Self-help Articles

by Jon Robinson

There is a popular belief in evidence-based hypnotherapy that 'all hypnosis is self hypnosis'. In other words, you yourself are responsible for inducing hypnosis; the control is firmly within your grasp, and you can get better and better at it with practice.

The purpose of this article is to teach you how to be an excellent self-hypnotist and how you can use suggestion techniques to help facilitate positive change.

1) Why self-hypnosis?

Many people find hypnosis an effective treatment for anxiety-related disorders. Firstly it is important to consider why you want to hypnotise yourself -- are you anxious about something? Do you want to increase your motivation? Write down a list of reasons why, and think about some positive suggestions you could give yourself when hypnotised.

For example, if you are nervous about an upcoming public speaking event, you might consider suggestions like “you are relaxed, confident and speak loudly and clearly. You find yourself radiating energy and positivity and you are wise enough to know that if you make a mistake it's hardly the end of the world.”

Always frame suggestions in the present tense (e.g.; 'I am calm, I am in control’). Always make them positive, (e.g.: 'I am relaxed' rather than 'I will not get nervous'.) realistic and achievable.

2) Induce Hypnosis

There are a number of ways of inducing hypnosis. I have a free self-hypnosis MP3 for you to download on my website that you may find useful, otherwise,

a) Find somewhere comfortable where you are not likely to be disturbed. A bed is fine, although a chair is better because you're less likely to fall asleep.

b) Face directly ahead but look up at the ceiling. Imagine your eyes tiring. Tell yourself they are getting tired or imagine gravity is pulling them down. Use your imagination to make them close! This is the basic mechanism behind hypnosis – if you are intently focused on doing something, the body responds as though it’s actually happening. This is known as the ideo--motor effect. It occurs frequently during anxiety, but we are going to use it for good.

3) Deeper and deeper…

Once your eyes are closed, there are a number of ways to deepen self--hypnosis, to draw yourself even more inwards using visual metaphors. Perhaps imagine yourself walking down 100 stairs, relaxing and counting with each stair you descend, or maybe a white light is covering and relaxing each part of your body in turn. Do this until you feel yourself totally immersed in your imagination.

4) Convince with confidence

A ‘convincer’ (sometimes called a suggestion test) works on the same principle as the eye closure in the induction – in other words, using your imagination to produce bodily change. Convincers help to gradually lead you into a state of heightened suggestibility.

One of the easiest involves raising one arm and holding it out straight. Imagine you are holding a bucket filled with sand, or a dumbbell. Tense the muscles in your arm as you try and keep it aloft, but find it is just too heavy and your arm is sinking until it rests back on your lap. Now try the other arm.

Another convincer involves clasping your hands together and imagining they are covered in superglue and sticking shut. Really try and pull them apart but find they're just too stuck. If you can easily pull them apart, you're actually using your imagination to make them unstuck (tsk, tsk), so try again and commit 100% to your imagination until they are. Everyone can succeed with a little practice and perseverance.

5) Sow the seeds of suggestion

The important stage. Once you feel suitably ‘hypnotised’, start telling yourself the suggestions you devised earlier. You can do this internally, but make sure the voice in your head is congruent with the suggestion. For example, don't bother telling yourself 'I am confident and determined', in a measly, weak voice. Make it dramatic and consistent! Spend as long as you want doing this – some people spend up to twenty minutes giving themselves positive suggestions before emerging.

6) Emerge

Count yourself out of hypnosis, going from one up to ten. Tell yourself that you feel refreshed, alert and awake (unless of course you want to go straight to sleep).

Congratulations! Keep practising and you'll find you get better and better at using self--hypnosis. The suggestion approach that we covered here is a relatively small part of clinical hypnotherapy, but many clients find it effective for overwriting anxiety-provoking beliefs and instilling positive, helpful ones.

There are also a number of visualisation techniques you can do, which we will explore in a future article. Until then, happy hypnotising!

References

(1) A social-cognitive skills approach to the successful modification of hypnotic susceptibility, Gorassini & Spanos, 1986

(2) How to be a good hypnotic subject V. West, 1996

(2) Hypnosis and anxiety problems - Smaga D, Cheseaux N, Forster A, Colombo S, Rentsch D, de Tonnac N., 2010

(3) Hypnosis technics [sic] used to diminish anxiety and fear: review of the literature - Willemsen R, 2003

About the Author:

Jon Robinson is a writer and clinical hypnotherapist with a private practice in Trafalgar Square, London, specialising in phobias, confidence-boosting and smoking cessation. He uses an evidence-based, cognitive behavioural model of hypnotherapy. You can contact him through his website www.hypnosis-in-london.com.