Everyone starts off using scripts with clients. They are, in many ways, like ‘magic spells’ – so there’s a magic spell to help people relax, to feel more confident, to cure IBS/nail biting/whatever. But with a bit of experience comes the realization that the core scripts from CPHT are in many ways sufficient for working with most of the conditions most of our clients turn up with. The next step after that is to start using them as a guide, and going off piste in order to tailor them to the particular client on that particular day. You find yourself making up words and phrases, perhaps even feeding back what the client has said, but with a positive spin. And finally, the day comes when you have an idea for a new script, and you wonder whether there are any guidelines about how to write it.
Well, let’s start by forgetting the word ‘script’ and start calling them language patterns. As soon as we do that, we lose the need to stick to them rigidly like in a play or a film. Now they are guides, helping us and, more importantly, our clients achieve our/their goals.
One useful therapeutic assumption is to assume that your client’s behaviour has a positive intention, and that some behaviours can have negative consequences (eg smoking), then you can separate a client’s behaviour from their intention. You can then focus on what the positive intention was behind the behaviour and help the client to experience more of that. In my experience, as much as 80 percent of what you say in each session can be process-based (what change they want to make) rather than content-based (the actual behaviour that brought them). And that 80 percent can be very similar with different clients with different problems – a totally different approach to using highly-specific behaviour-oriented scripts.
It’s worth noting that some behaviours arise from: habits, addiction, impulsivity, or neurological illness.
Let’s start off with the verbs. It usually works best to use the present tense. Your suggestions have an immediacy – they are ‘tidying the mess in the garage’, ‘making that phone call’, ‘paying that bill’, ‘completing that important task’. And, because we are solution-focused therapists, they are always working towards a goal, never away from a problem. They are becoming non-smokers, not stopping that smoking habit. Powerful statements get powerful results – so say things like “I can”, “I will”, or “I am”.
Use Pintereque pauses. A lot of the magic of a great language pattern is done in the gaps between the words as the client performs their own transderivational search and comes up with their own positive answers to their problems.
Transderivational search
The process of searching back through one’s stored memories and mental representations to find the reference experience from which a current behaviour or response was derived (Dilts, 1990).
The means by which language is connected to experience. It is by the process of transderivational search that the client associates the words used in the metaphor to his/her model of the world. Thus, each client’s interpretation of the metaphor will be unique because the words used in the story become associated to his/her personal internal sensory representations. (Maps, Models and the Structure of Reality, Kostere & Malatesta (1990). Pages 92-93) It’s worth noting that the term comes from NLP.
And don’t try to extemporize or write anything that would get high marks from your English teacher at school. You do not really need sentences because your language pattern resembles conversational speech more than written speech – so ideas or phrases (or clauses) can be joined by the word ‘and’, and you can do that pretty much as often as you like.
Don’t be too exact in your description. Give them a moment and they can flesh out what ‘those tall hills’ look like to them. So, your nouns and adjectives need to create the most basic of images, letting the client perform most of the imagining. Remember how people used to say the pictures were better on the radio than on TV. And if you can find a word with multiple meanings, then that can be very hypnotic. ‘Time’ and ‘space’ are obvious ones. There are also the words that NLPers describe as ones you can’t put in a wheelbarrow, ie they aren’t concrete words, they’re called nominalizations. So, words like ‘love’, ‘kindness’, ‘relationships’, ‘confidence’, ‘democracy’, ‘beliefs’, ‘attitudes’, ‘happiness’. You can also use lots of words that are basically verbs with ‘tion’ put on the end, such as ‘relaxation’, ‘information’, and ‘suggestion’.
You don’t want to leave your client to do all the work. When describing that beach or this garden, you can start them off picturing the scene by telling them what they can see, then what they can hear, and what they can feel – both from their senses and internally (eg the soft grass brushing against your leg makes you feel so relaxed). You could also add smells and tastes, if appropriate.
At the basic level, a hypnotherapist simply hypnotizes the client and tells them (direct suggestion) to change their behaviour. The client has to work out how to accomplish their goal.
At the next level, the hypnotherapist identifies resources the client has that can help, and links those existing resources to helping achieve the goal.
At the third level, the hypnotherapist uses a story or metaphor to illustrate indirectly how using an existing skill can help achieve a goal.
