hypnosis beyond the trance myth · 2020. 7. 31. · and a small sample of feedback from the years...

Hypnosis Beyond the Trance MythA Special Report for Hypnotists,

NLPers and the Curious!

H Y P N O S I S W I T H O U T T R A N C E ™ P R E S E N T S E X C L U S I V E E - B O O K

B Y J A M E S T R I P P

w w w . h y p n o s i s w i t h o u t t r a n c e . c o m

CONTENTS

2009 Acknowledgements

2020 Introduction

2009 Introduction

Feedback

Why Should I Read This Report?

What on Earth is Hypnosis?

The Trance Myth

Trance is Cool!

New Realities

Introducing the Hypnotic Loop

Beliefs, Reality and the Big Because

A Practical Look at the Hypnotic Loop

The Power of Understanding the Loop

Key Skills for Managing Hypnotic Loops

What Else and Where Next?

Recommended Reading/Listening

Afterword

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

Page 7

Page 9

Page 10

Page 12

Page 14

Page 16

Page 18

Page 21

Page 24

Page 27

Page 28

Page 30

Page 32

Page 33

P A G E 0 2H Y P N O S I S B E Y O N D T H E T R A N C E M Y T H

DISCLAIMER

The information in this report is presented toyou free of charge and with the very best ofintentions. Please, however, be aware thatyou are a responsible human being and anyexperimentation with the ideas presented inthis report is undertaken at your own riskand responsibility.

For the most part, hypnosis is safe andenjoyable providing you pay attention to yoursubject’s health and safety, and even saferwhen you stay away from ‘trance’ (andespecially any form of regression). Pleaseremember that you have a duty of care whenhypnotizing to both your client and anyspectators.

If you are unsure as to how to look after yourclient, please seek further advice beforeproceeding, and remember, regardless of theadvice the responsibility is still yours.

At all times when practicing hypnosis, it isyour responsibility to ensure that you complywith the laws, regulations and codes of yourhome country, region, state or territory.

2009 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks indeed are due to many, including:

Mesmer, Braid, Charcot, Bernheim, Milton Erickson, Dave Elman, RichardBandler, John Grinder, David Calof, Steven Heller, Paul McKenna, Stephen Brooks, Derren Brown, The Amazing Kreskin, Major Mark Cunningham, Ross Jeffries, Steve Piccus, Kenrick Cleveland, Ormond McGill, David Grove, James Lawley,Penny Tompkin, Jonathan Chase.

Special thanks are due to my teachers,mentors and peers - especially:

Anthony Jacquin, Wendy Sullivan, Judy Rees, Melody Cheal, Joe Cheal, Freddy Jacquin,Simon Goodlad, Gary Colfer, Lee Smith, Tai Shindo, Darren Altman, Amit Badiani,Nick Davies and Alan Whitton.


ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

EXCEPT WHERE OTHERWISE STATED, THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS ANDCOPYRIGHT ARE RETAINED BY THE AUTHOR, JAMES TRIPP, WHO ALSO RETAINS THE

TRADEMARK “HYPNOSIS WITHOUT TRANCE”.

Please do not copy any portion of this book without permission

Summary

2020 INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Hypnosis Beyond the TranceMyth '10th Anniversary Edition'.

Metaphorically speaking, 2020 might be agood year for looking back with clear visionbut I'm going to keep this introductionsuper-short as frankly, the 2009 intro is waymore interesting anyway!

I do want to say, however...

At the time of original publication I had beenexploring and experimenting withconversational hypnosis for about 7 years butonly about 3 with formal hypnosis (asignificantly different game). At that time,the ideas I released through this little bookcaused quite a lot of upset in the hypnosisworld as they challenged a great manyestablished trainers' cherished truths. Sincethat time however, the ground has shiftedsignificantly and there are more and morepeople teaching process based and'cognitive-behavioural' approaches (but few, Iwill say, with the level of attention of deepand detailed skill and in the moment

flexibility that is the hallmark of HypnosisWithout Trance).

Since the first publication, I have had 10 moreyears exploring, experimenting andTEACHING hypnosis via both live workshopsand online programs. And, inevitably, thismeans that I have continued to grow both asa hypnotist and hypnosis trainer. And so...

What I was confronted with here was thechallenge of how much to rewrite the 2009material! Ultimately, I have chosen to re-write minimally, only really upgrading mylanguaging around some things - sometimesfor clarity, sometimes to better reflect mycurrent frames. Essentially the book remainsthe same, and so the primary voice is stillJames Tripp circa 2009.

OK, that's enough for 2020 for now... I'll handyou back in time to JT 2009 and see youagain in the afterword for a note on howHWT has evolved in the decade since.

James Tripp, Edinburgh UK, 2020

H Y P N O S I S B E Y O N D T H E T R A N C E M Y T H P A G E 0 4

i n t r o d u c t i o ni n t r o d u c t i o n

2009 INTRODUCTION

About 3 years ago I was sitting in La ConchaWine Bar in Letchworth Garden City (where Ionce lived), chatting to some friends aboutthis and that, when the subject of hypnosiscame up. At that time I had been practisingas a Hypnotherapist for about a year, and hadtaken various trainings and read variousbooks, so naturally people where seeing meas the expert at the table.

But the truth was I knew little about hypnosisbeyond the myths that I had been taught, andeven then those myths didn’t seem quite right

to me.

In my hypnotherapy practice, I used mostlyNLP based techniques and rounded off thesession with some ‘trance’ – and I alwaysused the same inductions (overlappingpacing and leading, progressive musclerelaxation). I never elicited any stronghypnotic phenomena because I had neverbeen taught to and wasn’t really sure how.

But in that moment sitting in that bar Idecided to try something that I had neverdone before and go for a little bit of genuinehypnotic phenomena. I had recently beenlistening to an audio recording of a teachingseminar called Hypnotic Techniques by ahypnotist named David Calof (recommendedlistening), and right near the beginning Daviddoes this thing where he has delegates holdup a sheet of paper and very quickly sets itup so as they are unable to drop it – theirfingers become hypnotically stuck! Noobvious trance induction and all done inunder a minute.

This piece had caught my imagination forsome reason so I had listened to it on theaudio over and over – and now, for the firsttime, I was going to try it on a real live humanbeing! I set up my subject holding mybusiness card between thumb and indexfinger and then began the piece proper(making like I’d done it a 1000 times before, ofcourse :-) )...

And it worked!!! Well, kind of. By mystandards at the time it was a raging success,because for about 10 seconds the subject (myfriend’s girlfriend) was unable to drop thecard. No lengthy trance induction, noobvious signs of trance (she was talking quitenormally at the time), but the card wasstuck in her fingers! (My subject wassceptical and claimed it had something to dowith the position of her wrist making it hardto drop the card, but this just isn’t so.)

Now, I still do this piece, but after manysubjects, many repetitions and manylearnings I do it a lot differently now and getmuch more consistent results. I have alsoexpanded out from this routine to develop awhole range of ‘induction-free’ hypnosispieces, from various ‘sticks’ to amnesias andthe occasional hallucination or two.

One thing I have come to realise over thistime is that hypnosis has little or nothing todo with ‘trance’ or any other kind of alteredstate that people are ‘in’ or ‘out’ of or ‘under’in any way whatsoever. Hypnosis is muchmore about everyday cognitive processesbeing drawn into what I like to call a hypnoticloop!


Summary

P A G E 0 7

f e e d b a c kf e e d b a c k

Here’s some of the initial feedback recievedback in 2009:

HARRY GUINNESS - IRELAND'S PREMIERSTREET HYPNOTIST (DUBLIN, IRELAND)

“James, it has been a pleasure to see youwork! You have some great ideas and aninfectious attitude to everything. In myopinion, you are one of the few hypnotistsworking today with a modern attitude to boththe performance and the theory behind it.”

