Ericksonisms cont CONFUSION TECHNIQUE In all my techniques, almost all, there is a confusion. A confused person has their conscious mind busy and occupied, and is very much inclined to draw upon unconscious learnings to make sense of things. A confused person is in a trance of their own making - and therefore goes readily into that trance without resistance. Confusion might be created by ambiguous words, complex or endless sentences, pattern interruption or a myriad of other techniques to incite trans-derivational searches. Scottish surgeon James Braid, who coined the term hypnotism, claimed that focused attention was essential for creating hypnotic trances; indeed, his thesis was that hypnosis was in essence a state of extreme focus. But it can be difficult for people racked by pain, angst or suspicion to focus on anything at all. Thus other techniques for inducing trance become important, or as Erickson explained: ... long and frequent use of the confusion technique has many times effected exceedingly rapid hypnotic inductions under unfavorable conditions such as acute pain of terminal malignant disease and in persons interested but hostile, aggressive, and resistant... INNOVATIVE INDUCTION ECHNIQUES Handshake induction Among Ericksons best-known innovations is the hypnotic handshake induction, which is a type of confusion technique. The induction is done by the hypnotist going to shake hands with the subject, then interrupting the flow of the handshake in some way, such as by grabbing the subjects wrist instead. If the handshake continues to develop in a way which is out-of-keeping with expectations, a simple, non-verbal trance is created, which may then be reinforced or utilized by the hypnotist. All these responses happen naturally and automatically without telling the subject to consciously focus on an idea. This induction works because shaking hands is one of the actions learned and operate as a single chunk of behavior; tying shoelaces is another classic example. If the behavior is diverted or frozen midway, the person literally has no mental space for this - he is stopped in the middle of unconsciously executing a behavior that hasnt got a middle. The mind responds by suspending itself in trance until either something happens to give a new direction, or it snaps out. A skilled hypnotist can often use that momentary confusion and suspension of normal processes to induce trance quickly and easily. The various descriptions of Ericksons hypnotic handshake, including his own very detailed accounts, indicate that a certain amount of improvisation is involved, and that watching and acting upon the subjects responses is key to a successful outcome. Erickson described the routine as follows: * Initiation: When I begin by shaking hands, I do so normally. The hypnotic touch then begins when I let loose. The letting loose becomes transformed from a firm grip into a gentle touch by the thumb, a lingering drawing away of the little finger, a faint brushing of the subjects hand with the middle finger - just enough vague sensation to attract the attention. As the subject gives attention to the touch of your thumb, you shift to a touch with your little finger. As your subjects attention follows that, you shift to a touch with your middle finger and then again to the thumb. * This arousal of attention is merely an arousal without constituting a stimulus for a response. * The subjects withdrawal from the handshake is arrested by this attention arousal, which establishes a waiting set, and expectancy. * Then almost, but not quite simultaneously (to ensure separate neural recognition), you touch the undersurface of the hand (wrist) so gently that it barely suggests an upward push. This is followed by a similar utterly slight downward touch, and then I sever contact so gently that the subject does not know exactly when - and the subjects hand is left going neither up nor down, but cataleptic. * Termination: If you dont want your subject to know what you are doing, you simply distract their attention, usually by some appropriate remark, and casually terminate. Sometimes they remark, What did you say? I got absentminded there for a moment and wasnt paying attention to anything. This is slightly distressing to the subjects and indicative of the fact that their attention was so focused and fixated on the peculiar hand stimuli that they were momentarily entranced so they did not hear what was said. * Utilization: Any utilization leads to increasing trance depth. All utilization should proceed as a continuation of extension of the initial procedure. Much can be done nonverbally; for example, if any subjects are just looking blankly at me, I may slowly shift my gaze downward, causing them to look at their hand, which I touch and say look at this spot.. This intensifies the trance state. Then, whether the subjects are looking at you or at their hand or just staring blankly, you can use your left hand to touch their elevated right hand from above or the side - so long as you merely give the suggestion of downward movement. Occasionally a downward nudge or push is required. If a strong push or nudge is required, check for anesthesia.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 00:46:26 +0000
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