210.08 - Aphantasia

I jacked this right out of something else I wrote for Mind Play Bonus Bits. In case you’re reading this piecemeal - I write about the VAK system here. VAK is just “visual, auditory, kinesthetic (touch and feel.)” I’ve got a whole other separate rant about that.

I’m mostly throwing this in here since a lot of beginners don’t know how to work with aphantasics. It’s frankly more of a general problem - a surprising number of hypnotists use imagery as their only tool. Use logic, concepts, “ask for what you fucking want,” interviewing… Hell - if you want their arm to be heavy, ask them “what would you tell yourself that would let your arm become heavier?”

Aphantasia - I’m Tired of Apples

So, what do you do if your partner has no ability to visualize in the VAK system?

Give up.

By which I mean - don’t insult them by asking them to do something they said they have difficulty with. If they have difficulty working with visual suggestions, use auditory or kinesthetic suggestions.

(Seriously - I’ve heard some pretty entertaining, frustrated rants from a few aphantasics - going all the way from mocking MMHA instructions to “well just imagine you can” to thick and heavy insults pointing at ineptitude. If you plan on saying “try harder” you’re probably going to piss them off.)

But what about folks that have ‘full’ aphantasia? That lack an internal visual, kinesthetic, and auditory sense? It’s very rare, but it shouldn’t be difficult to work with. If they’re all right with it, ask them to imagine things in whatever way they’re comfortable with, or whatever sense they prefer. Substitute imagine with things like conceptualize, experience, or even just think of. Instead of describing how ice cubes would look as they melt, you could talk about how they’re changing from a solid to a liquid, taking less space and volume, how they’re melting or flattening, becoming smaller, or how their temperature is equalizing with the air surrounding it.

In addition, you can just avoid the problem entirely. Ask them to focus on almost imperceptibly tiny changes in how their body feels, or to think of times when the sun sets and the ocean becomes calm, naturally becoming still. You can also ask them to bounce their attention between concepts or subtle feelings inside their body.

This study compared phenomenological control to a subject’s ability to create imagery. Aphantasics experienced slightly less vivid phenomena. The interesting bit is that the effect was minor - what had a much larger effect was the blind vs aware groups of aphantasics - or put more clearly, people who knew they had aphantasia, and those who didn’t. Since I’m not a researcher, I’m going to speculate that the blind group had an easier time finding ways to follow suggestions, while the self-reported group was aware of their difference in processing, therefore just giving up instead of finding another way to experience the suggestion.

TLDR: just work with them and see if they have preferences on how they like their suggestions - if not, offer a few options or coach them how to work around something that’s difficult or incompatible.

Paulina Trevena has a Cheat Sheet for working with aphantasics, and I hear sleepingirl has additional information on her Patreon . (I haven’t verified sleepingirl’s article - it feels gauche to subscribe for one month and binge their content. 😬 ) I did find this post containing a few tips.