WarpMyMind

Hello everyone!

Long time lurker, almost first time poster.
After reading a lot about hypnosis for years now, I have finally managed to hypnotize my first subject. Or so I think...

I would like to describe how things happened and would appreciate feedback from experienced hypnotists.
(Sorry, rather long post)

He wants to 'learn to eat vegetables' (no allergies, just general dislike for no known reason) and after I mentioned hypnosis, he was all in for a test run.

We tried last Tuesday evening and the setup was as follows: He was sitting on the couch in his living room, facing the tv on which a DVD with concentric yellow and blue rings, expanding over time, was showing. Lights were dimmed.

The induction was him looking at the center of the screen, not blinking, counting two up, one down (1, 3, 2, 4, 3, 5, 4, 6, ...) and me giving suggestions of heavy eyelids, burning sensation, losing focus and general relaxation.
After about 5 minutes of fluttering eyelids and tears forming (burning sensation in the eyes, he told later), I told him to close his eyes, which he did.

The deepening was done suggesting heaviness, starting at the feet, moving up the whole body.
Afterwards, he should imagine walking down a stair with 10 steps, me counting from 10 to 1.
At the bottom of the stairs, there should be a door. Behind this door, there was a bed for his conscious mind.

The suggestions for eating vegetables were positive affirmations that vegetables were tasty, feeling proud of managing to change, wanting to try eating vegetables etc.

Waking up was done counting from 1 to 10, taking away the feeling of heaviness and suggesting freshness.

The session took about 15-20 minutes.

Discussion:

After finishing, we discussed what he thought about the experience. He told me that he heard me during the whole session.
He would have liked to look at the rings for somewhat longer, but closed his eyes anyway when I told him to.
He managed to visualize the stairs and the bed even better. Intersting: when he saw himself in bed, there was a small person standing next to the bed, listening to me, but with an attitude of stubborness. Maybe like a child, hearing but 'knowing better'.
When I woke him up, he felt like starting to be hypnotized.
In general he thinks that it might work when we keep on doing this.

My opinion is: It was not perfect but I think some suggestions still might already stick with him.

We are definitely doing another (mabe several) session(s), starting next week.

Thanks for reading this far :D

Opinions?

I'm not an expert in hypnotism, but from what you have described, it sounds like a very positive first attempt.

I suggest that you study your own comments in your discussion. Generally what the subject gives in feedback should be built upon. For example, you state that the subject did not like the burning sensation and wanted to stare at the spirals for longer. You should perhaps acknowledge this and take particular care to ask him at various stages what he is feeling and whether he wants to do x or y rather than being overly prescriptive, particularly during the induction.

The 'stubborn child' attitude may denote a problem with your authority, but you could explore this by means of age regression and maybe by resorting to the kind of argumentative techniques that parents use with children.

I suppose its a question of experimentation and improvement. Keep us all informed - fascinating.

Thanks for the replies!

@davelowe1977:
He did not exactly say that he did not like the burning sensation (ok, who does?) but rather that he would have liked to watch the rings (not spiral) for a bit longer.
I do not think that my authority is a problem. Maybe authority in general? I do not know.
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@MN_FriendlyGuy:
I like the idea of telling a story or using a metaphor. Maybe I will try in the next session.
Last time I was trying to convince him with positive arguments.
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@both:
I do not feel comfortable regarding age regression. Although it might be a powerful tool in therapy, it could also screw up some stuff. Maybe when I am more experienced.
Keep in mind that I am not a psychotherapist but an engineer, so I am not going to try therapy.
###

I will spend more time doing the induction next time.
More coming after the next session on Tuesday.
Other opinions?

Hello again!

We have just finished the second session and I think, things are improving!

The setup was basically the same with the rings but I left him to relax just for two minutes before anything else.

This time, I also waited for his eyes to close on their own. That happened about 5 minutes into the session. I then deepened again for 5 to 10 minutes using the stairs and the bed. Then again suggestions for about 5 to 10 minutes. Waking up took about 2 to 5 minutes.
Total time was 25 minutes.

