There are several styles of hypnotherapy that are commonly adopted by physicians, and not all of them work well for all clients. One way to access which style might work best for you is to answer this question: How do you normally respond to people who tell you what to do? If you are the type of person who feels confident when receiving direct instructions and requests, the directive approach will most likely work for you.
If you find that you are rebellious when people tell you what to do, a more permissive approach will suit you better. When interviewing a potential hypnotherapist, you may want to ask about their training and style to find out if they will be comfortable and responsive to their approach. The following is a basic overview of the different styles of hypnotherapy to help you understand your options.
Focus directive
In the directive approach, the hypnotherapist guides the client into a state of hypnosis and the hypnotherapist gives suggestions to the client. People are most familiar with this approach to hypnotherapy because it is the technique that most closely resembles what we witness with hypnosis on stage and see in movies. And clients hope that if they go to a hypnotherapy session, the hypnotherapist will give them direct suggestions.
All styles of hypnotherapy will adopt aspects of this style. Simply telling the client to sit comfortably and take a deep breath is a direct suggestion. If the client is suggestible, open and receptive to the process, and if the client has no internal conflicts about the focus of the session, direct suggestion can work. These “ifs” are the big problems with the direct suggestion approach. New clients may not yet trust the hypnotherapist or trust their own abilities to respond to hypnosis. Clients may also have misunderstandings about what hypnosis is and how it works, which contributes to anxiety about being hypnotized.
Misconceptions about what to expect from hypnosis can make it difficult for the client to relax and flow with the process. For example, many people falsely believe that the hypnotherapist can control them or make them do things that they would not normally allow themselves to do.
But more importantly, clients are often unable to respond to direct suggestions because they go to hypnotherapy and live with many internal conflicts about the problems they want to work on. Limiting beliefs, negative attitudes, misconceptions, and encoded traumatic past experiences from the subconscious will generally override any positive suggestions.
Most directive hypnosis experiments are controlled with the use of a specific induction or script using direct suggestions. The results of these studies often show that not everyone responds to the direct suggestion. And, if a person responds to a direct suggestion, the suggestions are likely to disappear over time when a client has subconscious beliefs or perceptions that are contrary to the suggestions. If the directive approach doesn’t work for everyone and the suggestion effect may wear off, what are some alternative approaches to hypnosis?
Open and non-directive style
The open and more permissive style of hypnosis came into vogue in the 1970s and 1980s, with the work of a famous hypnotherapist and physician named Milton Erickson. In the field of hypnotherapy, Erickson is known both for teaching hypnosis to medical students and for working individually with patients. He taught hypnosis by hypnotizing his students through storytelling, using teaching metaphors, and using hypnotic language patterns that speak directly to the unconscious. His hypnotic techniques are effective because they are a back door approach to the unconscious.
Instead of telling a client to close their eyes (a direct suggestion), a hypnotherapist using a permissive style of hypnosis might use an embedded or permissive suggestion such as, “Observe that her eyes are open and you may find that she will feel more comfortable. when you close your eyes. ” In this embedded suggestion, the language reflects what the customer is already experiencing and is free to respond to the suggestion, or not. The client’s unconscious, however, “hears” the suggestion, “Close your eyes.” A permissive approach is built into the session that the client can choose from. The hypnotherapist using what is already true and what is happening in the process of hypnotizing the client removes the stress of whether the client can be hypnotized and relieves the client’s conscious mind of the task of wondering or scrutinizing if he is “doing it right.” “.
Commonly, in an open style, the hypnotherapist will use the language of metaphor to teach the client new internal responses to situations or to expand the client’s perceptions and resources on an issue or problem. The client of this non-directive style typically experiences hypnosis as more organic, fluid, and effortless than the directive approach that requires the client’s willingness and receptivity to respond to direct suggestions. The client simply listens and follows their natural responses to the process. You can close your eyes or experience the hypnotic state with your eyes open. This style is excellent for the client who is afraid of being controlled, cannot stop the mental chatter, or has a shyness that can create resistance to undergoing hypnosis.
Transpersonal approach
Something new to the field of hypnotherapy, but as old as the traditions of most indigenous cultures, is the transpersonal approach to hypnotherapy. In traditional hypnotherapy and psychology, it is understood that we have both a conscious and an unconscious aspect of the mind. In the transpersonal paradigm, there is also a superconscious aspect of the mind that goes beyond the personal self.
This superconscious aspect goes by many names, such as: Higher Power, Atman, Inner Christ, Higher Self, or intuition. In the transpersonal approach, this greater mind or higher Self is an active co-therapist in the hypnotherapy process. Of all the styles of hypnotherapy, the transpersonal approach is the most client-centered and non-directive. The client and hypnotherapist co-create the session through energetic verbal interaction as the session unfolds. The transpersonal approach is more about “being” than “doing.”
Often the hypnotherapist will directly invoke the client’s inner wisdom and ask for support to guide the session. The client accesses this wisdom and works directly with it in trance through voice dialogue, symbolic communication, and inner knowing that has direct access to healing, wisdom, understanding, and creativity. This style supports the cultivation of the client’s ongoing relationship with this inner wisdom. A transpersonal approach can probably include directive and non-directive language as needed, depending on the inner guidance of the client’s higher self.
What style is right for you?
Knowing about these different hypnotherapeutic approaches will help you interview a hypnotherapist so you can learn about their hypnotic training and style. If you are a new client to hypnotherapy, you may not yet know which style works best for you. So perhaps it is convenient to work with someone who is trained in all styles and who can be flexible in their approach as you learn about your own responsiveness. A transpersonal hypnotherapist may be directive if necessary, but a traditional directive hypnotherapist may not be aware of the more contemporary non-directive or transpersonal approach. Whichever approach you choose, accessing hypnotic awareness will give you access to your inner resources and the power to transform yourself.