Hi All,
A special welcome to those who have just joined us from the September NLP Practitioner.
We still looking for comments and feedback on our new website - www.braintrainacademy.co.uk - so please take a look and let us have your thoughts. Also a BIG THANK YOU to Sandy for making us an online feedback form which can be accessed anonymously at www.braintrainacademy.co.uk/feedback
Love and Light,
Dawn & Thom
What’s new at Brain Train Academy?
NLP Business Practitioner Certification - 2 Days 1st-2nd Nov 08, 9.30am - 6pm, 21 Hill St, Edinburgh
Hypnosis - Ericksonian Intensive - 5 Days 28-30 Nov, 6-7 Dec, 9.30am - 6pm, 21 Hill St, Edinburgh
NLP Taster Night & Practice Group 30th Oct, 7pm-10pm, 21 Hill St, Edinburgh
Article of the month:
Naturally Occurring Trance States - Inducing a Mood, By Thom Shillaw
People that have never been exposed to hypnosis usually express certain reservations to the process of trance induction. Some say that it is manipulative and fear that they will lose control and squawk like a chicken of something of that nature! That’s a classic depiction of the authoritarian approach to hypnosis - where someone hypnotises someone else.
I have seen many clients that have told me that they can not be hypnotised. One lady went to see a hypnotist for 12-months and eventually he told her that she could not be hypnotised. The first thing that I do is ask them a question such as, “you mean to tell me that YOU CAN not BE HYPNOTISED?” From the beginning, use language to induce a particular mood. You can proceed to use metaphors of times and places where trance occurs naturally.
Contrary to popular belief, trance states give you control. They can be used to amplify anything that you do. I usually tell the client that hypnosis is simply a ritual to allow them to enter an altered state of consciousness. Altered states of consciousness are our birthright. They allow you to control your heart rate, manage pain, distort time and lots of other really cool stuff! Learning (and memory) is state dependent. The more that you can alter a person’s state, the stronger responses you can elicit. Tell people that and make sure that you alter your state while you give them instructions.
Speak about naturally occurring trance states. There were times when you were stuck at traffic lights and the lights changed but you didn’t. There were times that you stepped out of an elevator and you realised that it was the wrong floor. There was a time when you were watching TV and someone offered you a nice cup of tea, but you were so focused on the television that you didn’t hear them. Times that you day dreamed, times when you went away with the fairies. Remember that trance is a natural part of day to day life. Speak to your client about this and use such metaphors to alter their state of consciousness ahead of time.
As a hypnotist, consider yourself as a biofeedback machine. Note your client’s present state and then begin to do things that will alter their state. Use language and metaphors in apparent casual conversation, match their body posture, breathing rate, voice tone and tempo and so on and so fourth and calibrate! Have your senses tuned externally - observe your client and look for signs of trance behaviour and then amplify. Changes in their breathing, facial muscle tone, diminished eye-blinking and the like are indicators of trance.
So, around ten minutes into the session, the lady labeled as un-hypnotisable was in a trance deeply. We went on to elicit every hypnotic phenomenon with her permission. Stop thinking about hypnotising the client and think about working with them - that’s the co-operation principle in Ericksonian hypnosis. One statement that may help you is the fact that when people come to see you they are already in a trance. They come to you for help. They are in a trans-ition between the problem identity that no longer works for them and a solution identity. If you work on the premise that people are already in some sort of trance when they arrive at your office then it will make the path that you travel with them much easier.
Thom Shillaw is a trainer at Brain Train Academy. He can be contacted for private consultation by emailing thom@braintrainacademy.co.uk
Success Stories:
Overcoming Hearing Difficulties. By Thom Shillaw
During our September NLP Practitioner training, one of our deligates mentioned that she has a hearing problem. It was toward the end of my morning teaching and the group had worked hard, so, I thought it was time give them a well earned break. I asked the person if they would care for me to work with them and they agreed.
I established unconscious communication and worked through the hearing problem with a classic 6-step reframing format. I then induced trance and arm catelepsy and began to instruct the persons unconscious to make the necessary adjustments to improve her hearing. The arm catalepsy and subsequent movement serves as an indicator of how far along the unconscious is with processing the instructions. During this process, I began to relay various metaphors, from learning to learn as a child, to metaphors about healing and suggestions of hyperthesia (heightened awareness).
When the person came out of trance they told me that their ears had popped and that they felt somewhat strange. The following afternoon, I asked the delegate how her ears were and she replied that she felt completely different, in fact, that several of the group had commented that they behaved differently and interacted more fully. The effects of improved hearing were still evident when we reconvened for the second portion of the NLP Practitioner training two weeks afterward.
Thom Shillaw is a trainer at Brain Train Academy. He can be contacted for private consultation by emailing thom@braintrainacademy.co.uk
Metaphor of the month:
I’d Learned So Much (From The Teaching Tales of Milton H. Erickson)
“At Oswego College in New York, Estabrooks (a professor of psychiatry) said, when I went up to him, “I’ll schedule you to give a convocation for teachers this evening.” There would be a lot of townspeople attending and I had a lot of things to do before I went to the auditorium, unrelated to the lecture. I was not concerned, however, because I knew I could talk and I knew I could think and I knew that I’d learned much in the course of those years.”
In the above vignette, Erickson models and attitude of trust in one’s long-term memories and in unconsciously stored knowledge. He underlines the fact that the unconscious mind is a repository of memories and skills that can be called upon after many years. He was fond of quoting Will Rogers, “It ain’t what we don’t know that gives us trouble. It’s what we know that ain’t so that gives us trouble.” To which Erickson would add, “The things that we know, but don’t know we know, give us even more trouble.”
This month’s practice group: Thursday 30th October 2008
Brain Train Academy, 21-23 Hill Street (Situated in the heart of the city centre between George St & Queen St), Edinburgh, EH2 3JP
- Location Map: click here
- Nearest Car Parks: click here
- Map & Directions from Edinburgh Waverly Station: click here
Q&As
Please keep sending us your questions, which we will answer in the next issue
Book of the month:
Get The Life You Want - Richard Bandler. This is a superb book and is highly recommended for both beginners and advanced NLPers.
DVD of the month:
Now You Wanted a Trance Demonstrated Today - Milton H Erickson. A superb teaching DVD of Erickson doing trance inductions.
YouTube of the month:
Robert Anton Wilson - Subjective Perceptions
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wDRG9ZpzoX4&feature=related
Funny of the month:
The Atheist
An atheist was spending a quiet day fishing when suddenly his boat was attacked by the Loch Ness monster. In one easy flip, the beast tossed him and his boat at least a hundred feet into the air. The monster then opened its mouth while waiting below to swallow man and boat. As the man sailed head over heels and started to fall towards the open jaws of the ferocious beast he cried out, “Oh, my God! Help me!” Suddenly, the scene froze in place. As the atheist hung in midair, a booming voice came out of the clouds and said, “I thought you didn’t believe in Me!” “God, come on, give me a break!” the man pleaded, “Just seconds ago I didn’t believe in the Loch Ness monster either!” “Well,” said God, “now that you are a believer you must understand that I won’t work miracles to snatch you from certain death in the jaws of the monster, but I can change hearts. What would you have me do?” The atheist thinks for a minute and then says, “God, please have the Loch Ness Monster believe in You also.” God replies, “So be it.” The scene starts in motion again with the atheist falling towards the ravenous jaws of the ferocious beast. Then the Loch Ness Monster folds his claws together and says, “Lord, bless this food You have so graciously provided…..”
For more info visit our website www.braintrainacademy.co.uk