DARREN ALTMAN – HYPNOTIST (LONDON,UK)

“I love how you can pace and lead with thisstuff, so you stick all their body parts toanything and everything as you springboard:So as x sticks even more, you can notice thaty is happening! Great stuff - cheers James!!”

KALDER BENN – NLP MASTERPRACTITIONER AND TRAINER (LONDONUK)

“James has the unparalleled knack to spot theleverage points that create the largestnumber of choices for his (hypnosis) clientswith absolute minimal effort”.

ANTHONY JACQUIN – HYPNOTIST,CHANGE AGENT, HYPNOSIS TRAINER ANDAUTHOR OF REALITY IS PLASTIC

(Talking about the ‘hypnotic sticky fingers’sequence) “I knew the routine worked well,but James has helped me understand some ofthe finer points of why it works and how tomake it rock solid and reliable. He has turnedit into a flexible routine that can be used atany stage of the hypnotic process.”

MICHAEL WATSON – NLP MASTERPRACTITIONER AND TRAINER OFHYPNOSIS AND NLP

“James, James, James …I want to let you knowhow much I appreciate your video and blog. Iam an NLP and Hypnosis Trainer (US and UK)with a 30 year history in the field, and quitefrankly, when I look around the “academicand professional hypnosis community”, I seemore bullshit than substance.

It is refreshing to see you at your art… andyour great language utilization is as naturalas it is effective. You are a member of an elitecircle of hypnosis trainers – you’re the realdeal.

I’m going to share your video with mystudents and friends.”

H Y P N O S I S B E Y O N D T H E T R A N C E M Y T H

Now, over time I have built a model for thisloop, which serves to underpin myunderstanding of hypnosis and allows me toroutinely elicit strong hypnotic phenomenafrom subjects without apparently doing anyactual ‘hypnosis’ at all! And I am going toshare the fundamentals of this model withyou in this report.

But I am getting ahead of myself because Ihaven’t even introduced myself yet!

My name is James Tripp, and I am trulydelighted that you have taken the time todownload this report and are now taking thetime to read it!

Obviously I’m a Hypnotist... It took me awhile of experimenting with hypnosis beforeI was comfortable saying that, but I now canand I am!

I’m also an NLPer and a Mentalist (nosniggering please, just look it up), and overthe last 4 years I have been experimentingwith hypnosis and hypnotising across a rangeof different contexts – formal hypnotherapy,mentalism performance settings, impromptudemonstration and educational contexts.

During that time I have discovered somethings that I think are pretty important andthat you need to know if you really want toget into hypnosis and reach the top of yourgame!

Now, I know that that’s a bold claim, which ispart of the reason I have been hesitant ingiving this information out but I think it istime to start sharing this stuff becausepeople have been asking me and I’d like themto have the chance to judge the value forthemselves.

I also want to make it clear up front that I’mno hypnosis guru and make no claim to be –I’m actually pretty new to this field really!

I’m no university professor or radical geniusbut what I do have is an inquisitive mind thatjust won’t accept things that don’t fit andover the last few years what I have found isthat virtually everything I have ever read orbeen taught about what hypnosis is and howit works just doesn’t ring true!

So I have let much of it go and built somenew models to explain hypnosis in a way thathelps me to do it better! And of course it is nogood to you if it only works for me – so I havebeen sharing bits and pieces with friends andcolleagues to test out my approach.


And a small sample of feedback from theyears that followed (please visithttps://www.hypnosiswithouttrance.comfor much more!):

MICHELLE M – HYPNOTHERAPIST – PERTHAUSTRALIA

“Hypnosis Without Trance has blown my mindand completely changed my thoughts on howhypnosis works with my clients – it’s clickedtogether a lot of gaps that my traditionallearning couldn’t explain…”

NATHAN T – HYPNOTIST

"I stumbled across your HWT site in November,and I’ve been totally blown away by your theoryand model of hypnosis. I’m not blowing smokewhen I say that I believe you are one of thegreat contemporary thinkers of this discipline.…each moment is orchestrated for the desiredoutcome with Seeding, NLP “tricks”, cleanlanguage, and what else? Inspiring. Thanks."

RAYMOND G - HWT ONLINE DEEPAPPRENTICESHIP MEMBER

James you have awakened something in methat I have pushed away from at differentpoints in my life due to the limitations that Ihad held onto during those periods. Better lateto the party than not to join at all. Thanks forthe space to ....... My mind continues to beblown.....

MARK W - HWT ONLINE DEEPAPPRENTICESHIP MEMBER

...this material is years ahead of itself, basicallypioneering stuff. Thanks for the opportunity tolearn this!

CHAD K - HWT ONLINE DEEPAPPRENTICESHIP MEMBER

"This is completely transformative. Not just interms of how I will approach changework, butin terms of how I approach my own life. I'm sograteful for this course..."

ANTHONY T - HWT ONLINE DEEPAPPRENTICESHIP MEMBER

"This course is amazing. I was telling my wifelast nite, it feels as though I’m doing aphilosophy, psychology and hypnosis course allat once the platform is amazing and JamesTripp's teachings are resonating in a very deepand embodied way."

JD - HWT ONLINE DEEP APPRENTICESHIPMEMBER

"Hello, just a quick appreciation of all thethought you have put into the course. I reallyappreciate the breadth of your theoreticalthinking and that your ethical principlesshine through. Not naming names here butthe same I could not find in some prominentinternational online hypnosis courses!"

And of course it is my hope that throughthis report and my blog, you will be able tolearn enough about my approach toexperiment a little and hopefully transformyour own approach to hypnosis for thebetter! (If you do, please do let me know howit has helped you!)


https://www.hypnosiswithouttrance.com/https://www.hypnosiswithouttrance.com/

Summary

The short answer is: there is no should! If youdo hypnosis as well as you wish to and arehappy with what you do and what youbelieve, then there is really no need tobother.

If, on the other hand, you are looking todeepen your understanding and become amore effective hypnotist, the ideas containedwithin the following pages will really helpyou to do this.

I believe that to be the most effectivehypnotist you can be, you need to do onlythat which works and strip away that whichdoesn’t. For all kinds of reasons the world ofhypnosis seems to be filled with myths andconfusion about what hypnosis is and how itactually works - myths that originate fromthe 19th and 20th century pioneers ofhypnosis and are passed down to us throughsuccessive generations of hypnosis teachersand authors.

Now, these myths all had their moment, butsometimes it is time to move on, because, toparaphrase Brad Blanton (Radical Honesty,Sparrowhawk Publications):

Yesterday's liberating insight is today’sjailhouse of stale thinking!

I think that it is time to challenge the hypno-myths of old and bring hypnosis fully into the21st century. I am not claiming to be doingthis single-handedly, but it is part of mypersonal agenda, and I think you’ll benefitfrom it becoming part of yours. When you dothis and streamline your thinking andapproach, it will make a real difference toyour efficacy as a hypnotist.

This is what this report is about – the firststeps in taking a modern, streamlinedapproach to hypnosis that cuts out all the‘hypno- theology’ that can hold you back.


w h y s h o u l d I r e a d t h i s r e p o r t ?

w h y s h o u l d I r e a d t h i s r e p o r t ?

Summary

I have no idea how many people there are onthis planet who are proficient in ‘formal’hypnosis, but I do know that none of themreally know what hypnosis is! Some may thinkthat they know, and many of them have great‘models’ or explanations of hypnosis that areuseful, but none of them really know ‘thetruth’. And that goes for me too.