Don’t be afraid of hyperbole – things are going to be described as ‘amazing’, ‘fantastic’, ‘wonderful’, and ‘the best x ever’. Your adjectives are all going to be from the superlative end of the spectrum. Say things like all, most, everywhere, anyone, everyone Use lots of, what they call, non-specified comparators such as hottest, improved, excellent. These should sound authentic when used, otherwise. too much hyperbole can reduce credibility.
And don’t worry about saying the same thing more than once. Sometimes we need to be reminded of something more than once before it sinks in. Advertisers reckon that repeated exposure generally increases familiarity) before customers come to know and buy their product. So, saying that you find yourself confidently doing x, may need a few repetitions before the client buys into the idea.
A lot of problems you see are meta problems. The underlying problem is stress or anxiety that manifests itself as nail biting or hair pulling etc, You don’t need a script for nail biting because once you remove the underlying issue, the superficial problem – the one the client came to see you about – will go.
When you’re visualizing the future, focus mainly on the next step they need to take, rather than their end goal – which might be a few steps away from where they are now. And use words that come with emotional baggage – what they call connotative language. ‘House’ is quite cold and clinical, whereas ‘home’ has a feeling of warmth about it. Try to reflect the client’s interests. If they like gardens talk about weeding rather than car mechanics. It will mean more to them. They’ll have better pictures in their mind about what you’re talking about. And remind them of a time in the past when they were able to overcome their problem or had the resources that they now need to overcome those issues (always in a solution-focused way). And, finally, focus on the client’s behaviour and how they want to behave to achieve their goals.
And it can be useful to have some stock hypnotic words and phrases to include in a session.
You can say things like:
...And...
A person can ...
A person may not know if ...
All the way down – extend the length of the word ‘down’
And now (as you ...)
And that means ...
As you ...
But (eg you felt bad, but thing change)
Every time (you feel x), you will (go deeper)
Feel good/relax/notice (body part)/drift/focus inwardly/you are so calm/breathing calmly/comfortable/release that tension/become aware of that pleasant feeling
Have you ever (relaxed on a beach)
How does it feel when you ...
How surprised would you be to ...
I don’t know if ... ....
I wouldn’t tell you to ..., because ...
I’m wondering if you’ll ... or not.
If (you relax deeply, you can feel better)
If you ... ..., then ... ....
If you can do it, use assonance (the repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyming) and alliteration (the repetition of the same sounds at the beginning of words).
If you were to ...
Imagine (what it would be like to)
In a moment
Invite you to notice ...
It’s not necessary (to try to remember)
It’s not necessary to ...
Just (relax)
Like me (eg and so you, like me, are probably thinking)
Maybe you will ...
New
Now – say this at the end of a sentence
Only (pleasant feelings take you deeper)
Or (eg do you want to go into trance now or later?)
Perceive
Ponder
Power (ful)
Put a tag question at the end of a sentence – ‘do you not?’
So and so said
Some people ...
Sometimes ...
Sooner or later ...
That’s right
The deeper you go the better you feel, and the better you feel the deeper you can go
The more (you relax) the more (you will benefit from trance)
To the point where (x will lead to y)
What happens when you ...?
What would it be like if ...
What’s it like when you (relax/daydream)
When you ...
Wonder (eg I wonder how your unconscious will solve that problem)
Yet (you don’t feel good, yet)
You don’t have to (relax)
You may not know if ...
You might find ...
You might notice how good it feels when you ...
You might notice the sensations in ... ... while you ....
You probably already know ...
You really shouldn’t ...
What about the tone of voice that you use? We used to be a very hierarchical society, and people would take instructions from their superiors – and, to an extent, people still do. So, you can get away, some of the time, with giving orders. Saying things like: “you will never smoke a cigarette ever again”. Direct suggestions do work some of the time with some people. You need to look and sound like an authority figure for this to work successfully.
The alternative is indirect suggestions, where you’re not giving instructions, but offering different possibilities that require the client to think about things. It’s where you say things like: “I wonder whether you’ll go into trance quickly or slowly today”. Basically, it avoids resistance, and the client is doing what you want, which is helping them to do what they want.
I find I still like to have scripts in my hand when I start a trance session with a client. And I will read from them. But more often than not, I find there are lots of things that I want to say to that client that have come from the earlier talking part of the session, and I start to weave those into the script, or else I just head off in a completely new direction. It’s best not to feel tied to the scripts, but to work with the client, to work on their intentions rather than necessarily on their behaviour. And I think you have to be prepared to take a risk that you can fly solo, you can go off piste. But if you do find yourself starting to dry up, to run out of ideas, you’ll find the stock phrases just trip off the tongue. And pauses are beneficial – the client is working on their transderivational search, and you are thinking what to say next. And if you really need to, you can always go back to your printed scripts and read from those until some new idea comes to you, and you’re off on your own again, tailoring the trance session to the needs of your client on that specific day at that specific time.
