Advanced Trance and Models to Know and Love

Does a person have to be put into a certain 'state' by a hypnotist or is the hypnotic state itself something easily and naturally accessible to each human being?

Still in a state about defining hypnosis?

So, what is hypnosis?  Yes, we are still mulling this one over, as some readers are a little unclear.  Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder and every human body could be revered for characteristics which we find especially pleasing, so I find it with models of hypnosis.

Well, that really is no surprise and I have the utmost sympathy with any confusion that might arise with defining hypnosis because the experts in the profession over the years still really can’t agree on how it works, yet we are all agreed that it does.  There is so much evidence now to support hypnosis, medical interventions and royal pregnancies for example, yet the most reputable and academic leaders in the profession, alive and dead, have fought tooth and nail, or cloak and pocket watch about their particular model.

The main point still seems to be, does a person have to be put into a certain ‘state’ by a hypnotist or is the hypnotic state itself something easily and naturally accessible to each human being.

Models of hypnosis fall into two camps, namely state and non state theories as we have examined in the previous article.

So state theorists say that hypnosis is a sleep-like state induced by a procedure of some kind by an operator (hypnotist) and in which certain special behaviours seem to result; particularly extreme responsiveness to suggestions made, including physiological responses and where the conscious mind cannot recall and seems to have no apparent awareness of what may have taken place during the trance experience.

Non state theorists maintain that there is no such special state needed to be induced by a third party and that these capacities of mind are available to all.

Ever being someone attempting to bring harmony to discord (which I think is the inherent nature of a therapist), I have examined and compared the theories further and come up with some comments on a few of the main players in the field.  Each deserves their own article to give any sort of true window into their lifetime’s work, so forgive the brevity of this approach, though I think it valuable to bring certain names to attention.  This is by no means an exhaustive list of theorists and other articles will surely follow when I have your most welcome comments.

I base the following on the choices of Jeffrey K. Zeig, who is the founder and director of the Milton H. Erickson Foundation and has written around twenty books on the subject of mind matters and comparative methods of psychology and hypnosis.

He put forward this list in 1988, identifying the following frameworks, into which I have inserted my own additions for clarity and demonstration of how we can be thankful to all and recognise the value of each who has gone before us.

Hilgard thought of hypnosis as dissociation, meaning splitting off  aspects of consciousness from each other.  One of these aspects was thought to assume dominance at particular times though other aspects were able to influence behaviour simultaneously or even could replace the dominant part.  

In modern hypnotherapy, this fits with our methods of using part therapy to help our clients.   So, for example, the smoking part may seem dominant at one time for the client, when the client explains that nothing they do can stop themselves smoking.  They have tried and tried but still the smoking part remains dominant. 

The New Behaviour Generator Model befriends the smoking part and sends it into background awareness whilst encouraging the creative part to emerge and have some air time.  Whilst the smoking part is never actually replaced, we do coerce it to morph into a more usefully labelled part with more consciously acceptable behaviours, after of course, eliciting what the positive aspects are of that smoking behaviour.  So, for part therapy purposes, Hilgard is tops.

Sarbin and Coe describe hypnosis in terms of role playing,  Following Robert White's radical interpretation of hypnosis in that a subject is merely playing out the role defined by the requirements of the hypnotist, who claimed the hypnotic process thus
“its most general goal being to behave like a hypnotised person as this is continuously defined by the operator and understood by the client.”

Sarbin used concepts from his own role theory using empirical research data, and analogies with other socially constructed roles, to argue that hypnotic subjects did not have to achieve some elusive special state of consciousness but could be better understood as identifying with an unusual socialrole or behaviour, that is acting out the expected role of a hypnotised subject in response to the directions of the hypnotist.

This is where our Gestalt Therapy Model comes in.   We hypnotists rely on this Model, don’t we, in fact for the client to play the role of an individual (such a parent, employer, neighbour etc) causing angst in the subject’s life to prompt a conversation and ultimately a resolution, between warring parts.  This has served me so well over the years, encouraging the client to see the other side of the argument and to pick out any usual purpose or mitigating factors.  It is particularly useful if the party in question is unavailable to make peace with in the present day, or, in fact, dead. 

Of course we open the role playing up to the subject acting on behalf of his pain in the knee, his irritable bowel or high blood pressure condition, you name it, anything goes, and it usually does with the correct handling. 

Spanos is also a leading proponent of this view.  Spanos’ findings were to contribute to the view that the hypnotic state did not exist at all, and that the behaviours exhibited by those individuals are in fact due to their being “highly motivated” by the hypnotist.  He stated that hypnosis is not an altered state and is actually the trying on for size, so to speak, of suggested behaviours that the participant either chooses to go along with or not.

Enter here our New Behaviour Generator as we request the part in question to try on some alternative new behaviours that are as good as, or ideally, much better than, the old behaviour ever could be.  Thank you Spanos.

T.X. Barber defined hypnosis in terms of non-hypnotic behavioural parameters, such as task motivation.  Experiments performed door to door, found that researchers could induce sleepiness by suggestion alone, without the swinging watches or formal protocols used by hypnotists. The power of suggestion worked effectively on about 20 percent of the people tested.  

Here we have to thank Mr Barber for proving to us the power of suggestion.  Never underestimate the power of suggestion and does one even need to be a in a special state for the suggestion to work?  Are we lulled into some specific state as we wonder around isle after isle of brightly coloured packaged products in supermarkets, throwing them into the basket when we just came in for milk?  State or non state, what’s your theory? How many times have you agreed to stuff you didn’t want to do?  Were you in a state?  Love, guilt, feelings of responsibility, arousal, fear, what made you respond to the suggestion given by another?  Perhaps we should tighten up our unconscious security, though that is just a suggestion.

Weitzenhoffer first considered hypnosis a state of enhanced suggestibility, but later a form of influence of one person on another, such as a dominant spouse or parent, or employer or politician perhaps.    Does that mean then that we can legitimately say that we are being hypnotised when our favourite or most respected MP or actor or friend asks us to do something?  This would really serve us well then if we acquire enough publicity that fame of our intention and efficacy would just be enough and all we would have to do is say to a large group, something like, stop smoking, or stop shooting each other, please.

