Categories
Hypnosis and NLP

10 Books Every Hypnotist Should Read

The New Encyclopedia of Stage Hypnotism (Hypnosis) by Ormond McGillThe New Encyclopedia of Stage Hypnotism by Ormond McGill
This book is truly an encyclopedia which includes not only a wealth of information about Stage Hypnosis but a whole variety of techniques and principles that are applicable to any hypnosis situation. This book includes information about how hypnosis works, hypnotic principles that apply to any situation, a whole chapter dedicated to 100 ways to getting someone into hypnosis, and it even shows you how to hypnotize a chicken. Note: Even those hypnotists who are not interested in doing any stage work should read this book! Take my word for it, it is one of the best out there.

 

Hypnotherapy by Dave ElmanHypnotherapy by Dave Elman
Elman was a pioneer in the art of medical hypnosis, and this historical classic explores not only the Dave Elman Induction, but shows a wealth of other hypnotic techniques like using hypnosis as an adjunct to chemical anesthesia, as a tool for impotence and frigidity, and using hypnosis to eliminate stuttering. It’s worth it to read this book just to get inside the mind of one of the legendary hypnotists of the past, as well as learn a lot of useful techniques.

 

Uncommon Therapy by Jay HaleyUncommon Therapy by Jay Haley
This book quite simply blows my mind. Jay Haley provides a detailed account of Ericksonian hypnosis, and tells quite a few stories of how Milton Erickson performed his work. This is where you’ll find a lot of the examples of how to interact with a person, as well as information breaking down the structure of that communication and demystifying it so that you can use it. If you are a person who hopes to do any sort of therapy or coaching or to help people in their lives using hypnosis, this book is an absolute gold-mine of information.

 

The Ronning Guide to Modern Stage Hypnotism by Geoffrey RonningThe Ronning Guide to Modern Stage Hypnosis by Geoff Ronning
If you’re in for the par to learn stage hypnosis or want to be a professional stage hypnotist, I suggest checking out this book. Geoffrey Ronning has put together a very comprehensive guide on specifically how to perform a stage hypnosis show, how to get bookings, what happens if it all goes wrong, and tons of motivation. Although this book is mostly for stage hypnotists and it’s content is geared 90% towards that audience, if you do street hypnosis or even if you are just looking for a good suggestibility test to add onto your repetiore, this book will fulfill those needs.

 

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert CialdiniInfluence by Robert Cialdini
I do believe I’ve quoted this book about a hundred times in instructing various events and seminars over the years. Cialdini was a guy who always fell for scams; if someone showed up and gave him a fancy sales pitch, he had to buy it. He got very curious as to why he always fell for these gambits, and began a length research procedure which now has been very well documented in his book. Most hypnotists have probably already read this book, but if you haven’t, order a copy. It’s very interesting reading.

 

Applied Hypnosis and Hyperempiria by Don GibbonsApplied Hypnosis and Hyperempiria by Don Gibbons
Probably my second most quoted book is this one, and usually I’ll just reference the book and tell people to go get it. This book by Don Gibbons is an accurate and realistic portrayal of what hypnosis is and what it isn’t. He talks about how hypnosis has been associated with sleep over the years, and how hyperempiria is actually the opposite of that, but that we use essentially the same process to get people into both states. As a bonus for this book, you learn how to take people into hyperempiric states of consciousness which can be very fun to play with. I’m always surprised at how many hypnotists haven’t even heard of hyperempiria or some of the other states that we have available to us. This is a must-read.

 

Neuro-Linguistic Programming - Reframing by Richard Bandler and John GrinderReframing by Richard Bandler and John Grinder
Reframing is a critical part of working with people and yet some of us know so little about it. A caller’s objections or a client’s misperceptions both have to be reframed and put into their proper light. People who are talented in the art of reframing are perceived as smarter, they make more money, and their clients have better results. This book shows you how to do it, along with giving you lots of techniques and understandings. It is a transcript of a live seminar that Bandler and Grinder did, but do not be fooled, this is one amazing book. I highly recommend picking up a copy.

 

Patterns of The Hypnotic Techniques of Milton H. Erickson by Richard Bandler Judith DeLozier and John GrinderPatterns of the Hypnotic Techniques of Milton H. Erickson, M.D., by John Grinder, Judith DeLozier, and Richard Bandler
Another great book by Bandler and Grinder, this one also by Judith DeLozier, is the book that introduced the concept of the Milton Model in NLP. If you’re not familiar, Richard Bandler and John Grinder spent 9 months studying Milton Erickson and watching his videotapes. The very core essence of his patterns, called the Milton Model, is now taught in 1 day in NLP practitioner trainings. There’s two volumes to the series, and they are both great, although difficult to get through. It’s not light reading, but I think it’s time well spent. Great book.

 

My Voice Will Go With You: The Teaching Tales of Milton Erickson by Sidney RosenMy Voice Will Go With You by Sidney Rosen
The subtitle of this book is “The Teaching Tales of Milton Erickson” and this one can be a lot of fun to read. These are some of the stories that Erickson used to tell people when hypnotizing them or before hypnotizing them. If you want to be fascinated with just how smart this guy was, read a couple of his stories and you might find yourself drifting off. Erickson was amazing at metaphor and relating concepts together, and Sidney Rosen does a fantastic job in this book cutting to the core of what we want to know. This should be in your library!

