Sunday, June 17, 2007

That First Post Hypnotic Suggestion

It's a peaceful morning here in my coffee cyberville. Suitcases and such still adorn the floor as the reality of this time and place seep into consciousness.

Have you all had a good week? I had a very enjoyable one that I will probably talk about later. Today I believe I will continue the Sunday tradition of asking a question (looks the the Google hypnosis forum needs something new to talk about).

When I was here last, Bhumi had asked about post hypnotic suggestions, so I'll pick up there. Here's the question:

What was the first post hypnotic suggestion you utilized with someone and how did it work out?

Mine was the usual "take the number six away." The person I was working with was an accountant, and sure enough while in the midst of our session, she "lost" the number six when counting down and back. The suggestion I gave was that her counting would remain without the six until I snapped my fingers twice. Well, the session concluded and I forgot about the post hypnotic suggestion until she was about to leave. Her car was pulling out of the driveway and I went racing after her.

When she stopped, I asked her to count down for me. Not only did she "lose the six" but she counted in the same rhythm pattern and voice inflections I had used. I snapped my fingers twice and she looked startled. Then I had her count again and she realized what had happened - and laughed.

So, your turn. Please share.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The earliest one I remember was a suggestion to forget being hypnotized. It is memorable for the unanticipated result it had.

The setting was a small demonstration of hypnosis for a friend. Upon awakening from trance, I literally could not speak: using computer terms, it was like my mind was caught in an infinite loop. The hypnotist quickly realized something was wrong and quickly put me back under and removed the suggestion.

I can only deduce that some part of my mind took the suggestion far too broadly: that I was to forget ever being hypnotized. That was something that I would not have wanted, as I had in the audience for a panel on hypnosis at a convention and one of the panelists did a brief induction as a demonstration. Since the situation was something that I would want to remember (the hypnotist was author Katherine Kurtz, a professionally trained hypnotist, a true lady in every positive sense of the word and someone I would like to call friend) I guess the combination was the cause of the situation.

The Transparent Hypnotist said...

Amazing but scary. It definitely shows how important words or phrasing can be and why we need to act responsibly as hypnotists.
Personally, I have never really experienced any noticeable post hypnotic suggestions, in a dramatic way. So I am a little envious.

Anonymous said...

I have to admit that it was a little scary at the time, but now I think its rather interesting. (And certainly a refutation for the people who claim there is no such thing as hypnosis!)