Ok, so I have managed to distract myself from pancake day fervour to get the blog written today. My mind has been focused on scoffing my face with pancakes later on today and I have been a tad sidetracked…
The means of deepening hypnosis that I am writing about here today is referred to as refractionation by many and also goes by other names. It is particularly useful within a hypnotherapy session as we hypnotherapists tend to work with people whose presenting issues can detrimentally effect their ability to concentrate or focus well; this process enhances concentration and focuses attention very well.
This type of deepening process is virtually the same as the induction process often referred to as fractionation, the kind cited in a Dave Elman style of induction, as you’ll see as I explain it.
The process of refractionation is whereby the hypnotherapist or hypnotist delivers a suggestion to the client who is already hypnotised, to suggest that they can be hypnotised quicker and deeper. That individual is then brought out of hypnosis, fully emerged, and following a brief chat is hypnotised again. The ideal response is that they are now hypnotised quicker than before and have a perception of it being deeper. This process is then repeated a number of times with each occasion being hypnotised lasting slightly longer than the previous one.
So each period spent in hypnosis teaches and demonstrates to the client how easy it is to be hypnotised, and it trains them to get better and more effective at it.
On occasion, some stage hypnotists have used similar notions as a means of being able to click their fingers whilst directly suggesting the person “sleep!” as they immediately respond and go into hypnosis, giving an impressive display for the audience to be wowed by; sometimes not knowing that the process has been practicing and re-induced to reach this speed prior to the show beginning in earnest.
Many hypnotherapists set up and use what is referred to in NLP as an “anchor” and is also referred to as a “cue word” by others. This kind of a cue is associated with the rapid entering of hypnosis and applied over and over so that upon being used in future sessions, the client can immediately go to that level of hypnosis attained previously. The hypnotherapist then has a posthypnotic suggestion that can be used in future sessions and can spend a lot less time inducing hypnosis and more time engaging in the hypnotherapy.
I would hasten to add that many cues actually exist inherently anyhow… I find many of my clients simply react a certain way to sitting in the chair in my consulting room. Or if I change my voice or dim the lights in a way that indicates the hypnosis part of the session is going to occur, in line with words used that have been used before when the client was hypnotised.
This really is basic stuff as far as hypnotherapy goes, but as with so many things in life, the simple tends to get overlooked and not appreciated enough when so much time is spent being in awe of the complex alternatives.