Now I also know that you don’t need to know'the truth' – but to be your very best as ahypnotist you need to work by a set ofassumptions and models that liberate andguide you to take only the most effectiveaction.

To me, hypnosis is a way of altering aperson’s subjective experience through meansof verbal and non-verbal communication.

So you may have someone experience theirhand as being stuck to a table, or their nameas gone from their mind, or the experience ofa powerful emotion, or the relief fromphysical cravings for cigarettes... orwhatever.

So this is my most basic definition - hypnosisis:

The alteration of a person's subjectiveexperience through means of verbal

and non-verbal communication.

This definition is OK, but it is limited becauseit says nothing of how communication canalter experience. I believe there are 2 keyelements here:

1. The engagement and modification ofbeliefs 2. The capturing and leading ofimagination

Out of these two, the first is primary – it isthe modification of beliefs that is the key toaltering perception. Beliefs are powerful inthat they shape our perception andexperience. This is too big an area to go intofully in these pages, but consider for amoment the power of the placebo effect –


w h a t o n e a r t h i s h y p n o s i s ?

w h a t o n e a r t h i s h y p n o s i s ?

people experience powerful, positivephysiological changes simply because theybelieve they are receiving effective treatment.

Personally, I consider placebo to be a form ofhypnosis, or hypnosis to be a more dynamicform of placebo (I haven’t made up my mindyet, and may not for some time).

The second key element is imagination!Imagination is easy to evoke and experiencecan be changed through the simpleapplication of imagination. Here’s a quickexercise:

Go ahead and imagine that you have an itchon the end of your nose (and REALLY slowdown and take the time to fully do this)...

...notice how it would feel if you did... have anitch on the end of your nose... and even ifthat doesn’t feel totally itchy yet, you canprobably already feel the change inawareness... and sensation... can't you?

How long would you have to focus on thatidea of that itching sensation before youreally feel like scratching it?

Now you have read this and maybe tried itout, do it again with full focus (withoutreading it).

Now this is a simple experiment, so don'ttake the results too seriously yet (becasue wedidn't do much there with beliefs) but...

Essentially, hypnosis is a process of engagingpeople’s beliefs and imagination in creatingfor them a new subjective reality.

Let me say that again:

Hypnosis is the engagement of a person’sbeliefs and imagination in creating for

them an altered subjective reality.

And effective communication skills andtechniques are the tools that enable thehypnotist to do it.

You’ll note that there is no mention of‘trance’ or 'special states' here, or of hypnosisbeing something you can be ‘in’ or ‘under’. What we have here is a pure processdefinition – no peculiar states of mindnecessary!

Let’s deal with traditional ‘trance’ now!


Summary

There is a long history, dating back tohypnosis pioneer James Braid (1795-1860), ofthinking of hypnosis as some kind of ‘specialstate’ often referred to as ‘trance’ (or simply‘hypnosis’). The belief being that when aperson is in that state they become‘suggestible’, and the deeper they are in thatstate the more able they are to manifestvarious hypnotic phenomena on demand.This theory is still the most pervasive in theworld of hypnotherapy by far – take a look atthe Wikipedia definition (as at time ofwriting):

“Hypnosis is a mental state... usuallyinduced by a procedure known as a hypnoticinduction, which is commonly composed of

a series of preliminary instructions andsuggestions.”

Now this definition contrasts quite radicallywith the definition I offered in the previoussection:

Hypnosis is the engagement of a person’sbeliefs and imagination in creating for them

an altered subjective reality.

The most basic distinction is that theWikipedia definition describes hypnosis as a‘state or set of attitudes’, while my definitionis describes a process. So what?

Well, to answer the question you need toconsider what it is that you want to achievewith hypnosis.

If all you want to achieve is a relaxed ‘trance’,then the state model is just fine. But if you wantto achieve hypnotic phenomena (what I call a‘new subjective reality’), then the state modelbecomes more of a hindrance than a help...

...because hypnotic phenomena have gotnothing to do with any special signature state'induced' via hypnotism or any other means!!!

Now, I hope that you are wondering how it isthat I know this and can say it with suchconviction! Well, it is simply because Iregularly elicit hypnotic phenomena frompeople without using a ‘hypnotic induction’ oreliciting any alleged prerequisite state in anyway.


t h e t r a n c e m y t ht h e t r a n c e m y t h

The subjects display no ‘trance analogues’(changes in physiology which are said toindicate 'trance' – e.g. breathing rate, muscletone, pulse rate, skin colour changes, eyemovement etc.), and are able to chatnormally and laugh about their experience asit is happening.

If you are reading this then you haveprobably already seen the video of hypnosiswith the girl at the music festival – she islaughing and interacting with me just as shewould in a normal everyday waking statebecause that is what she is in!

You may also have seen the video of the guystuck to the chair in the pub – I ask him “youseem perfectly awake to me” and he repliesquick as a flash “I am” – his reply is genuine(not because I hypnotised him to believe hewas not hypnotised – I didn’t)

So why is the trance myth so pervasive in theworld of hypnosis?

I believe the biggest reason is that peopleneed an explanation for what is happening

because it seems so strange and evenmagical, and a special mental/neurologicalstate fits the bill just perfectly – after all,something must be making all that weirdstuff possible!

But the truth is, 'hypnosis' is alreadyhappening for us 24/7, but we just don't seeit because we are seeing the world through it.

Ask any neuroscientist and they will tell youthe same thing - that our mind/braingenerates our experience of reality in everymoment of every day of our lives - we justdon’t tend to notice (any more than a fishnotices the water it swims in) because wesimply take the results of this at face-valueand call it 'what is'. Indeed, it is only whenthe results of this process start to deviatefrom the normal (as they do through skilledhypnotic facilitation) that we feel we requirean explanation. Well, explain it we can...

...and without any recourse to stories ofspecial states or 'going under' whatsoever!

Though before we do that, there is one lastthing I would like to say about trance...


Summary

Before we move to my explanation of how Ibelieve hypnosis really works (and this will be amodel, not a truth), I want to be clear that I amnot saying that there is no such thing as‘traditional trance’ or that such traditionaltrance is wrong. What I am saying is simplythat:

1. Hypnosis and 'traditional trance' arenot the same thing

2. The traditional 'trance state' is not at allnecessary for hypnosis

By 'traditional trance' I am talking about astate of turning inwards (what in NLP wouldbe called a ‘downtime trance’) characterisedby relaxation and a probable shift inbrainwave activity (perhaps to alpha ortheta). This is the kind of trance that istypically (though not necessarily) marked bytraditional trance analogues (changes inphysiology – e.g. breathing rate, muscle tone,pulse rate, skin colour changes, eyemovement etc.)

Now I use this kind of trance in conjunctionwith hypnosis and value it highly as atherapeutic/transformational tool. This kindof 'trance' can be of great utility intransforming habitual cognitive patterningand facilitating access to different levels ofclient ‘self-knowledge’, but that doesn’t makeit hypnosis. In fact, 'deep trance' can actuallycreate a barrier to a broader range ofhypnotic effects - many hypnotherapists whoutilise hypnotic phenomena (rather than - toborrow a term from Hypnosis Trainer JonChase - operating as mere 'relaxotherapists')will likely have had experience of this (everhad finger signals disappear when the trancegoes too deep?).

So, to be clear, I am not suggesting thathypnotherapists stop using 'traditionaltrance' where there is utility in doing so.

Only that in giving it it up as an explanationfor hypnosis and hypnotic phenomena...


t r a n c e i s c o o l !t r a n c e i s c o o l !

...you will liberate yourself to become far moregenerative, adaptive and impactful as ahypnotic facilitator. Indeed...