Results:
We went out eating before the session where he told me that this week, he actually thought that a salad on his friends plate looked somehow inviting! I of course attributed this to my 'skills' :D and told him so. (This should strengthen his confidence in me.)

After the session he told me, he could only remember part of the session about to the section with the stairs. Then again (quote) 'something about vegetables being good' (suggestions took 5 to 10 minutes!) and then again the waking up part.
He always looked relaxed and at one time actually made some sounds like snoring (only for about 20 seconds). I already thought I might have lost rapport but continued anyway. He however woke up on command and I never stopped talking to him so I do not think he was asleep. He probably just relaxed the part of his mouth/throat responsible for snoring.

I told him that the session appeared to have been a success and I think he will feel some actual change happen soon.

Opinions?

To give a very short appraisal, excellent improvement on your past session.

By the way, thanks for the feedback on my feedback!

Keep us all informed as to your progress. Also, the detail you go into is good. I am also an engineer, and not a hypnotist!

Hi

Sorry for the break but I was indisposed last week.

This Tuesday was session number three and not too much new to tell.

The setup was the same as before but this time, he remembered nothing after the steps leading down. When I woke him up, he did not feel like he was under for 20 minutes and was quite refreshed. I had to actually poke him slightly because he did not react to the count.
His behavior has not changed yet... :? (But I am not giving up!)

Since I will be away for a while soon, I will try to prepare an MP3 for him to listen to.

Any advice/opinions?

I only have one suggestion to make and that would be to not make an mp3 file now. Perhaps a better idea would be to wait until you can have another live session and then talk about some kind of trigger during it to prepare him for a recorded file. That way he might respond better when he listens.

I'm about to head off to work so apologize for the short post on something that might have been mentioned and just missed, but how old is the subject?

Healthy and happy are at least as important as submissive and cuddly.

I'm all for going after the mundane things. You build trust in a very important way. You give someone a gift that they probably couldn't get anywhere else. You develop rapport along with trust, paving the way for deeper trance play later. And, if for no other reason, it's just a damn nice thing to do.

When I'm not enslaving the unwary, I'm taking away anxiety and guilt and turning people into nonsmokers and giving away a lot of peace and calm, 'mong other things.

It's what we evil mind-controlling bastards do.

-- Blink

Thanks everyone for the feedback!

Yesterday I hypnotized his girlfriend and she went under like a stone in water... Which is quite funny, because she said she could not be hypnotized. But after I asked about drifting off while driving or being immersed in what is on TV and she answered 'yes' to both, I was convinced she would be a good suspect.

I used the same method as with her boyfriend (who was silently watching).
She closed her eyes quite soon and awakened on the count of ten, as desired.
Asking, why she closed her eyes: 'They were burning.'
And why she opened her eyes on ten and not nine: 'I could have opened them at five.' Me: 'But you did not :D '

She remembered all of the session and did not like the part of descending down the stairs because she is afraid of going to the basement. According to her, this distracted her quite a bit.
She actually said, she felt some presence behind her... Her view of her subconscious mind? Her boyfriend said something similar during his first trance. But he described it more like some stubborn kid. Opinions?

I will try something else to deepen her trance next time.

I also tried the 'pace, pace, lead' rhythm from time to time. I think it worked well.

Cheers!

Hello Again

Although I did not post that does not mean I did not hypnotize the two of them in the meantime.

So far so good until:

Yesterday I tried to hypnotize them together and to install a posthypnotic trigger so it would be easier to put them under in the future (after 'veggies' they want to quit smoking and after that, who knows?).
After the induction and some deepening, I tried to assess the depth of their trance by suggesting that one of their arms would become lighter and would start to lift...

Long story short: After spending some time installing the trigger, I wanted to wake them up again and SHE opened her eyes with a smile before I could even start to count and on 'three' HE opened his.

It turned out that the arm lifting suggestion somehow broke HIS trance and SHE was simply irritated by HIS deep breathing. I almost bored them to death by repeating the trigger over and over again...

Needless to say, I am not happy about this result.

Any advice on assessing depth of trance without waking them up?