At its most straightforward, there are certain things you need to bear in mind:
Use the present tense – the client needs to picture themselves doing something (like entering the gym), rather than going to do something (in the future, because that future might never come).
Frame positively – what NLP calls “moving towards” rather than “moving away” suggestions. Use “you will” statements rather than “you won’t”.
Be exciting – choose adjectives that are powerful such as: amazing, wonderful, fantastic, beautiful, etc.
Repetition is good – you can say the same thing more than once. Think how many times you need to see an advert before you decide to buy a product!
Be realistic – babies and young children do proximity learning, which means they copy and learn from other children who are only one step ahead in development. Adults are similar. Remember all the metaphors about the longest journey beginning with a single step. So future pace by taking the client through the next stage in their journey rather than only focusing on the final goal.
Connotative language – this is a rhetorical device that evokes a specific kind of emotion or attitude from the client towards something (usually the issue that brought them to you). We’re familiar with racial slurs – that’s the kind of emotional power I’m talking about associated with a word, but for us, we’re using positive emotional thoughts. It can be a very powerful way of motivating them. The opposite is denotative language – which usually means precise words that lack any emotional content. It’s the difference between saying “a large house” (denotative) and “a warm and friendly home” (connotative). Don’t be put off by the technical sounding language!
Use the client’s experience – if they know a lot about gardens and flowers, then include those examples in what you say.
Use the client’s resources – refer to times when they did overcome their problem, or avoided it, or felt less affected by it.
Use all the senses – what they can hear, see, smell, sense, taste, as you describe situations.
Talk about the client’s behaviour – there’s no point saying anyone else will behave differently. You can’t tell the client that from now on their children will come home and do their homework immediately! You can talk about how the client will behave – “you find yourself praising your children as they do their homework”.
The next stage is to decide whether you are going to give direct suggestions (“you smile when you go into the meeting and accept their criticisms for what they are”) or indirect suggestions (“and you find yourself wondering at how relaxed you’ve stayed throughout the meeting”).
Direct suggestions often work best when given by someone in a position of authority, and provided they align with the client’s own beliefs. Other factors affecting its success include rapport, expectancy, motivation, hypnotic responsiveness, and the client’s beliefs. Nowadays, people prefer indirect suggestions, even though they require more work by the client. Suggestions can be misleading or confusing, requiring the client to think about what is being said, what it possibly means, and how it applies to them. Because of the transderivational search performed by the client, each client responds uniquely to what’s said to them. Clients are less likely to resist indirect suggestions.
The undoubted master of indirect suggestions was Milton Erickson. The Milton Model, which was an NLP interpretation of Erickson rather than Erickson’s own model, was developed by Richard Bandler and John Grinder after observing Milton Erickson’s language patterns. The basis of the Milton Model is the use of presuppositions in language. In addition, the principles of the Milton Model basically state that larger chunks (ie more general use of language) can lead to more rapport, while smaller chunks (ie more specific language) is more limiting and has a greater chance of excluding concepts from a person’s experience.
Let’s have a look at the techniques Erickson used that make up the Milton Model, and which you can incorporate into your scripts or extemporize (make up as you go along) trance work. (Jargon alert: don’t be put off by the names given to the techniques – just recognize and use the techniques.)
Nominalization
This is a crafty technique of referring to something that is an abstraction and has no physical form. The classic test is whether you can put that ‘something’ into a wheelbarrow. They are sometimes known as politician’s words because they don’t have a specific meaning.
A ‘brick’ is something you can put in a wheelbarrow – so it’s not a nominalization. ‘World peace’, ‘calmness’, and ‘relationship’ are nominalizations – you can’t put them into that wheelbarrow. Often verbs are turned into nouns for this purpose. Words ending in ‘ship’, ‘ment’, ‘ion’, or ‘ing’ are often nominalizations.
In trance work, it’s a good idea to avoid negative nominalizations, such as ‘depression’, ‘anxiety’, or ‘worry’, and refer instead to ‘a time when you felt less comfortable’. You see what’s happening there? ‘Comfortable’ is a nominalization, but it’s a positive one.