Dropping the 'trance myth' and learning theprocess driven hypnotic facilitation of Hypnosis

Without Trance will actually make you evenmore effective as a tranceworker!

It’s true! By working skillfully with the truemechanisms behind hypnosis you becomesignificantly more adept at creating andshaping any kind of 'trance' you choose with amuch higher level of precision and impact.

The reason for this is simply that 'hypnotictrances' are always the result of skilledhypnotic facilitation. You see it has been theother way round all along – hypnosis(hypnotic facilitation) generates trancerather than trance generating the effects ofhypnosis! When you learn the HypnosisWithout Trance process model of hypnosisthat I am introducing here, you will realisethat trance is just another hypnoticphenomenon (altered subjective reality) likeany other.


Summary

I want to stress once again that hypnosis isabout engaging and leading cognitiveprocesses in order to alter a person’s reality.It is important to understand this becausewithout a quantifiable change in realityhypnosis is not taking place. The only way toknow if the process is working is if you aregetting the outcome you are going for(which, as we have discussed, may well be'traditional trance' if you have a use for it!).

In the next section, I am going to beintroducing to you to a simple but powerful'base model' for hypnosis and hypnoticfacilitation that I call the Hypnotic Loop. As apre-curser to this, I would like to firstintroduce you to the idea of Ideodynamics.

To the best of my understanding, the termideodynamics was first introduced by ErnestRossi and David Cheek in their book Mind-body Therapy: Methods of IdeodynamicHealing in Hypnosis.

In this book, Rossi and Cheek use the termonly to refer to phenomena associated with

what is classically called the ideomotor effect- a psychological phenomenon whereinphysical motor-activity is generatedunconsciously in response to ideas andemotions.

The term ideomotor effect is far older thanthe term ideodynamics, first seeing use in an1852 paper by William Benjamin Carpenterdiscussing the means through which theOuija board produced its unusual effects. Inthis paper, Carpenter laid out a theory thatmuscular movement can be psychologicallyinitiated, maintained and directedindependently of conscious awareness orvolition.

In hypnosis, we see the ideomotor effect atwork in generating many classic hypnoticphenomena. Arm levitation is a goodexample - in response to the idea of lifting,the appropriate muscles engage to make ithappen outside of consciousness. Or the ideathat a hand is stuck to a table-top engagesthe appropriate muscle action to make it sooutside of consciousness.


n e w r e a l i t i e sn e w r e a l i t i e s

But ideomotor action doesn’t account for thefull range of ‘hypnotic phenomena’, which iswhy I advocate using a broader model ofideodynamics when making sense of hypnoticresponses.

In my rendering here, hypnotic phenomenafall into 4 catagories:

1. Ideomotor - Motor system responses(e.g. Catalepsies, sticking, movements).

2. Ideosensory - Sensory systemresponses (e.g. anaesthesia, heat, tingling,etc.).

3. Ideoemotive – Emotional responses (e.g.feeling happy, feeling calm etc.).

4. Ideocognitive – mental processingresponses (e.g. amnesia, confusion,'scenario' based skits etc.)

So I use the term ideodynamics to cover thiswhole range. Please be aware that while somehypnotic responses fall clearly into one oranother of these categories, many willactually be cross-boundary compounds.

How is this idea useful? Well, when you areout and about hypnotising a lot of differentpeople, you are going to find that differentpeople seem to manifest some categories ofhypnotic phenomena more readily thanothers. So you may get ‘arm-lock’ but notamnesia – for example. So what is thedifference?

Those still following the trance model maylikely conclude that the subject isn’t "deepenough" for the latter, and so attempt to

remedy the problem by taking them into a'deeper trance' (layering in more 'deepeners'etc.). And it is true that sometimes thisgambit can work... but plenty of other timesit just doesn’t. The reason being that 'depthof trance' wasn't really the key variable andso if it worked, you got lucky but the realreasons why remain unrevealed. So let us,once again, clean things up by removing'trance' and 'depth' (once again) from theequation.

From what I have been able to deduce frommy experience, a major part of the reason isthat people simply differ in their ‘cognitivestyles’ and preferences and, for this reason,any given individual will find some classes ofhypnotic phenomena easier to manifest thanothers. So, for example, they may findideomotor easier than ideocognitive (this iscommon but not absolute).

Knowing this can serve us greatly as hypnoticfacilitators as it opens the option to identifyand begin with that which a person findseasiest and then to 'overlap' from this intomore challenging areas.

So, by way of example, imagine that you are ahypnotic facilitator looking to create an 'armfloating up all by itself' type experience. Withsomeone who does ideomotor well, you cansimply suggest that their arm will begin to liftall by itself, and off it goes. But if they don’tdo ideomotor well and do ideosensory moreeasily, you can suggest a sensation oflightness, or invite them to feel into wheretheir unconscious mind will begin themovement.


Summary

Before we go any further, please take amoment to refresh yourself with our basic(trance-free) definition for hypnosis:

Hypnosis is the engagement of a person’sbeliefs and imagination in creating for them

an altered subjective reality.

We’ve talked briefly about ideodynamics butpractically speaking, how does it all work?

Well, brain/bodies unquestionably createexperience through phenomenally complexneurophysiological interactions of feedback,control, emergence and all manner neuro-crazy 'strange loops' (to borrow a term fromcognitive scientist scholar DouglasHofstadter). But, whilst it can be useful tobear this complexity in mind, what we reallyrequire as practitioners (rather thantheoreticians) is a much simplified but highlyuseful 'map' by which we can navigate thebasic hypnotic terrain. And so may Iintroduce...

...the Hypnotic Loop!

Before we dive in I will quickly say that,whilst most hypnotists may not be familiarwith the Hypnotic Loop as presented here, Ibelieve that all consistently effectivehypnotists understand the truths that it mapsat least intuitively (even if they are stillconsciously allied to the trance model). I saythis because in order to hypnotise withconsistent efficacy, you need to be alignedwith reality as it is, and this is what we arefunctionally mapping through the HypnoticLoop... so let's get to it!

As you will remember, our aim with hypnosisis to engage and manipulate the subject’sbeliefs and imagination so as to create forthem a new temporary (or permanent)reality. To do this we need to generate withinour subject a hypnotic loop:

A hypnotic loop is a circular process(feedback loop) that consists in a self-

perpetuating loop of belief, imagination,physiology and experience.

All hypnotic phenomena are generated out ofhypnotic loops!


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The aim of the hypnotic loop is to model theideodynamic processes of hypnosis in such away as to practically aid us in making coolstuff happen. So to begin to unpack it, let'smake illustrative use of practical example ofhypnotic facilitation:

Imagine that we want someone to experiencean altered subjective reality – we want tostick their hand to a table-top!

To do so we need to engage the person'scognitive processes in such a way as theycome to believe that their hand is stuck. Indoing this we may first need to engage withtheir current beliefs to create 'buy-in','engagement' and 'expectancy' (these are allkey ideas in HWT). From here we can begin,through our languaging and facilitation, tolead their imagination in generating a strong

physiological response (an ideomotorresponse in this case) that simulatesstuckness. This experience of stucknessbecomes their new subjective reality, whichfeeds back into beliefs... beliefs to whichimagination now further responds – and sothe loop begins to self-perpetuate.

And so, from this we see that the four keyelements here are:

1. Belief2. Imagination3. Physiological Response4. Experience

Belief drives imagination, to which respondsphysiology, creating a new experience whichfeeds back into beliefs about what ishappening right now (and what it all means).


Without getting into too much detail, can youalready see how this model could be useful toyou as a hypnotist?

