Basic Hypnotic Language Patterns 3: Mind Reading - by Matthew Wingett

 

The language pattern I'm going to look at this month is a useful means of both pacing and leading a hypnotic subject into deeper trance.  And yes, you're right, the sentence in italics above is exactly what it's about.

 

Mind Reading is an evocative name.  As soon as you hear the words Mind Reading in a hypnotic context, then you start thinking about a famous stage hypnotist or mentalist of some description or other.  But let's be clear from the start, as useful as it would be to have the genuine skill of mind reading, with this language pattern you are not going to be able to divine your client's innermost secrets, or tell straight away when someone is lying to you.  

 

So, if that's what it's not, what is Mind Reading?

 

Mind Reading is a pretty straightforward means of deepening someone's trance by both simultaneously directing their attention while reflecting back to them something they were probably already experiencing.  

 

It is achieved in a very simple way, as follows:  

 

By using your eyes and ears to monitor your client, you can take an educated guess as to what sorts of experiences the client is undergoing.  Once you've formulated a strong idea of what is happening in the client's internal state, then you simply form a sentence which implies that you know what is happening.

 

In order to do that and not be "caught out" by the conscious mind of the hypnotic subject, the big skill is in choosing your words so that they remain "artfully vague".  By doing this, the hypnotic subject does not activate a filter to start criticising what has been said, and fits the meaning of the sentence to his or her own internal experience. 

 

One way to maintain your artful vagueness is to avoid using words that are too precise and which are connected to a particular sensory input.  This can be easily achieved by using verbs that are not connected directly to the senses.  Some examples of such verbs are:

 

to notice

to wonder

to allow

to enjoy

to think

to dream

to remember

to experience

 

Of course, there are plenty of others, but these will do for a starting point.

 

So, using these words, imagine that you have a client who is looking extremely relaxed in front of you.  The client's breathing is calm and slow, his eyes are shut and his facial muscles and body muscles are relaxed.  In such a situation, it is a pretty safe bet to assume that this client is feeling relaxed.  So, you might use a very simply Mind Read, like:

 

"You notice how relaxed you are."

 

The client, in his internally relaxed state can't really argue with that one.  After all, he does notice how relaxed he is.  By having had his attention drawn to the act of noticing, you can bet your last penny that he is indeed noticing, right now, as you speak.  It causes a feedback loop in the client's mind of verifying what you say as true, and therefore making him more receptive to further suggestion.

 

If you want to pace and lead the client, you can integrate this pattern with the Implied Causative (see Basic Hypnotic Language Patterns 2), and say:

 

"As you sit there, you can notice how relaxed you are."

 

Notice that I have softened the direct command of "noticing" by adding a modal operator of possibility before it.  In other words, the word "can".  "Can" is a very useful word for softening suggestions.

 

Other Mind Reads you might employ include:

 

"As you sit there, you can wonder what will happen next."

 

or

 

"As you breathe in and out, you can allow yourself to remember how good it is to be happy."

 

Although there is quite a lot more leading in the last example given above, the mind read actually causes the idea of how good it is to be happy to pop into the client's mind. It's awfully difficult to get it out of the mind, once it's in there as a suggestion, and once again, difficult to criticise from the internal position.

 

So, that is the basic pattern for the Mind Read!

 

 

Have a good old practice, think up some more verbs that are unspecified to which sense they apply to - and have fun making up a whole load of examples.

 

Till next time!

 

Copyright 2009, Matthew Wingett.

 

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(For a deeper discussion of this pattern, along with many others, please see Patterns of the Hypnotic Techniques of Milton H Erickson Vol I, by R Bandler and J Grinder, to which I am indebted as the starting point for these articles on language patterns.)