 

Trancework by Michael YapkoTrancework by Michael Yapko
Trancework is a comprehensive guide to learning the fundamentals of clinical hypnosis. Although Yapko is mostly an Ericksonian-style hypnotist, he provides step-by-step instructions for getting things done in hypnosis. The book is also grounded firmly in research and pragmatism, and provides a great introduction to the art of hypnosis which you should re-read every couple of years to find out what you missed the first time.

 

Share
Categories
Hypnosis and NLP

Conscious and Unconscious Mind Positioning (for Coaching and NLP)

Image of a client and therapist engaged in unconscious communication

Here is a quick hypnosis and NLP technique that I often use:

When explaining the pre-talk to the person, tap a space on the table that is closer to them, and label it the “conscious” mind. Then refer to a space closer to you, and label it the “unconscious mind.” This way when you’re talking, you can put things into the space for the unconscious mind.

Note: When I say “label” it, I mean that you are referring to it in an ambiguous way. You don’t outright tell them, “this is your conscious mind, this is your unconscious” instead you say “your unconscious mind” while gesturing to the space closest to you.

The unconscious space is closer to you, so it presupposes that if things come from that direction, they must be intended for the unconscious mind. You are essentially creating a submodality shift — by aligning things on a line, for which close to you means “unconscious” and away from you means “conscious”.

We can also indicate messages to be for the unconscious mind by using tonal marking and by referring to a visual location with our eyes (example: looking over the person’s right shoulder every time a message is meant for the unconscious mind)

Share
Categories
Hypnosis and NLP

Quote from Milton

“Long overdue is the fulfillment of the need to recognize that meaningful communication should replace repetitious verbigerations, direct suggestions, and authoritarian commands” – Milton H Erickson

Erickson has a great point here, and if you’ve been reading the forum lately, my focus is on “what makes us hypnotist apart from giving suggestions.”

I challenge all of you to go out and find the limits of the work. Could you do hypnosis without having a formal trance? In what ways can you induce trance and then limit it? What are the ways to move someone from state to state, and from process to process, eliciting and installing useful strategies.

Share
Categories
Personal Development

Bursting through your previous limitations

From what I have seen, most people do personal development or self-improvement only when it’s convenient. They do it only when they’re “on the money” and then when they aren’t feeling like it, they slip back into their own habits.

“Adults seem to want to learn everything at once. This approach will not work.” – Milton H. Erickson

It is said that we all teach what we most need to learn, and for this one, I need to learn it too. It’s a continual lesson for me. My guess is it’s a lesson for all of you too – can you stick to your goals when you are tired, cold, hungry,  and sick?

I think to myself, what would some elite military guy like a Navy SEAL do in this situation? They don’t know failure. They literally don’t consider stopping. They just keep going until they’re dead.

When I was doing martial arts hardcore, this is one of the lessons I learned – you don’t stop until it’s time to stop. Maybe you’re doing pushups and you can’t do another pushup – that’s fine but you need to keep working at that next one until you get it.

If you’re like most people, you don’t stop to think about why you are here and what you’re doing. You just go through your life, a mysterious combination of motivations and loyalties and drives and desires.

We’re all here on this planet (RIP Pluto) and we all have these things we want to achieve. What are your top 3 goals? For most people it’s a health goal, a wealth goal, and a relationships goal. In order to achieve these goals we have to do certain things and we have to do them consistently.

What stops us all from having our goals? Chiefly among them is our desire for consistency and comfort within ourselves; if we change then we might become inconsistent and we certainly will experience some (temporary) discomfort.

As a hypnotist I’m taught that the reason people don’t stick to their goals longterm is that they rely on “willpower” which is kind of like mental adrenaline – it gives you a burst in the moment but doesn’t last over time. To truly change our goals, I’m taught, we need to change the underlying subconscious programming that is there.

Is this accurate? I don’t know. It’s certainly just a model and all models have their limitations. I’m beginning to doubt it. Because this “habit change” process is a HUGE part of solving people’s problems. If we can get people to change a habit, then we are very much on the way to success.

Thoughts? I know I haven’t spelled out the answer to this one, but I’m still figuring it out myself. Maybe that’s the best place to be in the cycle 😉

Share
Categories
Hypnosis and NLP Hypnosis Videos

The Handshake Induction

I’m often asked if I use Milton Erickson’s famous Handshake Induction.

It is said that psychologists wouldn’t shake Milton’s hand because they were afraid they’d go into trance.

I’ve also heard that they used to teach courses to these psychologists about how to do hypnosis without going into trance yourself. Pretty funny, actually. I’m in hypnosis just about every time I hypnotize someone.

Anyway Erickson’s handshake induction goes like this:

  • Go to shake the person’s hand
  • As you near their hand, pull your hand away
  • At the same time, use your left hand to pick up that person’s wrist and bring their hand up to their face.
  • Say, “look at your hand.”

This is a pattern interrupt.

A person is so used to just going ahead and to shake someone’s hand that when the hypnotist does something different, it interrupts the flow of their brain for a second and their internal auditory quiets down.

After those steps you can say something along the lines of, “Notice the lines and the colors of your hand, and the shades and sensations as your head can just stay there on it’s own and move closer to your hand.”

Brian David Phillips has a post on this with video examples (from a hypnotic video challenge) that I think is great. Check it out here.

Share