Mind reading
With this technique, you act as if you know what a person is thinking or feeling, and then make a positive suggestion. For example: “you are becoming more curious about how those changes are occurring”; “and your mind is now more open to the idea of change”; or “part of your mind is wondering how quickly you will go into trance”.
Presuppositions
With this technique, an assumption is made that something is true and so there’s no need to mention it, just focus on the consequences of that assumption. That means that the client never thinks about the validity of the assumption. Let’s look at some examples: “as you relax more deeply now, you begin to feel different”; “I don’t know whether you’ll go into trance before the relaxation is fully complete, or start right away”; “and the little things you notice remind you of how you’re able to relax”; “because your eyes are closed, your mind will be open to new ideas”; “coming here today, means that you’ve made a decision to relax”; “it may not be until the third breath that you notice yourself relaxing”; “and you might discover that each breath you take relaxes you even more”; “you might not feel you’re at the right level of relaxation yet”; “and it might be interesting to consider the level of your relaxation”.
Behind these statements is the idea that there is something you want the client to do or feel and so you create a sentence that presupposes it.
Embedded commands
The trick here is to have an ‘ordinary’ sentence but to highlight certain words or phrases – the commands that are embedded in your sentence. And how do you highlight those commands? You can change the intonation in your voice as you say those words – you can speak slightly louder or use a deeper tone of voice. You can also look directly at your client as you say the words. Technically, these are called analogic markers. So, you’re embedding direct commands in a seemingly ordinary sentence. The technique is also sometimes known as ‘interspersal’.
So, let’s have a look at an example. “As you lie there today ... feeling so comfortable ... you’re able to relax more-and-more ... wondering what you’ll learn from this trance experience”. You could highlight the words ‘comfortable’, ‘relax’, and ‘learn’ as you say them and so turn them into embedded commands.
Truisms
A truism is simply a statement that is true and usually obviously true. In hypnotherapy, what you do is state the truism, which the client has got to agree with, state a second truism, again gaining agreement, and then make a third statement, and what’s called the “effect of set” means they should agree with that one as well. That third statement delivers an important message to the client. For example: “Everyone needs to be loved by someone, and everyone wants to be liked, and you’re finding it easier to listen to your feelings.”
This is similar to an adjunctive suggestion where the suggestion is put after a single truism. For example: “you can hear my voice and notice how much more relaxed you’re feeling”, or “you can lie on that couch and your eyelids begin to close”.
Unspecified verb
These are a bit like nominalizations in that they can sound good, but their exact meaning cannot usually be clearly defined – so the client provides their own meaning. Words in this category include: ‘wonder’, ‘learn’, ‘know’, ‘feel’, ‘think’, and ‘change’. They’re non-specific and could apply to anything. Examples of their use are: “Your unconscious mind understands everything it needs to”; or “you may be wondering how quickly you will go into trance”.
Non-specific objects
Yet again, we’re in the world of vague words – such as ‘outcomes’, ‘resources’, ‘considerations’, etc. For example: “and when you leave here today, you’ll have all the resources you need to ...”, or “this is the way to understanding”.
Tag questions
These are questions put at the end of sentences that reduce resistance and expect an answer of “yes”. “You are enjoying reading this article, aren’t you?” That’s an example of a tag question. “And you will take control of your life, won’t you?” That’s another example.
Lost performatives
This actually means giving a value judgement (ie saying whether something is good or bad) without explaining who made the judgement. Here’s an example: “it’s a good thing to wonder”. Or “no bad habit can withstand the power of the mind”. When you hear them, you feel like asking, “says who?”.
Universal quantifier
They’re called ‘universal’ because we’re talking about words like ‘all’, ‘every’, ‘always’, etc. By their very nature, the universal quantifier statements are exaggerations. For example: “no-one fails once they have really made their mind up”, or “every word you hear will be used by your unconscious mind”.
Conversational postulate
This is a way of asking the client to do something, but wrapping it up as a simple yes/no question. You may use them with your children, for example asking, “can you tidy your room today?”. It’s not really a question, you’re really saying, “go and tidy your room”.
In therapy you might say: “can you imagine feeling completely relaxed?”, or “I wonder if you can imagine a quiet beach somewhere?”.
Non sequitur or cause and effect
A non sequitur is a statement where you suggest that action A results in action B occurring – in effect A causes B. As usual with these things, action A is true and the client acknowledges that fact, and so they accept action B even though there is no logical link between the two.
