During the Initial Consultation we describe what Hypnosis is, we say it is a tool that we use as Hypnotherapists, but we call it Trance, which can take away the stigma that some people have regarding the word Hypnosis. Of course, this may not be necessary as they have already come to see us for help and may be comfortable with the wording.
Trance is very ordinary in many ways. All of us go into trance many times a day, when we are concentrating on something, watching Television, at the gym or running, even when we are driving a regular route. We do it all the time.Trance is when the two mind, the conscious and the subconscious, come together in focus. You are then able to access the subconscious mind and that vast intellectual resource, enabling you to get the very best out of yourself
I often say, that our goal with trance is to guide us into a state of relaxation, where we can allow our brain to work hard on finding solutions, whist we enjoy moments of complete relaxation. I also compare trance to REM sleep, or maybe day dreaming, when the body allows the mind to process our thoughts and allow us to plan for the future, it really does depend on the client.
The main goal of any discussion around Hypnotherapy is to educate the client to the reason we do trance at the end of a Solution Focused Therapy session. We need the client to be working from the Intellectual mind, to allow them to absorb what we have been talking about and allow the prefrontal cortex to access the vast database of information that is the cerebral cortex to make their future brighter.
We also use repetition, which builds stronger learning pathways in the brain, which allows us to give positive suggestions that the brain will act on, not something the client can do if they are using their Primitive, emotional brain.
It also allows the client to leave the session feeling good, relaxed and with a reduced anxiety level. No matter how hard you try, you can’t seem to feel anxious and relaxed at the same time. Feeling happy and angry at the same times doesn’t seem to work either!!!
We have also to remind the client that stage Hypnosis is not Hypnotherapy, our aims are for the client to have a better life and not be the star of the show.