Gil and Brenman described hypnosis in psychoanalytic terms as regression in service of the ego, with transference (when feelings felt for another are transferred onto the hypnotherapist).

I have certainly noticed this when I have been leading a course, all of a sudden I wonder to myself what on earth did I say wrong?   It seems that quite often an outburst would occur in response to my stating something about hypnosis or similar and something I said or how I said it, or indeed something another person said in the group has provoked a heightened response from another participant.  I have thought that something in the behavioural set of that individual has reminded the other of some unfinished business which has proved to be entirely useful when followed up with the practising of hypnotherapy together.  So, yes, thank you Gil and Brenman too.

Edmonston assessed hypnosis as relaxation (based on a Pavlovian theory of sleep as partial cortical inhibition). Edmonston even offered a new term to represent this state, which he termed ‘anesis’, from the ancient Greek ‘aniesis’, meaning to relax, or let go. Remember that James Braid coined the term hypnosis to distinguish what he and his contemporaries practiced as being distinct from Mesmer’s animal magnetism.  Edmonston, in similar vein, proposed that modern-day hypnosis was so distinctly different from Braid’s definition that it was worthy of this new name (Edmonston, 1991). His book concludes with the prediction that the eyes being “the only naturally visible parts of the central nervous system” would prove to be the keys to understanding hypnosis. 

This is surely where our eye catalepsy inductions come in and suggestibility tests using such have come from.  Thank you Edmonston.

Spiegel and Spiegel implied that hypnosis was a distinct biological capacity, so I thank them for all the arm levitation inductions I have done.  Certainly I would think that a person can quickly and spontaneously achieve 'trance' when in absolute shock where all systems seem to shut down apart from gaping mouth and wide eyed stare.  For those of you who have enjoyed our stage hypnosis and rapid induction demonstrations you already know that the path to hypnosis is not always paved with relaxation!

Milton Erickson held that hypnosis was a unique, inner-directed altered state of functioning and our thanks to Erickson is unquestionable.  Directing the subject to an inner state of enhanced awareness is a reliable induction in itself.  Engaging with metaphoric, indirect language patterns and encouraging the client’s own subjective reasoning is where all our meeting the client where they are and indirect hypnotic suggestions come from, particularly helpful in working with the difficult client.

Various followers of Erickson's lead have proposed that hypnosis is best defined subjectively and phenomenologically as a process between individuals, and a communications strategy for the achievement of therapeutic goals, with or without recourse to 'trance.'

Zeig says we should also reserve at least one category for what he calls “the numerous esoteric, non-scientific, or archaic models which view hypnosis in general as a condition of subtle unidentified or unobservable bodily fluids, a unique electromagnetic field phenomenon, or the result of supernatural influences or contacts, or contact with alternate realms of existence (in a non-metaphorical sense).” 

New age enthusiasts and proponents of angelic realms and other worldly associations and scientifically focussed multiverse theorists and various religious orders may find a way of coming to agreement  with the powers of mind and body whilst knowing that there is perhaps not only ‘something out there’ but also ‘something in here’ (I say as I point to my head!) that is worth our praise and respect and even our awe and wonder, if not always our credible understanding or definition.

Yes, let’s keep mulling this one over, as we add more and more to the mix, pushing the profession onwards and upwards.  We may still be unclear on agreeing on a specific model, though can all be usefully intrigued in exploring our favourites with every one being revered for those characteristics which we find especially pleasing, useful and appropriate at the time.  

It seems that hypnosis, or whatever we may choose to call it tomorrow, is still an exciting frontier with so much more to be discovered and many more discussions to have.   Who know, maybe it is one of us in our lifetime who will finally label, package and once and for all determine and prove that [ you fill in the blank !].   

Final Weighty Issues ENTIRE AVERSION THERAPY transcript for you!

