A new client opens the door to the office gingerly, peeks his head in. I don’t know what his expectations are, voodoo heads hanging from the ceiling? One thing for sure I can tell he still operating in the belief that I’m going to make him bark like a dog, cluck like a chicken and then make him stand on his head for 15 min. Perhaps I will make him rob a bank too. The point is he has a misconception that I can make him do anything and he doesn’t have a choice in the matter. As a consulting hypnotist we know better. Now here’s the tricky thing, you know if a person believes all these things, he has to be desperate to make changes if he is willing willing to make an appointment. Many people who come to the door for hypnosis are at their last end for help.

My first job is to educate client about what hypnosis is and isn’t.  Hypnosis is safe and as a client you do have free will. Milton H Erickson (born 1901, died 1980) one of the most noted hypnotist of all time, believed the trance state is a normal part of everyday occurrence in which the individual has fixated attention.

Examples of that would be when your child is playing a video game on TV and you call to him and he doesn’t hear a word you said. Your child is in a natural hypnotic state. Another example would be you are driving down the road and all of a sudden you arrive somewhere and don’t remember the scenery or how you got there.You were in a hypnotic state brought on by the repetitious sound of the tires. Erickson noted individuals become so immersed in an activity that they go into a trance state, and most people do not recognize trances as a hypnotic state.

When we start our conversation with the new client we explain to them that we honor the wisdom of Erickson in which our approach to hypnosis is permissive, accommodating and indirect. We believe in providing the opportunity for the client to choose to accept or reject suggestions at their own pace, in their own time. ( Erickson’s belief was that direct suggestions elicit resistance to the suggestions through hypnosis) Erickson also believe the unconscious mind response to openings, opportunities, metaphors, symbols, and contradictions.

What do we mean by accommodating? It means that we work within the framework of any person who walks in our door, whatever that may be. We spent time getting to know the individual, what is the past history, what goals are they working on? What is the preferred learning modality and what are their expectations from hypnosis?

As a as a consulting hypnotist we are adaptable. We choose methods of working with a client based on their learning style, expectations and Milton Erickson was right in noting optimun results come from  adaptability on the hypnotist part.  Not not only do we work as a hypnotist in our office but we train hypnosis students for certification through the National Guild of Hypnotism and we apply that adaptability principle in our training. We take into consideration each students learning framework and challenge them within their learning style.

I don’t believe in reinventing the wheel. I believe we each have the opportunity to learn from those who go before us and build upon that learning. Milton Erickson had  great wisdom in valuing and accepting each person as they were, whatever that might be. That is a heritage he passed to hypnotist today. My challenge is to give honor to his wisdom each day that I work with hypnosis. When you come into our office door for hypnosis you will receive respect, confidentiality and adaptability to help you achieve your goals. Call for an appointment today.