To begin with, it presents four points throughwhich you can enter and influence the loop.Although belief is the prime driver, we don’talways have to enter at that point, so we couldbegin with imagination, or pacing physiologicalhappenings like changing breathing orsensation or movements), or withinfluencing experience more directly throughshifting attention patterns.

We can also, as we develop acuity for thedifferent aspects of the loop, start to pick upon loops that are already at play, and throughthis awareness start to steer them towardthe outcomes we (inclusive of the person weare facilitating) desire.

So that’s our first look at the hypnotic loop.We’ll come back to it again later but beforewe do, I’d like to talk a little more aboutbelief and share with you another simplemodel which should be useful in aiding ourunderstanding here.


Summary

With the hypnotic loop, belief sits right at thetop and can, in many ways, be seen as thefundamental driver. As such, our primaryobjective as a hypnotist is the engagementand modification of beliefs. Belief is sofundamental because people automaticallycreate their experience of reality (via the restof the loop) according to how they believethings are, both generally and in thismoment.

If I believe I am a fundamentally likeableperson and you insult me, I am unlikely totake it personally - I'll create a reality inwhich you are upset and NOT one in whichthere is something wrong with me.

Put another way, depending upon what Ibelieve, my imagination (creative faculty) willcreate an experience that is congruent,regardless of your behaviour.

This turns the popular idea of 'seeing isbelieving' on it's head. Instead we 'see'(perceive) according to what we believe. Soessentially people always reflexively imagine(perceive - perception is 'believed inimagination') that which they truly believe tobe so (although it is worth mentioning, they


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can also imagine that which they disbelieve,and this can be a useful entry point into theloop).

A simple way of thinking about this is tofollow Robert Anton Wilson in making use ofDr. Leonard Orr's rendering of the Thinkerand the Prover:

Dr. Orr's observation is that the human mindbehaves as if it were divided into two parts,the Thinker and the Prover.

“The Thinker can think about virtuallyanything. History shows that it can think theearth is suspended on the backs of infiniteturtles or that the Earth is hollow, or that theEarth is floating in space; comparativereligion and philosophy show that theThinker can regard itself as mortal, asimmortal, as both mortal and immortal (thereincarnation model) or even as non-existent(Buddhism). It can think itself into living in aChristian universe, a Marxist universe, ascientific-relativist universe, or a Naziuniverse –among many possibilities.

As psychiatrists and psychologists have oftenobserved (much to the chagrin of their

medical colleagues), the Thinker can thinkitself sick, and even think itself well again.

The Prover is a much simpler mechanism. Itoperates on one law only: Whatever thethinker thinks, the Prover proves.”

(quoted from Robert Anton Wilson's,Prometheus Rising - 2005 New Falcon Press,P25)

What Wilson is talking about here is howhuman beings prove their beliefs as truths –even going as far as to alter their physiologyto do so. As a hypnotist it is essential tounderstand this and to develop the key skillof being able to engage a subject's beliefs onmany levels (this is a whole area of deep craftin-and-of-itself, of immense value to changeagents and professional influencers acrossthe board).

Now, understand this: If you are going tohave someone believe in the alternativesubjective reality that you wish to lead theminto...

...they are going to need to have a plausiblereason why what is happening is actuallypossible....

..because if their Thinker thinks it is notpossible, their Prover will be sure to provethat it’s not.

Essentially people need a because – i.e. this ispossible because the hypnotist has powers,because of chi energy, because of the powerof Christ, because of voodoo, or because of a‘special state of mind’... or whatever thisperson can key in to.

From a practical perspective, whateverreason you choose doesn’t really matter solong as it is plausible to the subject. Inteaching Hypnosis Without Trance, I oftenrefer to this reason (whatever it may be) asthe "big because" – the overarching reasonthat makes everything else possible. And bythe way...

...this is the upside of a strong belief in the'trance model' - it can create a very congruent'big because'!

For a lot of hypnotists, this is a strongunconscious motivator for staying wedded tothe trance myth - firstly because they need a'big becasue' they can believe in forthemselves but also because they areuncomfortable playing with belief itself as adriver - it can feel to some like 'telling lies'to 'manipulate'... but consider this:

Reality (including the reality of hypnosis) iscomplex... to paraphrase Werner Heisenberg"not only more complex than you think, butmore complex than you can think".

Every way of understanding the world is onlyever a map at best (and never the actualterritory), because the world is never madeof the ideas we use to make sense of it. So, inhelping people make sense that is useful forengaging with hypnotic facilitation, ourpragmatic aim is to select the 'sense' mostuseful for this person to hypnotically createwith via the hypnotic loop.

Nothing that you offer as a big because isever a 'lie', just a way of thinking about things(a metaphor, if you like) that is a good fit forthis client and their current worldview (you


can pace and lead them to new worldviews asyou go if you wish, but start with what worksfor them).

In Hypnosis Without Trance (and some otherapproaches to hypnosis) this management ofbeliefs and meaning making is called 'framing'and is always our first consideration in anyhypnotic facilitation.

When setting about shifting a person's realitythrough hypnotic facilitation, do remember theimportance of establishing a "big because",because it is this that sets the frame for thewhole ‘hypnotic interaction’ (whether overt orcovert). You are looking to get the subject's‘buy-in’ because without it you really havenothing. And be aware that this ‘buy-in’operates on 2 levels:

1. Belief in the process (‘hypnosis’ or whateveryou have named it as being)

2. Belief in you as the ‘Hypnotist’ – that is, beliefin your skills, expertise and competence

It is not enough that someone believes your'big because' regarding the process if they don’tbelieve in you! The most solid way to take careof part 2 is create clarity within yourself as tohow hypnosis works and why it is valuable,along with a clear grounding in the skills ofhypnotic facilitation. Also coming from anattidude of curiosity and generative difference-making towards your hypnotic co-operatorrather than a place of 'trying to provesomething or getting recognition.

(This is outside the scope of this ebook butworth mentioning: Whilst there is a lot to besaid for developing high level hypnoticfacilitation skills, without appropriate'groundedness' and 'inner stance', the utility ofthose skillsets will be undermined.


In conclusion here, when you learn to set upthe 'big because' with subtlety and finesse(though these are not always necessary), youwill be a good way there to becoming anexcellent hypnotist. Without this skill you willbe close to nowhere!

AND ONE MORE THING:

When doing hypnosis, you’ll often find thatwith the same subject you can get certainphenomena but not others, and there mayoften seem to be no rhyme or reason to this.But there is!

Sometimes it will be just that you managed theloops badly but often it is because according tothe person's current belief system, only someof the altered realities are plausible (believable)whilst others are not (yet!). Very often you onlyneed to make some small adjustments in re-engaging their beliefs towards your outcome.

Sometimes however, you might need tointroduce new beliefs into the system to makethings work.

One of the strong advantages with theHypnosis Without Trance approach is that it ishighly interactive. This means we can get a lotof 'report feedback' from the client that we canuse to make adjustments (either in framing oradapting to cognitive style or utilising ourhypnotic parter's personal 'neurohandles') andtailor things to create the kind of engagementand response we are looking for.

You will be able to find video examples of thisinteractive approach at...

https://www.hypnosiswithouttrance.com/

O.K., lets get back to that hypnotic loop!


Summary

So as we have discussed, belief is key – wewant to get the Thinker to think what wewant it to think!

While the Hypnotic Loop model is essentiallymapping the same process as theThinker/Prover, it has a higher level offunctional detail that we can make use of ashypnotic facilitators. Here it is again in anutshell:

Belief fires and shapes the imagination,which in turn triggers the physiological

response, which creates the new experience– and the whole thing is what creates and

maintains the altered subjective reality.

