By Erika Flint and Cal Banyan
Erika Flint with Hypnotists in the mentorship program at the annual Experience Retreat in New Mexico
If you’ve been a practicing hypnotist for any significant length of time you’ve likely experienced one of these instantaneous life-changing moments for a client. It seems to come in a flash of insight, or an epiphany that shifted your client’s perspective and changed everything in their life for the better. Consistently generating moments like these in every session is exactly what this article is all about.
These life-changing hypnotic moments demonstrate the power of the human mind and spirit to learn and grow quickly, especially when the hypnotist takes care to properly prepare her client, and then take action when these kinds of insights occur.
We know that individuals have the ability to have a singular experience and rapidly learn to be fearful in certain situations or of certain things, and that this fear can negatively affect them for a lifetime. So, it is also highly conceivable that our clients have the ability to be transformed quickly in a very positive instantaneous way in a singular event – a hypnosis session, leading to a lifetime of growth and continued change as well. The good news is that we can “manufacture” these kinds of positive life-changing events in our hypnosis sessions.
The best clients for this kind of work are those who are cooperative, motivated and mentally healthy. When this is the case we have the highest probability of creating these life-changing insight-driven experiences in nearly every session.
Before going through the step by step process, the underlying and most important aspect of this type of powerful work is to believe in your clients. Believe in their ability to make this type of rapid change. See in them the results that they may not be able to see for themselves yet. Hold that space for them to step in to – that vision, then begin.
Priming is a type of suggestion used before the formal hypnosis portion of the session begins to increase the likelihood of what you are suggesting to occur.
Here are few ways to prime clients for this type of rapid, insight based change:
Tell a story about a client who experienced a moment of insight during hypnosis and how it changed everything for them. Share how it helped to see things different or understand things in a way that shifted their perspective which was the catalyst for massive results.
Get client buy-in on rapid change being acceptable and even likely, for example “Are you alright if that type of rapid, life-changing moment happens for you – or would you rather the change be gradual?”
Share it in written communication: include information on your website, communication, or marketing material indicating that changes are expected to happen rapidly then continue gradually over time, and include stories of clients who experienced life changing hypnotic moments.
The next step is to expect this type of rapid change to occur in your office and notice it when it does. Watch and listen for signs of the shift – clients will usually be emotional, or say something remarkable using language such as ‘I don’t believe it’, or ‘Wow this is amazing – I never knew that’.
This type of work is more likely to transpire when using insight-based hypnotic techniques such as those contained in the 5-PATH® System of Hypnosis, including Age Regression, Forgiveness Work, and Parts Mediation Work, all requiring a deep level of hypnosis called somnambulism.
Great hypnosis work starts with a heart-centered approach and deep love and care for clients.
Once you’ve noticed a potential life-changing moment while working in deep hypnosis, and utilizing insight-generating techniques, like we listed above (age regression, etc.), focus on the insight as soon as it occurs.
A great example of when this is likely to occur is when conducting Age Regression Work, which involves regressing your client back to the time when the problem started. In this case you have the adult aspect of your client inform the regressed aspect of the client (the child) what the “adult” knows now which the “child” did not know then.
A more specific example might look like this: in the Age Regression Work it is found that the problem actually started when your client was 5 years old. It is then determined through hindsight of the adult, that there was no reason for the 5-year-old child to be afraid because she was in a safe situation. Then the “adult” informs the child of this fact. This information provided to the child lets her know that she is safe. This insight provided by your adult client will cause a visible shift in the “child” which is then transferred to the “adult”.
When this insight occurs like this you must first, verify that what just happened was a potential life changing moment. For example you may ask your client: “What just happened? “
If it was a moment of insight, amplify it with the following type of language:
“Put an ending on this sentences: I’ve changed because now I know _______________”.
“Put an ending on this: I’ve changed because now I feel________”
“Put an ending on this: So now I can____________”
Using the example above it would go something like this:
You say “Put an ending on this sentence: I’ve changed because now I know…” and your client says, “I’ve changed because now I know nothing bad happens"
You say “Put an ending on this: I’ve changed because now I feel…” and then your client says, “I’ve changed because now I feel safe”
You say “Put an ending on this: So now I can…” and your client says, “Now I can feel calm and secure when I talk to groups!” (Or, whatever the new sense of safety and security is going to enable your client to do now, i.e. perform better, take exams without anxiety and so on.)
