210.01 - Comparisons and Reinforcing Verification

Much of this is based on James Tripp’s ideas. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve recommended the book Hypnosis without Trance, but… count this as one more recommendation.

These tools are usually associated with ‘street’ hypnosis, but they’re useful in… pretty much any area. If you use these without ‘trance,’ you’ll be able to collaborate with your subject during the process.

Soft to Hard

Man I’m so tired - I’ve looked at this title like 5 times and I just now noticed the innuendo.

Anyway…

Soft tests have less risk than hard tests. Of course - the ‘harder’ the test, the more ‘expectation’ and ‘momentum’ you’ll build. “My arm feels a bit heavy” is way less impressive than “HOLY FUCKNUGGETS I CAN NOT MOVE MY ARM WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU WIZARD?!”

You’ll want to intersperse these ideas with reinforcements, discussed later.

“What are you feeling in that arm right now?”
“How does that arm feel compared to before we started?”
“How does that arm feel compared to your other arm?”
“Where do you feel that heaviness in your arm?”
“Where’s the heaviest part of your arm? Is it closer to the wrist of the elbow? Can you point it out?”
“Now, I don’t want you to lift that arm up yet, but I just want you to try to lift it a tiny bit, and notice how much heavier it is.”
“Go ahead, try and lift that arm up… it might budge just a tiny bit, but you’ll find that it just doesn’t move.”
“Go ahead, try and lift that arm up… Use your other hand and see if you can lift it. It’s stuck, isn’t it?”

Reinforcement

So, here’s the quick plan…

Ask them about their experience.
Utilize their experience.

That’s it!

How do you do that? Easy. You’ve got a lot of options. Just follow it up with another soft test, with the expectation that it “worked.” By working this way you can iterate on an experience until it’s strong enough to withstand a “hard” test.

Collect a nominalization (NLP) or a neurohandle (James Tripp.) These bullshit words are close enough in definition where I’ll happily bundle them together. A neurohandle is just a description of an experience directly from your co-operator. A nominalization is a verb turned into a noun, including “anything that doesn’t fit in a wheelbarrow.” It takes a bit to get a feel for this, but collect what they say and use it exactly. You’re reinforcing their adulterated experience - and it’s less likely that you’ll be seen as trying to manipulate it. For example…

H: How’s that arm feeling?

S: Kinda… fuzzy.

H: Fuzzy… Interesting… waiting for response, just asking

S: Yeah… it’s like it’s tingling…

H: Where do you feel that fuzziness and tingling the most? (Reusing it, preparing to reinforce and build it.)

S: (thinking) Near my wrist…

H: (pointing at their wrist) Here? (Building anticipation and focus.)

S: Yeah…

H: (beginning to slowly move their finger, pointing) And you can begin to feel that fuzziness and tingling move up your wrist… now… yeah?

TLDR:

Repeat their word choice.
Modify the response. Improve, intensify, or move it.
Test it again after modifying it.

Saving Face

“I don’t feel anything.”
- “For sure. Let’s take a look.” (Ask - what were you imagining, what did you notice, would different imagery work better for you, what are you expecting… etc.)
“It… really just feels the same as before.”
- “That’s all right!” (Ask the same questions as above.)
“I can break out of this.”
- “That’s right - you’re totally in control of this. I don’t want you to force anything. The flip side of that is if you’re fighting your response instead of letting it grow, nothing will happen.”
lifts arm rapidly
- “Haha! What happened there?”
lifts arm, staring at it, confused
- “Weird huh? What did you notice there?”

Improving Examples

Bad: Do you feel any heaviness in your arm?
Improved: How heavy does your arm feel?
Bad: Be honest - how much heavier does that arm feel? (When you ask someone to be honest, they tend to re-evaluate. It infers either ‘be honest with me’ or ‘be honest with yourself,’ both of which hint at elements of deception.)
Improved: We both know that we didn’t put any actual weights on that arm… But it almost certainly doesn’t feel the same way that it did a few moments ago. What differences have you noticed?