And, of course, the newly created experiencefeeds right back into the belief system(because it provides evidence to support thebelief and/or modify it further), thusgenerating, strengthening and perpetuatingthe loop.

To understand this Hypnotic Loop better, let’smove beyond the theoretical and into thepractical. We’ll use the example of sticking asubjects hand to a table-top. This is just an


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outline description, for the full ‘hand-stick’tutorial,visit:


SET-UP AND PRE-FRAME - THE BIGBECAUSE

First we need to give the subject a reasonwhy this is going to happen (although wewon’t have told them specifically what isgoing to happen yet - in HWT we keep ouroptions open to increase manoeuvrability).

At the top level, the three major frames (bigbecauses) I use most in HWT are ‘hypnosis’(whatever they think that is - and I will needto find out and maybe do some re-shaping ofconcept), ‘energy’ (chi, prana etc.) and ‘thepower of the mind’ (which I can flesh out in avariety of different ways.

When setting up a big because, I will often doit subtly and indirectly (i.e. in a 'streethypnosis' context I may mention that I havespent a lot of time exploring with hypnosis,then do a few simple, self-working ‘mind

tricks’ to create some 'buy in'). At this point Iam engaging their beliefs in what might bepossible for them here. Once I feel that theyare engaging and buying in I will then saysomething like “let me show you somethingreally interesting... this is not hypnosis assuch but will give you a good insight into howhypnosis actually works...”

Through my actions (mind tricks) and indirectsuggestions (I mention this in passing here,but hypno-linguistics and suggestionformulation is a rich skillset in itself that is,unfortunately, way beyond the scope of thisintroduction) I have set the frame for thespecific piece of hypnotic creation I amlooking to facilitate.

Belief – Loop 1: The frame is set, so thefacilitator proceeds by inviting theparticipant to place his/her hand on thetable and may begin with some additionalbelief work by seeding some ideas aroundhands sticking... setting the participant tobegin entertaining the notion that theirhand may be beginning to stick (this isdone with a mini loop using pacing andleading language – see the full tutorial fordetails).

Imagination – Loop 1: The hypnotist usesdescriptive language wrapped around'pacing and leading' structures, along withnon-verbal suggestion (very powerful inhypnotic facilitation) to lead cognition andevoke and shape within the realm ofimagination. The participants mind createsand connects deeply into the mind madeexperience, and...

P A G E 2 5

Physiology – Loop 1: Their physiologyresponds by firing the appropriate neuralpathways and altering muscle tone inresponse to imagination (when we sleep,the body inhibits movement otherwise wewould 'move with our dreams' - this is thesame principle at play.)

Experience – Loop 1: The subjectexperiences a little stuckness.

Belief – Loop 2: The experience ofstuckness compounds the belief in thepossibility, adding a new layer of belief -"this is really happening!"

Imagination – Loop 2: The imagination isseduced by the belief, pulling it furtherinto absorption in what is manifesting inmind and body.

Physiology – Loop 2: The physiological response increases correspondingly instrength.

Experience – Loop 2: The experience ofstuckness is further compounded,becoming yet more complete.

And so the loop continues so long as nothinghappens to break it.

And here is one of the primary keys tounderstanding hypnosis:

As a hypnotist it is your job to set up,maintain and manage hypnotic loops for yourparticipant and a major part of this is

H Y P N O S I S B E Y O N D T H E T R A N C E M Y T H

managing their engagement. As such, you are afacilitator of hypnotic experience, and NOT(contrary to popular myth) a mind-controller!

Essentially, whilst an immersive hypnoticexperience is unquestionably magical, you donot have any magical powers as you do notdirectly create the subjects altered realityyourself. Your co-operator is the one whomanifests the magic with their mind-bodysystem - you are just there as an expertfacilitator and guide to run the process thatsets up and maintains the loops.

(Incidently, while you do not possess anyspecial powers, for some people their beliefthat you do will form part of their big because. I personally never push this overtly, butneither do I necessarily push it away untilafterwards, at which point I make it clear thateverything that happened was due to their owncreative power and innate capability. This is anempowering gift to give someone – do goodthings with your hypnosis always and it will paydividends for all. Hypnotic Loop?... or RealityLoop?

THE LOOPS THAT RUN YOUR LIFE!

The last thing I want to say here is that theHypnotic Loop is NOT something that appliesonly to hypnotic facilitation. Indeed, the sameprocesses underlie all human experience.

I won't go into great depth on this herebecause this is not at all what this book issupposed to be about, but...

Procrastination? Theres a hypnotic loopunderneath it. Excitement? A loop. A phobia...it's a hypnotic loop that got kicked off.

Pick an experience or response that you runand there will be a loop lying hiddenunderneath.

The basic truth is that we human beings donot live in the world as it is but in the worldas our minds are making it up to be throughourbeliefs, imagination, physiology and theexperience that these create. Someonecanbelieve their hand is stuck and thatbecomes their reality. They can also believetheir life is stuck and that becomes theirreality too... or they can connect with newways of seeing and being... new loops... andcreate new and powerful engagements withthe world and corresponding results.

In my work as a change agent I am alwayslooking for the loops that are maintaining myclients' problems, helping them to bust out ofthem and create new functional loops to runin their place. In my own life I've learned toworkwith my own loops so as I can recreatemy own engagement with the world as I needto (and I'm not claiming complete masteryhere - there's always a degree of'bootstrapping' in self-facilitation even whenyou get pretty competent with it because youcan't always see how the new loops need tobe when caught up in the beliefs of the oldloops... but that's a wholeother story).

Suffice to say, getting into hypnosis(...beyond the trance myth) can end upenriching your life in ways that you couldprobably never have imagined at the outset.


Summary

When you start to understand hypnotic loopsand how to generate and maintain them, youare able to become much more precise andeffective as a hypnotist because you canalways monitor the loops to know where youneed to make adjustments to strengthen,perpetuate or modify them. Essentially...

Take care of the loop and the hypnosis takescare of itself!

The old ‘trance’ model, on the other hand,whilst it can indeed serve as a strong bigbecause, also shuts our awareness off fromthe places where we have real leverage as ahypnotic facilitator, instead drawing us tofocus on red herrings like ‘trance analogues’and generic 'deepeners'. Focusing on suchthings whilst following prescribed 'tranceinduction' recipes may or may not get you'trance', but it leaves you very low on optionswhen you find the responses that it issupposed to facilitate just aren’t happening(because there was no real attention to thecrafting of those loops).

As a professional hypnotist, I highlyrecommend that you study this concept of

hypnotic loops and find out where it takesyou – have a mind for taking care of all theelements! To do this, you’ll need to work up afew skills for setting up, monitoring,maintaining and modifying loops effectivelyand efficiently. I have a ton of free materialavailable via the Hypnosis Without Tranceblog and James Tripp | Chaos Wave YouTubechannel, but if you are really looking todevelop your skills and understandings to thehighest level, there is also the option ofjoining me in my fully interactive HWT OnlineDeep Apprenticeship.

So... mastering the craft of the HypnoticLoops... seeing an array of options and choicepoints for creating strong hypnoticengagement, for seamless and effectivetroubleshooting in the moment... andhypnotically creating on the fly withwhatever cognitive differences your hypnoticpartner may bring... Thinking about this now,can you already imagine the difference thiswill make to you as a hypnotist and/orprofessional mindshifter? Possibilities,possibilities, possibilities!


