A good talent for hypnosisby Bryan M Knight When a client possesses a good talent for hypnosis therapy is swift, even spectacular. “Gina” is one such person. Any induction worked wonderfully. Soon after 39-year-old Gina became a client I realised that whatever issue she brought to the office would be quickly resolved such was her amazing talent for hypnosis. One of the first times she displayed this ability was when she complained of a bad pain in her neck and left shoulder. It seems she’d suffered for years with the neck pain but that day it was particularly paralysing. A simple induction of slow deep breathing and enjoying her Special Place (a moonlit beach with white horses galloping beside the ocean) quickly took Gina into a relaxed state. To minimise interference from Gina’s conscious mind, I chose ideomotor signalling. With a finger on her left hand to signal “No” and a finger on her right hand to signal “Yes”, she responded to my questions. I cannot recall why no finger was designated “Don’t want to answer, yet.” Nor, unfortunately, did I record the exact questions I asked. But the net result was that Gina’s subconscious conveyed the information that her mother had not been keen on having Gina and that the pain in her neck was related to her birth. Most importantly, the subconscious readily agreed to release the neck and shoulder pain. Out of hypnosis Gina recounted that she’d always felt her mother didn’t really want her. It was while pregnant with Gina that her mother discovered that the father had sexually abused the eldest of five sisters. 46 The neck pain was gone. (Seven years later it has never returned). Was the hypnosis episode a metaphor for feeling that all her life her mother had been a “pain in the neck”? Or did the subconscious actually retain memories of a difficult birth? Who knows. But Gina did verify with other family members that one of the girls was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. No one was sure which of the babies this happened to. Gina’s terrific talent for hypnosis meant she was able to enjoy a variety of inductions. So, in a subsequent session, I suggested she count backwards from 100, subtracting 3 each time. Later in the same session, I re-inducted Gina with a simple countdown from 10. This time we dealt with her fear of dogs. This arose from an attack on her by a vicious dog when she was about 7 years old. Her fear was removed after Gina went back in her imagination to comfort her child self. The promise to always protect her child self did not come easily, however. Gina said at first she’d had difficulty believing she would honour the commitment A month later Gina arrived at my office in a state of “stomach churning anger”. This focussed on her business partner, with whom she had a tempestuous relationship. (It was relationship difficulties that brought her to my office in the first place). I asked Gina to gaze at a small rock in which “Imagine” had been carved. Quickly she relaxed into hypnosis. In her imagination she then destroyed a symbolic image of the anger. And visibly relaxed. The image was of a kind of iron curtain. Later Gina told me she was well aware that the image represented “all the men in my life -- ex-husband, business partner, father, boyfriend . . .” We sealed this session with positive suggestions about her remaining calm around the business partner. Also, imagining being in control if there were future conflicts with “Ben.” Gina chose a trigger word to keep herself calm during such confrontations. The effects of this were remarkable -- for a few months. 47 Although one suggestion did remain permanently -- to Gina’s delight she became accustomed to speaking up immediately. Previously she had stewed in silence (when she didn’t erupt in anger). Now she responded calmly right away with her opinions when, for example, the boyfriend said something outrageous. When Gina once again arrived late, tense and angry, I asked her to gaze at a penlight. Along with a 5 to 1 countdown she quickly relaxed into hypnosis and soon felt as though she were “floating on a cloud.” The penlight induction reminded Gina that one of our earliest uses of hypnosis -- suggestions that she would remain out of hypnosis while driving -- was still effective. She no longer had a problem with highway lights that rhythmically flashed by causing her to almost nod off. Suspicions that Gina might have been sexually abused by her father finally surfaced. Gina had displayed some of the symptoms of adults who have been sexually abused as children but she had no conscious abuse memories. One of her sisters (at 49) asked Gina’s forgiveness for doing something sexual to her when she was little. Another recounted her first intercourse was with their brother. Yet another sister recalled their father frequently telling weird stories of his sexual exploits as a young man. Gina did remember: ?? Her father lining up all the daughters and tongue-kissing each in turn. ?? Vehemently pushing him away from her on one occasion. [Mother used to “test” her husband by putting him alone with a daughter]. ?? Being too scared to get up at night to go to the toilet in case the father repeated the time he invited her to watch him urinate. ?? His court conviction for assaulting Gina’s eldest sister. ?? Seeing him in a neighbour’s basement with a little girl (activity unclear).
After a little while (and a lot of facial grimacing) Gina said she had no images but her hands felt huge while her feet felt tiny. Then, just as I was going to ask her subconscious a question, she began to cry, leaned forward and said “there’s a pressure on the back of my head, pushing, pushing . . .” Gina was terrified. At her request, I gave her suggestions of calmness and self-control. Out of hypnosis Gina recounted how one day she’d decided to go out in the middle of winter, evidently without boots or hat. When she returned, sloshing through the snow, her father lost his temper, yelled and chased her. Threatened to kill her, she said, ironically because she might catch cold! This conscious memory continued with her hiding in the bathroom. Father kicked the door in, grabbed Gina, tore off his belt and beat her. He badly damaged her back. But, to Gina’s relief, there was no recollection of sexual abuse. In subsequent sessions Gina enjoyed her awesome talent for hypnosis to solidify her career goals, enhance relationships and gain relief from insomnia. Bryan M. Knight, MSW, PhD. Hypnosis Headquarters http://www.hypnosis.org 49 |