Introduction
Stephen Brooks teaches this induction on his Diploma course. I will never forget the day I saw him sit down with a stranger and simply talk them into trance. I now use it regularly and it has never failed me!
This is a great example of overt conversational hypnosis, that can incorporate a number of different elements from other inductions on this site. It relies heavily on revivification and the recognition that people experience trance (or at least something like it) numerous times in their daily lives. Utilising those experiences is non-threatening and enjoyable for the hypnotee.
Transcript
Tell me about a time when you found yourself doing something you were totally engrossed in. Something you enjoyed, something you did where you are relaxed and yet totally absorbed. You know, where you maybe lose track of time for a while & your level of awareness seems to change?
— “Yeah, sure. I get that whenever I paint.”
Ah, you paint. And what is it that you enjoy about painting?
— “I don’t know. The colours. The creativity. It feels a bit ike everything slows down while I kinda get in this creative zone.”
Everything slows down. It’s funny that you said you don’t know what you enjoy about it, because clearly on one level you do.
— “Yeah.”
You enjoy slowing down in that zone.
— “Yeah. Definitely.”
Is this something you do on your own or with others?
— “On my own. I’ve always gotta be on my own?”
Because…
— “It’s just part of the whole peace and quiet thing. I can focus then and just get, like, lost in the moment.”
Hmmm… Lost in the moment. What a great phrase.
— “Yeah.”
So, what is that like, that ‘lost in the moment’?
— “It’s like…”
Wait, hold that thought. Before you go there, are you painting inside or outside?
— “Ah, inside. But by a window. So, I’m painting outside scenes, but I’m in the comfort of the inside.”[Laughs]
Well, comfort’s important. [Both laugh]
So, you’re comfortable, slowing down, getting in that zone… And what more is there to getting lost in the moment? What does that feel like?
— “It’s just peaceful. A time to escape.”
And you value that peacefulness, that ‘time to escape’… [Begin to match their breathing, speaking on the exhale] What else is there that feels good about that slowing down… getting in that zone… just peaceful… time to escape?
[Client pauses, looking off to the left corner of the ceiling] [Nod slowly, as if to affirm their ‘lost in thought’ experience]You look like you’re escaping now.
— “Yeah.” [Laughs] “I’m just thinking about slowing down and how that feels.”
And have you noticed the changes in your breathing yet… slowing down?
— “I hadn’t, but, yeah. [Laughs] That’s weird.”
How did you know… that slowing down… changing your breathing… is the first part of going into trance?
— “I don’t know.”
That’s right. You really don’t know, do you? You’re only just beginning to learn the things that you know, that you didn’t know that you know. And I wonder, do you find it easier to increase that ‘peaceful, slowing down’, as you recall painting and all of the feelings associated with it, or if you simply escape right into that zone that painting takes you to now?
[Client does not answer, but stares off into space]That’s right. Muscles relaxing. Body slowing down. And as your body slows down, your mind can escape… into that zone… Peaceful.
[Client’s breathing has slowed dramatically, with a couple of very deep exhalations. Their gaze had frozen off in the distance, but now their eyelids appear to blink rapidly.] [Said with a slight shift of the head, as if speaking towards the corner of the room that the client got ‘lost in thought’] That’s it.And as your eyes begin to blink more, you can find yourself going deeper into that. But I don’t want you to close your eyes… until you are ready to fully return to that place… See what you see. Hear what you hear. Feel what you feel. Enjoying that, slowing down… getting in that zone… just peaceful…
[Clients eyes close]That’s it… Time to escape.