotine, caffeine and alcohol are commercially available and are fairly easy to obtain; they are also habit-forming and addictive substances. It is also argued that some processed foods include ingredients that manufacturers hope will trigger consumers’ cravings to eat more and more of that product. But the adrenaline rush or high that we get when we participate in a favorite sport or the surge of endorphins we feel when we are in love occur naturally and these experiences can be equally addictive.

The challenge in trying to change or replace unwanted behaviors is that we generally don’t want to stop doing something that feels good, even if the sensation of “pleasure” lasts for an even shorter duration every time we experience it. The motivation to stop doing something we enjoy or that makes us feel good drops even more if we associate specific ideas or outcomes with that behavior. For example, your belief that smoking prevents overeating may trump your desire to quit smoking in order to avoid gaining weight. Or, you may ignore your doctor’s advice to lose weight to prevent getting diabetes because you believe that your­ extra pounds will insulate you from intimacy or protect you from suffering another broken heart if the relationship doesn’t work out.

Regardless of your conscious motivation to change a belief or behavior, your subconscious mind is fighting even harder to continue to follow the subconscious mental scripts that have been directing those actions that you want to replace. Furthermore, the longer you have been doing whatever it is you can’t or don’t want to stop doing, the harder it is to replace that behavior with one that will help you achieve your vocational and avocational self-improvement goals. Whether you smoke, overeat, procrastinate/miss deadlines or constantly starting new relationships so you can re-experience the excitement of being in love, your subconscious mind follows that familiar mental script so you can continue to experience that familiar known (pleasure). Fortunately mental scripts can be rewritten and behaviors can be replaced; and hypnosis and hypnotherapy can help you make this change.

               

SPECIAL OFFER!

I am currently offering a 10 percent discount on all hypnotherapy for smoking-cessation sessions. This offer is good through January 31, 2017 and is not exchangeable for cash. For more information and to set up an appointment, please contact me at (661) 433-9430 or send an e-mail to calminsensehypnosis@yahoo.com. I look forward to hearing from—and working with—you soon!

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®, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2017