Jennie	Well, does it make sense to you: what we are talking about here I think is energy in and energy out, which I know is a very valid equation and is deeply rooted in most of us. What I would like to point out to you now, and I am talking to your unconscious mind now, I have almost stopped talking to your consciousness, is, let’s say we have twins in front of us. One twin is most obviously fat and the other is more or less ‘normal’ whatever we perceive that ‘normal’ to be. Let’s also say that they ate the same foods. There are some people out there that seem to eat everything in sight and yet are as skinny as a rake.
Client	That’s true
Jennie	There are some people out there who seem to hardly eat anything and yet there are obese. Now become a little bit more scientific about it, because the energy in and energy out principle is important yes, though some people’s bodies, for their own internal reasoning, hold onto energy and other people burn it off or eliminate it. So if you and, who do you know who is slim?
Client	My friend Joanne..
Jennie	JK – so if you and your friend Joanne went out tonight and had a sumptuous feast and really overdid the eating thing, in the morning, she might spend more time on the toilet.
	Whereas, your body, for its own reasons, might react in terms of ‘oh, better hold onto that energy, you never know she may diet again soon and deprive us of what we need’. Your body might hold onto more energy than someone else’s body so it is not always merely to do with what you eat, but also to do with how your own particular body chooses to process that energy consumed. This has all been explored now in the new science that is out there, like this work by Candace Pert termed ‘Your body is your Subconscious Mind’ which is basically saying that your conscious brain is not in charge, as much as we might like to think it is. You have already proven this to yourself by consciously deciding on a course of action, like intending to eat healthy foods at work and spending time planning, buying, preparing those foods and taking them in to work and then finding yourself behaving differently when in particular circumstances.
	So your body might be wanting to hold onto energy. You are a very busy person and talk about being tired and wanting more energy, and what is fat after all but stored energy? If some excess fat were sucked out of you right now into a jar in front of you it would resemble a yellow liquid….
Client	I’ve had that done, on my legs, years ago.
Jennie	Successfully?
Client	Well it made me more in proportion, but I have put weight on again …
Jennie	So your body, being in this state of flux, reverts back?
Client	Yes
Jennie	So we are talking about this yellow liquid, this stored energy and for some reason when it is under the skin we begin to detest it because, being caught underneath the dermis, it is now part of us. Tell me what foods you really detest. What could you not stomach having in your mouth right now?
Client	Any meat, because I am a vegetarian. I’m not keen on olives and …mussels, or anything slimy.
Jennie	I like olives though I know many people do not. They tell me they are somewhat slimy and leave a coating on the roof of your mouth…
Client	Oh yeah….
I am now judging reactions; I want something repulsive to her to work with. I shall be overlaying these reactions to her stated uncontrollable desire for chocolate using physical and auditory anchors.
Jennie	Have you eaten an oyster?
Client	Oh now, I can imagine that would be like eating slugs….
Jennie	Cockles?
Client	Oh no. (gagging)
Jennie	Now I’m just going to do a little bit of NLP here with you. When you think about eating something slimy, whether it’s the olives, or oysters or, perhaps that floppy smoked salmon do you like that? (holding anchor point)
Client	Oh no! No.
Jennie	It’s so floppy, and sloppy, and slimy (laughter plus cringing)
Client	Ugh!
Jennie	I want you to think about the smell of it, and the smell of mussels, and the overwhelming fishy smell and close your eyes for second and imagine now that someone is going to pay you a million pounds if you can put this thing in your mouth and swallow it… .. so it’s coming towards your mouth now, even you can use this hand to pretend that you are holding a mussel and there’s a couple of olives in there too, those really soft, slimy ones that perhaps are past their best, and it is all wrapped up in a bit of smoked salmon. It is coming towards your mouth now and as it is coming nearer and nearer your mouth now (client moving hand towards mouth involuntarily) and the smell increases and it is just about to go into your mouth now (client grimacing) you are going to get a million pounds remember to pop it into your mouth now. In your mouth now and it’s all sloppy and slimy and you’ve got to bite it because you couldn’t possibly swallow it as it is and as you do so it’s all so slimy and slug-like in your mouth as the intensity of the flavours double and then double again and you try and get rid of it by swallowing it now and the intensity of what you are feeling you double it again now as you are aware of the slimy residue that’s left in the mouth that you can’t seem to be rid of, almost now you want to throw up because your body is rejecting it, no matter what your mind thinks like, ‘I’ve got to swallow it I’m going to get a million pounds!’, it is your body, your body is rejecting it, wanting to be rid of it, be rid of it now by bringing it back up again and out of your body, it’s coming back up (gagging sound) and back up (gagging)…… can you feel that?
Client	[Gagging]
Jennie	That residue on your tongue now, the roof of your mouth, the back of your throat, that salty, slug-like residue as if you are on the program ‘I’m a celebrity get me out of here’ and it is one of those whitatchity bugs or whatever and there are little eyes now at the back of your throat and they just won’t go down! Arghh. . You can always remember that slimy slug-like coating on the roof of your mouth, the back of your throat and your tongue to help you in the future. You know what it was like when you were a small child and you just wanted to bob your tongue out because you really don’t want that stuff in your body? Your tongue wants to protect that body of yours and remember when you cannot get the spoon into the toddler’s mouth because the tongue comes to the front and actually gets bigger…. That’s right! (tongue protruding) Gets bigger, engorges, to push all that stuff you don’t want out, pushing it out….ok you can open your eyes now. (releasing anchor) Wasn’t that lovely?
I have used the eyes from the bug to capitalise on client being a vegetarian (won’t eat anything with a face) and regressing to her own childhood and to her time spent weaning her daughter with the natural tongue autonomic behaviour, mixing up the tenses to convey that to the unconscious mind (remember when you cannot get… all that stuff you don’t want).
Client	(looking sick and a little pale) yeah. (laughter)
Jennie	So now, what I want you to do is to show me and to show yourself just how well you do this relaxing thing we spoke of.
Client	Alright.
Jennie	Show me the ultimate in how you relax your physical self.
Client	(sighs of relief)
Jennie	You can just listen to the music and allow your eyes to close and you probably realise right now that as relaxed as you now are there is still further to go. There is more that you can do right now to relax more and more. You are going to experience hypnosis which is a state of awareness, which is a different state to what you are in now. Formal trancework begins now. Notice repeatedly use of ‘now’ and ‘right now’ to bring attention to present moment and a breaking of state from what has gone before, which we will return to when appropriate. You will be aware of how deeply relaxed you are becoming right now. You may have thought of hypnosis as being some sort of sleep, now it is as if your body is asleep though your mind is active. And I might suppose that the mind may from time to time think well, I don’t know, is this hypnosis, what’s she going to do next? So all the ‘yamma yamma’ all the ‘yeh, but’ of the conscious mind can just go into the background… you will know that it will still be there and it carries on now without your attention Opportunity here to diffuse client’s internal dialogue and definitions of hypnosis and meet with what therapist presumes to be going on within the consciousness in order to discount such interferences. … you will not become completely unconscious and there will be changes. All that I want you to do now is just to listen to the sound of my voice and allow everything that we have discussed to be brought to the surface. It is time to now settle down into the deeper part of the mind, all of the curiosity, the wisdom and information you have about the past and about your own behaviour and what you want for you in the future is all there now being processed in the mind and all you have to do right now is to relax deeper and allow these ideas to turn over and over in your mind and yet they go now further and further into the background as it becomes more and more important now for you to just let go. You know that they are always there and take comfort now that thoughts feelings and perceptions are continually moving, changing and evolving just like all the noise that you can hear, when you bring your attention to it right now you will be able to hear the ticking of the clock just ticking away …. You may even be able to hear people passing by the front of this building, going about their busy lives, footsteps now and, cars somewhere in the distance, life at a distance. That’s right, you are doing so well. Important to assure client that they are doing well. So many (even other hypnotists) worry at this point that they are ‘not doing it right’ or that it is not working for them. Giving the permission for the mind to wander, as it will, whilst guiding all the time, together with assurances that everything is going according to some kind of plan, is vital. You can focus your attention now on whatever interests you, it may be the sound of my voice, it may be the music in the background, it may be the ticking of the clock because it is time now to just let go. Maybe you begin to notice now the hardness of the arms of the chair against your forearms or the softness of the cushion against your back, the back