For example: “paying attention to your breathing can make you relax even more”, or “while you’re resting so comfortably, your unconscious mind is making all the changes it needs”.
Good words to use are ‘causes’, ‘requires’, ‘makes’, ‘forces’, ‘and’, ‘during’, ‘while’, ‘soon’, ‘as’, and ‘when’.
Complex equivalence
You tell clients that one thing is the same as or equivalent to something else, implying that because the first thing is true, the second must be as well. You can use the words “that means”. For example: “you may notice how much slower your breathing has become and that means you are relaxing so well”, or “because you are here today that means you are prepared to make changes in your life”.
Non-specific comparison
This is a statement that includes a comparison, but doesn’t say what it’s being compared against. For example: “and you’ll find that you’re much more relaxed”, or “and you’ll find yourself changing faster”.
Extended quotations
One way to avoid resistance to a suggestion is to attribute it to someone else. It’s possible to have more than one level of quotation, which can cause a fair amount of confusion in the mind of the client, but can help them to accept the suggestion.
A simple example is to say: “I had a client yesterday who said that they thought the secret of confidence was to ...”
Or a more complicated example: “I spoke to David about this, and he saw Susan who quoted him as saying that a good night’s sleep has such powerful benefits”.
Negative suggestions
The old pink elephant trick! You tell a client not to think of something, and, of course, they do think of it (which is what you wanted all along). You can say things like: “I don’t want you to feel that you’re going into a trance now”, or “you don’t have to imagine being completely relaxed and in control”.
Confusional language
The idea behind this is that the conscious mind concentrates on what’s being said and, because it is confusing, starts using transderivational searches to find the ‘real’ meaning. This gives the unconscious mind the space it needs to pick up on what’s being said.
There are phonological ambiguities – a bit like the Two Ronnies’ famous ‘four candles’ sketch. Simple examples are there/their/they’re, two/to/too, days/daze, etc.
More complicated phrases can be joined, such as “...relaxed and at peace ... of mind can come easily ...”
So, whenever I stumble over what I’m saying, I claim I’m using confusional language!
Modal operator
Modal operators are phrases using words that imply things could or must happen. The words to use include ‘could’, ‘should’, ‘can’, ‘will’, ‘must’, ‘might’, etc. For example, “you could be surprised how quickly you go into trance”, or “each breath you take can lead to greater relaxation”.
Selectional restriction violations/animations
This refers to giving objects or animals characteristics or qualities that they don’t really possess. For example: “that couch knows many clients’ secrets”, or “the wind in the trees brings answers to your questions”. It’s like using a mini-metaphor.
Illusory choice/double binds
Parents use this all the time with younger children. For example, “do you want to clean your teeth before your story or after”. The child thinks they have control and are making their own decisions, the adult knows that their child will definitely be cleaning his/her teeth tonight!
With a client you might say, “I wonder whether you will go into trance quickly or slowly”. The client thinks they can decide on the speed, the therapist knows that they get the desired result – a client in a trance.
Metaphors
Metaphors, similes, and stories can be used to create pictures in a person’s mind. They then interpret the picture in a way that works for them. A simple simile could be used to get the client to imagine themselves being as strong as an ox or brave a lion. And this kind of idiomatic speech works nicely in trance. Listen to what your client says during the first part of the session to know what metaphors work best for them. Some people like talking about computer programs, while others don’t. Some people don’t like particular animals, so your best metaphor about them will be rejected by the client and be a waste of both your time.
Metaphors can be used to help reframe something in the client’s life, enable new learning, guide their thinking and behaviour, and bypass limiting beliefs. The client listens to the metaphor, and over time finds parallels in their own life. And from that, they can start to apply changes to their life based on the insights they’ve got from the metaphor.
There are a number of suggestions as to why metaphors work so well. It may be that an individual’s imagination recruits many of the same neural networks as perception, or that stories engage distributed brain networks, or that mental rehearsal strengthens future behaviour. Or it could be all of those ideas.
Conclusion
Of course, hypnotic language should always be used collaboratively and in pursuit of goals that have been agreed with the client. The therapist’s role is to facilitate change rather than direct or manipulate the client.
I wonder whether you’ll use these techniques sooner or later in your work with clients? They certainly make it easier, and the sessions can become such a joy, can’t they?
Just knowing of the existence of these techniques makes it easier to write a script to use with a client or to make up what you think will be beneficial to your client as you go along during trance.