Why Consent is Needed For Self-Hypnosis

[Dale Rose]

I have encountered a wide variety of people from all walks of life
with a variety of problems.
Surprisingly, the first question the majority of people ask me when
they visit is whether I will make them cluck like a chicken. At face
value this question may seem slightly ridiculous but in reality it
highlights people's vulnerability and insecurity. Most people are not
comfortable with the thought of a hypnotherapist (or anyone else for
that matter) rattling around in their minds, pulling skeletons out of
their cupboards at every turn and being let loose on all their
deepest, darkest secrets. It is a common misconception that the
hypnotist has total control over the person being hypnotised and could
make them do things against their will.
Some people even find it unsettling to talk to a hypnotherapist/
hypnotist because they believe that they may go into a trance at any
moment during the conversation. Masters of the art of hypnosis, such
as Milton Erickson, would find it very easy to affect therapeutic
change by a mere conversation but even in these conditions consent
would have to be given.
The truth is that everyone goes in and out of trance quite naturally
throughout the course of a day. There are times when you might catch
yourself day-dreaming, your thoughts just wandering off somewhere. If
a hypnotherapist happened to be sitting next to you at that time s/he
could quite easily pop a suggestion through the backdoor, so to speak,
and the day dreamer would never even know about it. However, if the
suggestion was something that was found to be alien to that person's
character, the sub-conscious mind would just throw it away.
That's why hypnosis does not work for everyone straightaway. Some
people fight it, or find it too difficult to relax, but like all
things worth doing, practice does make perfect and people can train
themselves to relax more deeply and become more open to trance work.
To encourage self-hypnosis find some time and sit somewhere
comfortable. A bed is not usually a good place to do this exercise
because our sub-conscious minds tend to link beds with sleeping and it
would therefore be too easy to fall asleep. Once sitting comfortably,
in loose clothing, find a spot to look at - usually a spot slightly
higher than your line of vision is good because that induces a feeling
of eye strain, helping towards your goal of eye closure.
At the same time as looking at the spot, become aware of your breath
and consciously follow the breath in and out, slowing down the rate of
breathing, your pulse, your heart rate. It is a good idea to keep an
arm raised from the elbow, perhaps resting on the arm of the chair.
This helps prevent you from falling sleep. If you start nodding off to
sleep the arm drops and this acts as an alert to keep you awake. There
comes a point after staring at the spot for a while that you will want
to close your eyes. You can do this as soon as you feel you need to,
and by so doing your attention is drawn to an inner focus since a
large portion of external stimuli has been shut out.
Deepening techniques can vary and these can be a personal choice.
Often counting down from 10 to 1 is effective. Or, you can use larger
numbers, for example starting from 300. Because these are more
difficult to remember they tie-up the mind more precisely and for this
reason help promote a trance state. Other techniques you can use
involve re-living a moment, real or imaginary, in a place you find
extremely comfortable, secure and relaxing. For some people this could
be in a summer garden, for others it may be a beach or just sitting in
a large armchair reading a good book. To immerse yourself in the
setting of your choice, be sure to involve all of your senses - smell
the garden flowers, hear the insects buzzing around and feel the touch
of a gentle breeze across your cheek etc.
As you deepen you will discover an optimum time to open yourself to
suggestions. It is important to know before you begin the self-
hypnosis exercise what suggestions you want to give yourself. These
suggestions need to be thought of in the present tense and in positive
terms. For example, it would be wrong to say "I don't want to smoke
any more". A better suggestion would be "I am now smoke free".
It is a worthwhile exercise for anybody to try some self-hypnosis. At
the very least it will aid your relaxation and if you then want to go
on and seek professional hypnotherapy treatments you will be much more
prepared and a successful outcome very much more likely.