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Summary

Set up loopsMonitor and Maintain loops Transition between Loops Close loops

A rich understanding of the Hypnotic Loop(and we are only really scratching the surfacehere) is unquestionably of massive benefit toanyone looking to facilitate powerfulhypnotic experiences but, to be clear, it isonly of practical use to those who haveembodied the skills required to make goodand effective use of it in. To manage loopseffectively you need to be able to do fourbasic things:

One 'hypnosis authority' I met during myquest to master the craft of hypnosis told mequite clearly that the 'ability to hypnotise'was really just a talent - either you had it oryou didn't. This seemed an odd thing to sayfor a teacher of hypnosis (what's to teach ifpeople either have it or they don't).

I'll say here that I unequivocally disagree withthat perspective and at the time of the 2020update to this ebook, I have been teachingthe skills of hypnotic facilitation for over 10years to people all over the world. So incontrast I will say this...

...the skills necessary for facilitatinghypnotic experiences via the Hypnotic Loopare learnable by pretty much anyone whochooses to really learn them.

When it comes to true skills, due to theirrichness, it is clear that a simple ebook is noplace to be attempting to teach/coach them- again I have many pointers available onYouTube and HypnosisWithoutTrance.comfor free and you will get much from the videoprogram Hypno Dynamics Revealed thataccompanies this ebook. There is also myinteractive Online Deep Apprenticeship forthose who really want to deepen their game.


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Establishing and Maintaining Authority andConnectionSensory AcuityLoop Thinking and PerceivingLinguistic and Non-verbal Pacing andLeading SkillsLinguistic Linking SkillsFraming and Ideas SeedingHolding and Directing AttentionGiving Directions and Suggestions (directand indirect)Non-verbal suggestion and influencingEngagement Coaching

But... to give an overview of some of the moreimportant skills and competencies that you willbe wanting to develop, we are talking about:

If you are an effective hypnotist already, youwill possess many of these skills to some level(though you may identify them through

different frames)... and you may already havesome awareness of areas where you cantighten your game.

If you are just starting out, myrecommendation to you is to implement 'theonly success strategy that ever works' - getin the game, stay in the game, learn growand adapt. Make the commitment to yourselfto get these skills and understandings intoyour body and if you truly want these skillsyou'll get them!

Whatever stage you're at, you have someresource videos available to you as part ofthe bundle alongside this ebook (includingHypno Dynamics Revealed). Please doengage with those as there is much to be hadof value that both complements andcontrasts with what you have beenintroduced to here.


Summary

Although this is only the briefest ofintroductions, it is my hope that you havenonetheless got real value from this shortebook - that it has got you doing some freshthinking about hypnosis and perhapsconsidering taking a more contemporaryapproach to the craft. Above all else, I hopethat it has inspired you to take your personalunderstanding and practise of hypnosis tonew levels, by whichever routes you chooseto take.

Due to the nature of the format, much ofwhat we have covered here is in the realm ofthe theoretical but is absolutely not meretheory for theory’s sake!

It is instead strong theoretical underpinningfor enhanced, effective real world practice.

My sinceire hope is that you take this and runwith it... get out there in the world and startexploring with it and getting hold of whatyou need (both resources and experience) tomake your hypnosis work better.

If you were here to simply scratch an itch ofcuriosity (was it on the tip of your nose?) andyou have now found it scratched then I am


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delighted to have been able to assist.

But if you know you want more, stay engagedwith me via any or all of these options...

Hypnosis Without Trance Blog: https://www.hypnosiswithouttrance.com/

James Tripp | Chaos Wave on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/JamesTrippTV

HWT Online Deep Apprenticeship:https://www.hypnosiswithouttrance.com/home-study/

HWT Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/hypnosiswithouttrance/

Please note that the content on James Tripp |Chaos Wave goes beyond hypnosis andhypnotic facilitation and into the realms of'upgrading your personal operating system' and'using your mind to shape your life'.

If you have any feedback or questions for meabout anything in this report, please do ask viafacebook or leave a comment on the blog. And Iam especially keen to hear how this material isworking for you!

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My thanks to you for you engagement!

James Tripp

Hypnosis Without Trance™

[email protected]://www.hypnosiswithouttrance.com/


P.S. If you have received this report by anymeans other than signing up for it atHypnosisWithoutTrance.com, to ensure thatyou get the rest of the bundle that this is partof (including the video series HypnoDynamics Revealed) along with additionalvideos and updates please do visit...

https://www.hypnosiswithouttrance.com

...and sign up formally!

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Summary

The following books have all, bar two, beenhighly influential to me in developing my skilland approach as a hypnotist and it is for thatreason that I recommend them. The two thathave not are Teach Yourself NLP by SteveBavister and Amanda Vickers, and CleanLanguage by Wendy Sullivan and Judy Rees.The reason I have included these is that bothNLP and Clean language are two disciplinesthat have shaped my approach and I believethey are the best introductions to the twofields respectively.

Please be aware that there is no need to readany of this stuff to understand my approachbut all of them are cracking reads and full of

excellent information (not all of which I agreewith!).

*Monsters & Magical Sticks - Stephen

Heller

*Frogs Into Princes - Bandler and Grinder

*Trance-formations - Bandler and Grinder

*Hypnotic Techniques (Audio) - David

Calof

*Don’t Look in His Eyes! - Jonathan Chase

*Hypnotherapy - Dave Elman

*Reality is Plastic - Anthony Jacquin

*Trances People Live - Stephen Wolinsky

*Teach Yourself NLP - Bavister and

Vickers

*Clean Language - Sullivan and Rees


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Summary

When I first published Hypnosis Beyond theTrance Myth, I was not a hypnosis teacher byprofession. Whilst at that time I had beenexploring with conversational hypnosis forabout 7 years, I had only been practicingformal hypnosis (as a Hypnotherapist and'Street Hypnotist') for about 3 years and hadvery little experience of teaching hypnosis atall (bringing people to true skill andunderstanding) beyond some informalcoaching of fellow street hypnotists inaspects of my approach.

After launching the HWT blog in October2009 and getting a flurry of initial interest(some love, some hate) I ran my first hypnosisworkshop around December 2010, and inMarch 2010 I released the Hypnosis WithoutTrance, Hypnosis Mastery Programme (a mailorder DVD set, as was the technological'cutting edge' at that time).

During the decade since, an internationalreputation has self-assembled and I havetaught all over the world and have had peoplecome from all over the world to learn fromme in London and Edinburgh (where I nowlive) in the UK...

...and, of course, across all this time andactivity I have continued to develop myapproach to both facilitating and teachinghypnosis.

And so Hypnosis Without Trance has evolved!

So what's changed across these 10 or soyears?

NO-FAIL PROTOCOLS, GENERATIVEENGAGEMENT AND GROUNDING

One thing that became very clear for meearly on as a teacher, was that a LOT ofpeople looking to develop as hypnotists wereholding themselves back through fear offailure...

"But what if I go from the hand stick and itdoesn't work?"

This was something I could relate to becauseas a street hypnotist, I had been afflicted byjust such fear also. My solution at the timewas to build rich 'decision trees'


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that would enable absolute manoeuvrabilitythrough agile frame management andutilisation, and so 'outmanoeuvre' any chanceof 'failure'. This was unquestionably a richaddition to the HWT approach and somethingthat I believe is still highly unique.

Now in 2020, the No-Fail Protocol material hasdeepened and changed in charactersignificantly. Whereas in 2010 it was aboutoutmanoeuvring 'failure' it is now aboutcreating generatively with whatever comes up.Much less 'fear driven' and much more'creation driven'.

The reality is that the potential for failure iscreated by the facilitator's own 'toxic trances'or reality tunnels (we, as facilitators, run ourloops too), so as a part of the base fabric ofHWT today, we teach grounding andgroundedness in strong reality tunnels thatliberate and serve (as well as all the strategyand tactics from the no-fail position). Put inanother way, we do a lot more of our hypnosisfrom the 'inside out'.