of your head, supporting your heels, your calves, it may be a child’s voice somewhere in the distance, a memory, or a projection into the future of how you want to be, wherever your focus is right now, my voice becomes the loudest sound you hear, everything else just washes over you and helps you to relax, because now is a good time for you to ;;;;; just ;;;;; relax. All you have to do is breathe. You know exactly where you are in time and space. You know exactly where I am. So much so now, as your awareness increases, that as I turn my head this way, you know, even with your eyes so comfortably closed, behind closed lids now, your perceptions are changing and evolving and you allow yourself to let it all slow right down. Client will usually have closed eyes by now. I want honest, unconscious, eye closure. Had eye closure been too early, I would have requested her to open them so that only when she was absolutely ready to go into a deeply relaxing trance would that happen, all by itself. If eye closure had not happened by this time, I would state how they are the tiniest muscles of the body and the easiest to relax, and perhaps related instances where typically one cannot keep them open (watching film late at night or safely relaxed on a long journey etc). It is important to give feelings of comfort and safety and assurances once eye closure has occurred. Notice again, the use of the word ‘now’ to encourage focus and the word ‘here’ which could be interpreted as ‘hear’ to bring attention to the ‘here and now’. Allowing now my voice to guide you, to help you and to empower you. As you are relaxed here right now, just like you are safely relaxed completely late at night in the privacy, the comfort and the safety of your own bed, you know your unconscious mind is always listening out for you, keeping you safe, so the traffic you hear, the birds, the sounds in the distance you allow those sounds to relax you deeper, and yet if there was a knock at the door, or if the telephone rang in the middle of the night your unconscious would allow you to wake, so your unconscious mind knows exactly when to wake you and when to allow you to relax completely. Just like now. Here. Your unconscious mind remembers all of those things that you have brought into your awareness about your self, your physical self, your emotional self, your attitudes, your beliefs about your weight and this body’s ability to store energy.
I am overlaying the state of being safe in her own bed, with what she is experiencing now, respecting the unconscious by assuring her it will ‘wake’ her if necessary (though she will not be asleep the physical relaxation is similar to the sleep state). By drawing attention to the noises she was hearing and is now hearing, I am suggesting she disregard them. By using the term ‘this body’ I am dissociating somewhat, referring to it now as something of a possession she has, something that she can do something with.
	I want you to think about energy now. And sense it, within your body now. Sense the beating of your own heart and wonder with fascination, with curiosity now how the engine of you (van starting its engine outside) is just purring away powerfully in your chest, wondering where that energy comes from and goes to, the energy that makes you, you. Let’s follow that energy, the life force, around the body. For as the blood gets pumped through every muscle nerve and fibre of your being I want you to follow it now, all the way to the tips of your fingers, the ends of your toes and feel it surging, tingling, pulsating, the energy, the life force as you take in a deeper breath now (deep breath together, checking pacing and leading) you can take it for granted and you will continue to take it for granted now that your breath brings you energy.
A good example here of ‘use what is there’. Someone started up a van directly outside of the practice window which could have been distracting, so I employed it within the trance experience. It may also then become an anchor for her in the future, whenever unconscious she hears an engine starting or revving up, it will remind her of her own engine. Also, every so often I am checking for pacing and leading, breathing a little deeper or shallower every so often to ensure she is still following my lead.
	You know, you can do without food for weeks, without water for hours and yet you cannot go for a moment with breathing. So this natural, easy and highly complex thing that you do every moment of every day brings you energy and comfort as it does right now. Breathe in the air from around you as your very clever lungs filter out the life giving oxygen and send it around this body carried by the blood through now to every muscle nerve and fibre of your being and feel it now, far quicker than I could ever say, feel your body releasing all the pollutants, the toxins, the carbon dioxide, all that stuff that you no longer need. Every moment of every day you take in that which you want and release that that is no longer useful and your very breath reminds you. Your breath reminds you to utilise the energy that is already there within you. How you utilise the energy from the foods that you eat and the drinks that you drink also becomes entirely fascinating to you, how much energy you use, how much you store and how much you just release, easily and effortlessly, your body becomes so interesting, so very curious to you, every cell vibrating with life, with energy, life flowing through your veins bringing pleasant sensations now. Think about your hands for a moment, all the little bones, the fibres of your hands, think about how you can now reach out for that which you want, just like you learned to do, just like your child learned to do at a very early age, that time when you realised that that was your hand, that that was your arm and you could use it, you could reach out for that which you wanted and you did. And with glee, with joy, you learned also that you could release and send that spoon or some fluffy toy bouncing on the floor, laughing and giggling whilst someone else picked it up for you. Oh the power! The power of being able to reach out for that which you want and releasing that that is no longer useful. You are reconnected now with this body of yours. It is always there and it is always striving for balance so the more that you realise of how you have treated your physical self in the past, exercising it too rigorously, depriving it of nutrition it needed, chastising yourself for eating the ‘wrong’ things or for not being ‘good’ enough and thereafter going to the other end of the spectrum and making up for that which you had deprived yourself from and consuming more than was necessary for this body, allow it just to balance out for you now you know exactly what to do for yourself now, you know where that balance is as you have experienced both extremes, you see yourself now as your own unique experiment .
I have become very passionate in my delivery now, taking the process of breathing in and out and developing it as the ultimate anchor for help in the future, and right now. I am generating a deep appreciation of bodily functions and what already works really well for her. Often, when one is dissatisfied with the body one overlooks the brilliance of its workings in other respects. I have regressed to her own babyhood and the recollections of her own child’s behaviour, by speaking of the first awareness of the physical self and operation of the limbs and bringing the past into present realisation to move on from that now.
	All the learnings of the past are there to help you now, though today is a new day and this is a new time and that hand, those arms, those hands that reach out for that which you want will continue to reach out for that which you want ….. though that which you want is changing.
This is a key point. “… that which you want is changing.” After a suitable pause, adding this phrase I have found to be truly illuminating for the client. It has legions of depth. We are saying here that we know the unconscious is doing whatever it is that it is presently doing because it wants to, regardless of the reasoning behind it, regardless of the behaviour being perceived as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ by the rest of the mind (remembering this was an issue for this client and for many). We are acknowledging that she is reaching out for what she wants and will still do so, though suggesting that there may be better choices, other ways, to fulfil that want. We are in the domain of the ‘new behaviour generator’, not suggesting what she should do to instead, just opening up the choice. Choice is only in the domain of the consciousness, which remember we still have access to; we are reminding the mind of that.
	I want you to sense them now reaching out for some chocolate. (holding anchor) you know how much you used to like chocolate, sense now going to that vending machine and sense now having all that chocolate at your disposal. You always reach out for that which you want and that which you want is changing. The chocolate that you have been programmed to believe from an early age would be helpful, would be exciting, would help you to feel better, now you are about to sense the truth.
	I want you to sense where this chocolate began. You are in a factory somewhere and there is a big steel vat containing the cocoa beans. Big cutters are grinding those bitter beans into a power. As the ancient Aztecs discovered, these cocoa beans can be ground up to make a very bitter drink, so this company that wants to make a lot of money from you, mixes into this big vat of cocoa beans that are being all ground up they put in lots and lots of sugar into it now. And oh, yes, milk, a glass and a half of full cream milk, we need lots of milk in this very big vat and what’s another term for full cream milk, yes, full FAT milk, litres and litres and full fat milk. Sense the machinery now all whirring away, the blades mixing it up, stirring it around and around, this big vat now of cocoa beans, all ground up with loads and loads of sugar and full fat milk, to make it taste nice, to take the bitterness away and yes, now what can we do to solidify it, to make it all into pretty shapes and put it into fancy packaging, very glitzy, shiny packaging to cover up such a dull brown substance, what can we do? They shall be choosing some bright purple shiny foil I should think to cover up such a dark brown substance to make it attractive to the general public. What can we do to make it into those shapes, to make it solidify. Oh yes. Fat. We have to add some fat now to congeal it, sense them adding the fat, the hydrogenated fat now to make it all stick together. They are having to heat it up now of course for the fat to melt, all those bars of hard fat now melting into the vat, swirling around, making the substance all glossy and thick …. And slimy. Sense it now cooling as it comes onto the conveyor belt now shaped into bars and strips and little chocolates filled with other sweet sugary substances, anything to make it taste nice to the public.
