210.06 - Imagery with Intention

Using imagery in hypnosis is reasonably common - but I feel like people often reach for this tool without intention. I know I did when I started.

(This specific article is going to lean a bit more heavily into hypnokink. If you’re just doing clean recreational, just take the spice out.)

Imagery Uses

Don’t get me wrong - I don’t want to take the fun out of this. It’s all right to use imagery in hypnosis just for the hell of it. I do want to highlight that there’s so much more to hypnosis than induction => deepener => story => awakener like so many files.

Indirect Suggestion and Framing

While we’re probably tired of hearing about ‘relaxing at the beach’ imagery as part of an induction or deepener - it’s an example of a good use of story as an indirect suggestion. It’s probably obvious that we’re inviting our subject to relax as well fill in the scene, and they can immerse themselves in the experiences associated with it.

Another way we could use this is for reframing. If you do therapy - you (hopefully) already know how to use this tool. But it’s uses in recreation can be oblique.

Say you’re doing a drone scene. Your partner already likes the idea, but feels a bit guilty asking for this sort of attention. This is where we could toss in a story about a drone and their owner, details of how the drone’s owner enjoys the ritual, how valuable their service is, and eventually tossing on some ideas of what an honor it is to serve their operator. If you and your partner want more spice, you could throw on ideas of dread, coercion, fear and entrapment - so when you finally get to doing this with your partner, they’re primed to have fun with the ride. Worst case - they’re probably just more excited to be on board.

Asking Questions

I don’t personally use this one much - but it seems like a novel idea! You can do a live D&D like session and see how your subject feels like responding to specific situations in a moment. Just toss them or a character into a setting, ask them how they respond, and why. See what details they find important.

Filler and Story

If you’re a great storyteller - hearing a story in and of itself can be a treat. On the other side, if you just need to beef up the length of a session, you can start describing imagery as well. Watch for responses (or if your subject looks bored) and you might get some ideas for what to do.

Structure

Stories can also serve as a structure for suggestions. Say you’ve got a to-do list…

• Relaxation
• Goo trigger
• Catalepsy

I’m going to go through this quickly so I don’t end up writing some left-handed prose, but you could start them out in your dungeon/lab experiment of choice, a character drugged to relax, give a bunch of muscle relaxing triggers. Next up we could throw in that catalepsy, do the usual “you can find your wrists coming together” stuff branded with the flavor of the scene, and set up your trigger. After that, describe the imagery of them in that position and start doing your goo trigger. This is a solid way to contextualize a trigger if you’re setting up something fun.