This evolution has lead to my current HypnosisWithout Trance Online Deep Apprenticeshipgetting unsolicited feedback like this:

"Amazing course James... It's changing myentire outlook and my life. I finally feel as

though I’m creating a workingunderstanding of hypnosis and, as I do, thefear to explore and experiment is leavingand being replaced with an enthusiasticcourage to see what is truly possible."

- Anthony J, Online Deep Apprenticeship

"This is completely transformative. Not justin terms of how I will approach change

work, but in terms of how I approach myown life. I’m so grateful for this course, and

this module in particular!"

- Chad K, Online Deep Apprenticeship

"I can already feel my brain beginning towork in a different way..."

- Nikolaos P, Online Deep Apprenticeship

"This course is amazing. I was telling mywife last night, it feels as though I’m doing aphilosophy, psychology and hypnosis courseall at once. The platform is amazing and theteachings are resonating in a very deep and

embodied way."

- Anthony T, Online Deep Apprenticeship

NON VERBAL SUGGESTION DYNAMICS

Perhaps due to a background as a martial artistand manual therapist, I always had an acuity forthe non-verbal aspects of influence andcommunication which I brought to myhypnosis from the very beginning, but over theyears it has become more and more clear to mejust how much impact we can have throughnon-verbal channels.

One of the reasons non-verbal suggestion is soimpactful is simply that it cannot really beargued with in any way - only responded to. Itwas legendary hypnotherapist Dave Elman


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who stated that Hypnosis is, to a great degree,the art of "bypassing the critical faculty" of the'hypnotee'. In my view, whilst only being halfright (it is equally or more about engaging the'creative faculty'), this was a profoundlyvaluable observation with much relevance tounderstanding effective hypnosis.

But what is the 'critical faculty'? How does itwork?

The job of the 'critical faculty' is essentially tokeep out ideas that may threaten a person'scurrent way of understanding the world... butbecause it is symbolic and logical in itsoperations, it can only work upon ideasstructured and delivered in linguistic form!This is where non-verbal suggestion becomespowerful. Because it is not operatinglinguistically, it cannot be sliced up by the'logic' and critical thinking of the criticalfaculty. Non verbal suggestion slips rightunder the radar and speaks to far deeper andfar older (evolutionarily speaking) 'systems ofmind'.

So, non-verbal communication dynamics issomething that has become an ever richeraspect to the Hypnosis Without Tranceapproach. Indeed, in live workshops I oftendon't even let people use words in theirfacilitation work for a fair portion of the firstday - we stay non-verbal and then layer wordsin bit by bit as we go. In the Online DeepApprenticeship we evolve the use of languageand non-verbal communication simultaneouslythroughout the program. I will state outrightthat I do not believe that any other hypnosistraining comes anywhere close when it comesto unpacking non-verbal suggestion.

STREAMLINING

Looking back to the recordings from 10years ago, I am a lot more streamlined andefficient in my facilitations.

I believe the elements that lead to this are...

* A much higher level of clarity on what isbeing created and shaped with eachfacilitation

* A higher level of acuity for gaugingresponse (the better you can read whensomeone is engaged and psychoactivelyresponding, the more efficient and lean youcan be in your work - doing only as much asyou need to and not overdoing.)

* More effective use of non-verbalcommunication in creating multi-dimensional suggestions

* Having greater clarity in setting conduciveconditions

* Being more grounded and less 'needy'around getting the outcome

Some of these changes have been formally'encoded' into the HWT approach, others canstill only be taught implicitly through meansof demonstration.

In the Online Deep Apprenticeship I includebreakdown and analysis of sessions fromacross the last 10 years. The advantage ofthis is that there is much learning to be hadfrom comparing and contrasting different'evolutionary phases'. It is also true thatearlier demos often contain more 'trainingwheels' elements to them - things that are ofvalue when learning but can fall away when ahigher level of expertise emerges. So peopleget to see the streamlining emerging acrosstime, whilst simultaneously getting theopportunity to learn from it.


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STREET SHAMANICS

Given that I am a professional change agentwho makes significant use of hypnosis andhypnotic principles, a lot of people ask me whychange work or hypnotherapy is not a part ofthe HWT curriculum ? The reason for this issimple: HWT keeps a narrower focus onhypnotic facilitation because this is a rich craftin and of itself and thus benefits from a tightfocus in its development.

However, this does not mean that we close oureyes to the transformative and generativepotentials in hypnotic facilitation. Indeed, wekeep them clearly in the mix the whole time.

In HWT, we conduct all our hypnoticfacilitations in what I call the Street Shamanicsframe. The basic Street Shamanics rule is...

"Make everything meaningful in a way thatempowers the client."

Here 'client' stands for anyone you are workingwith, and 'empowered' means eitherconnecting someone more fully to their valueand capabilities or opening up new generativepossibilities going forward in their lives.

To be clear, this has always been an ethos ofHWT since the start and across time it hasbecome a significantly more developed aspectof the HWT mix.

Also, in 'Street Shamanics' the 'street' bit simplyrefers to the idea of 'anytime, anywhere withany one' - it doesn't necessarily refer toroaming the streets looking to 'shamanise'people (though some might explore with that).

My friend Freddy Jacquin has said that when helearned hypnosis, it was like someone hadgiven him a magical cape. To me, this verymuch sums up the spirit of Street Shamanics...if you are doing 'magic', make that magic countfor the people you work with. Contribute with

it rather than take with it (ultimately this willbe more generative for all). This is what StreetShamanics is all about.

In the Online Deep Apprenticeship ourcapacities to empower the people we workwith progressively grow as we move throughthe levels on the Apprenticeship Roadmap. Inphase 3 they really ignite!

So whilst HWT makes no claim to be therapy orchangework in any complete or rigorous sense,we are learning to create and shapeexperiences that open up possibility andempowerment for people, and muchtransformation can happen.

TRANCE REHABILITATED

When I originally chose the name HypnosisWithout Trance to label my approach tohypnosis, I was wanting to highlight somethingvery specific - that there is no specialsignature state that is 'hypnosis' that peoplecan be 'in' or 'under', has 'depth' to it and isnecessary for 'deep trance phenomena' toemerge.

More to the point, when we let go of thatrestrictive idea, a whole world of newpossibility for powerful hypnotic facilitationopens up.

That said, evocatively speaking, I really ratherlike the term 'trance' and have found myselfusing it more and more often over the last fewyears... albeit using it 'poetically' rather than'scientifically'.

The way I tend to use 'trance' today is to referto...

ANY state that a person finds themselves in,from which automated behaviours emerge.

Not some special state, brought about byritualistic induction, but ANY state.


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Now, considering this definition alongside alittle reflection on the nature of life, it quicklybecomes apparent that...

We are ALWAYS in one kind of trance oranother!

From this perspective, we live our lives throughour own personal repertoire of trances - skilltrances, interpersonal trances, mood trancesetc - and each trance has its own littlehypnotic loop creating it.

So, recognising this, hypnosis stops becomingabout 'putting people into trance' and becomesabout 'recognising the trances people are in'

and choosing how we shift them, steer them,shape them, expand them, disrupt them orwork with them in a potentially near infinitenumber of gross and subtle ways.

And so Hypnosis Without Trance, ironically,becomes a profoundly adaptive approach forworking with trances as they relate to ongoinghuman life and experience.

And so, you have been reading HypnosisBeyond the Trance Myth... and beyond thatmyth lies a new reality and accompanyingworld of possibility!

James Tripp, Edinburgh UK, 2020


hypnosis beyond the trance myth · 2020. 7. 31. · and a small sample of feedback from the years...

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