I am reframing her main addiction, chocolate, here. Voice tone is important, emphasis on the word ‘fat’ to highlight correlation between it’s fat content and her body’s fat content. I am transferring the hatred of her body’s fat onto the fat of the chocolate, always very successful. She had money issues too, so I am utilising that fact in this being a big company setting out to fool her into parting with her hard earned cash.
	Sense now the discussions that take place as the bars are being wrapped, of the morals and values of the staff, don’t we have an obligation now to all those children out there that are now becoming diabetic …. And there is a sister company somewhere else that decides to make the diabetic chocolate, and the diet food, as they address the public’s need to now buy all the diet stuff to try and slim their bodies down. Sense the struggle and … sense the lie. …. As these chocolate bars come off the conveyor, come off the production line now, all in their glitzy packaging, and somehow there they are, in a box, ready to be put into your vending machine now, sense someone filling it up now, hoping and knowing that you are going to buy them. And you and your children, and your children’s children will continue to think that these are such good things, that they make you so happy until you get to the point when you get so fat and unhappy that you stop eating it for a while and turn to all that diet food instead. All the clever marketing, all the adverts, the billboards, will get you back on track again, eating their products, eating the stuff from the vat. Imagine now that you are there, you have put your money into the machine, you have reached out your hand for the chocolate, it is coming towards you now. You have ripped off the packaging and it is going to bring you so much happiness, you used to think, it is in fact going to raise your blood sugar level and make you hungry as it now (holding anchor) touches your lips and you realise just how slimy it is. How the fat is now melting in your mouth and slipping down your throat and just like the mussels and the olives and the smoked salmon it almost tastes fishy now. As it slithers down your throat and slides its way down your oesophagus creating all that flem that now you realise where it come from, all that flem, that mucus and cloggy-ness in your throat and your throat wants to throw it back up again…
Client	[gagging]
The phrase, ‘..sense the lie’ is of great value here. The pauses […] accentuate those ideas you want to add emphasis to. We are honouring the unconscious and asking it to evaluate truth for itself. The suggesting is that she has been somewhat beguiled by past conditioning and by commercial exposure; now we are encouraging the mind to think for itself as to the usefulness of such actions. The anchor point is really useful here too. Remember, you are aiming for an extreme reaction; repulsion so heightened that you may think client could actually be sick. This is necessary for future encounters with addictive substance, reaction will not be as extreme, so the unconscious will remember the association and that will be enough to know it does not want to put it in the mouth. This always works well.
Also, suggesting ‘you, your children and your children’s children’ is encouraging her to make new choices for the benefit of future generations of offspring, to break the established pattern, giving her the power to stop her own child suffering too.
Jennie	And the intensity that you feel now with the olives and the smoked salmon all combines with that slimy-ness on the roof of your mouth and your tongue and the back of your throat - you know that you have just got to have a drink now to wash off the residue.
	To clear you now, to cleanse, to purify the insides of you. All that brown, slimy residue that was down your throat, clinging onto the sides of your intestines, is beginning to clear now with that clean fresh pure water. That that seemed so attractive once on the outside is now just a muddy pool of brown water in your stomach. It is not now the pretty promise wrapped up in shiny packaging, but a muddy, slimy pool of syrupy water that your body is trying to deal with. The sugar is absorbed through the intestinal wall straight into the bloodstream and it tricks you now into feeling you have had some sort of energy and you know it is false.
	Slimy, fatty, so prettily dressed up in the vending machine (funny) calling your name. You have a plan, your eggs, your nuts, things that sustain that balance as you see yourself as an experiment in your biochemical machine .
	H20 now, there is oxygen in water remember, energy, refreshing balancing this body, the internal organs purifying now, and if you think of ever eating anything that will harm this body or not bring it the health and vibrancy it deserves, you will laugh. You will smile when you think of something that is not good for the health and vitality of this body - the tongue grows bigger, sense it saying ‘don’t like don’t want’. Getting bigger and bigger now pressing against the back of the teeth protruding now through the lips, that’s right. This soft pink healthy tongue reminds you when you brush your teeth in the morning, it reminds you of the inside of you. Imagine it now coated in that brown slime and then refreshed by the clear water. And choose. You now see chocolate for what it is, something that makes you hungry! Your tongue craves healthy vibrant fresh food and water and now it can relax. When it is needed, when it is necessary it will be used again.
I will see the tongue protruding through the lips now, as confirmation of the effectiveness of this anchor. I shall now proceed to cross reference effectives with ideo motor signals.
	It only remains for me to ask this finger that I am touching now to respond to me from deep within the unconscious mind. Are you now willing to help you in your endeavours to bring about health and vitality to this body. Is the unconscious now willing and wanting to bring about the necessary changes ; does it have enough information to bring about these changes….. Good. I am now going to give you one minute of clock time to experience just how good life will be as you now make those new choices, implement these improved choices, experience now, hear the word ‘experience’ , … you will now experience the next two weeks, in your mind now, see what you would see, hear what you hear, feel all the feelings…
	See all of the foods, experience yourself behaving in a new way that brings about the changes that you want for you. You will be using new behaviours in place of the old un-useful ones.. That one minute of clock time begins NOW…..
I have been using the ideo motor responses of the forefinger to gain confirmation from the unconscious. I am looking for honest, unconscious responses and the client is always intrigued by this on emerging from trance. It is often one of the confirmatory indicators the ‘resistant client’ may need to know that hypnosis has taken place. I am now directing the client to ‘future pace’ the next two weeks, experimenting with new choices and behaviours. It is important that the client designs them for herself, being ‘suitably vague’ in your direction, the unconscious will rejoice in being given free reign to create its own behavioural set and then to experiment. I have witnessed other therapists look away at this crucial time, fiddling with papers, or merely having a break! It is so important to look now for eye movement under the lids, indicating that they are visualising scenes from this period, maybe also the shadow of a frown or slightest of smiles. I clarify these new behaviours when the time is completed by asking if they were accessible and acceptable to other parts of the mind and will she choose to use them in her reality during the next two weeks. I may also choose to get the unconscious to confirm further acceptance with the phrase, ‘are these behaviours acceptable to all the parts of the mind?’ Sometimes I leave the door wide open, so to speak, by inferring that this begins a process within the client where the creative part of the mind will continue to come up with new and positive ideas to experiment with in the client’s reality, so that all aspects of life improve.
Jennie	See yourself in this body now balancing and normalising. The chemicals and substances you were attracted to in the past you are now free from. Sense what it really means to be free, to choose, Choice. Real energy, real health, free of all the limitations of the past, free of all the comments, free all of the pain, free to begin anew to decide what works for this body. You are now in charge - your arm reaches out for that which is good healthy, nutritious and full of health and vitality for this body and you move this body easily in ways that you enjoy.
My voice tone will be one of relief, building to excitement, ending with a matter of fact tone. The idea here is to exaggerate the profound change that has taken place, with relief that the past is over, excitement at the experiments about to begin and then implying the client can take it all for granted now because the new ways of behaving are so normal and integrated into her being. I often use the word ‘free’ having found it to connect with some part of the client so profoundly. Free has a great impact on those who previous felt trapped by circumstance or behaviour. I end with the count up from one to five, increasing positivity and lightness of expression to bring back to full awareness with all good feelings in place.
Jennie	Now back to full conscious awareness with a big smile on your face! Well done, well done!

