 Magazine
For Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy |
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Hypnotherapy With Restless,
Easily Distracted Clients UPLOADED 8/5/2003 Every once in a while I have clients who would like to practice self-hypnosis, but have difficulty relaxing and focusing on suggestions. Most books on self-hypnosis
advise that a person finds a comfortable place where he will not be
disturbed, sit or lie down, relax and engage in visualizing the desired
outcome. This method works great for some people. Others may encounter
two challenges. The first one is relaxing: either they find it difficult
to remain motionless What I discovered works great with a restless, easily distracted client is suggesting activities that help him to engage all, or most of his senses, on a desired outcome through tangible metaphors and trance-inducing activities. Instead of having a client sit down, relax and focus, the client enacts his desired outcome through a ritual action. The form and extent of ritual action and tangible metaphors used will depend mainly on the client's background and preferences. It may range from a simple action of listing one's obstacles on a piece of paper and burning it, or planting a seed representing a growth and development of a new project or a new stage in life, to a full-fledged ritual with appropriate music that helps the client elicit emotions associated with the accomplishment of a goal, using scents (oils, perfumes, incense), candles, etc. The client may also engage in trance dancing allowing his body to express the energy of his outcome and thus, in a way, embodying his outcome. On the other hand, trance may be induce through any other rhythmic physical activity such as walking, swimming, riding a bicycle,etc. The possibilities are virtually limitless. While during a traditional
hypnotherapy session, a hypnotherapist would guide a client through
a trance-induction, deepeners, providing suggestions supporting the
achievement of the desired outcome and bringing the client back to a
state of full awareness, in a ritual setting the shift into a trance
state may occur by any of the following: a client may dress into a robe
or clothes that will be a tangible metaphor for a trance state, putting
on a special perfume, lighting a candle, ringing the bell, or anything
else the client may find appropriate. These tangible metaphors become
anchors or triggers, impressed upon the client's subconscious. A sniff
of perfume, for Any act the client routinely performs in his daily life may be used purposefully for impressing an idea upon the client's subconscious and assisting him in creating a desired change. An act of washing or having a shower may be used to symbolically represent getting rid of unwanted conditions in his life. An act of eating, where the food to be consumed symbolically represents a desired outcome, may be viewed as a symbolic ingestion or embodiment of a particular quality the client would like to express. The subconscious mind is very receptive to symbolic imagery. A client who has difficulty focusing may cut out an image of his desired outcome or pick out an object that symbolically represents his outcome. An object does not need to have any meaning to anyone else, except to the client. These tangible metaphors or tools are simply learning aids that may be discarded once the client has trained his mind. Most of us grow up conditioned
to believe that what we can touch, see, smell is "real" and
what we imagine is not real. This belief becomes impressed upon our
subconscious minds, too. Thus, handling a real object may produce faster
results, then just imagining an outcome, especially for those clients
who did not have any previous Dr. Laura De Giorgio, Ph.D. |
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