There are lots of factors to consider before you can actually claim yourself as an effective hypnotist. You must know some specific techniques that you will need especially if you are going to use hypnosis to help other people.
Hypnosis is used as a way to self improvement, finding a purpose in life and also to overcome low self confidence. But famously, it is used as a means of therapy; more particularly to tackle on emotions like fear, depression, and trauma. However, unless you are really skilled and experienced in hypnotherapy, I suggest you keep away from tackling through a person’s emotion. Why?
There are lots of reasons why…Because it could be too risky not only for you but also for the person who is under the hypnotic process. Instead of helping the person you might just make the experience worse. Both of you can also get hurt physically, especially when the emotion is too intense and has a violent tendency.
And this is the most strongly stimulated emotion that is too dangerous for a novice hypnotist to come across: Abreaction. Abreaction can be triggered in several ways. The most common is when it is being sought after, meaning a hypnotist is after this emotion. This is done usually in hypnotherapy wherein abreaction is needed in order for them to deal with the problem at hand. But, with a novice hypnotist, abreaction can be accidentally encountered through regressions.
Regression is the process where you ask the person under hypnotic trance to go back in a certain incident in their past. For a beginner hypnotist, this can become the stimulus of abreaction. If you are not sure that that particular memory or incident in the past is pleasant, don’t go about it.
So if you are a newbie in hypnosis, might as well use self hypnosis first; for relaxation, or self improvement. But if you are really into hypnosis that much and want to practice what you know on other people, start on making it a good experience. Help that particular person to find peace, purpose or fulfillment. And here are some things you should keep in mind in order to avoid triggering abreaction in the process:
Make sure that you know enough about the personal experiences of the person you are trying to hypnotize just to avoid certain memories that might cause an unpleasant emotion.
If you are not sure what to expect about this person, have a pre-talk. Remember that any object, place or incident can have a thousand different meaning to different people. So a pre-talk can guide you on determining expectations.
If you are suggesting a place or an incident that you think might bring a relaxing ambience in the person’s mind, be sure that they have the same opinion about that idea. Meaning, don’t go on ASSUMING it would be relaxing for them, BE COMPLETELY SURE that the idea is INDEED relaxing for them.
Avoid going back in the past, especially when you know nothing about the person’s past.
The most effective way would be to ASK. It is better to identify if you are on the same page rather than making a wild guess. Ask them first if they find happiness in that certain memory, place or incident. However, when you ask the person be sure that you don’t sound like you are doubtful or hesitant. Doing questions like, “is that place okay? Or that is a relaxing place, isn’t it?” They might lose their confidence and trust in you, and that is a downfall in accomplishing a successful hypnosis. So, choose the right word and phrases to say. Make it sound like you are only interested in knowing about that certain information rather than being afraid of something.
Much better if you can use a suggestion like “go to your peaceful place” or “go back to a memory where you find enjoyable”. Phrases that target a SPECIFIC positive impact would be very useful.
If after all the precautions, you still accidentally stumbled into a memory that might trigger negative emotions, don’t go on and panic thinking you just triggered abreaction. First be aware of what the person is really feeling. Because believe me you will know if it is abreaction or just a mere release of emotion.
However, you should not linger on that negative emotion too long, because it might lead to something even deeper. So, might as well acknowledge the incident, make the person feel you understand like you are a shoulder to cry on, someone who can relate and someone who they can trust. Then tactically change the subject into a pleasant one or end the hypnotic process. Just be sure that when you end it, you have put the negative emotion where it is supposed to be locked away until the person is ready to deal with it.
So, if during an unfortunate instance, you still come across abreaction, you must know safety techniques on how to deal with it. But, the first and most important thing you should remember is to stay as CALM as possible. To further know more about these safety procedures I recommend going about the “Secret of Hypnosis Revealed” by Igor Ledochowski. He shows a very simple yet effective way on how to safely use hypnosis and also what to do exactly when you encountered danger and problems like abreaction.