Insulting Clients! More Weighty Issues!

We are continuing our series of articles knowing that INSULTS ONLY UPSET US WHEN on some level of our being we believe them to be true. 

‘On some level of our being’ means it could be out of our awareness, that this may be a fear about becoming fat, having remembered being teased as being fat at school, or simply a reflection of our own judgments as that is as bad as it could be for us to be that which we so despise.

Using metaphor here and some dissociation for the upsetting comments from mom to ease processing.

So regardless of what anybody says beyond that, you know, family and friends saying things like, ‘don’t be stupid, look at you, you are fine’ (So now she’s fat AND stupid right?). Fat is an issue. One way or another, it is an issue for her, that’s what causes the upset, why her unconscious carries it with her into other parts of her reality, instead of dismissing the comment as irrelevant.

You could say nobody really MAKES us feel upset, it is our reaction to the comment that is disturbing. We only get upset if we take it on board and judge ourselves just as harshly as the outsider.

How much do you know about how your mom perceived her body as a child and how she was brought up by her mom? Rather than interrogate you about that(!) I want you to almost unconsciously take that on board to balance what is happening with you, sometimes when she is saying these things to you just be curious about ….

The client then finishes my sentence for me with the words ‘about where that came from.’

It is absolutely great when the client finishes the sentence for you, and in the correct manner too!

Yes, because these things tend to get filtered down through generations and probably, I know I cannot say this with absolute truth, though probably her attempts to make you the perfect physical specimen have been kind of misinterpreted in her own mind. Her endeavours to make you as healthy as possible and for you to be physically perfect have maybe come out in the wrong way. She may have had the best of intentions though it has not come out right. No mother would intentionally screw up their child!

The client then agrees with the statement, no, you are right.

 Well, you know, nobody teaches us to be a mother, we draw on whatever resources we have and sometimes we may overdo something because it was a big thing for us when we were young and we want to ‘save’ our child from the same torment, though who knows what other imbalances might be created along the way.

We draw on our own experiences of being a child and we get to that point when we catch ourselves saying something that our mothers used to say to us…..

The client then continues with Oh I know! I’ve done that! (laughter)

Genuine good humour is such a valuable tool, it disintegrates (literally) the negative energy and ‘breaks state’ when enough information has been processed on a particular subject.

 How well do you sleep. Do you relax well?

How about exercise?

The client answers with I go through phases. I used to like walking. In February this year I joined a ladies’ cycling club. With all the rain we had I stopped going as regularly and then altogether.

 Did the group stop?

She answered with no, they still went but I didn’t fancy going in the rain. And I am not good in the heat at all and being overweight it has been worse. It seems to have gone by the wayside … I am thinking of joining the gym now.

There is contradiction here, so is it the damp and cold that hinders the activity or the heat? No need to bring contradictions to the surface, the client’s mind is aware and that is enough. Notice my next comment, introducing the idea of enjoying a physical activity.

What will you enjoy at the gym?

Here is where it gets interesting as the client continues. Well I…… I don’t enjoy the gym. When I first started cycling I remember saying I had finally found the exercise that I enjoy. 

