What is Hypnotherapy?

Hypnotherapy uses guided trance (a focused, relaxed state) combined with therapeutic suggestions, imagery, and experiential techniques to create psychological and behavioural change. It integrates cognitive, behavioural, and experiential methods and is widely used for habit change, anxiety, pain, performance enhancement and more.

Core Induction & Deepening Techniques

• Progressive Relaxation: sequential muscle relaxation combined with breathing to induce calm.
• Eye Fixation & Countdown: classic induction using a focal point and counting down to deepen trance.
• Handshake & Rapid Inductions: brief, efficient methods for experienced clinicians (use with consent).
• Imagery Induction: guided sensory imagery (safe place, river, stairs) to shift attention inward.
• Fractionation: bring client in and out of trance repeatedly to deepen suggestibility.
• Anchoring: associate a physical cue with a desired state (pressure point, word) for later access.

Hypnotic Language & Patterns

The Milton Model (Indirect Language)

Developed from Milton Erickson’s work, the Milton Model uses permissive, metaphorical and ambiguous language to bypass conscious resistance and allow the unconscious to find solutions.

• Use permissive phrasing: “You may notice…” rather than “You will…”
• Embedded commands: “As you relax, you can feel more confident.”
• Metaphor & story: relay change through a metaphorical journey.
• Double binds and conversational neutrality to invite choice while guiding direction.

Direct Suggestion Language

Clear, goal-oriented statements used when alliance is strong and client accepts directive approach — e.g., “Each morning you’ll wake and feel more energetic.”

Choosing Language Style

Use indirect/Milton patterns when resistance or ambivalence is present; use direct suggestions for specific behavioural changes when rapport and motivation are high.

Common Therapeutic Applications

• Anxiety & panic reduction
• Insomnia & sleep improvement
• Pain management and perioperative anxiety
• Habit change: smoking cessation, nail-biting, overeating
• Performance enhancement (sports, public speaking)
• Low mood, self-esteem, and confidence work
• Preparation for medical procedures

Hypnotherapy is effective as an adjunct to other therapies and medical care; suitability depends on the client’s condition and preferences.

Sample Short Script — Safe Place & Resource Anchor

Induction (imagery):
"Make yourself comfortable and take a slow breath in… and out. As you listen to my voice, let your eyes gently close and notice the weight of your body supported by the chair. Imagine a place where you feel completely safe — it might be real or imagined. Notice the colours, the sounds, the temperature. Allow that calm to deepen with each breath.

Deepening:
"With each number I count from five to one, you'll feel more relaxed, more inward, and more connected to that safe place. Five… softer now. Four… deeper still. Three… letting go. Two… almost there. One… completely calm."

Suggestion (resource anchor):
"As you rest in that safe place, notice a feeling of steady calm growing in your chest. If you like, press your thumb and forefinger together gently now and feel that calm anchor there. From now on, when you press those fingers, your body remembers this calm quickly and easily."
        

Experiential Techniques (Beyond Verbal)

• Imagery Rescripting: modify upsetting memories by altering the imagined outcome in a safe, controlled way.
• Chair Work: enact parts or internal dialogues (e.g., critical voice vs compassionate self).
• Behavioural Experiments: combine suggestions with real-world tasks to test new behaviours.
• Regression (with care): used rarely and with experienced clinicians to access early memories; follow trauma-informed protocols.

Assessment & Contraindications

• Screen for psychosis, uncontrolled bipolar disorder, acute suicidality, and severe dissociation — these require specialist psychiatric care and caution with hypnosis.
• Obtain informed consent: explain goals, methods, and expected experiences.
• Assess client motivation, expectations, and prior experiences of trance.
• Use phased, stabilisation-first approach for clients with complex trauma.

Practical Session Structure (50–60 mins)

1. Check-in & symptom review (5–10 min)
2. Set clear goal for session (3–5 min)
3. Induction & deepening (8–12 min)
4. Therapeutic suggestions / experiential work (15–20 min)
5. Gentle reorientation & homework (5–8 min)
6. Session summary and safety check (2–5 min)

Measuring Progress & Homework

• Use brief outcome measures (sleep scale, anxiety rating, behaviour frequency logs).
• Set simple between-session tasks (3–5 minute self-hypnosis, practice anchor, graded exposure steps).
• Track objective behaviours (number of cigarettes smoked, nights of uninterrupted sleep).

Training & Supervision for Clinicians

• Recommended training includes supervised practical hours, ethics modules, and competency assessment.
• Work under supervision initially, especially when using regression or trauma-focused techniques.
• Maintain boundaries: hypnotherapy complements but does not replace medical or psychiatric care where required.

FAQs