Indirect suggestions – How to create change with hypnosis
By Alex Taylor Morgan, Hypnosis Trainer
Indirect suggestions are an Ericksonian style of hypnosis that does not use commands and is different than direct suggestions. Direct suggestion is where something is directly suggested to you. For example close the door, close your eyes now and relax the muscles in your stomach are direct suggestions. An indirect suggestion is something like you might feel that your right hand is heavy or light or I wonder if you can feel that relaxation spreading through your arms and forearms and into your hands.
Using indirect suggestions the hypnotist is acting more like a guide. In the previous two examples, you can see we are simply guiding someone. We are not telling them to actually do something. We simply wonder aloud and their mind will do the rest. The client is in control of their trance, especially with indirect suggestions. Indirect suggestions are more interactive like you are interviewing the client and giving them choices to control what they want to do. This is a great way to layer in trance utilization as well by watching what choices and movement the client is making.
A common way to use indirect suggestions is you can talk about someone else. You can suggest something like this:
My friend comes to see me every month, and she likes to tell that often times, while she’s relaxing in the hypnosis chair, that she somehow loses track of time…maybe this is because she has her hands to her side or on her lap, another thing my friend notices is she can really let go when she is here and nothing really seems to matter…somehow while she’s here she can become deeper and deeper relaxed.
This suggestion gives the client the illusion of choice and allows them to fill in the blanks. They may have been consciously wondering before what it felt like, but then this can allow them to relate to having it work and them filling in the blanks and knowing they can succeed.
One of the best ways to check if someone will respond to indirect suggestions more is with eye closure:
Will you allow your eyes to close? Isn’t it nice to relax without your eyes open? Many other people have sat here with their eyes comfortably closed. A successful client usually closes their eyes at the beginning of a hypnosis session.
Each of these wants the clients to close their eyes but do not directly ask for it. These are general statements so the client can respond in some way. Even a “no response” is a response because we can then learn how this client thinks and responds.
Other ways to use indirect suggestions:
Embedded commands: This has commands combined with longer sentences. You don’t need to go into trance right now. Go into trance right now is the embedded command. Your unconscious mind will hear the embedded command. Another example is you may start to see change as you begin to learn more, right?
Imagination: This is where you connect an idea with an outcome and is often used in future pacing. I’m not saying buy the new house, I’m saying imagine what you will see, hear and feel when you bought it. You might be able to imagine what it would feel like walking through your new home right now.
Metaphor: These are great indirect suggestions because you bypass any critical thinking and you are telling a story and not telling the client what to think.
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