Write down your client’s responses because you’ll use them later as hypnotic suggestions in step four.
At this point your client is in a highly suggestible state Cal Banyan labeled” hyper-suggestibility”. These insights cause the client to know something in the subconscious level of the mind that they did not know before. This changes how they feel. This new “knowing” or “insight” is accepted as a new belief in the subconscious mind. This forces the mind to enter this state of hyper-suggestibility as it reorganizes around this new belief, and as such will permanently accept suggestions that are given which are consistent with what was just accepted as now being true.
Next, we will discuss how to make maximum use of this temporary state of hyper-suggestibility in Step Four.
Now that your client has experienced an emotional shift and the new belief has been created through experiencing the insight, or epiphany, increase this cognitive-emotional change by focusing on it. It is important to tie that change to the reason they came in to see you and to do so quickly. This is because for a short period of time they are in this temporary state of hyper-suggestibility brought on by the experience of insight. We will call this ‘connecting the dots’ between the moment of insight, and the reason they came in the “Segue”.
Cal Banyan developed the Segue technique in order to specifically tie what they just gained through insight to suggestions that will enable your client to achieve what they came in for, and to do so in a long-lasting way.
Erika Flint signing a copy of her best-selling book Reprogram Your Weight at a live event for clients.
Here’s an example of how to use the segue with clients:
“Now that you know [fill in details from step three above], and you feel [ fill in details from step 3 above], it’s even easier for you to accept these suggestions more powerfully and permanently than ever before [insert powerful hypnotic suggestions for what they came in for].
Once again using the example from above, you might say something like this. “Now that you know that you had no reason to be afraid and you now feel safe, secure and stronger you accept these suggestions powerfully and permanently… Now you feel safe and secure whenever you speak to a group. You are calm and at ease when you speak to any size group, as calm and comfortable as if you were talking one-to-one with your best friend.
Using the Segue cleanly, easily and powerfully ties the insights gained in the session to what your client came in for.
If you miss this vital step, clients may be left wondering about the value of the insight generating technique used to obtain this powerful information, and the benefit could be diminished or lost.
After formally emerging your clients from hypnosis by suggesting that they emerge they are still in a highly suggestible state for a short time. Yes, your clients are still in hypnosis after they have opened their eyes and think that they are emerged. This post-session hypnosis which lingers for a short time after the formal part of the hypnotic session has ended is often overlooked. The first words spoken by the hypnotist or client at this time can be very powerful! With this in mind you can proceed accordingly.
At this point it’s important to reinforce the life-changing moment by asking your client to repeat what they’ve learned in the session. This can be done by asking the client to once again put an ending on the sentence as in step three, for example:
You would say something like “Wonderful, now once again put an ending on this sentence:
“I’ve changed because now I know _______”.
“I’ve changed because now I feel________”
“So now I can______”
This step enables your clients to ‘own’ the change after they have emerged from the session. Doing so puts it all together, convincing your client that the important life-changing insights and the suggestions attached to them are valid after the session is done.
Without this important step some clients may leave the office and feel unsure about how the work you did enables them to get what they came in to accomplish.
Some clients are not naturally insightful and if you do not have them restate the change after emerging they may fear that the changes they experienced in the session will not be effective afterward. When you complete this step the connection is obvious and they will own the change after they leave your office.
Life-changing hypnotic moments can be generated in the hypnosis office by believing in your clients then following these powerful steps. They require a deep level of hypnosis and are more likely to occur when using insight-generating hypnotic techniques including Age Regression Work.
If you are not using insight generating techniques such as Age Regression Work then we encourage you to seek out training of this kind. It is amazing how it can transform your practice of hypnosis.
Using this 5-step process along with insight generating techniques in session with clients is extremely rewarding and fulfilling for the hypnotist, and massively empowering for clients.
This level of powerful insight-based work gives your clients what they came in for - and so much more. The changes and lessons learned positively impact the rest of their lives by teaching clients how quickly the mind works, and how powerful they truly are.