The client is switching modalities now, from feeling to visual. She knows she has a block and that’s good. Notice the eyes will lift from looking down to searching up into the visual field.

I ask her what is her bike like.

She continues. It’s an old one that was made up for me and it does the job. I was even wearing the clip on shoes. I did the Devon coast to coast in April and was doing 70 miles in one day. But again, I have got this attitude of being all or nothing. I either stick to a diet or pig out. I am either doing lots of exercise or no exercise. I do tend to push myself and then forget I am not the same as I used to be. I push myself to the boundaries and my mum will tell me not to overdo it. I think that’s where I trip up because I end up exhausted.

The client is now recognising within herself now that mom does care!

I ask her. Have you always been this hard on yourself?

I don’t know! (laughter) Yes, I think so!

I say.  So, standing beside yourself now if you could just now see this situation in an objective way. If this were your daughter talking to you saying these things, what would be the advice you would give to her?

I am doing some ‘gesalt’ work now to aid processing.

Client comments that she would say, Chill out!

I then answer her by saying the following. I do chill out! If I chill out too much mom I won’t do any cycling at all so don’t tell me to chill out!

The client then continues. I know what I would say, but if someone were saying it to me I suppose I would say, well, ‘how do you do that?’ I would say ‘just take it slower, don’t charge in ….’

 So this is the time to be gentle on yourself. You see, I am not expecting an answer, in fact if there were an answer I would think I had got all of that wrong then! (laughter).

The fact that there is not an answer means that it is not available to you through your conscious awareness. Your unconscious knows. It’s like your unconscious is sitting there saying, ‘I have known for years!’ (laughter) ‘You haven’t listened to me have you! You do know that there is a mechanism within you that will balance all of this out.

You have realised that it’s all or nothing with yourself as you have described it. So let’s make it quite ridiculous for you now. Let’s suggest that instead of dieting religiously for six months and then having two years off (laughter), that, say, you experiment in your mind now with dieting for one day and having the next day off. Because, well, what is the difference?

The client then adds. Yes. Ok.

 So, being the personality that you are at the moment, going on past strategies, on the first day you would have a couple of lettuce leaves (laughter), cycle 70 miles, (laughter), and wake up in the morning saying, ‘oh right, today’s my fat day, I can eat whatever I want!’. So, what is it, what is it that you would look forward to eating?

She says, ohhhh, chocolate. Sweets, cake, biscuits.

Important information now, establishing what, specifically, are the changes in eating habits that will be of most use and promote the most noticeable changes in behaviour.

Particularly what chocolate? I ask her.

I like it all!

And biscuits, what biscuits in particular?

I like them all. If I can’t make my mind up I will just take everything.. You know, like the vending machine at work in the morning break, a packet of crisps, a chocolate bar and going back and having another chocolate bar.

And would you have had your healthy sandwiches with you at work?

Yes, I probably would have taken fruit with me. And yoghurts. I would be prepared, but would still want them.

 So how would that affect how you felt, from having the chocolate bar and the crisps and then returning for another chocolate bar?

It’s almost like physically you feel better because you are giving yourself that buzz, you have satisfied that need, but mentally, I know I have kind of sat there and weighed up who is there in the room (God it’s terrible) because you don’t want everyone to know that you have had two bars of chocolate…

Do you know what the client means? Note how we deal with shame in part five of this article.

Weighty Issues PLUS Hayfever!

As we pick up the session from part one, we are continuing our perfect weight control session where the client realises that by reading about hayfever in a magazine, she unconsciously created the condition within herself. She continues.

Gosh no, I had it for a few years and it was just an itchy pallet and I didn’t know that that was a symptom of hayfever and it wasn’t until I read it in a magazine that the symptoms fully developed.  AND they DID! 

Yes, Gosh, don’t!  

Well, if you ever want that addressed we’ll do that for you! (laughter) Though I suspect you’ll be doing that for yourself now. 

The first time I treated someone for that was when I was doing a seminar in a hotel and I thought the girl on reception was upset. She explained it was hayfever and I found myself saying, ‘have you always had that then?’ Anyway, I brought her into the course when she was able to get cover and, in front of a large audience, I did this hayfever treatment with her and from her eyes being really puffy and her nose running etc within a couple of hours there were no symptoms and it was fantastic. 

I just tell you that for your unconscious to play with, because you reading that women’s magazine is a little like reading a book on illnesses isn’t it? You begin to feel, with some relief it must be said, that you must indeed have some lurgy that explains all of your symptoms until you read that it is confined only to the pygmy population in outer Mongolia or something like that!   

Some people who have discovered they have high blood pressure may have had certain stresses at that time that elevated it beyond the norm, though chances are that as soon as someone says, ‘oh your blood pressure’s a little high’ that it will be high again the next time it is taken in those same circumstances because of the ‘anchoring’ effect.     

Introducing ‘anchoring’ here is useful for later therapy.    

I had preclampsia when I was pregnant and it changed minute by minute!  

I said the following:  Your body is in a constant state of flux. Watch anything at all about the physicality of the human body on one of these brilliant tv documentaries and you can become completely enamoured by its intelligence.  Get a scratch on the back of your hand one day and you may notice it and say, ‘oh look there’s a scratch on the back of my hand I wonder how that got there’ and with total confidence you will know that within days it will have healed completely and almost disappeared.  

In fact, we can take this innate healing so much for granted that someone else usually comments on it when they notice the improvement. If you have any minor damage to any part of the body that is not debilitating you have expected it to go quickly and before you are aware of it, it has gone. When you bring your attention to something it sensitises it. So when you bring your attention to your hayfever (sneeze!) the symptoms would get worse before they get better.    

Your body constantly recreates itself! You know it is marvellous, as soon as that scratch on the hand is acknowledged, the cells start dividing, the blood supply is increased in that area, you know even now you are making bone? How do you make bone? Do you really need to know?  It’s a miracle isn’t it?  You kind of accept that miracle more readily when you are pregnant don’t you? You are aware of the fact that you are actually growing a human being and when your baby is born you think, wow, did I do that, how did that happen then! (laughter). 

