Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, I have had numerous people asking the question, ‘what rapid inductions can we use whilst social distancing or doing online therapy sessions?’, so this quick blog will show you how you can still create the state of hypnosis quickly, without having to make physical contact with your client/subject.
Rapid progressive induction
Firstly, I have a variation on one of the most common hypnotic inductions out there, the progressive induction (sometimes known as the ‘progressive relaxation’ or ‘progressive muscular relaxation/PMR’ induction). Contrary to what you might have been taught, the progressive induction process doesn’t need to take a long time. Sure, there are some schools and trainers that suggest you need at least 15 minutes in order for the induction to be effective – in fact, I have heard one hypnotherapist say their induction process is 45 minutes (yeesh) – you really don’t need to spend that much time on it. I frequently use rapid progressive inductions that take just a couple of minutes, 4-5 minutes tops, that are super effective, and get clients to where they need to be in order for you to get the ‘therapy’ part of the session underway.
So, if you use a progressive induction that takes more than 5 minutes, have a go at shortening it. Get the key points in, suggest they relax all the appropriate body parts, tell them to allow their breathing to relax them, use brief visualisations and count downs, and whatever other elements that you use, but make it more succinct. There’s no need to have them focus on relaxing every individual muscle group in their body, one-by-one, for 20 seconds at a time… So make it shorter, sweeter, and punchier. When you speed up any inductions that are usually permissive in nature, it can be a good idea to make your suggestions a little more direct, so that the client knows exactly what to do and when.
Rapid eye-fixation induction
Next is the eye fixation induction, which in and of itself is pretty fast, and involves no physical contact. The idea is that you have your client focus on a point high up (or at least above eye-level, you can modify where they look depending on what’s comfortable and whether they have any eye-pain or related issues). Once they’re looking up, you simply suggest that they try to continue to look up, unblinking, at that point, and also that their eyelids are becoming heavy and tired. Whilst looking up, the eyelids begin to tire very rapidly – you can try it yourself now, keeping your head facing forwards, look up as far as you can and try and keep your eyes open, blinking as little as possible. You’ll likely notice that your eyes and eyelids quickly become more and more tired as each moment passes. Once you notice your clients eyes becoming tired and blinking more rapidly, you give them the suggestion that they can close their eyes and go into hypnosis. This suggestion comes as such a relief, that clients are more than willing to do so. As such, the eye-fixation remains a great choice for getting people into hypnosis quickly, with no physical contact. It’s perfect for use in the consulting room, as well as during an online hypnotherapy session.
Rapid confusion induction
Confusion inductions are a fantastic way to get your client into hypnosis quickly, and there are many different ways that you can confuse and overload your clients without touching them, or even being with them in person. The idea is that you simply give them too many things to do at one time, and when they cannot manage to follow your instructions any longer, you give them a direct suggestion to close their eyes, relax and go into hypnosis – as with the discomfort of the eye fixation induction above, this comes as a welcome suggestion, and they’ll happily quit struggling and go into hypnosis.
Non-shock rapid inductions
Finally, another great way to hypnotise someone quickly is to adapt a physical ‘shock’ type rapid induction to be non-physical and non-shock. The ideal candidate for this is the ‘magnetic hands’ rapid induction. In order to do this, instead of pressing the hands together to create a shock whilst delivering the ‘sleep’ suggestion, you would suggest that as soon as the hands touch, they can drop their hands down and go into hypnosis. Super easy!
So, there you have it. Even if you’re not with someone in person, or if you are unable to touch them, hypnotic inductions don’t have to be slow and boring, in fact, they can be almost as fast as some of the fastest rapid inductions out there! If you’d like to learn more about how to perform rapid inductions, check out our rapid induction training options. We’ve got books, online courses and even in-person training, so you’re spoilt for choice!