Though every day is a miracle, your hair is growing, your nails are growing, your body is constantly in a state of flux. And knowing that to be true, there is no reason why a particular method of eating or even exercise would work in the same way for you your whole life through. 

You know sometimes some method will work beautifully for you for a certain amount of time and years later you put the same method into operation saying to yourself, ‘I know exactly what to do to lose weight’ and it doesn’t work. Your body and your mind is always evolving, changing and it may be a simple fact that you deprived yourself so readily and expertly last time and was so entirely miserable in the process, that your unconscious mind will now do all that it can to prevent it happening again!  Maybe you were more resilient then and could distract yourself more from the discomfort, maybe deep down you would like to be happier than you were then and if happiness was once equated with being free to eat what you like and particularly those choccies and sweets then you can work out the rest. So we need to find out now what will be the most helpful for you at this stage in your life.  

Right.     

More details taken now, about job, GP and medication. Conversation follows about wanting to come off some medication originally prescribed for depression years ago, and her now imagining she would become anxious, should she decrease the dosage as recommended by her doctor. I state that being depressed and being anxious are two different states and it is impossible to experience two opposing states at the same time.

She continued. You know, I have had some terrible things happen to me over the last eight years and the times I have been to the doctors about depression it has always been to do with my weight. Like ‘I can’t go on like this’. Always to do with my weight.  

I said. You know if we were being filmed, some therapists would be saying, ‘why is she going into a discussion about something else rather than focussing on what the client came for, her weight issues?’ and yet you have just proved the validity of doing just that as you have now connected the depression and anxiety to your weight issues without me having to say anything.   It is far more important than people think you know, weight issues, particularly with a lady. Although we might want to be perceived by the outside world as an intellectual being, as a personality etc, the first thing any stranger notices about us is our physical self…  And it is the first thing we notice about other people.   

  

These comments are offered to judge responses to how important client perceives the presentation of one’s physical self to be, as judgements of others are reflected in the harsh judgments of self. Access and treat one and usually, the other is positively affected too.    

We know this, because this is how we ourselves judge the world. We get to know somebody and then perhaps think they are not as bad as we at first thought and put our judgments to one side, eventually. 

We cannot escape the absolute truth that for our own survival and for our own sanity, we have to make these snap judgments and pigeon hole people before we know how to respond to them. Our own perceptions of how we relate to a ‘fat person’ and what we perceive about their lifestyle are important; is fat this, is fat that, is fat happy, is fat a Dawn French happy? 

We then overlay that as soon as we meet another, as if we put ourselves in their position, judging ourselves in the way that we would judge others and that leads to our lack of confidence. And then some others may completely overcompensate and the confidence that they are trying to construct makes them appear arrogant. It is a male/female divide, and also a cultural one, I have seen men in Greece stroking their bellies to attract favourable attention, as if to say, I am so rich and powerful I can afford all of this food and rich living and if you are lucky today, I might share it with you! (laughter)  

Different cultures perceive the idea of ‘fat’ in different ways. Though I would imagine, and it is for you to tell me, that you don’t perceive the idea of fat in a good light.  

I will think negatively about someone who is overweight and then chastise myself for thinking that way because how can I make that judgement when I am overweight? Maybe it is because I didn’t have a weight problem until my thirties and so I still perceive myself as slim. Though in saying that, my very best friend my whole life has always been very overweight and I love her to bits and I have never thought badly of her.   

So you realise now you are fighting against the perceptions of yourself rather than of other people. Perhaps if fat means lazy then you could be trying to prove to the world that you are not lazy, though proving that mostly to yourself. (nods of confirmation).   

She continued. Yes, as the weight came on I know now that I was desperate to appear to be more active and I joined a gym and all sorts. I can see what you mean about that.  

I said that ultimately it is how we perceive ourselves which can be our most supportive ally or it could be our saboteur too.  

She said that so, you asked me about parents and my mom has always had a thing about weight. 

She is always making comments to me and I think that plays a part doesn’t it?    

In filling out the client form, there was a section about parents, whether they were alive or dead.

Some clients cloak trauma to themselves by measuring time in different ways. For example, saying their father died when they were ten years old. Then, later, when asked when a particular problem first occurred, the client will say it began in such and such a year, or so and so years ago, which exactly coincides with them being ten years old.

I had only asked fleetingly whether the parents were still alive and yet some time later, the unconscious brings the mother into the therapy as relevant. This is why all questions on your client form are useful.    

Yes. 

What comments does she make I asked.

Oh God, it can range from, if I have a biscuit at her house she will say ‘I thought you were on a diet’. Though if I am ‘being good’ she will be the first to keep offering me ‘bad’ foods. And if I refer to seeing a cousin of mine the other day she will say something like, ‘oh and she has put on a lot of weight as well hasn’t she?’ I would think ‘why would you say that?’ Her conversation is littered with comments such as that.     

Notice again the references my client makes to being good and bad which indicate that eating ‘bad’ foods is perceived as naughty, exciting even, or rebelling against mom, exerting her own power.      

I then continued. What is the most hurtful?  

She said once that I looked a mess.  

Is a mess to do with weight or hair?  I asked.

She didn’t say so but I knew it was to do with my weight. She said ‘just look at you, you’re just a mess’ and it really upset me.  Yes  Especially as, I suppose, I consider myself to be quite stylish, I have always liked to wear make up and, you know, from time to time I have let myself go. I would never dream of saying something like that to my mom.  

I continued. Let’s give you an example here to illustrate what I would like to say next.  Let’s say there is a lady outside of the front of this building now and from our point of view there is no way she needs to worry about her weight, we would look at her and would think, wouldn’t it be great to look like that, she looks fantastic. And there is an eight year old boy on a skateboard not paying any attention to where he is going. Suddenly he crashes into this lady.  She is stunned and he picks up his skateboard and shouts ‘fat cow!’ as he disappears down the street. Now, she would probably, (stereo-types here) get upset. Maybe not there and then, though maybe when she gets home, or she might ring up a friend and tell them all about it. Perhaps just before she goes to sleep tonight she sheds a few tears. It would perhaps affect her adversely.  

You see, insults only upset us if ....   Read Part 4 to learn how insults upset us and what we can do to stop it!